Examiner Essentials: # 9 Die Hard

Thai Die Hard poster (courtesy: www.siamvillage.com)

The Examiner Essentials are the movies everyone should watch, know and love. And if you watch and know but don't love, it's okay because you will still be an improved person for taking part in your own betterment. But the chances are, you'll love these movies. A list of all the Essentials can be found here.

Title: Die Hard (1988)

Director: John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Last Action Hero, The Hunt for Red October)

Starring: Bruce Willis (Hudson Hawk, Look Who's Talking Too, The Whole Ten Yards), Bonnie Bedelia (Salem's Lot, Needful Things), Alan Rickman (Galaxy Quest, Quigley Down Under)

ex-Factor: The European influence of Jan De Bont. Director John McTiernan brought on this prolific Dutch cinematographer, and with him came filmatic ideas that would go on to influence movie making for years to come. De Bont would go on to be the director of photography for several other successful action films, and would even try his hand at sitting in the big director's chair with Speed and Twister, but Die Hard is one of his greatest achievements, as his euro-style mixed well with McTiernan's American workman-like precision.

The Story: The story is so basic that the films that have followed it have been described as "Die Hard on a blank" (Speed = Die Hard on a bus, Sudden Death = Die Hard at a hockey game, Under Siege = Die Hard on an aircraft carrier, Die Hard 2 = Die Hard in an airport, etc.). Bruce Willis is John McClane (getting the role after Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone, Burt Reynolds and Richard Gere all passed), a New York cop visiting his estranged wife at her new job in Los Angeles. He meets up with her at her office Christmas party, which is located high up in the unfinished Nakatomi Plaza building (in reality the then-brand new FOX building). It is not long after his arrival that a group of German terrorists take over said building, holding all the party guests hostage. Except for quick thinking McClane, who manages to sneak away to one of the unfinished upper floors. From there he causes all sorts of havoc for the terrorists, muses on the existential existence of TV dinners, befriends LAPD cop Sgt. Al Powell via walkie talkie (Reginald Veljohnson, Ghost Busters, Crocodile Dundee, Family Matters), and becomes an obnoxious American thorn in the side of terrorist leader Hans Gruber (Rickman's feature film debut, by the way).Why It's Essential: Die Hard does so many things right that they are all taken for granted. John McClane is an amazing protagonist because he's an ordinary guy thrown into an extraordinary situation. He tries to be on his best behavior when he arrives at the party, but still can't stop himself from quickly opening old wounds with his wife (Bedelia). And when the sh*t hits the fan, he becomes more stressed out and flustered, and he cusses and freaks out more and more. The amount of cursing even escalates as the stress levels rise and the situations become more dangerous. We're talking a near Mamet-level of swear word beauty. And McClane doesn't dig down into his repertoire of old CIA tricks nor does he calmly and coolly recall any old Army or Navy SEAL training. He spits out a bunch of f-bombs and then improvises, hoping for a positive outcome. Most importantly, the movie is grounded by the emotional core of McClane's fear and regrets. He wants to live not just for his own sake, but because he wants to see his children again and he wants to patch things up with his wife, whom he still loves despite all the crap they put each other through. And with real emotional stakes on the table (sobbing sirloins?), the audience has even more reason to identify with this guy and root for him..Also elevating the movie is the top-notch direction from Mr. McTiernan. Action films made these days all incorporate some sort of "shaky cam" in an effort to enhance the intensity of the scene (see: The Bourne Ultimatum). And while this does work when done well (The Hurt Locker), it can also render a scene indecipherable and confusing when done poorly (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). But in 1988, directors trusted the actual action itself to do all the work, and McTiernan was no different. When McClane runs and hides from bad guys, the camera is kept still enough for the viewer to see what is actually happening. They simply film the action, knowing it will be exciting enough on its own. McClane jumping off of an exploding roof with a fire hose wrapped around his waist is plenty exciting, we don't need the camera to shake to emphasize the craziness of this moment. McTiernan also knows how to shoot and have things edited to clearly show the characters' spatial relationships to each other. Don't ever take something like this for granted because there is nothing worse than an action movie with a lack of proper framing and scene pacing, which cause characters to be in their own little bubbles in no relation to one another, hence destroying the scene's tension and purpose (we're looking at you, X-Men: The Last Stand). In Die Hard, we always know where in the building McClane is and where the bad guys are, and we know what will happen when they are both in the same place at the same time (well-shot action scenes, that's what happens).Memorable Scene: The lynch pin scene of the movie is probably the quietest and most low-key of the whole flick. After a crazy shootout, McClane drags himself into a bathroom to pull shards of glass out of his bare feet (long story that involves making fists with your toes). While doing this, he uses his walkie-talkie to talk to Al, and McClane asks him to relay a message to his wife if he doesn't make it. McClane is all sorts of vulnerable in this scene, both physically and mentally. As he pulls glass out of his body, he can easily see himself not making it out of the situation alive, and it scares him. This is a fear and vulnerability that is rarely seen in an "action star," even to this day of sissified actors and emo Spidermen, and the combination of a well-written script and an excellent actor makes for a very important and memorable scene.Fun Fact: In Russia, Die Hard and its sequels have been marketed under the title A Hard Nut to Crack, while in Spain, the films have been titled The Glass Jungle. What a wacky world we live in.