tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post1616935536641421581..comments2024-03-29T04:57:26.162-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: Die Hard on a Blog: Die Hard (1988)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-34694252334499255472018-04-27T09:35:03.112-04:002018-04-27T09:35:03.112-04:00Also: the Rock's upcoming movie "Skyscrap...Also: the Rock's upcoming movie "Skyscraper" is going to be DIE HARD... in a building.Stephen Tilsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-52509823278186405832018-04-27T09:32:29.624-04:002018-04-27T09:32:29.624-04:00Roderick Thorp's novel had much the same conce...Roderick Thorp's novel had much the same concerns over the lost meaning of masculinity, but it also treated the violence as even more problematic. It also deals seriously with the problem of how the state reacts to terrorism and violent dissent within its borders: the terrorists in the novel are politically motivated, and are basically the sort of Baader-Meinhof Gang/Red Army Faction cell that Europe was dealing with in the 70's. <br /><br />In an early scene in the novel, Joe Leland -- the protagonist of Thorp's THE DETECTIVE, to which NOTHING LASTS FOREVER is a sequel -- attends a conference of police officials deciding how to combat such political terror groups in the US. Leland muses that a society gets what it prepares for: when the police bunker up inside buildings that look like forts, they are essentially inviting a civil uprising by telegraphing that they expect one. At the same conference, a veteran police chief vows that if the young revolutionaries come into his town, they're going to be killed and displayed with the cover sheets off, "so everybody can see" the price of rebellion.<br /><br />In the book, some of the terrorists are female, and young enough to be Leland's granddaughters (he's older than McClane); he kills them as well, adding another layer to that subtext about male/female relationships.<br /><br />All in all, the book is both more socially aware and more intense than the movie. It also has a much darker ending.Stephen Tilsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-59277692351936610062016-02-02T11:08:34.509-05:002016-02-02T11:08:34.509-05:00I re-watched "Die Hard" back during the ...I re-watched "Die Hard" back during the Christmas holiday with my wife (who had never seen it before). A few observations:<br /><br />- John McClane really comes across as a man in over his head. He's a veteran police officer, but he realizes how outclassed he is by Gruber's team of professionals. He panics, he spends at least half the movie in retreat... but when it comes down to it, he digs deep and finds the courage to act. He derails Gruber's detailed plan with clever improvisation. In the end, he takes his stand and triumphs. Willis gave his character a relatable sense of humanity that gradually evaporated from the sequels.<br /><br />- My wife is not a huge action movie fan, but she commented how much fun this movie is. And it is: it's a roller coaster, violent yet exhilarating. There is no waste; every scene is necessary and stripped down to its essential elements. Someday film scholars will point to "Die Hard" as a high water mark in action film cinema.<br /><br />- Alan Rickman truly was a treasure. His Hans Gruber might be the greatest movie villain of all time: smart, capable, flexible, funny. Even if Alan Rickman never made another movie, this part would have made him a cinematic legend. The world is a poorer place for his passing (I always thought he would have made a great character in a Star Wars movie... now we'll never know.)<br /><br />- It seems to be me that the "Die Hard" franchise is a study in diminishing returns. With every sequel, John McClane migrated from everyman to superhero. In the first movie, when he gets his feet cut on the broken glass, we feel his pain; in later movies, he can jump from skyscrapers and take countless bullets to the shoulder and keep going because he no longer feels pain at all. His specialness was that he was one of us; now he's a generic action movie hero, interchangeable with any other hero.<br /><br />Likewise, with every "Die Hard" clone that came out, the novelty diminished piece by piece. You can only see so many variations on the theme before it becomes boring or ludicrous. I remember someone telling me about being in a theater and seeing trailers for Steven Seagal's "Under Siege" and Wesley Snipes' "Passenger 57" ("Die Hard" on a ship and "Die Hard" on a passenger jet, respectively) back-to-back, and how the audience laughed because the trailers were identical in structure; they realized it was the exact same movie with cosmetic changes. <br /><br />To me, at least, the first "Die Hard" exists in a bubble; none of the sequels or clone count to me. By itself, "Die Hard" is a textbook example of an action movie. It's a classic.Monchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14132341373842481242noreply@blogger.com