Die Hard

Rating:
Summary: 40 Stories of Sheer Adventure!
Review: "Die Hard" was the film that made Bruce Willis a star, and it was a perfect action vehicle for him. His character, John McClane, is a cop who is getting home to his wife and kids for Christmastime, but ends up being trapped in a high-rise building led by terrorists, with Hans (Alan Rickman) as the leader. The result is a high-voltage action/thriller with funny one-liners, spectacular stuntwork, and tense action sequences. The highlight scene is where McClane straps a rope around him, jumps off the top of the building, and the building blows up real good. He then fires at the window of an office and jumps into the room. That is the most exciting (and scary) action sequence I've ever seen in an action film. It's been repeated countless times in other action movies, but it has never been equaled. During the end credits, they play the Christmas song "Let It Snow" and Beethoven's 9th Symphony "Ode to Joy". The latter one also played in the ads and trailers for "Die Hard" before it was released in 1988. This is one action movie that has a whole lot going for it. Along with "Aliens" and "Lethal Weapon", it's one of the best action films of the '80s, if not THE best.

Rating:
Summary: it's a very nice suit,Mr Takagi.
Review: N.Y.C.Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) arrives in Los Angeles.Its Christmas,so people expect good will,and presents from each other.But in a place high enough to see all of L.A.,McClane only wants to see his wife.The International gate-crashing terrorists who are not in party mood, want to take full control of the building,speak to Mr Takagi,and steal $640,000,000 of bonds in a high tech vault.The Leader of the terrorists is Hans Gruber,a well dressed,well spoken recipient of a classical education.Hans wants the cash,but expects local law enforcement to not co-operate.But Hans did not expect local to be on the next level.Die Hard is without a doubt a non-stop display of thrilling action scenes,and a good performance by Bruce Willis as McClane.Alexander Godunov as Gruber's evil sidekick is excellent,displaying a touch of the psychotic.However,Alan Rickman gives a flawless performance as Hans Gruber,a ruthless,determined,more refined type of terrorist,a performance that literally commands attention,and probably what has become the first thing many people remember,when "Die Hard" is mentioned.4.5/5 for the film.The picture quality on this DVD,while not enhanced for widescreen televisions,is clear and sharp throughout.Minor grain can be seen,on the darkest of scenes.Shown in original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.The sound quality on this DVD is very good,especially the explosions and gunfire,and the more orchestrated parts,well defined.The speech was very clear.4/5.Overall "Die Hard" on this DVD is a good buy for any fan of the genre,and of Bruce Willis,or Alan Rickman.Not advertised on the actual disc packaging,is a very short featurette,lasting only a few minutes,adds a little extra interest,but hardly worth writing home about.Perhaps a special edition in the future with more extras,and an enhanced widescreen format (which would benefit both aspects),and a commentary by Director John McTiernan,is something Twentieth Century Fox should consider.

Rating:
Summary: 40 Stories of Sheer adventure
Review: I would say that this is the best die hard movie over all of them. It has a good plot, a surprise ending, and a villian that by all means does mean business. After all his little speeches and stuff, he doesn't seem much like a terrorists at all. This was a good movie. I have to recomend it. Its a lot better then the other two. This was probably one of the greatest movies I've seen. It has a real hero, and a real sorry deputy of police. He has a friend who helps him through all this and is with him every step of the way. Unfortunately the deputy of police chief Dwain T. Robertson doesn't approve of his actions, on John getting involved in the hostage situation. And to think that John only came to see Holly, he never expected this. Overall, this is a good movie, I'd have to say get it.

Rating:
Summary: "Dang! I guess we're gonna need some more FBI guys!"
Review: This is one of the best action movies I've ever seen. Great explosions, funny one-liners, tons of well-developed characters... It's got everything. I would just like to state here my own theories as to why it's so successful. First of all, and most importantly, this is perhaps the only movie ever to successfully bridge the gap between two distinct types of action movie. On the one hand, it is a movie like "Rambo," in which a lone, much put-upon hero must survive and prevail against astronomical odds. On the other hand, due to the plot device of having Bruce Willis' character be in constant walkie-talkie contact with a cop outside, it manages to be a standard movie about two cop buddies, like "Lethal Weapon," etc, in which one of the cops has a proverbial screw loose and the other one needs to try to keep him calmed down. These two kinds of action movie, by their very nature, are usually mutually exclusive. That's why the plot device of having the two cops in constant contact by walkie talkie is so ingenious -- it allows the movie to be both kinds of story at once. I think that's one of the reasons this movie works so well.

The other unusual feature of this movie is the high frequency of scenes where a side character, who is somewhat outside the action, needs to use his or her wits to try to figure out what's going on in the plot. This usually means "how much information do the terrorists have at this point, and how might they use it to make (the character's) life totally miserable." Sympathy for these characters, and trying to guess at their mental processes, has the effect of drawing the viewer deeper and deeper into the movie.

Anyway, this is just a really fun flick. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: "Gosh, I hope that's not a hostage!"
Review: Everyone else has pretty much covered how great this film is. I just want to make an observation as to how this movie differs from other less realistic and subpar action films:

The terrorists didn't kill one another off. Why is it that in every action film the lead terrorist kills off his cohorts at the end. Oh, not only is he evil, but he's not a team player. In this film the bad guys are a team. They were smarter than the good guys. Hans, Marco, Karl, Tito, Jermaine...the terrorists have names and faces as opposed to Rambo style films where 50 people are shot down in five minutes.

Also, the DVD is great. I never saw this film in theaters and without that annoying PAN and SCAN, Die Hard is much more effective and exciting.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best action films of all time
Review: Bruce Willis is great as cop John McClane visiting his estranged wife in LA on christmas eve, only to be interrupted by terrorists at her office christmas party. Alan Rickman is wonderful as Hans Gruber, the leader of the terrorist group. their goal: 640 million dollars of bonds in the company vault.

Willis, armed just with his service revolver, single handedly takes them all out in some of the best filmed action sequences ever. this is one action movie loaded with excitment from beginning to end. The DVD offers great picture, but the scene stealer is the terrific sound quality. There are also trailers of all three die hard movies and a featurette. worth buying for any DVD owner!

Rating:
Summary: lots of fun
Review: From start to finish, this movie moves.

Rating:
Summary: Yippy Ki-Ay Motha@#$&!
Review: Nobody could have made a better drunken cop like John McLane than Bruce Willis. If you ever saw him on 'Moonlighting' you'd understand. He creates a personality like now other actor does. That is what makes DIE HARD so good. Die Hard has got to be one of my favorite action-comedies. It has got some great action in it and some very un-expected humor. This movie was the movie that changed all action movie fans' lives.

For all the people who don't what DIE HARD is about here it is: John Mclane is a New York cop who is seperated. When he is in LA at a christmas party visiting his wife, a group of terrorists take control of the building. John is the only cop in the building. So, wearing only a beader, khakis, and bear feet, John is a one man team out to stop the terrorists and save his wife.

This movie is the perfect party movie, perfect friday night movie, perfect for almost any time. I think that everybody should see this movie because it is awsome!

Rating:
Summary: Best Christmas Action Movie Ever
Review: Okay, so maybe there isn't an overflow of action movies set around Christmas...or maybe there are, but the only one really worth watching is the 1988 blockbuster, and still the original, "Die Hard." It's the film that made Bruce Willis a career and John McTiernan a director.

New York Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is headed to L.A. for the Christmas holiday to meet up with his wife and kids. Meeting up with his wife at her company's Christmas party at the fabulous, yet still unfinished Nakatomi Tower, where the mayhem ensues. Hans Gruber and his band of terrorists crash the party, take everyone hostage, and are ready to see their plans go smoothly, except for the one fly in the ointment....John McClane. The action picks up from there and doesn't end until the credits begin to roll.

"Die Hard" is a terrific action movie. It's got the endless amounts of bullets, the witty dialogue, the insurmountable confrontations, male bonding, and the damsel in distress that needs to be rescued. If you're looking for a classic action flick now on DVD that looks and sounds sharper than ever that will have you laughing and cheering, then get yourself a copy of "Die Hard."

And when you're done with the first one, go and check out the sequels, which are equally entertaining. Welcome to the party, pal.

Rating:
Summary: See it in widescreen without interruption
Review: I'm so pleased to see so many raves for this movie here. I expected the sort of criticism I saw in a post about "American Beauty," in which the writer said that people who couldn't appreciate that one would probably like dreck like "Die Hard." Well, "Die Hard" is the better film, because (1) it sets out to do something more admirable and (2) it achieves it. It sets out to be not just an action thriller, but a generous and original one. ("American Beauty" was anything but original, and now enough said about that.) Look at all of the genuine humor laced throughout the dialogue. Look at how so many scenes appear to have been written, then written again and again, as if the screenwriter said, "OK, we've moved the plot along here; now, how can we make this moment even more complex and hair-raising?"

This is the one Hollywood action movie that has been truly well thought out. Every seemingly inconsequential thing -- including McClane's fear of flying ("fists with your toes") to Holly slamming his photo face-down on the credenza -- turns out to be crucial to the plot! That was so impressive.

And has there ever been an action twist as delicious as Gruber confronting McClane when the latter doesn't know who Gruber really is (or does he?). The theater audiences almost giggled with delight and tension. Not to mention the leap off the roof -- the pivotal moment by which all other Big Action Scenes need to be judged. And right there is an example of the generous filmmakers giving us more than we might ordinarily expect -- moments after the leap, we get (1) the possibility of his being stuck dangling there, and (2) the absolutely sweat-inducing moments immediately following his solution to the dangling situation (I'm not giving too much away). (My only complaint about the leap is that McClane would have been gripping that hose for dear life, not throwing his hands over his head. That, and the fact that his double had longer hair that was slicked back.)

The whole terrorists vs. common thieves element also adds to our pure enjoyment -- instead of being thrust into a contemporary plot, the sort of which we usually go to the movies to escape, we get a story as elemental as a Roy Rogers western. So it's appropriate that McClane's signature expression should be -- well, I can't say here.

See this one, but see it in widescreen: there's at least one moment -- in the lobby of the tower -- when the suspense in pan-and-scan is non-existent because you literally can't see that one of the protagonists is unknowingly walking within a few feet of one of the bad guys.