Rating: 
Summary: Just call me Roy...
Review: "Die Hard", the film that made Bruce Willis a worldwide star, holds up rather well as it approaches the fifteenth anniversary of its release. Hot off the success of "Predator", director John McTiernan delivered a tight, action packed number that seems shorter than its 2:12 runtime. Boasting no big stars, Die Hard's success is largely attributable a focused, well paced plot, and the talents of Bruce Willis.As most are aware, the story takes place on Christmas Eve. NYC cop John McClane (Willis) arrives in LA to meet with his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), who works downtown in the Nakatomi Plaza. While the company Christmas party is in progress, a criminal band led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) takes over the building in an elaborate attempt to steal some valuables locked in the company's vault. McClane evades capture, and proceeds to do whatever he can to thwart the criminal's plans. It's guerilla warfare between McClane and the baddies. With the barefoot cop slowly improving the odds, picking off a crook or two at a time, during the various encounters. Gruber the group's leader, played with a mixture of class and menace by Rickman, slowly goes from being in complete control, to struggling to hold things together. A ruthless and worthy opponent to the very end. For the isolated McClane, radio communication is used both to establish the confrontational relationship with Gruber, and a bond with sympathetic LA beat cop Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson). With a reduced emphasis on dialog, the film's focus turns to the action sequences. And since the efforts of the law enforcement authorities prove ineffectual, indecisive, and plain stupid, McClane is the only hope. Die Hard's finish is still OK by today's standards, but just barely, as movie finishes continue to rise to more spectacular levels. The success of this film would result in two sequels (so far) and spawn numerous imitations attempting to replicate its appeal and box office take. Die Hard is still enjoyable, but not quite cutting edge.
Rating:
Summary: Classic action flick
Review: A New York city cop (Bruce Willis) becomes embroiled in a fiery battle with terrorists who have taken over a Los Angeles high-rise. This is by-the-numbers genre material all the way: invincible hero, African-American sidekicks, foreign villains, clueless superiors...if you've ever seen an action movie, you know the drill. "Die Hard," however, does all of this so well that it emerges as great entertainment, even as we realize how derivative it is. Also on the plus side, Willis infuses his John McClaine with a humanity and an Everyman quality that makes him more of an Indiana Jones type than a fascist, omnipotent Dirty Harry clone.
Rating:
Summary: The Flagship of my DVD collection
Review: I couldn't wait to own this movie on DVD. Its a great-looking roller coaster ride filled with fantastic stunts and very slick villians, who are so much more interesting than the usual crop of mindless bullies seen in every other shoot-'em-up movie. The LAPD and FBI are the only thing keeping this movie from getting 5 stars from me. Seems like they could have done at least one thing right in the movie. About the Special Features: As usual, the added scenes contributed nothing (that's why they were cut in the first place). The editing workshop was a joke. You really only get to pick from a choice of 3 takes to build a preset sequence which lasts maybe a few seconds. I stupidly assumed that I would get to lay down audio tracks, build my own sequence, you know, editing. Maybe they could expand this so it doesn't seem so much like a cheap gimmick for padding the features list. I did like the commentaries. They pointed out things I never noticed in the 20 times I've seen this movie. Overall, a great thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes 007 look bad
Review: James Bond movies are good but this was totally better. It is a nice plot about how an ingenious terrorist plan can be spoiled by a single cop who is like the mastermind when dealing with terrorists. The starts off with a NY cop John Mclane(Bruce Willis on vacation, meeting his seperated (not divorced wife) in a building called the Nakatomi Plaza. It wasn't long before a dozen of terrorists take over the building not knowing there is a cop there. Alan Rickman played a good role as leader of the terrorists "Hans Gruber" especially when outsmarting the police. The cops don't listen to John except for one(The guy who played "Carl Winslow" from "Family Matters". The gunn shooting was awesome and it even looked real unlike other movies. You'll love the suspence as John Mclane trie to go through every terrorists so he could save the people and kill Hans. This is a good movie, GET IT.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Own!
Review: Even for 1988, "Die Hard" is one of the greatest action films ever made. Hands down. Period. No contest. It's the film that pretty much established Bruce Willis as the blockbuster actor he is today and spawned two sequels. And with 20th Century Fox's Five Star Collection, this two disk DVD is a must own! A young and unknown Bruce Willis plays NYPD John McClane, coming to Los Angeles to see his children and hopefully get back together with his wife, Holly. As he settles in the Nakatomi building, a group of terrorists led by Hans Gruber (then as well an unknown Alan Rickman) take over the building and want over 600 million dollars in "negotiable bearer bonds" locked in the electro-magnetic safe in the building. Eventually, a terrorist ends up killed. We learn that McClane, armed with just a pistol and a semi-automatic, is running through the building, trying to alert anyone of what is going on. John eventually gets the attention of Sgt. Powell ("Family Matters" star Reginald VelJohnson) and the movie explodes from there. McClane hunts more terrorists, the FBI arrives, and a grand heist is planned as Gruber and his fellow terrorists plan to take off while blowing the top of the building. "Die Hard" is a knockout smash-bang action success with great spots of comedy just where it's needed. The two disc DVD features commentaries, the longer version of the movie, deleted scenes, out-takes, the screenplay, trailers, and a whole load of DVD-ROM extras. This is a DVD to make examples of. Adding the special features with such a great film like "Die Hard" is a great tribute and success.
Rating:
Summary: You're not buying this DVD just for its charming personality
Review: DIE HARD is without a doubt, the most superior action movie of the eighties and the top ten of my movies of all time. The transfer is exceptional. The sound is the best! Bullets, booms, screams overwhelm you. One thing I love that I think all DVD's should have is a segment that explains the need for widescreen in maintaining the director's vision. Several trailers and T.V. spots, audio and text commentary tracks, state-of-the-art animated menus, outtakes/deleted scene reel, magazine articles, and. . . an editing room for scenes from the movie! Here is a disc that does justice for a movie that does the action genre justice!
Rating:
Summary: Third one's better!! This is good!!!
Review: The 3rd of this series is the best, which is unusual. This one's better than the 2nd though, huge disapointment with the 2nd one. Anyhow, terrorists take over the Nakatomi Plaza, leader of this is Alan Rickman. Jon Maclean(Bruce Willis) is on a vacation there to see his wife. He's a New York cop, he's the only weapon against these terroritsts. He tries everything to get the dumb cops to listen, except one, who listens and is determined to protect John Maclean, from the other dumb cops. A good movie, 2 thumbs up. Watch this and the 3rd, the 2nd one isn't worth it!!
Rating:
Summary: The Classic New-Action Movie.
Review: Action movies have been around for a long time (just watch some old Cagney or Bogart gangster flicks if you don't believe me). However, it wasn't until the late 70s and early 80s that action movies entered a new domain: that of the superhuman who blows lots of things up due to a big budget. DIE HARD set a new template in the action genre because Bruce Willis' character really isn't a superhuman, he's just a good cop who uses his wits to out smart the bad guys. The movie re-ignited Willis' film career and his star performance as the bare-footed hero is rather well done for an action film. Alan Rickman is great as the slimy villian, Hans Gruber and Reginald Vel Johnson is a joy to watch as the befuddled cop who becomes friends with Willis' character over the radio. Overall a great movie that has lots of action, a decent script, a little romance, and an admirable; yet human hero.
Rating:
Summary: Yippe Kay Yay!
Review: The movie that made John McTiernan (Predator) the hottest action director in Hollywood, created an explosion of inferior rip-offs and with Bruce Willis, started the long line of sweaty vested heroes while making a huge box-office success. The movie of course, is Die Hard. The first (and best) in what would become a trilogy, Bruce Willis' first major action man role carries the distinction of being heralded as the greatest action movie ever made. It's title is debatable, but regardless, this movie is great! The action, stunts, uber-cool villains, one-liners, impressive FX and big noisy things exploding make this one of the all-time greats. McTiernan would go on to direct Die Hard with a Vengeance after Renny Harlin's mediocre Die Hard 2 and influenced countless other action films throughout the 80's and 90's. This special edition DVD is one of the best on the market, loaded with extras.
Disc 1 includes a commentary by director John McTiernan and production designer Jackson DeGovia, and Disc 2 has outtakes, deleted scenes, the whole flippin' screenplay, awesome trailers, TV spots and DVD-ROM features with script-to-screen comparison and game demos and more cool stuff for die-hard Die Hard fans (Hey, that's where the saying comes from!) See? This movie has truly influenced countless action films but has also become a statement for all things sweaty and extreme. Yipee Kay Yay!
Rating:
Summary: The King of all Action movies!!!
Review: "Die Hard" is simpily, by far, the king of all action cinemas. It gave birth to a new genre of pulse-poundng adventure, while at the same time, giving birth to the career of Bruce Willis and John McTiernan. The movie's plot gives in to a idea of paranoia; You're stuck at the 33rd floor of a sky scaper, full of terrorists and hostages, armed with only a 9mm pistol and street smart skills. What would you do??? Or should I say, what would John McClane do??? The story of Die Hard takes place in LA. New York cop John McClane (Willis) is visiting his asstanged wife, Holly, whom work for Nakatmomi enterprises, a major Japanese corporation. The Nakatomi plaza is a huge sky scraper in the middle of Century City, where John meets his wife now Holly Gennero, instead of Holly McClane. After a small argument in her office on the 33rd floor, John and Holly are split up when a group of Terrorists, lead by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), a German Hijacker. Their objective is to steal over 4 billion dollars in bonds from the Nakatomi safe, while get away safely. They kill Mr. Nakatomi and take the entire staff hostage. John is the only one who manages to get away. He uses his street smart skills to navigate through the tedious tower floors, emlinate the terrorists and their leader, and save his marrage at the same time! "Die Hard" rocks hard! No doubt that this is was the beginning of a new geneation of action and adventure. The only movie that comes close to being as good as this one, is it's third sequel "Die Hard with a Vengeance" which is actually the real sequel to this film (don't even bother seeing "Die Hard 2". It stinks to high heaven). By the DVD, because it is jammpacked full of special features and audio commentary. Yippie Ky Yay!
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