The film starts off with Officer John McClane (Bruce!) on his journey from New York to L.A. to spend the holidays with his family. We later find out that he has some marital issues that he's trying to work out. The only thing he seems to travel with is a large stuffed teddy bear for his kids and a gun because what else would Bruce Willis need? He gets a ride to his wife Holly's (Bonnie Bedelia) work building for the annual Christmas party. The limo driver is a guy named Argyle, and he might be one of the best characters ever invented. Argyle waits for John to come back with his wife just in case he's gonna get some as John enters the building. As he checks to see where his wife is he notices that she now goes by her maiden name. Ouch. Lucky for her, this change will eventually save her life. Heartbroken, John heads upstairs to meet his wife and her boss Mr. Takagi. He goes to the restroom and freshen up where he takes off his shoes in order to relax his temper. As of now, John McClane is just wearing a white wife-beater and black pants. No shoes, no socks. All of a sudden, shots are fired during the party and enter this guy.
Hans Gruber. He is my most favorite villain. He has brains, he is driven, and his German accent is to die for. Yeah, he's evil and wants to crash the capitalist system, but who's perfect? Does he look familar? He should because he played Professor Severus Snape in all of the Harry Potter movies. That's right. It's Alan f'n Rickman! He is the absolute perfect villain mastermind as he finagle's his way into complete worldwide capitalist failure. He's not afraid to kill a few people, and he most certainly does to assert his power in front of his hostages and fellow terrorists. He's even good enough to fake a nervous American accent and fool McClane into thinking he's not a German killer but a scared hostage looking for a way out. Silly John McClane. His one flaw is that he only knows what his enemy sounds like instead of what they look like. He ends up taking a radio, backpack (with bomb detonators), and machine guns from a poor German named Klaus I think. And by taking, I mean killing and sending his body down an elevator to show the rest of the Germans like this.
As McClane hides out from the enemy, they continue to try and drill through the company's vault so they can hold a large amount of bonds that will help them control the world. But that's not really important is it? Back to Bruce Willis. He manages to call in the police from his radio and quickly befriends a lonely cop who believes his story and that he needs his help. This helping urge comes after John drops a dead terrorist body on the hood of his car from thirty floors up. The copper just so happens to be the dad from Family Matters which makes complete sense for his character as he and John banter back and forth about the sticky mess they're in. Eventually the FBI and SWAT teams get involved as they surround the building and try to handle the terrorist threat. This obviously plays right into Hans Gruber's (great name) hands as he sends them on a goose chase to free radical people from prisons as a bargaining tool. But John's still on the run. Through it all though, inexplicably, his white wife-beater goes from bright white, to a dark black. There were a few explosions, but there's no way something could go from this:
To that. Really movie world? We're suppose to believe that it changed that much? Well I guess this movie can't be completely perfect or the entire world might explode. Speaking of explosions. McClane uses all his badassery (yeah that's a word) and blows out an entire floor of the building to deter the feds from entering to soon. There are a couple other deaths and we learn a little about the cop and McClane's life until the ultimate climax when the terrorists get the bonds and try to kill off all the hostages on the roof in one large explosion. McClane gets there in time to stop them and saved the day. In a turn of events, Hans almost falls off the building but grabs on to McClane's wife as he takes her as an exclusive hostage. As he hangs on for dear life, her expensive Rolex watch falls off and bye bye Hnas. He falls very slowly and epic-ly to his death. John McClane has saved the day. Hooray!!!!
There are some great little quips this film has that make it even more fantastic, but you have to go watch it to find them. It's really Bruce Willis at his finest. He's got a quirky sense of humor but the body and mind to be a great action star. Arnold and Sly have got nothing on Bruce. I may be a girl at heart, but I really love a good blowup, shoot-em-up movie like this that just puts me in the best mood. The sequels are ok, but you really just need this one. I'm sure other Bruce films will come up since I love him so much so fasten your seat belts. "Yipee-ki-yay mother f*&ker"!
There are some great little quips this film has that make it even more fantastic, but you have to go watch it to find them. It's really Bruce Willis at his finest. He's got a quirky sense of humor but the body and mind to be a great action star. Arnold and Sly have got nothing on Bruce. I may be a girl at heart, but I really love a good blowup, shoot-em-up movie like this that just puts me in the best mood. The sequels are ok, but you really just need this one. I'm sure other Bruce films will come up since I love him so much so fasten your seat belts. "Yipee-ki-yay mother f*&ker"!
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