Bernie Michalik's posterous site

Die Hard seems like a classic now. It seems odd to say that, but films of
the 80s are 20 to 30 years old. That is moving into classic territory. And
it is a classic in a lot of ways. It is an influential action film, it has
great stars, and it has a gripping story line with witty dialog.

That's what actually struck me tonight: how funny it is. Not just Bruce
Willis's character, but the dialogue of the LA police chief and sergeant.
The humor is very dark, but very funny. When the asinine FBI agents get
blown up, the deputy chief says: we're going to need more FBI guys. And
when one of the bad guys fall from a window, he winces: I hope that wasn't
a hostage. The main funny guy though is Bruce Willis who wise cracks all
throughout the movie and he is very funny indeed.

Willis is more than funny though. He reacts to things in a way that
prevents it from being a farce. He seems threatened and frightened often,
and that interplay between tension and humor make both good.

I was surprised how much Terminator 2 seems to borrow from this. The scene
in T2 where they go to retrieve a part of the old terminator is very
similar to this film.

It is hard to take the violence in this film seriously. Mostly it is to
make the bad guys exit stage left. Willis's character shows no regret in
killing anyone, and the audience is supposed to have no sympathy for them
either. They are caroonish and one dimensional for the most part. The
cathatic aspect of such a film is in the elimination of these people, these
evil spirits, so to speak.

I miss 80s action films. Like John Hughes films, they are a genre all of
their own. In later decades the heroes were no longer as funny and the
violence was no longer as dismissive. Die Hard captures it as best as any
film of that time.

I don't have much else to say about the film, other than it is a great ride
after all these years. And it is a Christmas movie! This December, you owe
it to yourself to watch it
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