Post 33

 Die Hard- A Movie Review

CR 2014

By  Darrell J Banks All Rights reserved.

I wrote this review a few years ago, maybe I posted it, maybe I didn’t because on the Internet does it matter? There is an archive at the NSA or some “online” library ready to check your stuff out. Times have changed  for most of us I still want to sale a screenplay, make a million dollars and move , like the song goes.  And now for our review.

What can one understand about character development in this classic film? Why do I call it a classic? Well, like Rocky, the Terminator and so many others it revised the action/cop genre.  “Come to the coast we’ll have a few laughs" defined movie creation for a generation. When I went to Script Expo Shawn Black spoke to us as we sat in admiration listening to every word. Back then, gas was still .75 cents.  911  was unimaginable and the only movie that involved a battle in a big building was the Towering Inferno.  

Act 2 No more Twinkies

Abe Lincoln has freed at least one person. In another great moment of character development we find ourselves with a black policemen who has said f*** it. He knows that life can disappear in a second. So when sent to investigate the building he finds that bodies are falling out the sky along with bullets. The police arrive and the real games begin. Unlike game shows, the pain in the ass Detective has added a few dead terrorists to his list.  Like John Wayne he has to save the day, and ride to the sunset with his bride. Using western symbols, Yippy kai yay mother f*****.  Bruce Willis picks up his cigarettes, takes the detonators and moves on.  Back in cop mode Al the policemen uses another antiquated term party line ( a cheaper version of two land lines)  In today’s age McClain ( Willis) would have a cell phone but back then even pagers were not in vogue.  Act 2 allows a pause in the action and for two characters to develop themselves. But D. Robinson emerges on the side of the antagonists. In an action movie themes move and slide in-between genre. Robinson makes a crack inside joke. (He could be a bartender B. Willis's former occupation).  If you have seen Die Hard 4, you know that life changes for McClain. But in this episode, his wife is standing by his side. Like in any good western, she’s been captured like Nell with Dudley Do Right. The bad guys are fascinated by her.

The driver from Act one scene one finds out he is also trapped. His Christmas party is over.  RV's and technical vehicles are not match for a re-coil-less rifle. The police back then had SWAT (LL Cool J and Samuel Jackson) but there is only one McClain and like Rambo and Wayne, he improvises with C-4 artillery that prevents utter chaos.  The news interlope on the scene Hans like the Red Army is not about to go down with a fight. He is out for the money and what people will do for money is worse than the lyrics of the O’Jay’s song. More lives are lost, and Hans assumes the character role of terrorist.  With this move, the screenwriter takes the viewer into the realm of the seventies. He demands the release of old terrorists and a helicopter.  The antagonists use great Christmas words. And we settle into a valley of dialog that allows the characters to advance the story.  We flip to the news and find someone talking about things they don’t know.  A great parody of major news stories unfolds until we conclude ACT 2 with the FBI intervening.

ACT 3 FBI agents Johnson and Johnson know what they have in hand. Like cardboard cutout characters, they know they can control the situation. The antagonist is great in this film-using actor’s diction and a great memory he distracts the protagonist. But McClain is no dummy he provides a great prop and Bill/Hans falls for this ploy. Most great characters make or break a film. Like some recent films, the character is great but the supporting actors fail to move the plot along.  John M. has his own plan, Hans counts to three one more bad guy departs the world and a classic lab scene unfolds (Mission Impossible 2).  That’s one thing I love about movies they expand upon one another.   Imagine this, you are trapped like a rat, the water is rising and your tail is caught. Would you bite it off (Saw movies) or would you improvise and suffer pulling your tail free.  McClain must do the unimaginable and Shawn Black is thrust into movie history.

When 911 arrived the news media gave due respect to most families but in this movie the press intrudes into the life of his wife.  Who gives an anecdote on husbands and wives? True to form, the characters evolve again via walkie-talkie. The FBI does the same thing and another classic scene is set up.

When I saw Jaws, I hated sharks. Aliens made me hate outer space. Die Hard well, let just say I’m always sure I stay away from glass, windows, doors, even drinking.  If you watch this film over and over again, you will learn character development.  Hans, well let’s just say he’s one of the world’s best antagonist and John McClain I hear they are making a fifth film for this action hero.

Ciao.