Merry Christmas, Bruce!

New York City police detective John McLane (Bruce Willis) arrives in Los Angeles for a visit with his estranged wife, Holly Gennaro (Bonnie Bedelia). Holly left NYC with the couple's two children when she was offered a prestigious job with the Nakatomi Corporation. John was completely unsupportive of her career move, resulting in a rift between them. He's in LA, hoping for a reconciliation, but is not in her office five minutes when he begins an argument about her job. The squabble only ceases because she is called out to speak at the company Christmas party. Raging at himself, John remains in her office cleaning up. It's only due to this that, when the party is invaded by a group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) John is able to escape, and begins a one-man war on the invaders, while trying to get help from the LA Police. Welcome to the 30th anniversary of  Die Hard (1988), a TCM Fathom Event.

Bruce Willis brings the proper level of non-hero to the role of McLane. John is literally making things up as he goes along, and Willis makes it clear that John is operating on a new level. He's no traditional action hero - he's scared, he gets hurt, he makes mistakes. He has one goal: to get himself and Holly out of the building alive.

Interestingly, the part was originally intended for Frank Sinatra (Yahoo Entertainment) following his success in The Detective (1968). After Mr. Sinatra said no, the film was offered to Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman (ABC News), Richard Gere, Al Pacino, Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan, and Burt Reynolds (Daily Mail). Bruce Willis was a TV actor; sure, his show Moonlighting, was a success, but it was primarily a comedy, he was not the titular star (Cybill Shepherd was) and Mr. Willis' first forays into films had not done well. But, by this time the producers were desperate, and (thankfully) decided to go with Mr. Willis.

Good as Mr. Willis is, he is nothing without his nemesis, the magnificent Alan Rickman. Mr. Rickman is the perfect foil to Willis. Gruber is unemotional - even as he murders in cold blood, he never blinks or shows any concern (for an excellent discussion of the character, see this New Yorker article: "The Unforgettable Villainy of Alan Rickman in Die Hard"). Hans Gruber is #46 on AFI's list of Greatest Villains, and deservedly so. Mr. Rickman gives the movie the gravitas that it requires to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. It was Mr. Rickman who decided that Gruber should be garbed in an expensive suit and tie, which succeeds in turning his character into even more of a monster. (this article from The Vulture comments on Mr. Rickman's stunt work in the film - he did the scary final fall himself). 

The part of Gruber was his breakout role, in a career that included such varied characters as Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest (1999), John, the philandering husband in Love, Actually (2003), Jamie, the ghostly cellist in Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990) Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility (1995), and, of course, Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. I was lucky enough to see him perform Private Lives on Broadway in 2002. He was a thrilling actor, whom I miss.

I'm always pleased to see James Shigeta (Mr. Takagi) and he does not disappoint in his brief role. Mr. Takagi is a hero, who tries his best to protect his employees, even to sacrificing his own life. Since roles for Asian actors are always at a minimum, Mr. Shigeta's film career was limited. However, he appeared in a wide range of TV shows, and was always excellent. Two films of his to look out for are Bridge to the Sun (1961) and Flower Drum Song (1961). Born in Honolulu, he served in the Marines during the Korean Conflict. He began his performing career as a singer, ultimately working on film, television, and the theatre. He died at the age of 85 in 2014.

On release, the film received mixed reviews (AFI catalog) - this New York Times review is an example of one of the bad ones. It is, however a film that has aged well and become more widely admired in the ensuing years. Richard Brody, in an article from The New Yorker talks about having finally seen the film after 29 years (he enjoyed it, with reservations). It resulted in four sequels (none as good as the original), and was #25 in Entertainment Weekly's list of the "25 Greatest Action Films of All Time." And, in 2007, Bruce Willis donated the undershirt that McClane wore to the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History.

Though Bruce Willis has stated that Die Hard is not a Christmas movie (article from The Washington Post), I would disagree - sure, there's lots of violence (but there is violence in Home Alone, and that seems to be widely accepted as a Christmas movie), but at its essence, Die Hard is about a family finding itself, and if that is not the spirit of Christmas, I don't know what is. Besides - there's a tree and Christmas music!

We'll leave you with the trailer, and a message of good cheer this holiday season. Yippee-ki-yay!