Die Hard with Airbourne

I have been lucky enough to meet a lot of interesting and famous people in my life. One such person is rock star Joel O’Keeffe, the lead guitarist and singer of the Australian hard rock and roll band Airbourne, whose song Live It Up went number one in Canada this year (the first of their career in any country). I have been able to spend quite some time with the guys from Airbourne, and as you can probably guess, it did not take long for the conversation to turn to movies. Joel’s favourite film is the legendary action flick Die Hard, which he calls “the greatest film ever!!” He also added that, “Die Hard literally set the benchmark and wrote the book for the ‘One Man vs. heaps of Terrorists’ blockbuster action flick”.

So this week I’m starting the Christmas season off with a bang by reviewing Die Hard. Some may wonder how this high-octane action picture is a Christmas movie. Loosely speaking, it is considered one of the greatest Christmas movies of all-time, as it is set during an office Christmas party. The movie also features some Yuletide music. Just go with it.

Directed by John McTiernan, (Predator) Die Hard follows New York police officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) as he arrives in Los Angeles to spend the season with his wife and kids. He arrives at his wife’s place of business, Nakatomi Plaza, where she is attending the annual Christmas party. As McClane enters the building, he has no clue what he is in for. A group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman – Snape of Harry Potter fame), enter the building and hold those inside hostage while they attempt to pull off the perfect heist. There is no way of getting in or out of the building, there is only John McClane – the one man who can help take down the team of twelve terrorists.

He does get some help though, as McClane is able to make contact with Sgt. Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson – Family Matters) by way of a radio. The phone-friends help each other out as much as they can from their two very different perspectives (inside and out of the building). Perhaps O’Keeffe summed up the plot best by saying the story is about “a simple man caught in a sh** storm and has to pull off the impossible to survive whilst making wisecracks to himself and communicating through a radio to the SWAT team/Military on the outside. I love that sh**!!”

The screenplay, written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. De Souza (based on the novel “Nothing Lasts Forever” by Roderick Thorp) is very strong for an action film, but on top of that (and the amazing action sequences), what makes the movie so good are the classic performances by the wise-cracking, unflappable Bruce Willis as McClane; the diabolical, accented genius Alan Rickman as Gruber; the sympathetic friend (VelJohnson) on the outside who cannot draw his gun after a deadly disaster, and the rest of the oddball cast of characters that yield colourful performances.

The movie could have ended up going in a very different direction, as the role was first offered to Frank Sinatra (who would have been 72 when shooting began) as he starred in the movie The Detective, a precursor to the book Die Hard is based on. Richard Gere was then considered first choice to play McClane. Alan Rickman, whose controlled performance ranks near the top in the villain category (along with Gary Oldman in The Professional and a few others) was almost replaced by Twentieth Century Fox due to his mannered portrayal.

Die Hard is one of the most important action pictures of all-time. Not only did it make an action star out of Willis, but it has held up as one of the better written, adrenaline-pumping action movies ever produced. It has aged very well too, partly due to Willis’ receding hairline never having had the chance to grow into an 80’s style Mel Gibson mullet. Enjoy this unlikely Christmas classic. Yippee-ki-yay, Father Christmas is on his way!