Die Hard

Watched the first Die Hard movie with my son a few weeks ago on an evening when the 2 of us were home alone. He had not even heard of it even though this is kind of an action movie classic. From 1988 I remember it causing a bit of a stir at the time because of the explosive action and high body count. Bruce Willis was not yet a big movie start but that all changed after this movie. It is said to have redefined the action movie genre and for sure compared to other actions movies from that time it has a more human hero instead of the super human invincible heros portrayed that were common then. The John McClane played by Bruce Willis is not indestructible but definitely very hard to kill. As a human being he is flawed but he compensates for this by his unwillingness to bow for the criminals even though the odds are stacked against him. All the action takes place in the limited space of a high-rise which gives the movie something extra in my opinion. Besides Bruce Willis as John McClane, the biggest bonus of this movie is definitely Alan Rickman who plays the villain Hans Gruber and manages to portray him as both exuberant and ice cold and ruthless. Quite enjoyable still after more than 30 years.