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It doesn’t matter if there are carollers outside, or if
it’s slap bang in the middle of the hottest summer,
there’s always time for Die Hard. The quintessential
action movie of well, ever, sees Bruce Willis trade in
his sitcom origins for a dirty vest and a Beretta.
New York cop John Mcclane’s (Willis), holiday
season is about to get a whole lot worse. When
Alan Rickman and his band of not-so-merry men
shoot their way into an LA skyscraper and hold the
partying office workers hostage, Mcclane happens
to find himself in the wrong place at the right time.
Leader of this German ‘terrorist’ group, Hans Gruber,
is not just my favourite Rickman role (dodgy accent
aside) but perhaps the greatest villain in Hollywood
history.
Director John McTiernan, fresh off of the surprise
hit Predator, delivers this masterclass in tension
and set-piece action only a year later, making Willis
a household name in the process. A myriad of
copycats, including four sequels(!), over the years
did little to dilute the impact the original had, and
still has to this day, thirty years later. (Jack Whiting)