It’s Not X-mas Until Hans Gruber Falls From Nakatomi Plaza
“Asian Dawn?” “I read about them in TIME Magazine.”
[WARNING SPOILERS] Who is to say that Christmas movies can’t be action movies? Die Hard released in 1988, about an NYPD officer who tries to save his wife and several others taken hostage by German terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles, is a Christmas movie. There are a lot of critics that hesitate to classify Die Hard as a typical Christmas movie, however, throughout the movie Die Hard has multiple scenes referencing Santa and Christmas with the main plot-line centered around a corporate Christmas holiday party furthering the seasonal festivity of the movie.
It is an action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, and it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, and Bonnie Bedelia. Die Hard follows New York City police detective John McClane (Willis) who is caught up in a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper while visiting his estranged wife. Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton, Paul Gleason, and Hart Bochner feature in supporting roles.
The film is beautifully directed and composed. Everything from the sound of the elevators as they dinged each time they reached a new floor in the office building provided so much foreshadowing for different encounters with villains and bad guys later on in the film. The technology of the time also brought out so many beautiful themes and references to the 1980’s that you just can’t replicate today.
One of the most prominent scenes has to be when Hans Gruber holds Takagi at gunpoint and shoots him after he confidently refuses to provide the code to the company’s safe containing almost half a billion dollars in bearer bonds (an amount that would be staggering in todays dollars adjusted for inflation). The second best Christmas related scene has to be when Hans Gruber reveals one of his henchman in the elevator with a, “Now I have a machine gun. Ho! Ho! Ho!” sign written on his hoodie. The quick action cuts between the cops and McClain’s situation are always uber intense as well.
Die Hard really functions as a time capsule into the past. So many of the clothing items, technology, corporate names, office themes, geo-political, and relationship situations are so reflective of the environment in the 80’s. With COVID being so emblematic of the 2020’s its a real comfort to be able to time travel back to the environment of that movie where the problems seemed so distant and irrelevant to now, but that were probably as important and relevant then as most issues are today. Of course the enemies of the film are German bank-robbers. For such a long period of time Germans were the perfect “Bad-Guy” for any movie, video game or protagonist storyline.
Expectations for Die Hard were low; some marketing efforts omitted Willis's image, ostensibly because the marketing team determined that the setting was as important as McClane. Upon its release in July 1988, initial reviews were mixed: criticism focused on its violence, plot, and Willis's performance, while McTiernan's direction and Rickman's charismatic portrayal of the villain Hans Gruber were praised. Defying predictions, Die Hard grossed approximately $140 million, becoming the year's tenth-highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing action film. Receiving four Academy Award nominations, it elevated Willis to leading-man status and made Rickman a celebrity. The scene with Hans Gruber falling, played by Rickman has become an iconic moment in cinematic history that is referenced by fans and internet communities alike.
Alan Rickman was artfully casted as Hans Gruber providing a villain persona and ego greater than life - similar to the more recent casting of Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds. The chemistry of Alan Rickman and his supporting crew was also fantastic as they navigate both their heist and the ineptitude of the external police trying to grasp ahold of the situation. In final, in my opinion - Sgt. Al Powell the lonely cop who helped backup and support the main character throughout the film was also 100% the #1 Most Valuable Player of this entire film.
