Sticking with the action movie theme, no list of alternative Christmas options would be complete without Die Hard. NYPD cop John McClane heads to Los Angeles to meet up with his wife at her office Xmas party but, during the celebration, a team of criminals led by the charismatic Hans Gruber takes the partygoers hostage while attempting to pull off a high-stakes. Fortunately, McClane was out of sight when the hostages were taken and while he may not be wearing shoes he did remember his gun.
Directed by John McTiernan
Screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, Novel By Roderick Thorp
Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, & Reginald VelJohnson
John McTiernan was fresh off directing Predator (1987) when he made this movie, so his experience with presenting stealth military tactics came in handy. The style is more or less inverted as it’s McClane who’s mostly out of sight while hunting the enemy, but the style lends itself to moments of tension building punctuated by explosive action. Much of the action is isolated as McClane begins to pick off the bad guys in selective exchanges of heavy gunfire but, once the shooting starts, it’s a violent sprint to the finish line.
The screenplay adaptation of Roderick Thorp’s novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza focused on charismatic characters with broad-stroke depictions and a well-paced push-and-pull dynamic between moments of furious intensity. Having the action lead the way, character development wasn’t particularly important. With the slightest of sympathy from his marital problems, Bruce Willis brought an everyman quality to McClane that worked wonderfully opposite the late-great Alan Rickman’s brooding, cerebral intensity as Hans Gruber. While they are the primary adversaries, most of their interaction is not happening face-to-face which was a smart way to build additional tension.
We are also treated to a number of strong contributing performances from Reginald VelJohnson as the unlucky LAPD officer who’s first on the scene and befriends McClane over the radio, Paul Gleason as the arrogant police chief Robinson, William Atherton as the hungry reporter who’s looking to break the hostage story for his network, and Hart Bochner as the smarmy, coke-snorting Ellis who works with McClane’s wife and thinks he can talk his way out of anything.
This movie is so 80s and I mean that in the most positive way. Let’s also not forget Run-D.M.C.’s “Christmas in Hollis” blaring through the limousine speakers on McClane’s way to the Nakatomi Plaza. Successful both critically and commercially, it spawned a franchise that included four sequel films with Willis reprising his role in each of them. McTiernan would return to direct the franchise’s third installment, Die Hard with a Vengeance, which actually my favorite. If you could only watch one movie to celebrate Christmas, Die Hard isn’t a bad choice. You can find it currently streaming on HBO Max and for rent through most video-on-demand services.
Yippe Ki Yay! Happy Holidays!