Die Hard

1988 Action/Adventure

It's Christmas time in L.A., and there's an employee party in progress on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation building. The revelry comes to a violent end when the partygoers are taken hostage by a group of terrorists headed by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who plan to steal the 600 million dollars locked in Nakatomi's high-tech safe. In truth, Gruber and his henchmen are only pretending to be politically motivated to throw the authorities off track; also in truth, Gruber has no intention of allowing anyone to get out of the building alive. Meanwhile, New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) has come to L.A. to visit his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), who happens to be one of the hostages. Disregarding the orders of the authorities surrounding the building, McClane, who fears nothing (except heights), takes on the villains, armed with one handgun and plenty of chutzpah. Until Die Hard came along, Bruce Willis was merely that wisecracking guy on Moonlighting. After the film's profits started rolling in, Willis found himself one of the highest-paid and most sought-after leading men in Hollywood. more..

Director: John McTiernan

Starring: Bruce Willis,Alan Rickman, Reginald VelJohnson, Bonnie Bedelia, Alexander Godunov

Reviews

  • The result is a foot-stomping rouser. Where else can you get a cop in his underwear boogalooing with skyscraper terrorists?

    Mike Clark - USA Today

    19 January 2013

  • A firepowered, blood-drenched action picture that doesn't let up.

    Desson Thomson - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

  • Slick, glossy, overblown, implausible.

    Peter Stack - The San Francisco Chronicle

    19 January 2013

  • Has everything but a personality.

    Dave Kehr - The Chicago Tribune

    19 January 2013

  • Has to be the most excessive film around. It piles every known element of the action genre onto the flimsy story.

    - The New York Times

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing

    Academy Awards (1989)

     
  • Best Foreign Language Film

    Awards of the Japanese Academy (1990)

  • Michael Kamen

    BMI Film & TV Awards (1989)

  • Best Foreign Language Film

    Blue Ribbon Awards (1990)

  • Best Overall New Extra Features, Library Title

    DVD Exclusive Awards (2001)