John McLane, a NY cop, out to visit his estranged wife & kids in LA, gets invited to her office Xmas party at Nakatomi Plaza. Trivia: Fox Towers (offices of the production company) was used as Nakatomi Plaza. & there are Xmas jingles playing at all the the right moments to remind us of the holiday setting.
Cue the entry for german-speaking bad-guys... Big courier truck filled with armed criminals (alongwith a computer-systems genius) party-crash to steal bearer bonds worth 640 million.
Walter Bruce Willis fresh from the success of witty Moonlighting TV series, fits into character perfectly. The witty one-liners, easy-to-understand plot, plenty of gun-fire'n'exploxions & a really die-hard hero to root for. That makes me rank Die Hard very high on my list. "Call me Roy", John McLane's manly sense of humour makes multiple viewings enjoyable each time. Personally, I'm terrified of crawling inside air-duct shafts. My heart palpitates each time I view those scenes. John's sole friend on the outside, Sergeant Al Powell, an LAPD officer provides the much needed appreciative moral support in desperate times.
The other deterent characters are just as important; the callous news-reporter, the oversmart office-colleague, the Deputy Chief of Police, Johnsons the FBI agents; all played vital memorable parts. I haven't read the book, but I have to commend director's John McTiernan ability to keep the thrills coming.
Fav scenes: Argyle's analysis of McLane's relationship; John talking to himself; all of John's interaction with Al; terrorist stealing a Nestle Crunch chocolate; the bazooka attack on the LAPD RV & the c4 explosion in the elevator shaft; Hans' demands; John & Hans' interaction; the music playing when the vault opens; the fist-fight with Karl; the roof explosion; Hans' face when he falls; song in the end.
Alternate Ending: No changes at all. It's the ideal guy-movie. Only things that didn't add up was the amount of ammunition John had; & how did Karl survive the choking & explosion? I have several grievances against all the sequels; that's a different story.
First viewed: Alone on TV at home in Mumbai.
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