Die Hard (1988)
Retro Review #26: Would you like to debate whether or not it's a Christmas movie?
Die Hard (1988) — Would you like to debate whether or not it’s a Christmas movie?
+ Feature film, 2h 12m
A+^
Family Suitability
+ ❌2️⃣ Moderate adults-only content. | R
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎3️⃣ Very Good/Strongly Favorable
+ Based on literature (novel) Nothing Lasts Forever ⭐ by Roderick Thorp ⭐
+ 1️⃣/5 films in Die Hard series ⭐
Die Hard (1988)
Grade: A+^ (20.0) / HOF: 120
EQ 👍A++ | 📖A+ 👥A+ 📽️A+ 🎼A+
DW 🚫5.6 | 🌚12 🌝5
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R ☮️n/a ◀️n/a ▶️n/a 🛐n/a
Sorry, but I just can’t get worked up about the controversy as to whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie. All ten of the lists of all-time best Christmas movies I checked recently agreed that it is and included it on their list. One even thinks it’s the best Christmas movie ever. Okay, now you’ve got a dispute with me.
I don’t want to argue about that though. Can’t we all agree that Die Hard is the best action movie ever? Of course we can! It comes out at the top almost every time critics or audiences are polled on the question.
But if you really want to debate it with each other, while I just get a kick out of reading your debates, feel free to do so in the comments, with no spoilers, or all out including spoilers in our Chat for Die Hard.
Die Hard was only the second feature film role for Bruce Willis after finding success on television. His first movie flopped, and before he was offered Die Hard, it’s well known that the number of major stars who turned down the part of John McClane numbered in the double digits. (Check the Die Hard Wikipedia article for the interesting list.)
Die Hard was based on the novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. I didn’t realize that until recently and haven’t read the book, so I can’t compare it to the film. That said, whether following the original closely or not, the screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza should share credit with the superstar-making performance by Willis for separating Die Hard from all other action films.
In most action films, the plot goes on pause during fights and elaborate stunts and action sequences. In Die Hard, on the other hand, all the action happens for reasons you understand. The story unfolds through the action, not just around the action.
The screenwriters and Willis also deserve credit for his fantastic wisecracks throughout the film. They deliver just the right amount of humor to make the movie become more and more fun, while you catch your breath as the suspense grows between thrills. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the iconic line that it’s known for. But to be fair that line overshadows a few other great lines, that would be the best line in the film in the majority of other movies. And that includes a line not even spoken by McClane, just written on a dead terrorist!
The terrorist leader Hans Gruber is considered one of the better villains in movie history. He was portrayed by Alan Rickman in his first ever film role. Rickman went on to play villains in several more Hollywood blockbusters.
Die Hard is not suitable for kids or even teens, in my opinion. It earned an R rating with brief nudity and drug use, a lot of action violence, that only rarely gets a tiny bit graphic, and an extreme amount of adults-only language.
You might prefer to watch this movie without hearing about fifty uses of the F-word, almost as many cases of using Jesus’s name in vain, and uncountable other obscenities and profanities. I recommend using VidAngel dot com which works with many streaming services to filter out undesired content.
Mitigating all of the R-rated content is a clear moral distinction between good and evil. Violence used to prevent evil predators from preying on innocent victims is not pleasant in real life, but sometimes it can be necessary. Just this week, we were reminded of that by the acquittal of real-life hero Daniel Penny who reluctantly risked life and limb to protect others. Die Hard may be fun make-believe violence, but it makes the point well. McClane responds similarly, faced with the same kind of situation. You can call it playing cowboy, but it’s being a real man. Something cowards like Hans Gruber just don’t get.
I refuse to end this review with a final line using “Yipee-ki-yay” in some clever way.
Instead, “Auf wiedersehen, Gruber!”*
Onwards!
*I was really tempted to use McClane’s actual parting line to Hans from the film, but don’t want to spoil anything, so I made up one of my own. The one in the movie is better, but I think mine isn’t too bad. If you prefer, in your head, you can replace the word “Gruber” with the word McClane uses for him. 😉
+ last viewed (4) 2025-12-15, HDX7, 2.39, 2D
+ first viewed 1988-07, ThX, 2.39, 2
+ 🎈🎄🎅👤🚔🔎💰🌪️💥🎢
Family Suitability Detail
+ ❌2️⃣ Moderate adults-only content. | R
+ 😡-2 😵💫+0 🤬-4^^ 🤭-1 🫣-1
Judeo-Christian Values Detail
+ ❎3️⃣ Very Good/Strongly Favorable
+ ✝️ +1 ➕😇😇💒💒🩸💜💜💜🩷 ➖🤬🤬🤬♀️👙🚬🚬
+ ✡️ +3 ➕✡️🌗🌗🌗😠😠😠💎💎🤍 ➖🤬🤬🤬
+ 🗽 +4 ➕🗽🗽🇺🇸🇺🇸⬜⬜🚓🚓🚓💛 ➖☠️☠️
Please do not include spoilers in the comments.
Spoilers are permitted in the Chat for this work.
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Thanks, Cedric.
Yes, I saw it in the theaters during it's original release. I remember that I liked it, but I haven't seen it again since. I'm hoping to re-watch the whole series and give all of them reviews here eventually!
Have you heard the Marian Call song that’s a tribute to the film with the refrain, “Yippee-ky—ai… it’s Christmas in L.A.!”?