Aside from Bad Santa, how much more non-traditional can you get with Christmas movies? Considered one of the greatest action movies of all time, I put Die Hard above all the rest.
With the perfect combination of Action, suspense and wit, Die Hard was one of those shockingly profitable movies that people didn’t see coming. I challenge anyone to not bring this movie up as a Christmas movie. Seriously. I’ve seen and heard people say this is their favorite Christmas movie of all time and I’m right there with them.
Starring Bruce Willis, in his break-out film, as NYPD cop John McClane. The story has McClane heading to LA to visit his estranged wife on Christmas Eve. He is taken to her place of business where she her company is having their Christmas party when terrorist take over the building demanding access to the Japanese companies safe to steal 640 million dollars in negotiable bearer bonds. McClane is the only person not accounted for and thus is free to roam the building knocking off one terrorist at a time.
Such a freaking great story. I find that this is the adult version of Home Alone. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched any of the Die Hard movies, they are on my Top Five of All Time List (as a series and maybe one day I’ll actually post those up too), Die Hard as a film and as a series was very inspirational to me as a action movie. It really gave people a new image of an action hero, before this movie came out the hero would always come out unscathed and ontop. Here McClane is bloodied and you don’t know who was better off, the bad guys that he killed or him. Especially after he has to walk on broken glass with no shoes on.
Die Hard was based on a novel by Roderick Thorp (Called Nothing Lasts Forever, which in fact was a sequel to another Thorp novel called The Detective), I actually read that book, simply to see what elements of the story were kept or that were not kept. I actually found it at the local library back when I was in middle school (I can remember having the chicken pox and reading it). Later I would search at any used book store just to find it. I eventually would find it renamed as Die Hard, to my chagrin. I hate it when the movie ends up bettering the original book and cover.
My farthest memory of this movie was being put to bed early because my parents rented it and hearing shouting and gun shots from the other room. That was probably back in either late 88 or 89. So, I was still little. I didn’t end up seeing the movie until years later, probably around 6th or 7th grade and just being completely engrossed in the movie. I actually think I saw Die Hard 2: Die Harder before the original one and being confused why he was a New York cop and not an LA cop. But, that is sadly the magic of sequels from back in the 80’s/early 90’s, not all of them made much sense. I remember my father asking my mother why did Bruce Willis’ shirt change color during the movie…an answer I don’t think anyone had until I actually got it on DVD (from Melissa 9 years ago) and it the answer is in one of the cut scenes where he jumps down from the vents, dust and all.
Anyway, if you want great action and suspense on Christmas Eve, there is no better place then Die Hard. Check it out.
Have a great Holiday everyone!