New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) when terrorists, lead by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), take over the building she works in. It is up to McClane to save his wife and get out alive.
There are a lot of action films out there, most with poor acting, slim plots, and non-existent characters, relying on the ability to blow things up. Apparently, most filmmakers think if you have action, you don’t need quality in anything else. So, when a good action film comes along that is also just a good film, see it.
In the past twenty years, there have only been a few first rate action films, and Die Hard is one of them. The fights are better than most and the pacing is impeccable, but it is the characters that make it shine. John McClane has all the testosterone necessary for the hero role. He is also complex, with a sense of humor, a mixed love/hate feeling for humanity, and a realization of his own flawed personality. In one of the the best scenes, after McClane snipes at his estranged wife for pursuing her career and returning to her maiden name, he realizes that not only is his position wrong, but his bringing it up shows he’s not as bright or as emotionally together as he should be. It makes it easy to like him, which makes it important when he’s shot at or runs barefoot through broken glass. Bruce Willis fills the character with strength, humor, and self doubt. Willis is an under-appreciated actor due to disasters like Armageddon and The Whole Nine Yards, but one The Bonfire of the Vanities does not diminish the skills displayed in The Sixth Sense or in Die Hard.
Willis is match by Alan Rickman, playing the intelligent, suave, Hans Gruber. Action films can be judged purely on their villains, and on that scale, Gruber puts Die Hard where it belongs, on top.