Is Die Hard (1988) overrated?

Tools    





Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
After seeing it a few times over the years, I still don't get all the hype. I mean the action scenes are good, but I find the story to be an average action movie plot, to be quite honest.

There isn't a huge deal of character change, the heroes and villains are very black and white, and some parts of the plot I find unconvincing. I mean I know it's an action movie, but this is rated so high by many people, that I can't help to pick on illogics in the plot more so, because of how highly praised it is.


SPOILERS


Basically when Kristoff is looking for McClane, McClane sneaks up on Kristoff and points his gun at Christoff's head.

He tells Kristoff to drop his gun, and Kristoff says "You won't hurt me, there are rules for policemen". McClane then says that's what my Captain keeps telling me. He then pistol whips Kristoff, and then tries to wrestle Kristoff's Machine gun, out of his hands.

But why! Why would a cop try to fight someone, who has a machine gun, when the cop can just shoot him? It's not like McClane has any handcuffs on him to neutralize Kristoff, so what is he going to do, if Kristoff surrenders?

Kristoff refused to drop the gun, and any realistic person would know that a cop would just shoot you in this situation and not attempt to wrestle a machine gun out of your hand.

Later on, McClane is trying to get the cop's attention from out the window and another goon comes to try stop him. McClane again tells the guy to put the gun down, but why? It's not like he can keep him held prisoner in situation like that.

He does this with Hans later as well instead of just shooting Hans.

I also feel that some of the dialogue is really dumb in this movie, like when the Deputy Chief cop says that the body that fell from the window that was full of bullet holes, must have been a depressed stockbroker. Really???

And I also feel that the Thornberg character, was not necessary to the plot and didn't really add anything really. I first saw Die Hard on edited television way back, and back then, all of Thornberg's scenes were cut, accept for the video footage, on the news that Holly saw, which tipped Hans' off. Having seen the uncut version of the movie, I feel that Thornberg being turned into an actual subplot character, doesn't really add anything.

We don't need to know the personal squabbles of the news guy, who's only role in the plot was to unintentionally tip the villain off. It made perfect sense on TV to cut all his scenes out accept the video footage one, that tipped Hans off.

And a lot of people out there say that Hans Gruber is the greatest movie villain ever, if not the greatest, but I dunno... I mean he doesn't really go through any huge personal character changes, and he is really just a bankrobber, with no hugely personal stakes in his goal.

McClane is good character, but I feel he is doesn't really do anything to be go through much of a change, and he is not pushed to his moral limits either in the end. But maybe this is not a bad thing, and maybe he doesn't have to.

So I feel the movie, in spite of having really good action scenes, is just not as well written as it could be, and is more of an average, perhaps decent action movie in terms of story and script.

What do you think?



You can't win an argument just by being right!
I dont really think there's any such thing as an overrated movie. Just because I may not enjoy a film so much does not mean critics and viewers dont get pumped for it. Die Hard I thought was great fun. Gone Girl is one I mentioned earlier where I dont get the hype, but I'm not going to label it overrated.



ur talking abt the best action movie ever made along with the star of the stars, love every bit of this film, very rarely a movie gives u this feeling as if ur john mclane and shows u that much parts of a building and lets u get immersed into the surroundings and every bit and corner of that building, its such a greatly made film that i can watch it again and again and never get bored, it is that good



You can't win an argument just by being right!
ur talking abt the best action movie ever made along with the star of the stars, love every bit of this film, very rarely a movie gives u this feeling as if ur john mclane and shows u that much parts of a building and lets u get immersed into the surroundings and every bit and corner of that building, its such a greatly made film that i can watch it again and again and never get bored, it is that good
I've loved all of them but that was my stand out because - Alan Rickman!!! RiP, my darling. Die Hard 3 lost a few points for me due to Jeremy's silly accent. 4 for Timothy who was so hot in this, and Justin's chemistry with Bruce.



I think it's a pretty great film but yes it's overrated. So many people calling it the absolute best action movie ever made surely can only make it feel overrated, in the most literal way possible, to those of us who don't think it's a 10/10 absolute masterpiece...



You can't win an argument just by being right!
I regard it as the best action movie of all time, and I have since the day it came out. So I say no.
I think we should all call it the best action movie of all time just to irritate the Viking.

Just joshin' MM. I dont think I've ever said Best movie of all time. I just love and dont like movies.



Anything on as high of a pedestal as Die Hard can be considered "overrated". I've always preferred Die Hard with a Vengeance myself.
__________________
Letterboxd | ReverseShot | SlantMagazine



It may be a run-of-the-mill action movie, with cardboard cutout characters, but for whatever reason, any stimulus at all (such as this thread) compels me to watch it again, and it pulls me in and I enjoy it just as much every time. Plus it's a ready-made Christmas tradition. And don't tell me there are no significant character changes; after all,
WARNING: "Die Hard" spoilers below
McClane's very shirt changes color on its own halfway through the movie!

Damn, now I need to go watch Die Hard. Excuse me.
__________________
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
The characters do feel kind of card board cut out. One thing in Die Hard, a lot of people say that Alan Rickman was such a great villain, and some have said that he's the best movie villain of all time. But the villain doesn't really go through much character development. He doesn't learn any lessons, go through any moral changes, or explore any themes or anything much.

He is incapabable of character change, yet he is considered to be a great villain, in a great movie, that doesn't have a lot of character development. I know it's an action movie, but even other great ones, still make more time for it.



The characters do feel kind of card board cut out. One thing in Die Hard, a lot of people say that Alan Rickman was such a great villain, and some have said that he's the best movie villain of all time. But the villain doesn't really go through much character development. He doesn't learn any lessons, go through any moral changes, or explore any themes or anything much.

He is incapabable of character change, yet he is considered to be a great villain, in a great movie, that doesn't have a lot of character development. I know it's an action movie, but even other great ones, still make more time for it.
He's fun, which is all a movie like this requires. (As he also was in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.) Fun is really what the whole appeal of this movie boils down to, for me. Switch-your-mind-off fun.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
One thing in Die Hard, a lot of people say that Alan Rickman was such a great villain, and some have said that he's the best movie villain of all time. But the villain doesn't really go through much character development. He doesn't learn any lessons, go through any moral changes, or explore any themes or anything much..
Because
1. Alan Rickman.
and
2. I dont expect villains to have to go through character development, learn any lessons, go through moral changes, and realise how flawed they are. That's what makes them villains - they're sociopathic.



It's an enjoyable movie showcasing vintage Bruce Willis as action hero. My wife likes to watch it every year. One of my favorite parts is at the end when Vaughn Monroe sings "Let It Snow".

~Cheers



mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
It's not *that* overrated really. It's exceptionally directed, I love John McClane as a character and Alan Rickman's villain while one-dimensional is still a joy to watch.

So overrated? I disagree. Now, if we were talking Mad Max: Fury Road...



Because
1. Alan Rickman.
and
2. I dont expect villains to have to go through character development, learn any lessons, go through moral changes, and realise how flawed they are. That's what makes them villains - they're sociopathic.
Clarence Boddicker ... #1 with a bullet. :P




I think it deserves its place as a classic action picture. I certainly wouldn't call it the best action film. It's definitely an American macho rootin' tootin' shoot em up. Mindless fun, not much more. I watch it every few Christmases. Not overrated imo. I thought John McTiernan hit his stride with "Predator". Now that's a good action movie that may even suffer from being underrated. Just kidding. I think at the time a lot of people were impressed that Die Hard took a tv star and made him a household name. Bruce Willis was only semi popular from "Moonlighting" before "Die Hard".