Let me begin by stating that 1988’s Die Hard was my choice for Best Picture that year (with all due apologies to Rain Man — a great film, but not as great as Die Hard). The fact that it wasn’t even nominated is yet another example in the endless line of Oscar fuckups, if you ask me. When I got my first laserdisc player in ‘89, the very first disc I bought was Fox’s “special widescreen edition” of the film.
I saw Die Hard on opening weekend at San Francisco’s Coronet theater, which is sadly no more. I was so pumped after it was over that I decided to walk the entire 20 blocks back home. A friend even offered me a ride, but I didn’t take it. I was on one of those “good movie” highs: my adrenaline was jacked up, and I needed to take in what I’d just seen and walk it all off.
It’s funny, because I went into Die Hard thinking it wasn’t going to be that great — the “It’ll blow you through the back wall of the theater” tagline was a little on the lame side (even though it turned out to be accurate), plus Bruce Willis was good on Moonlighting, but somehow it was difficult for me to picture him in a feature film as an action hero.
Shows how much I knew. And it occurred to me once, while watching the old laserdisc, that the first 17 minutes of Die Hard are so good, it would still be a great film even if Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and company didn’t show up.
