When it comes to Bruce Willis, there is one movie that always comes to mind.
Die Hard.
With good reason. Die Hard was a big enough success that they were actually able to make three sequels.
I saw a Die Hard in the movie theater in 1988.
Source: Imdb.com
It was an absolute blast.
Some movies stand up to the test of time better than other movies though. Is Die Hard one of these movies?
Well I think it is and I will tell you why.
1 - Adding a Christmas theme to the Die Hard movie was absolutely brilliant. Especially brilliant is the opening Run DMC song played in the limo by the lackadaisical driver. That song is called Christmas in Hollis and it's just great.
2 - Bruce Willis is a reasonably sized guy but he is hardly the mold of a superhero. Wearing a wife beater, his muscles are evident, but they are nothing like The Rock. He actually looks like a cop that keeps in shape. Not like a superhero.... and that is exactly what we needed.
3 - The bad guys are smart but they are not brilliant. They aren't terrorists, they are just regular old robbers, but they will kill you in a heartbeat and have no qualms about it. They also argue, make stupid mistakes that aren't incredibly idiotic, and do the regular things that robbers might do. They make sense.
4 - Every actor has a part to play and most of them play it incredibly well.
The dad from Family Matters is a cop. Brilliant. He played a cop in Family Matters also, and he played a cop when he had a guest starring role on the TV show Chuck.
Now, not every aspect does hold up.
John McClane's wife Holly definitely looks like somebody out of the late 80s or early 90s. Her hairstyle, her mannerisms, and everything else scream outdated.
However, the plot, the pacing, the music, the atmosphere, and everything else is just almost perfect with exception of a few minor issues.
Die Hard is an awesome movie, and in my opinion, it is every bit as good as I remember.
