Die Hard

Year: 1988

Grade: A+

Country: USA

Director: McTiernan

Review

a top ten film for me, no doubt. the action is great, the comic relief is unparalleled in the action film genre, all the characters are rich and pop with a life of their own, the music is used well, and the camera movement, cinematography and editing are fantastic. i’ve seen the film about 40 times by now and it’s never disappointed me. i listened to the commentary track for the first time. mctiernan does a good job of telling us what kind of look he was going for and how jan debont helped him achieve it. i’ve always though of mctiernan as an american director, but he indicates that he is very influenced by european cinematography. it’s a lot more of a film than most people give it credit for.