'Die Hard'

I could probably write about 15,000 words on this film.

For one, it's probably the perfect action-adventure film. It's not horribly acted, nor did the writers/director put the actors in any position to act poorly. With these type of films, it's the director's job to be like a coach in the NBA: Put your players in the best position possible to make a play.

Director John McTiernan (who also did The Hunt for Red October, Predators and the very underrated Thomas Crown Affair). Cut out any fluff. It's not a blast-a-moment film, but it has an excellent pace.

Finally, to make a good action-adventure film, you need clever, punchy writing. Again, never should the action-adventure slow down. But you also need dialogue. The clever bon mots flow from Bruce Willis with the ease of the Amazon River.

Willis, however, makes the film. Willis isn't the most awesome actor of all time, but there are thousands much worse. Willis, more often than not, takes bad roles in bad movies. The guy likes getting paid and I have little wrong with that.

In Die Hard, Willis took the perfect role. And I think he puts forth a really fine effort. What sells John McClane and, thus, the film, is Willis own vulnerability.

Once the hostile takeover begins and Willis realizes that he's in an impossible situation, his own insecurity to handle things comes out. McClane isn't some badass (although he plays one on TV), and is very scared of never seeing his children or wife again.

Once he and Karl have the big fight, that frustration and carnal anger explodes from McClane as he is repeatedly punching Karl on the stairs, screaming "Motherfucker! I'm going to kill you!!"

It's raw. And it's exactly what any of us would do if it were life or death.

Two character actor notes:

1. Karl is in fact played by Russian actor Alexander Godunov, who died at the age of 46 of "natural causes." He was trained early as a ballet dancer, and was quite good considering where he danced and the leads he got. He also danced in competitions internationally. After roles in Die Hard and Witness, he was offered a ton of roles but turned them all down because they were all for ballet dancers or villains.

2. One of the more understated roles in Die Hard is that of Harry Ellis, the asshole, coke-snorting co-worker of Holly, who gets shot in the head by Hans Gruber. He is played by Hart Brochner. He's a smartass. And he's coked up. And he nails the role perfectly. Brochner's probably better known (or acknowledged) for directing PCU.