Let’s go back in time, shall we?
The year was 1988. It was a typical Friday night in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. As usual, my friends and I wound up where we spent much of our childhood, adolescence and college years — Showcase Cinemas North.
Showcase Cinemas were some of the first multiplexes to hit the suburbs. On a typical Friday night, you’d see most of the North Hills High School student body at Showcase Cinemas. At the time, we thought the Showcase Cinemas were the cat’s meow. I’m not sure of the count, but there had to be something like 12 to 14 screens at the giant theater.
On this Friday night in 1988, my friends Dean, Kevin, Mark, Mike and Frank made the usual trip to Showcase Cinemas. We were good kids — for the most part — and we loved our giant buckets of buttery popcorn and 32-ounce pops (not soda; get with it, central Pennsylvania). Kevin was the ringleader of our group and he chose a Bruce Willis action flick called “Die Hard.”
At that time, Willis wasn’t a huge movie star. In fact, he was on an ABC romantic comedy private detective show called “Moonlighting.” I couldn’t see Willis as an action star, but what the heck? I plopped down my five bucks, grabbed my buttery popcorn and pop and headed for the theater with my gang.
Turns out that Willis could pull off being an action star. In fact, “Die Hard” was fantastic. I loved every minute of it.
For those of you who have never seen “Die Hard,” it tells the story of New York City police detective John McClane, who has traveled to Los Angeles to see his soon-to-be-ex wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia). McClane goes to her office, where a massive Christmas party is taking place. He’s in the bathroom when terrorists take over the building. From there, the film is off and running.
In the years that followed, I watched “Die Hard” probably once a year. I’d catch it on cable somewhere or even OnDemand. It truly is a classic. In fact, it’s a Christmas classic.
For years, this has been debated. Let’s end the debate right now. “Die Hard” is most definitely a Christmas film.
Heck, in the film’s first scene, McClane disembarks from a plane that’s just landed in Los Angeles and the flight attendant wishes him a Merry Christmas. He’s also carrying a giant teddy bear with a bow on it — a Christmas present for one of his kids.
We never forget that it’s Christmas Eve.
Christmas music, including classical compositions to Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis,” play throughout the movie.
As John and the terrorists engage in a fantastic battle of wits and weaponry, they often use Christmas-themed exclamations. “Now I have a machine gun. Ho, ho, ho,” John writes on the body of one of Hans Gruber’s henchmen. When computer hacker Theo (Clarence Gilyard Jr.) wants to warn his fellow criminals of the impending arrival of the cops, he starts with, “’Twas the night before Christmas.”
At its core, “Die Hard” focuses on John’s need to reconcile with his family, which is one of the most common messages of Christmas films. Even his wife’s name — Holly — is Christmas-themed.
But Christmas debate aside, “Die Hard” is a great film. For an action film, the plot is top-notch. Villain Hans (Alan Rickman) delivers a command performance. There are some fantastic subplots as well, including a slimy TV anchor (William Atherton) who delivers his share of “fake news” and gets his clock cleaned by an angry Holly.
For a long time, McClane became Willis’ signature role. It’s easy to see why. McClane is pretty much an average Joe, but he fights off terrorists like it’s nothing. He’s flawed, but likeable. We are cheering for him the entire time.
I’ll put “Die Hard” up against “A Christmas Story,” “Elf” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Yes, it is that good.
“Die Hard” is rated R for language and graphic violence. You can find it on just about every platform this time of year. After all, it is one of the best Christmas movies of all time.
Chris Morelli is the managing editor of The Centre County Gazette.
