epic Die Hard Marathon: starts here and now

[schmevil]

~*~EPIC DIE HARD MARATHON~*~

ORIGINAL FLAVOUR

So Die Hard. I have and have always had a lot of affection for this series. It's full of straight up, well-directed action, with very few of the jarring, anti-progressive elements of other action series. Strangely absent are casual sexism, racism, or bigoted humor.* It's also not a didactic or overtly political series: we don't have to sit through John McClane explaining that we need to get tough on crime, or that gun rights are fundamental. It's a series about criminals, corrupt people in authority, and everyday heroes.

John McClane himself isn't everyday--he's obviously a skilled police officer, with all sorts of other useful knowledge--but he isn't marked as special. He's just this guy. And the supporting characters who get their own moments in the heroic sun are even less 'special'. An executive. A limo driver. A uniformed cop who's been riding a desk for years. They're just people, who keep cool during a crisis, and do what needs to be done.

That's not to say that there isn't a political message in Die Hard, or that it's free of problematic tropes, but man, it is a shockingly easy series to watch. It's got so much of the good of western/crime/siege stories, with so little of the bad. There's no endorsement of ra ra masculinity, no endorsement of going it alone for the sake of going it alone, and no endorsement of violence-wielding ubermensch. John is a hero--and Holly, and Al, and Argyle--because of his will power, his sense of justice and duty, and his ability to get shit done. He's not a hero just because he kicks ass--look at how the SWAT team fared--he's a hero because he kicks as much ass as he needs to, for the right reasons. If you cross that line, the movie doesn't like you anymore and you meet a fairly nasty end.

*[There's plenty of background 80s sexism, for example, but it's not foregrounded like it is in a lot of celebrations of machismo.]

THEMES AND CHARACTERS

The greatest sins in the Die Hard universe are: greed, posturing, selfishness, arrogance, abuse of power, and corruption. I'm probably missing a few but this is enough to pick up on the trail that runs through all four of the films. Die Hard doesn't like greedy corporate fatcats. It doesn't like corrupt, or spineless politicians. It doesn't like characters who step on the little folk. And to drive this home, we get as a hero, a guy who constantly questions himself, even as he steps up and does some fairly insane (and some possibly immoral) things.

John is a New York cop, a family man, a bit of a Luddite, and dedicated to his job. He's charming and engaging, makes both friends and enemies easily, and inspires strong loyalty and/or homicide. He's quick-thinking, creative, decisive and has the kind of will power that would make Nietszche faint with envy. We learn that even before he blew up Nakatomi Plaza, he had a certain disregard for the rules. We can assume--I think--from his actions in Die Hard, that he's got some previous experience handling crisis situations. Some people think he's got Special Forces experience, or that he was on SWAT. I'm not sure what would account for his incredible competence, but consider: he's comfortable using tools and a variety of nonstandard weapons; he jury-rigged an elevator to allow him to spy on the terror-iminals, and used their radio to call out on the emergency frequency; he went straight to the guerilla/terror tactics without missing a beat, systematically profiling and then dismantling Gruber's group.

And speaking of Gruber, how goddamn awesome is Alan Rickman here? (Spotty accent aside). It's obvious he's having a great time with the material, being as hammy, sinister, or scarily competent as it requires. Gruber's plan, and his team, are professional, seamless and blazingly great at what they do. They take over Nakatomi Plaza with ridiculous ease. They've got the police and the FBI profiled down to what they eat for breakfast. They've got absolutely everything under control, and would have gotten away with those millions of negotiable bearer bonds, if it weren't for Goddamn John McClane. So what do we know about Gruber? He had a classical education and likes nice suits. He likes money. Period. Yet he's spent time working with radical groups. Was he ever sincerely devoted to the cause, or were radical causes a convenient way to pad his bank account? Die Hard doesn't give us a lot to go on, but Gruber's sheer criminalistic delight in opening the doors to the vault make me think that no, he's just always been a straight up thief. An 'exceptional thief' though, and one who's stone cold ruthless. Making Gruber and McClane a perfect match.

There's also something interesting going on with the supporting characters. Gruber's got Theo, who's possibly even more ruthless than Gruber himself. And John's got Al, a humanizing, grounding character. Theo's purpose is to (be crazy and) use his skills to crack the vault. Al's role is to bring in the black and whites, and to connect John with the outside world. Both fundamentally supporting and supportive characters, but Gruber gets the one who lives in his head, and John gets the one who lives in his heart. Theo knows things because he knows things, and he's got the hacked security cameras to prove them. Al knows things because he feels them. He's got a hunch about 'Roy', which he arrives at very quickly. He has a bad feeling about the SWAT team's op, and again about the FBI's bungled air strike.

Then there's 'tough as nails' Holly, the princess John must rescue and be reunited with. Who he can only be with after he's beaten the terror-iminals, and admitted that his old-fashioned ideas of marriage have to go. The narrative requires John to recognize and admit that he was wrong to prioritize his own emotional needs over his wife's, and that he was wrong to deny her support in pursuing her ambitions. (If you think I'm wrong about this, wait until the next movie!) Holly meanwhile, maintains her leadership role throughout the crisis, keeping her fellow hostages together, and caring for them. She protects John by hiding her connection to him. She's dignified, defiant, and quippy. You guys, Holly is freaking awesome. She is also a product of her times and of a sexist society--maybe in another time or place she could have been the hero--but isn't reduced to helpless-wife-and-mother, who John must save. Her role as mother is secondary to her role as leader of the hostages, for most of the film. (Though I must say, there was some serious WAT with the maid...)

Why so many awesome characters, Die Hard?


ASSKICKERY

Ok, so John's defining moment of aristeia is clearly when he jumps off the building, right? No wait. It's clearly when he runs over broken glass, without shoes, and then calmly picks the glass out while talking on the radio. No wait, his best shot is obviously strangling Karl, saying: "You motherfucker, I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna fuckin' cook you, and I'm gonna fucking eat you!" Right? God, there are so many.

This movie is filled with insane, character-defining moments of insane, no, INSANE heroism. And it's all so tightly and prettily directed. Every character has a purpose. Every scene turn, every plot twist, is executed with supreme efficiency. This is an action movie, yo. The moment Gruber and co step out of that elevator, the film is popping. It's just go go go from there, the film even managing to keep up the tension and breezy forward motion during long stretches where John is holed up, planning, waiting, and tending to his wounds. This movie is a delight to watch, because it just flies through a supremely confident heist/hostage narrative, hitting comedy beats, pathos and serious character beats without dwelling on them, and decorates it all with incredibly pretty and incredibly satisfying explosions. AND CHRISTMAS MUSIC.


So yeah, I <3 Die Hard.

Oh, and this:

Yippie ki yay, indeed.


Die Hard 2: Die Harder next weekend, y/y?

Also, I was thinking we could do the Alien Quadrilogy when we've wrapped up DH. Thoughts?