DIE HARD (1988) C widescreen 131m dir: John McTiernan

w/Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald Veljohnson, Paul Gleason, De'Voreaux White, William Atherton, Hart Bochner, James Shigeta, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov

From The Movie Guide: "The pumped-up, high tech surprise hit of 1988; a triumph of slick direction and low brow thrills, marred but not spoiled by a sour aftertaste.

"On Christmas Eve, a New York cop (Willis) arrives in Los Angeles to spend the holidays with his estranged wife (Bedelia) and their two young children. The couple separated after the Japanese corporation she works for promoted her to a powerful position in their brand-new Los Angeles headquarters, an imposing state-of-the-art office building in Century City. Willis now meets her at a Christmas party thrown on the building's 30th floor. While he is washing up in his wife's executive bathroom, a group of international terrorists seizes the building and takes everyone at the party hostage, in an attempt to break into the company safe and steal $670 million dollars in negotiable bonds. Barefoot and wearing only a T-shirt and slacks, Willis escapes the terrorists and makes his way to the unfinished upper floors of the building, where he wages a one-man war against the intruders.

"Tautly directed by McTiernan (PREDATOR), DIE HARD is skillfully shot and consistently thrilling throughout its lengthy running time. The high-rise location, in particular, is cleverly employed to provide an array of unusual and breathtaking action scenes. Unfortunately, the film's script panders to the audience's worst fears and resentments --- suggesting that foreigners are not to be trusted and feminism has destroyed the fabric of the American family, and so on. Despite this distasteful subtext, however, DIE HARD is a well-made, exciting film. A beefed-up Willis fares well in a breezy mode, but looks uncomfortable when the emoting turns heavy. The talented Bedelia is wasted, while Rickman, as the chief villain, gives an impeccably evil performance which put him on the international map."

DIE HARD was nominated for four Oscars: Best Editing (Frank J. Urioste, John F. Link), Sound (Don Bassman, Kevin F. Cleary, Richard Overton, Al Overton), Visual Effects (Richard Edlund, Al Di Sarro, Brent Boates, Thaine Morris), and Sound Effects Editing (Stephen H. Flick, Richard Shorr).