Filmmaker reacts to Die Hard (1988) for the FIRST TIME! 

Yes it's Snape! This was Alan Rickman's first huge role and made him a star. It also made Bruce Willis into an action star and they didn't originally want him for the role. I saw this 5 times at the theatre during it's first run, it was that good.

Alan Rickman's reading of the t-shirt: "Now I have a machine gun. Ho-Ho-Ho" is one of my favourite things ever.

Hans is definitely one of the greatest villains of all time, up there with Darth Vader. The way he was written should be taught to all writers, whether film or novel, on how to write a villain. Hans delegates (like visiting the hacker to see what needs to be done), he calms down his subordinates and rewards their patience (Like Karl wanting revenge), he assesses his situations and pays attention to what the hero is doing (Like when alarm gets tripped) or what condition the hero is in (like wearing no shoes).

Bruce Willis was already a TV-star when “Die Hard” was made. His breakout was in the romantic-comedy-mystery series “Moonlighting” (1985-89), which I always enjoyed very much. With that as a launching pad, Willis spent years in the mid- to late-1980s trying to parlay his television success into a career in feature films. He languished for years in forgettable rom-coms in which he was repeatedly called upon to reprise his “Moonlighting” TV-persona. But then, “Die Hard” came along. That film re-launched Willis’s career and catapulted him to true superstar status. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I love how something so mundane as McClane taking his shoes off has galactic repercussions when the bad guys arrive. Also, as flawed as McClane is as a man, he is the ultimate warrior, disposing a crew of terrorist with bare feet.

People of my age, we don't see Alan Rickman in a movie and say "Is that professor snape?" We see him and say "Is that Hans Grubber?". Now you know why.

There's a series on Netflix called "The Movies that Made Us", and in season 1 they give the back story of this movie and it's absolutely fascinating.

I think you nailed it. One of the things that makes John McLane such a great action hero is how much more real he seems than others from the era. He gets anxious, panicked, beat up, over and over throughout these movies.

Bruce Willis… my favourite performance of his is in the sadly underrated “Death Becomes Her”. It’s like a wacky Twilight Zone story, and you will never see Bruce acting this crazy again! 😃

Yes, Ellis asked for “coke”, and the bad guys brought him a Coca Cola. We know from the earlier scene that Ellis loved the nose candy

Nothing makes me feel older than watching a reaction where a movie enthusiast - A: hasn't seen an absolute classic, and B: doesn't instantly know a legend like Alan Rickman.😢 Now I know how my old man felt when I said I didn't know who the Beatles are. 😂

5:50 why is it so suspenseful? Short answer: Jan de Bont. He is most remembered for directing Speed with a young Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Also, John McTiernan directed this right after Predator. He just created two of the best 80s action flicks back to back.

It’s amazing you said, “He’s acting like a normal person” because Bruce Willis came out at a time where an ideal action hero had to be muscle bound like Arnold and Stallone (biggest action stars of the 80-90s) ... nek minnut Bruce comes in looking like a normal citizen who becomes the hero. I think this is why Bruce was highly received, because all us judgemental coach potatoes had a chance ‘aesthetically’ lol

The next to no special effects make this movie so much more involving than action movies today. Love it’s physicality 👊 And yes, it’s a damn Christmas movie 🎄 🎅 🤣🤣

My favorite fact which shows the level of craft that goes into even a "light" entertainment movie like this is from the commentary by John McTiernan, where he points out how whenever McClane and Al talks on the radio they are always facing each other, to make the conversation feel more real.

It’s a Christmas tradition in my house to watch Die Hard after lunch. I watched this movie for the first time at 10 years of age, and it’s remained one of my favorite movies to this day. When my son turns ten, we will watch it together.

People call him Snape, but he will always be the Metatron to me.

Everyone has already mentioned the major fun facts, but here are a few more from the director's commentary. He was very worried about the rooftop sequence, particularly about having that many people standing underneath a real hovering helicopter. He knew that one mistake could kill a lot of people, so he called it off after only two fly-bys. Hence why you don't get a good look at the roof from the helicopter until after it's evacuated. Also, the roof explosion wasn't done with a miniature; to get the scale, they set up a camera 5 miles across the city. The director's favorite moment is the elevator "ding" right before it explodes. Bruce Willis suffered permanent 2/3rds hearing loss in his left ear after shooting that one terrorist through the table. Also, Alan Rickman's "Alas, your Mr Takagi did not see it that way, so he won't be joining us _for the rest of his life"_ and chowing down at the buffet table was ad-libbed.

Did you know they actually dropped Alan Rickman early to capture that look of fear at the end ? Happy Christmas, btw.

Alan Rickman is one of my favorite actors. You really need to see him in GalaxyQuest.

My son and I watch this together every year as our own Christmas tradition! So glad to see you finally get around to it and glad to see from the comments that yes, Virginia, this IS a Christmas movie! :)

For another serving of Willis try his movie "RED" It's an action/adventure/comedy flick with Willis, Mary Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirrin, Richard Dreyfus, Carl Urban, Brian Cox, and a bunch of others. Its fast paced, witty and fun to watch.

I loved watching "the movies that made us" on Netflix, cause hearing alot of the behind the scenes stuff was dope

Your point about how bruce willis seemed so human compared to other action stars was totally on point. Back in the 80s all the action movies had these hulking, near-invincible heroes like Rambo or John Matrix from Commando. This was one of the first action movies that had a hero who was just a regular guy. He got hurt, he was vulnerable. It totally made this movie stand out and set the tone for the 90s action movies to come

So glad you watched this one. This is, in my opinion, the most perfect straight action movie that has ever been made, and that is due in no small part to be believability of Bruce Willis as some random cop who's in the wrong place at the wrong time. The logic applied to him as a character is really masterful. This movie is tense, sad, funny as hell, and still has all the gorgeous explosions and gunfire you could want in a good action flick. It's just perfect.

That was Alan Rickman's first film role. He came from theatre. What a banger to start with, right?

I know that this'll get buried, but I just want to say: I've been jaded, burned out and sort of cynical about film for a while but watching you watch these old films, have so much fun, and be so passionate about them reminds me why I love movies.

The relationship that develops between Sgt Powell and John McClane is very realistic of the bond of random strangers and fellow cops/soldiers during a high stress event. One more beautiful aspect of movie making in this film.

Glad that you loved Bruce Willis' performance, but when watching this film again, definitely pay more attention to Alan Rickman's performance. Both have so much charisma & chemistry in this movie.

By Grabthar's Hammer, behold Alan "Haaans" Rickman. Potionmaster and sheriff of Nottingham. Brain the size of a planet and voice of the one true God.

Watched this one for the first time myself this past year, was honestly surprised at how well it holds up. Bruce Willis is great and delivered some amazing one-liners to quote. It’s action-packed with a fantastic villain, RIP Alan Rickman, it has the whole package. Excited to watch and get your thoughts on it. I’ve become a big fan of Bruce Willis, one of my favorite roles of his is in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, it’s a different vibe from what he usually does and I find his character really wholesome.

So let me ask you James since this is a controversial question, is Die Hard a Christmas movie? 😎 I'm on the side that it is totally a Christmas movie 🎄

Now this one is surprising for a first view. It's the quintessential action movie of the 80s! For decades to comes it was the template of how to make an action movie.

This was the "first action movie of the '90s" (even though it was made in the '80s) as it made an action star of a non buff, non super soldier type like Swarzennegger or Stallone. Willis was not known as an action star, he was known for his more comedic roles. Willis' role had him play an ordinary guy, who gets hurt a lot throughout the movie. This was also Alan Rickman's first major role as a villain, before classic roles like the Sherriff of Nottingham.

John McTiernan is seriously underrated as a director for these kinds of films. Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and the 13th Warrior are some of my favorite fun flicks to hang out with. Glad you liked it James. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

The 1980's where almost ever bad guy was played by a Brit who was only doing the role so he could take a low paying role in a Shakespeare theatre production. Also if you want to see Alan Rickman haveing real fun as a bad guy, and some of the worst English accents outside Dick Van Dyke,I would suggest Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves,

One of RIckman's first roles I believe. Fun fact is when he was dropped the director said he would drop him on 3 but actually did it on 2 so the surprise is real.

Die Hard redefined the action genre. It also opened the door for the every man action hero. It's a perfect film. Every little thing is set up, with a pay off. Reginald VelJohnson Plays Al Powell, the cop. He was the prison guard in Ghost Busters, and played the father in Family Matters. His character was also a cop. need I connect more dots? I dont' care of they have different names, my head cannon is perfect.

'Die Hard' is the closest thing we have to a 'Metal Gear Solid Movie'. One man sneaking around versus terrorists, hostages, out gunned, crawling through air ducts, radio conversations, etc.

a stone cold classic. and yes you will now watch it perpetually forever and will never get sick of it. such a well crafted film

The last boy scout (1991) - Another Willis movie that you should wach if you like action and one liners in the same genre :)

Yup. I was born in '84 and I remember so many Bruce Willis movies being "must sees" in the 90s

Hey James. This was Bruce Willis’ breakout role. The film that made him famous. Also the type of hero in this the blue collar hero was so much different from the super man action hero’s of the Swartzenegger/Stallone movies of the 80s. Also Alan Rickmans did a great job as the charismatic villain in one of his early roles. I cannot tell you how much I have seen this film especially around Christmas.

Definitely my absolute favorite christmas film; it's practically R rated Home Alone A really interesting piece of trivia if i'm not mistaken is Heath Ledger mentioned he drew partially from both alan rickman and bruce willis from die hard, specifically the terse dark humor and nonchalant delivery of simultaneously funny dialogue with entirely morbid implications, best reflected in the scene where the joker holds the penthouse hostage and drops rachel from the roof, but its also because of the duality of bruce and alan's characters being the antithesis of each other but still having that chemistry of retorting to jokes with quips like a mirror of batman and the joker, very interesting stuff, obviously heath brought his entire process to the character with a myriad of other influences like Daniel Day Lewis' commitment to the method acting process, it's just so cool to spot little puzzle pieces of work from actors doing their research

Die Hard: With a Vengeance - the third in the series - is also worth seeing. With Samuel L. Jackson.

Bruce Willis is like the greatest everyman turned action hero ever. He just makes it look so genuine and real.

The was the first R rated film I ever saw. Alan Rickman was (and is) my favourite actor and my mom decided to let me watch it after he died. It's my third favourite film ever now, and I watch it every Christmas Eve and whenever I'm feeling really sick and anxious. It always improves my mood. ☺️

Always love seeing these reactions with your technical background. Saw this in the theater. It is an excellent action movie. A great Bruce movie is Blind Date. Remember, it isn't Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from the Nakatomi Plaza.

Up until the pandemic, we had a local art theater here that would screen Die Hard every December. Boy do I miss those days.

"I could watch this movie like a billion times...." Some of us are already half way there.

I first saw this when I was 12. Probably my first R-rated movie, but it’s also the one that made me fall in love movies. It’s more than the sum of its parts, and I think somehow I knew that it was special at an early age. It was also the first movie I bought on VHS. Skip forward 30 years, I just watched this with my 12 year old son, two nights ago. We laughed, we winced, we cheered. I think he knows it’s special too, and I felt 12 years old again. Have a merry Christmas, and a yippee ki-yay-mother-fucking happy new year! Peace On Earth (irony intended)

Dude… a true masterpiece right here. Also, it’s a Christmas movie and nobody can convince me otherwise lol

Ahh yes, the best Christmas movie.

Fun fact: the scene where Hans is falling, that is Alan Rickman's real look of dread because he was told his harness wasn't attached yet and they let him go and he freaked out. Great movie, never gets old.

“Last man Standing” is another absolutely fantastic Bruce Willis movie.

Man I feel old when the younger generation are now watching Christmas classics like Die Hard for the first time. Nice reaction James glad you enjoyed it 🙂 The second and third in the series are a much watch too, after that they (the movies) went on the decline although I don’t mind the fourth.

Dude coming in clutch again! Another day at the apple store and a great reaction to enjoy on my break. Stay up dude!

About the shot of Alan Rickman falling off of the building at the film’s ending- The Director told him they would drop him on the count of “3” but they actually dropped him on “2” instead to make the shot seem more realistic and shocking for the actor, hence why he looks so surprised in the shot. He was actually super pissed about it at first. And yes, this was Alan Rickman’s first credited film role.

Merry Christmas, James! Haven't even started the video yet and I can already tell you're going to love this holiday classic.

Also, brother James… Without a doubt you’re the best of the best watch along/reviewers on RU-vid. Sincerely, I hope you never stop this love journey. I’m happy to follow along this path as well my man.

It's really fun to see you so enthusiastic about Bruce Willis in this movie. He is good, but the weird thing is, a lot of us who grew up with this movie just kind of took it for granted that he was John McClane without giving a second thought about the talent involved. In a way, with you now being able to approach his films with 'fresh eyes," you're able to appreciate Willis' range and filmography more than people who've known these movies for years.

Something often forgotten about this classic is how different it was from other action films of the time. This came out at the height of Arnold, Sly, and Seagal when action heroes were larger than life and basically invulnerable. Its success altered the course of action films.

I love the way this got James so fired up, it was great to see! :D

Welcome to the party, pal!

Welcome to the party, pal. Bruce Willis did such a damn good job in this. John McClane is definitely up there as one of my favorite action heroes 🤘🏽I recommend the sequels as long as Lethal Weapon. Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs in that is tremendous.

Super happy this won the poll! I was a little worried watching it! It was close!

At a time when Stallone, Arnie and Van Damme were at the top of their action game, for John McTiernan (who had directed Arnie in Predator) to cast a faded sitcom actor in this role was ballsey! And it worked!!! The takeaway for me back then was seeing realistic punches and fighting for the 1st time in cinema. I'll always remember that

If you love his 'running commentary' throughout this film, seriously, just watch The Last Boyscout.

Die hard is a Christmas movie change my mind lol keep up all the great content James 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Fun fact the look on Snapes face when Bruce drops him at the end was real as it gets, during filming they dropped him on 2 instead of 3 and got his genuine fear reaction! 😂

Since I've seen your Dark reactions, you have become one of my favourite movie reactor. It's always nice to hear someone, who know what he is talking abouot. Appreciate it. Thanks and greeting from Germany

Hey James... If you are going into 80's / early 90's action you can't miss the Hong Kong scene; I'd recomend you "Hard boiled" (1992) from director John Woo. Cheers mate!

There are multiple good movies in this franchise, mostly for the same reasons you talked about for this one. I'm not a big fan of 2 and 5 was by far the worst of the bunch, but 3 and 4 are both very good and definitely worth watching

Loved your reaction to this... and the reference to one of Al Pacino's best films, Dog Day Afternoon was perfect for the hostage helicopter request! You had fun watching on a small screen, can you imagine seeing this in the cinema to a packed house? It was amazing the amount of cheers that went up for Bruce 👏 👏 👏 👏

Die Hard has been with me all my childhood and now I can start showing it to my kids as they are old enough to enjoy it on all it's levels. Masterpiece cinema!

Die hard is my favorite Christmas movie

Die Hard is the best Christmas movie to ever exist 🎄🤘

By the way, you mentioned argyle breaking him down as a person. He says he was a taxi driver who's now a limo driver. It's a trope of taxi drivers to be quasi-therapists for their clients. The fact even that is set up is so good

Yes Die Hard is a Christmas movie. I appreciate you reacting to this film during this holiday season. Have a awesome Christmas man.

This movie is amazing. And I absolutely love the two FBI agents. Such a shame everyone cuts them out for the youtube reaction.

Best Christmas movie!

Best Christmas movie ever imho. Thanks for review, loving your channel!

This movie continues to blow me away with its genius, every time i watch a review or other video about the movie i keep finding out more and more of the brilliant decisions that went into making it, the people behind it really were absolute masters at the top of their game, even the soundtrack is deceptive in how well thought out and incredibly clever it is.

Surprised you've not seen this, you have to watch it about 150 times to catch up with me big man.

If you really want to see another side of Bruce Willis watch “ Hudson Hawk.”

This film is a certified BANGER! Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema FIRST TIME WATCHING JUJUTSU KAISEN Tuesday. Enjoy the day!

Im so glad you were so into this. Imo it's a PERFECT action film. Everything is firing on all cylinders, from the performances, to the set pieces, to the pacing, to the writing. It's all perfect. And stands up today just as good as it did when it came out. Definitely one of those films that never gets boring to watch!

People at first thought it was a romance between the main character and his wife... it became the unanimous decision that it was ultimately a bromance between Bruce and the cop, Reginald Vejohnson..

Well, Bruce was a comedian before he was in movies and funny enough everyone thought he couldn't do action movies because of it. Glad he proved critics wrong

My son and I watch this movie every Christmas Eve, together. It just doesn't feel like Christmas until we watch 'Die Hard'.

What makes it so good is how relatable all the characters are, including humanizing the villains. Besides Hans being Hans, the bet the two guys had about whether Takagi would give info, the guy grabbing the candy bar, etc

Great reaction James. I hope you make your way to at least 4 (my personal fav and prob the best action).

saw this movie in the theatre when it came out and its still fun to watch today...timeless

Great movie great review! Watched this movie a few times, excellent plot, camera, edit and acting! Saw the follow ups and they were good too. Willis is great in these, and you did a good job as always. Viewers could not ask for a better action movie, and as always the first film is the best.

Glad you enjoyed it. I always watch 1 and 2 around Christmas

Like many here. A yearly Christmas tradition to watch for the family. Glad you enjoyed this legendary movie! Hope ya eventually are able to get in the others!

So good you’re getting into the Christmas spirit ❤️🙏😊🔥

You talking through your review is early like McClain’s talking to himself. Love it!

The BEST notification ever..... This is THE Christmas movie in my house. Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman (R.I.P), it just can't be beat!

My dad showed me this movie on Friday for the first time and I absolutely loved it and now it’s #1 on my top 10 Christmas movies and my dad also told me that he went to see this in theaters when it first came out and everyone was laughing and cheering during the movie