It's not only a Christmas movie, it's a hallmark Christmas movie. Man estranged from his family travels across country for the holidays. Joins his wife at a Christmas party, adventure ensues, he reignites their relationship and makes a new best friend.
Wrong. It may be SET during Christmas, but it isn't a Christmas movie since it has none of the elements of one. For starters, since WHEN did people get murdered during a family Christmas flick?!
@@ScottFunk-us6ro Christmas Movies With Deaths, Other Than Die Hard (Not a complete list) Klaus - 5 instances All Through The House - 12 instances Krampus - 21 instances Gremlins - 803 instances The Nightmare Before Christmas - 1018 instances
The important thing to realize about _Die Hard_ is that no one thought of Bruce Willis as an action hero. He was the funny guy from _Moonlighting_ (and _damn_ was he great as David Addison) while the action movie stars of the time were stoic, musclebound slabs like Sylvester Stallone and Arnie. Bruce Willis made John McClane like real, personable guy who was nervous, anxious, and tried to make jokes to calm himself. This movie was _extremely_ different when it came out. Then after its success studious wanted to make _every_ movie _"Die Hard_ on an X."
Right. You don't often see films anymore where one side or the other aren't complete buffoons. That's what I loved about Die Hard with a Vengeance, is that BOTH sides were highly competent, unlike the original Die Hard where most of the Police/FBI characters are arrogant boneheads. In DHV they did the right things, and showed competency in their work, they were simply outmatched by a smart man with a smart plan. Plus, SLJ was absolute gold in that movie. His chemistry with Willis is the stuff of legends. Too bad it didn't have Reggie, though. I love Reggie. Carl Winslow = Greatest TV Dad EVER!
"Welcome to the party, pal!" It isn't Christmas in my house until Hans Gruber is THROWN out of the Nakatomi Building. 😎 🎄 Fun Fact: Alan Rickman nearly passed up the role of Hans Gruber, which ended up being his first film role. He had only arrived in Hollywood two days earlier and was appalled by the idea of his first role being the villain in an action film. To a degree, Rickman was right to be concerned considering his performance as Hans Gruber was so hailed that the actor had to struggle being typecast as a player of villains for much of his career. First Face-Off Fact: The scene in which Gruber and McClane meet fir the first time was inserted into the script after Alan Rickman (Hans Gruber) was found to be proficient at mimicking American accents. The filmmakers had been looking for a way to have the two characters meet prior to the climax and capitalized on Rickman's talent. Making Lemonade Fact: The scene where McClane falls down a shaft was a mistake by the stuntman, who was supposed to grab the first vent, as it originally was planned. He slipped and continued to fall, but the shot was used anyway; it was edited together with one where McClane grabs the next vent down as he falls.
In my family, Christmas doesn't start until Thanksgiving dinner ends, but I like yours waaay better! And thank you for sharing all the trivia! I'm a trivia junkie.
Face of fact #2 the clue that John knew it was Hans is the camera angle they shot the scene in. It’s called a Dutch angle and is used to indicate suspicion.
@@movienightwithjacqui There is a LOT of trivia to this film to sink your teeth into. Such as the reaction on Alan as he is dropped, was because they told him: We drop you on three.. Ok? But instead they dropped him on Two.
Alan Rickman was also told he was going to be dropped on the count of three. But they actully dropped him on 1. So the suprice at him starting to fall is rather real, I guess that is a way to get more out of your actors. I know it is done in a lot of different movies, poor actors.
Fun fact Alan Rickman actually did the stunt falling from the building. They told him we release you on 3,but the on purpose released him on 2 so he would be surprised and give that genuine look as he falls
It was a stuntman that did the far shot falling off the actual building. Rickman fell in a studio maybe 20 ft. The ground we see is just back projection on a screen.
In case you didn't already know, this is Alan Rickman's first movie. He is also memorable in "Dogma," which also has Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, George Carlin, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, Alanis Morissette, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith(the director).
@@artbagley1406 My error in omitting those. I remembered later and couldn't find my original post to amend it, until you added them. Thanks. My other favorites of his are "Quigley Down Under" and "Robin Hood, Prince Of Thieves."
This movie established both Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. Bruce Willis was kinda known as a romcom actor before this movie. And this was Alan Rickman's first major film role. If you want to see another movie where Alan Rickman gives an epic performance as a villain check out 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves'. His portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham is the best thing in that movie.
Beethoven's 9th Symphony (whence comes the Ode to Joy) is considered Christmas music in Japan. During WWI, there was a German POW camp in Japan, and the German prisoners formed an orchestra to keep themselves occupied. They performed Beethoven's 9th one Christmas, and the popularity of the music spread to where it is now associated with Christmas in Japan (along with buckets of KFC - Japan is weird)
@@oobrocks The lyrics of the Ode to Joy are based on a poem by the German poet Schiller. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Germans (particularly Austrian Germans) were viewed as some of the most culturally sophisticated people in Europe, having great musicians, philosophers, poets, and authors. Unfortunately, a couple of nasty events in more recent German history have changed this perception
Hi, Jaqui! I just subbed to your channel. Here's one reason why "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie: When my Mom and Dad were still with me, we'd exchange gifts on Christmas Eve and then watch this movie together. That was our Christmas tradition, and that's why I still watch this every year, to honor my Mom and Dad and the good times we had. Keep us the great work, Jaqui! And Happy Holidays!
Aw! I love hearing what movies mean to people, and I think it's wonderful that you keep that tradition alive! Thank you so much for sharing. Happy Holidays, and I hope you enjoy your annual rewatch 😊
This movie is pretty much the R-rated version of Home Alone. Bruce is all alone. He's trying to stop a burglary. And the end goal of the whole film is for him to spend Christmas with his family. So the question is... how is this NOT a Christmas film?
Wrong. It may be SET during Christmas, but it isn't a Christmas movie since it has none of the elements of one. For starters, since WHEN did people get murdered during a family Christmas flick?!
23:33 This is the moment Hans, of all people, explains why this is a Christmas movie. It isn't Christmas until I've seen people post the "It isn't Christmas until I've seen Hans Gruber fall off of Nakatomi Plaza" joke a hundred times. 😁
Wrong. It may be SET during Christmas, but it isn't a Christmas movie since it has none of the elements of one. For starters, since WHEN did people get murdered during a family Christmas flick?!
I got the same feeling watching your reaction that I get watching Popcorn in Bed. True warmth & sincerity are hard to fake! Good luck building your channel!
I laughed at every "Oh shirt" "Oh fork" and especially the "mother forker!!" during this reaction!! Great reaction and, may I say, nice singing voice!!
I just finished with your Die Hard movie reaction and I must say this is THE BEST "Die Hard" reaction I ever saw. Brilliantly analyzed and edited, I will definitely be watching your future reactions. 👍
The blond villain, Karl, is played by Alexander Godunov who was the principal dancer in the Bolshoi Ballet. He defected to the US from the USSR and became an actor. He played an Amish farmer in 'Witness' opposite Harrison Ford.
Yay, what a great film to start movie night with. Definitely a Christmas film (probably the second best after Muppet's Christmas Carol), and such a fantastic Alan Rickman performance (not that there are any bad ones)! Loved the B99 bits, I hadn't imagined what it would be like to start with the pop culture references before watching this. Looking forward to next week.
I was 17 when this came out and it is one of my favorite films ever. Another movie where Alan Rickman was a great villain is 1990's Quigley Down Under. And he was the evil Sherriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He was great with that part as well.
HANS FORKING GRUBER, BABY!! Mandatory viewing for xmas: Die Hard Gremlins Lethal Weapon Fun fact: due to a standing contract, the Mclane part was offered first to Frank Sinatra. He was in his 70s. Thank Dog he wasn't senile enough to say yes.
Damn near EVERYTHING about this movie is so GREAT! By the way, this was Alan Rickman's FIRST EVER movie role. What I think makes this work so well, is that it is essentially a giant "chess game" (or board game) between two VERY smart "players"! (Hans Gruber & John McClaine) They are just "smart" in different ways, so you are never REALLY sure who is "winning" in a given moment. Amazing reaction BTW.
It always amuses me how people wanna claim Die Hard is not a Christmas Movie yet they will call Home Alone is a Christmas Movie. Die Hard is just Home Alone for adults as it doesn't have any of the cartoonish slapstick violence that if done in real life would have certainly killed both of those burglars, some have even joked Home Alone is a prequel to the SAW movies. :)
The fun fact of this that Im sure others have already mentioned but I'll say it again anyway is that when they did the scene where Hans falls out the window, they planned it with Alan that he needed to fall on the count of three, but they dropped him on two, so that shot of his face was genuine. Alan was literally freaked out, not acting there :)
No. Not really. You could remove every single reference to Christmas from the film, and the fundamentals of the plot wouldn't change at all. I love Die Hard. It's a tip top notch Action Film. I love the characters. But Christmas is a side note, nothing more. It's a great action flick that just happens to take place around Christmas. It's NOT a "Christmas Movie".
_"Not sure why people question if this a Christmas movie, of course it is!"_ Because for some people a 'Christmas Movie' has to be about Christmas, not just tangentially set at Christmas. _"No. Not really. You could remove every single reference to Christmas from the film, and the fundamentals of the plot wouldn't change at all. I love Die Hard. It's a tip top notch Action Film. I love the characters. But Christmas is a side note, nothing more. It's a great action flick that just happens to take place around Christmas. It's NOT a "Christmas Movie"."_ I said something similar on another channel. Pretty sure the movie could be edited to reference the fourth of July and with a couple of cuts and song switches, nobody watching the film for the first time would know different. Funny thing is, this is becoming s self-fulfilling prophecy: the more reaction channels do videos like 'Die Hard: A Christmas Movie?!' (seriously - look at the numbers for this year alone, there are TONS of reactions with that in the title) the more people make the connection Die Hard = Christmas. The fact that the question seems to be asked so many times, means the answer can't be obvious. I'm pretty sure that this is fairly recent too. Up until about ten years ago very few people referenced it as such. If the debate is going to come up every year, then the movie becomes a seasonal discussion. Oddly, most of the people who say it is never say _why,_ they just state that it is or that they always watch it at Christmas - which is fair enough, but not really an explanation.
It's not just "A" Christmas movie, it's "THE" Christmas movie. According to a pole by some magazine (I can't remember which one) every year during the Christmas break Die Hard is watched more often than miracle on 34th street and Its a wonderful life is watched combined. So not only is Die Hard set at Christmas time and has Christmas quotes throughout the whole movie, but it's watched more often every year at Christmas than any other traditional Christmas movie.
We first hear Beethoven's 9th "Ode to Joy" being played by the string quartet at the party at the beginning of the movie. The whole first act is about showing how John is a fish out of water, everything about LA is "off" to him. There's hot girls is skimpy outfits at the airport... in DECEMBER. He's on his way to a Christmas party in a limo during a gorgeous LA sunset. The logo glares at him like an angry samurai from the touch-screen which tells him his wife is using her maiden name. He gets upstairs and they're *not even playing Christmas music.* There's this vibe that the Japanese corporation doesn't quite *get* Christmas and throw a party because they know they're supposed to but get a string quartet instead of carolers. Then Hans shows up to "steal Christmas," and there's a running visual gag where they destroy Christmas decorations in every action scene. All sorts of parallels are drawn between his team and the corporation: "You use a gun, I use a fountain pen, what's the difference?" and then the Beethoven music becomes their theme. We hear it whenever they're winning and plays full out and loudest when they get the vault open.
Growing up with my Dad and brother, I was exposed to a lot of movies like this in the 80's. I dunno why, but they work so well. Sit down, grab popcorn and just enjoy the ride. They also did not take themselves too serious and were such good entertainment, something I truly miss these days
They didn't take themselves too seriously, but they also didn't do the wink and nod "isn't this ridiculous" crap that a lot of modern stories do. The secret is, no matter how silly the story may be the characters treat it as if it's real. Ghostbusters is an example of this. The characters make plenty of jokes about how strange the situation is, but they act appropriately afraid of what is happening.
The savage thing about the fall for Hans Gruber, is they told Alan Rickman they were counting to three, but they dropped him on too, so that look of terror and surprise is real.
I was about to correct you on that but I checked Rickman's IMDB page and you are absolutely CORRECT!!!! He only had television credits before this. I also see that he was in "Smiley's People". I'm going to have to get that and give it a viewing.
The look of fear on Alan Rickman's face as he falls wasn't acting. He thought they were going to film the drop after a certain count, but they did it early just to get that effect
Great reaction. Nice to see someone who understands not all reactions have to be verbal, facial expressions are worth 1000 babbling commentaries. Reaction channels seem to be morphing into commentary, when really all I want to see is the person react. Thanks for doing exactly that, very enjoyable.
@@V3tron There are ways to avoid copyright without talking over dialog. The most annoying things are when they talk over dialog important to the story, then complain they don't know what's going on, complaining over further exposition... A domino effect. "Reactors" don't have to babble endlessly about what MAY happen, missing exposition. They forget we are watching for how they react to what DOES happen.
@@douggetchess4732 It's never that serious the reactor community has some strangely entitled people in that get pissed off at reactors if they don't react the correct way its really strange behavior
@@V3tron -- Nah I get it... I can't watch movies with people who talk during the whole film. Especially if they spend the last half of the film asking dumb questions because they spoke over all the key dialogue. It actually makes my blood boil. You may as well go to an opera and spend half the time talking on your phone.
14:06 is one of my favorite and probably unintentional visual gags in the movie. Sure, we're supposed to be focusing on Argyle, but look closely at Al's car in the background. Marco's corpse goes flying off the hood and slams into the parking garage gate.
Two words I did not expect to come up in this reaction: "Alas ... earwax." :) Films with Rickman include "Galaxy Quest," "Love Actually," and "Truly Madly Deeply, the latter two also featuring fellow HP alumnus Emma Thompson.
33:27 Alan Rickman was deathly scared of heights. The Stunt Coordinator told him they were going to Drop him on "Three." They got to "Two" and Dropped him. The look of fear on his face was Genuine.
This is a Christmas movie. In fact Die Hard has four Christmas songs 'Let It Snow', 'Winter Wonderland', 'Christmas in Hollis', and 'Jingle Bells'. What's strange is the famous movie White Christmas has only two Christmas songs.
When Hans fell to his death, (when the Rolex was unbuckled), they actually, (deliberately), went early on the stunt to get that real look of shock from Alan!!!!
The first 2 Die Hard movies are Christmas movies because the traumatic events take place in the season with John trying to spend time with his family which is a common thing that people do at Christmas time.
Hey Jacqui!!! Yea!!! Okay... - 4:49 - Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. This was basically Alan's film debut. He did British TV and films in very small roles but was primarily a stage actor at this point. In fact, he was riding a high of a big stage performance when he was cast as Hans Gruber. He had just played a Tony Award-nominated run as the Vicomte de Valmont in the play 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' by Christopher Hampton on Broadway (which would later be filmed as 'Dangerous Liaisons' starring Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer, and John Malkovich as Valmont and directed by Stephen Frears). - "Nakatomi Plaza" was still being built when the filming was happening. It was actually Fox Plaza, the then-future HQ for 20th Century Fox, in Century City...and the budget got a small cut when they used the building for the film. At the time, no one really had very high hopes for the film's success. Willis was a TV star with no success on the big screen, the villain was an unknown British stage actor, and no other stars in the cast. The biggest draw was that John McTiernan was directing fresh from his success with 'Predator'. The only stipulations on filming: no explosion damage and no filming during the day. -8:46 - Beethoven...it gets used a lot for Hans Gruber (notice how I keep repeating Hans Gruber! 🤣🤣🤣) Howard Ho has a great video breaking down the use of Beethoven in the film: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E7SKt6cfH44.html - 33:33 - It just isn't Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi Plaza!!!! There! The spoiler line I kept under wraps!!! The fall itself...Rickman, not being a trained stunt performer, was persuaded to do the close-up over a huge blue screen airbag. They told him they would give him a three count and drop him. It was a 30-foot drop. They went "1...2..." and dropped him, which is why he has that expression on his face. They did two takes of the drop each time. "1...2...(drop)". - 35:19 - I love you, Jacqui...just sayin'...YES, it IS a CHRISTMAS MOVIE!!!! I told you about the guy who passed away recently, Clarence Gilyard, Jr., who played Theo, the computer guy, and safecracker...he was also in 'Top Gun' as Sundown, one of the RIOs at Top Gun who almost always wore mirrored aviator sunglasses. I am always using lines like "And the quarterback is TOAST!" Karl, the blond maniac and second in charge under Hans was Alexander Godunov, a former Soviet ballet dancer with the Bolshoi who defected to the US in 1979. He only made a handful of films but a few are classics...Die Hard, Witness with Harrison Ford, and The Money Pit with Tom Hanks. He died in 1995 at age 45. I saw this when it was first released in theaters in the summer of 1988. I was in high school, and I probably saw it 3 or 4 times that summer. It has always been a favorite of mine, and not a lot of Bruce Willis films are. The sequel is really good but very different from this one, and a few familiar faces reappear. The third one I didn't care for, even though it also had Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons (as the villain), and it is more closely tied to the first one. I haven't seen any of the other sequels. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the best to you and the channel in the New Year!!! If Sam doesn't post something soon so I can tell him myself, please send him my best, too. I loved The Shame List and the two of you together!
Thank you! And I'll definitely pass that on to Sam (he's working on some stuff right now, so hopefully you'll see more of him soon!) So appreciate you supporting us both, and hope you enjoy what's coming!
Best line ever! "I am not an ordinary theif! I am an extraordinary theif! And since I just graduated to kidnapping, you should treat me with more respect!"
That building, Fox Plaza, in Century City, began construction in 1985, so several floors were indeed under construction when filming began. A nice addition to the plot they could have avoided, but used instead.
Sad that Shame List ended, but glad to see you both are continuing on separately. Also glad to see you started with a classic. If you have time, another YT channel called 'Just An Observation' did an absolutely amazing breakdown of the intricacies that Alan Rickman utilized (the acting choices and the improvisations) to make his brilliant performance of Hans Gruber arguably the GOAT of movie villains ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PZtOC-sANi4.html
And then there's this one breaking down the film's composer's magnificent usage of Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' throughout the various points of the film: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E7SKt6cfH44.html
@@movienightwithjacqui PLEASE REACT TO ❤🎉 BAD BOYS (Martin Lawrence ) MONEY TALKS (Chris Tucker), BLUE STREAK (Martin Lawrence) LIFE (EDDIE MURPHY) NOTHING TO LOSE (TIM ROBBINS) THE EQUALIZER ,DEJAVU, FALLEN (ALL DENZEL WASHINGTON )
I have seen both of these videos that you share and I still go back to them, to see their spendour and creativity. They are a very well worth watch to understand what truly makes this film so darn great.
One of my favorite movies, here are a few facts for you. I'm sure others have listed some of these as well. Alan Rickman was a theater star, this was his first film. The first scene they shot was the scene where he meets John McClane up on the roof and notices his bare feet. He injured himself when jumping off of a ledge. He was terrified that it was going to cost him the roll. It turned out to be a minor injury and he was able to proceed. Alan Rickman was a great villain in three notorious films, die hard, Prince of thieves and Quigley down under. All three of them are exceptional with the exception of Kevin Costner's lack of an English accent. Alan Rickman, as you probably already know was the actor. The Harry Potter kids loved the most. He didn't treat them like children, he treated them like fellow actors. And without even knowing he was coming, he would show up to their plays or premieres for their movies to support them for the rest of his life. There are a lot of movies like speed, die hard on a bus, Air Force 1, die hard on an airplane etc, my generation called other adventure movies die hard and whatever we can think of that would mix. And finally, the death scene for Hans Gruber, where he releases the Rolex to make him fall to his death was performed by Allen Rickman. He was brave enough to do the stunt himself. There was a big airbag underneath and it was a pretty decent fault. He was terrified, but the director wanted just a little bit more realism. They were supposed to release on three, but they released on two, the look on his face was because he did not expect to be falling that quickly. And gravity is a b****. I absolutely loved this reaction, and I have been thoroughly enjoying your Firefly reactions. You are one of the people who has helped me cope with being disabled. 4 years ago I was in a hospital, I had come off of the ventilator. After spending 16 days with a 1% chance of surviving. I had to learn how to drink, then eat, then a few weeks later which is still about 2 weeks away from me. Now how to stand again. And then a few days after that I started learning how to walk again. I worked 80 hours the week before I got sick, haven't worked a minute since. Covid absolutely destroyed me. I was a workaholic, I don't know what to do with myself most of the time. But having amazing people like you watching movies that I love has at least provided some entertainment value. Thank you for just being amazing.
From one Alan Rickman fan to another: if you haven’t yet seen it, watch the production of Samuel Beckett’s “Play” directed by Anthony Minghella. This was part of the “Beckett on Film” project from 2001, and it’s easy to find on RU-vid. Rickman stars along with Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliet Stevenson, and man, they are terrific. A jewel of a cast. Like Beckett’s other works from the early ‘60s, “Play” is tiny: only 15 minutes long. It is also terrifyingly difficult. So I was floored when I learned that Rickman et al had only two days of rehearsal. Two days! Astonishing.
Hans Gruber is one of the GREATEST villians of all time. He plans for EVERYTHING, adapts quickly, and really only fails because his henchmen don't listen to him. McClain is a perfect hero. Does he make mistakes, sure. But none of them are overtly stupid. He takes time to gather intel before he acts, he tries to plan ahead when he has enough time to do so, and he makes use of the resources around him. He also isn't immortal. By the end of the movie he's badly beaten, tired, and clearly hurting.
To those who don't know. There exists the book: A Die Hard Christmas - The Illustrated Holiday Classic More rapid then eagles his henchmen they came. And he radioed and shouted and called them by name Now Eddie, now James now Franco, now Ulil On Fritz and on Karl- hair long and unruly!
I have seen a few people watch this movie but you are the first one to realize that you need a great villain to have a great movie. Even if you are adorable it's your brains that got me subbed. Great reaction. 😀
Jeremy Irons plays H. Gruber’s brother in the 3rd film Die Hard with a Vengeance. He is just as cunning and ruthless as his brother if not more so with a distinctive voice like Scar(Lion King).
As far as I know, this was the first movie that Alan Rickman starred in. He was a famous British stage actor, so they weren't sure if he's fit, but he absolutely blew it out of the water. And one last thing- they once asked Bruce Willis if this was a Christmas movie. And his response: 'No, it's a Bruce Willis movie!' 😂
It took me many watches to realise this, but it is a Christmas movie because it is about an estranged family trying to get back together for the Christmas holiday and the obstructions they encounter trying to make that happen. There are not many themes more Christmas than getting the family together for the holidays... The setting being Christmas Eve, the references, the music, it is all part of it. But really it is the family theme and the happy ending.
Forkin shirt, this was a fun reaction! I just found your channel thanks to the algorithm, and I'm a new fan. You have a great personality, and I'm looking forward to your reactions. Some sad trivia: we recently lost Clarence Gilyard, who played Theo, the computer hacker just about a month ago. RIP to him and Alan. They were both amazing actors. Thank you for your channel. This is going to be a fun forkin ride watching it grow from its foundation. I hope you have a Merry Christmas!
