Die Hard is one of the best action movies ever made, but despite this, it really isn't an action film at all; it's a Christmas drama. This can be seen best through two aspects in the film: McClane's fate worse than death, which is straight out of a drama, and the action affecting McClane just like Christmas stories do.
Footage from:
Die Hard (1988), Dir. John McTiernan Warrior (2011), Dir. Gavin O’Connor The Matrix (1999), Dir. The Wachowskis Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Dir. Steven Spielberg The Terminator (1984), Dir. James Cameron Taken (2008), Dir. Pierrel Morel Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), Dir. Abe Levitow It's A Wonderful Life (1946), Dir. Frank Capra Home Alone (1990), Dir. Chris Colombus The Santa Clause (1994), Dir. John Pasquin Music from:
Ode to Joy - Beethoven, performed by Michael Kamen Die Hard Soundtrack - Michael Kamen Christmas In Hollis - Run DMC Let It Snow - Vaughn Monroe
Full transcript:
Hi, my name is Gabe and in this video I’ll be looking into Die Hard. Die Hard might seem like a surprise choice for a channel that views cinema as an artform, but I love this film.
JOHN MCCLANE: Yippie kai yay, motherfucker.
And I actually cite it more than any other movie when discussing how to do filmmaking right. I mean, the film features:
Antagonists who are smart,
A vulnerable hero who makes mistakes
JOHN MCCLANE: Think I’m fuckin’ stupid Hans?
HANS: You were saying?
Henchmen with personalities, not just cannon fodder
Comic relief that isn’t stupid jokes
Action that’s coherently put together
Fights, stunts, and special effects that feel real, not choreographed or setup
Logical, motivated behavior
JOHN MCCLANE: Welcome to the party, pal!
Location as a character
Unpredictability
And so much more. All this adds up to what is in my opinion the best action movie ever made. But Die Hard is more than just the best action movie ever, it’s actually in a completely different category, comparable to films you’d never think to compare Die Hard to. To figure out what I’m getting at, let’s go beneath the surface of this film.
One dynamic in Die Hard everyone seems to be aware of is it being a Christmas movie. And for those who don’t agree, check out this scene:
JOHN MCCLANE: Don’t you got any Christmas music?
ARGYLE: This *is* Christmas music.
[Christmas in Hollis]
McClane wants to listen to Christmas music, not realizing he is listening to Christmas music, because the genre is not one Christmas music usually comes in.
Now take everything I just said, except replace listen with watch and music with movie. Basically, the filmmakers are doing everything they can to tell us Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
PARTYGOER: Hey! Merry Christmas!
Die Hard being a Christmas movie is one sign that the film is more than it seems, but there’s lots more. Take, for example, the entire opening. It is pretty much unheard of for action movies to start without action, and yet Die Hard does exactly that, starting with nothing but talking, for seventeen minutes. But somehow this opening isn’t boring, even though it’s just talking, talking, talking.
What is going on here? Sure, the film is setting up a whole bunch of stuff, but how is it doing it in an action movie, without action, and also without being boring?
Die Hard is able to do this because at its heart, it isn’t an action film at all, it’s a relationship drama. McClane’s relationship with his wife permeates this film, whether it’s her last name, the fights they have,
HOLLY: Only John can drive somebody that crazy.
his feelings toward Harry,
JOHN MCCLANE: Missed some.
his relationship with his kids, the guilt he feels…
Nowhere is this seen better than in the film’s stakes. All films must have high stakes, they are what make the audience care, the higher the better.
The protagonist may lose his house?
TESS: You’re not gonna get killed but you promise me you’re not gonna get hurt? You’re not gonna end up in the hospital? You’re not gonna end up paralyzed? We have no prize money, we have no house, we have payments for hospital bills-
BRENDAN: Listen, Tess, I promise you this. If I don’t try, in three weeks they’re gonna take the house.
Who cares? The protagonist may lose his life?
NEO: Trinity! Help!
Now we’re talking.
But even life or death isn’t enough, because there are fates worse than death. If Indiana Jones dies he doesn’t just die, but the Nazis will get a hold of the ark and take over the world. Same goes for Sarah and John Conner, if they die the machines will take over and humanity will be destroyed.
KYLE: We were that close to going out forever, but there was one man…
Even overly simplified movies like Taken get this right, if Bryan dies then his daughter will be lost to the world of sex slavery: can you imagine a fate for a father worse than that?
McClane however, doesn’t face any of this. If he dies the bad guys will simply get away with murder and make off with money. No evil takeovers, no end of the world, nothing like that. Die Hard’s fate worse than death is actually the complete antithesis to those in normal action movies, and it more than anything is what separates this film from the rest.
To discover Die Hard’s fate worse than death, check out this moment:
JOHN MCCLANE: Listen man, I’m starting to get a bad feeling up here. I want you to do something. I want you to find my wife, don’t ask me how, by then you’ll know how…
It is here that McClane finally lets his emotions out, he admits how he feels and spills his guts. He couldn’t do it with his wife,
JOHN MCCLANE: I don’t think you have a clue as to what my idea of our marriage-
HOLLY: I know exactly what your idea of our marriage should be.
but he does so here.
JOHN MCCLANE: Tell her that she’s the best thing that ever happened to a bum like me. She’s hear me say ‘I love you’ a thousand times, she’s never heard me say ‘I’m sorry’.
It turns out that unlike every other action hero, McClane is not a perfect, awesome, alpha-male. He’s actually far from it: a bad husband who takes his wife for granted, who can’t make her or himself happy, even though he loves her and she him.
HOLLY: John.
McClane may be a good cop, but when it comes to his family, he’s a loser, and not only that, he messed up big. Everything Al says,
AL: You know, when you’re a rookie they can teach you everything about being a cop except how to live with a mistake.
McClane is also living.
And this is McClane’s fate worse than death: that he will die without ever apologizing to his wife, without ever making up for his mistakes. If McClane dies the world doesn’t end but his opportunity to makes up with his family does. Dying is one thing, but dying with regret? Dying knowing the last things you did in life were the wrong things? Dying knowing you hurt your wife and family, and can never make amends? These are all worse than death.
This is a deep dynamic, and uncharacteristic for an action film, where the heroes almost always are badasses, the only conflicts being outside of them. Internal conflict is the realm of drama, not action, but internal conflict is what Die Hard has.
Knowing all this leads to an important question: if Die Hard is about internal conflicts, about a husband and a wife’s relationship, then what’s the point of the action? Sure, it’s awesome, but how does it serve the story?
You may not believe this, but the answer to that brings us back to Christmas. Christmas movies that is. What’s the most classic Christmas story? Someone sad, bitter, frustrated, or neglectful confronts or is confronted by death, allowing him to realize and appreciate what he has. Think: Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas, George Bailey seeing what life would be like without him, Kevin McAllister making his family disappear, Scott Calvin literally killing Santa.
And John McClane fighting ruthless and vicious terrorists.
The biggest problem with McClane, a problem we all face, is the belief that he can fix his problems tomorrow. He doesn’t ever go deep and personal, he doesn’t do what is needed because it is difficult, and he can simply do it another day.
But being confronted by death? Being shot, beat up, almost falling to his death, almost being blown to bits? Any of those things get him and all the sudden tomorrow will never come, because he is dead. Dead without doing what is right by his family or making up with his wife, dead while experiencing a fate worse than death.
This is why Die Hard is the best action movie ever: because it’s actually a drama, about love and relationships, forgiveness and redemption, family and perspective. All the things Christmas is about. Die Hard is so good because while on the surface it’s an action film, deep down it’s actually an inspiring, heart-felt, Christmas drama.
[Let It Snow]