For some reason Star Trek V has disappeared of the catalogue. I may have to go on strike....
For some reason Star Trek V has disappeared of the catalogue. I may have to go on strike....
Member since:07.08.2005
Reviews:8
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT THE PLAGARISED ORIGINAL VERSION THAT WAS INADVERTENTLY POSTED.
Before I start I have to say that this film places no. 1 in my all time list. Not just my all time action films or my all time Bruce Willis films, MY ALL TIME LIST. There may be more intelligent films, there may even be more exciting films, but in my view there is no better film.
We all know the synopsis by now. John McClane flies to L.A. to spend Christmas with his estranged wife and family. Instead he plays cat and mouse with Hans Gruber and his gang of uber-Euro terrorists who speak a strange form of German. And kills all of them except the two who never carry guns (fact fans).
To break it down: Bruce Willis has never, never been better in his role as a cop who finds himself the only wall between the terrorists and freedom. He was known for Moonlighting and there are certain aspects of David Addison remaining in his performance (a poster advertising the Die Hard video appeared in the last series of Moonlighting by the way). He wisecracks his way around the building, intermittently shooting the terrorists in the knees or blowing them up with some C4 attached to a computer screen and a chair (yippe kay yay). We permanently root for this man and, unlike some heroes, never find him annoying.
Alan Rickman has to be the best villain outside the James Bond series. His facial expression when McClane quotes from "Jeopardy" is priceless. His ability to convey annoyance and malevolance whilst talking to a disembodied voice through a walkie talkie is pure class, obviously honed from his training on on the West End. My one quibble is his American accent when Gruber and McClane finally meet. I dont think the idea was to have Gruber sound like a German trying an American accent but it comes out as such. Rickman has done better American accents since, it is strange that he doesnt manage it here.
Of the supporting characters, Reginald Veljohnsen gives good value as McClane's only friendly contact on the outside, Bonnie Bedelia doesn't really have much to do as McClane's wife and William Atherton chews the scenery as Richard Thornberg, the man who gives away the fact that Bedelia is McClane's wife. Comic performances abound. Robert Davi and Grand Bush as the Agents Johnson (no relation) play the FBI agents who know the terrorist playbook step by step with just the right amount of tongue in cheek, Hart Bochner as the ambitious, coke snorting and too arrogant for his own good Ellis must have been told to play it for laughs and does so exceedingly well and Paul Gleason, the man who from up there is in charge of Jack, copies his performance from The Breakfast Club, which is no bad thing. The only bad performance in the whole lot comes from the late Alexander Gudonov, so good in Witness, who here appears to be trying to play a block of wood.
The story never lets up, moving us from one set piece to another whilst never taking anything away from the acting. John McTiernan's direction is taught and claustrophobic, which set him up well for the Hunt For Red October. The special effects, of which there are not many for an action film, are very well done, the stand out being McClane's jumping from the top of the building. Luckily the building belonged to 20th Century Fox who made the film so they cant really complain.
When this film was released in July 1988 I was in the States and saw it twice there and three more times when it was released in the UK in January 1989. It never lets go of your grip from the beginning to the end and even has the old monster rising from the dead at the end.
I cannot recommend this film highly enough, whether you see it on TV, at a reissue at a cinema or on DVD.
Did I mention I liked it?
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Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
High above the city of L.A. a team of terrorists has seized a building, taken hostages, ... more
and declared war. But one man has managed to escape detection...an off-duty cop. He's alone...tired...and the only chance anyone has.Bruce Willis stars as New York ...
High above the city of LA a team of terrorists has seized a building taken hostages and ... more
declared war. But one man has managed to escape detection.. An off-duty cop. He's alone..tired..and the only chance anyone has. Bruce Willis stars as New York Ci...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Mixes non-stop action with comedy and unforgettable quotes, generally a kick ass film Disadvantages: None for me personnaly, but maybe a little too much swearing for some views
MattMan101 11.12.2007 (11.12.2007)
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![Die Hard (Special Edition) [DVD] [1988]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/76770162.jpg "Die Hard (Special Edition) [DVD] [1988]")
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