Here's the opening segment from my video essay text on Die Hard -- hopefully will be produced and available online soon, will be sure to share...
"Thirty years ago, a movie came out starring a comedic TV actor and an unknown British thespian. Ebert gave the film two stars, apparently a dumb police chief undermined the whole thing... Just another summer flick following a long line of action films that’d been churned out since the early 80s.
Regardless, it started pulling in money – and wouldn’t stop. It’d go on to make $140,000,000 on a $28,000,000 budget. It’d spawn four sequels, launch Bruce Willis to superstardom, and become the new gold standard for action films. One might say it’s the movie that just wouldn’t die.
We’re talking about Die Hard here, and on its 30th anniversary we’re going to look at how it became the greatest action film ever made. “Welcome to the party, pal!”
So, why is Die Hard the G.O.A.T.? Simple: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and French New Wave cinema! Okay, maybe not so simple. We’ll get there."
