I personally love how in Die Hard you get one of the most badass male action leads, who's fearless, emotional, snappy, witty, angry, empathetic and brave. John McLane will forever be in my top 3 favourite male leads
Another great review. So much humour with snappy pacing. You do so much solid work reviewing mostly cult TV shows but it's nice to see you do a well-known movie. On a sad side note, actor Clarence Gilyard Jr (Theo) passed away just a few days ago 28th Nov 2022.
Alan Rickman went from his star making turn in The Hard to an almost cameo role as Kevin Kline's painter friend in the January Man less than year later. He was that kind of fellow.
Die Hard explores all facets of Christmas; depression, selfishness, and tensions that threaten to erupt into violence? In all seriousness, Die Hard is one of the best movies ever. Ever! So well made, so memorable, so much fun! Also RIP to cast members no longer here
Magnificent work as usual Stam Fine. Little sad news the actor who played Theo passed away today. Sorry his name escapes me. Yes Theo is as annoying as any other character in the film. Nice job sir. R.I.P.
Clarence Gilyard Jr (Theo) was also a professor of film at UNLV after he retired in the 2000s. But did come back for that commercial spoof of the film a few years ago.
This and with a vengeance are the best in the franchise. One of the actors that played a terrorist went on to play the main villain Vigo in Ghostbusters two the following year. You see him with a ponytail as they first arrive and walk towards the camera as there coming out of the back of a truck.
With a Vengeance is my favorite. I love SLJ & Willis's chemistry as well as the New York setting. The Gruber brothers were played by terrific British actors.
"Die Hard, or as Hans Gruber would know if, The Hard"... Goddamn don't tell me you didn't giggle for the rest of the day after coming up with that one 😆 Lovely work as always!
I hope you get around to covering Moonlighting some day - I have some affection for it, even though I barely remember it - I was only a kid at the time. It doesn't appear to be streaming anywhere and the DVD box set is now super expensive. RIP Theo's actor.
I've not seen it ever since it was on. My brother and I loved it. Just as it was starting our mum would bring us crackers and cheese every time. These days watching it there would probably be enough cheese in the show to feast on :)
went to see this in the UK in 1987 when it came out wth some work colleagues at the time. Ten minutes into the film we realised we were in the wrong cinema and were watching cocktails with Tom Cruise instead and eneded up running to the right one.
I have read the book, Nothing Lasts Forever. I would hardly call it great literature. Back in the day, it was the sort of thing written for long car or plane rides. However, it's a surprisingly grim and down beat action thriller. The protagonist, a much older man named Joe Leland, was saving his daughter from terrorists who were the real deal lead by a sadist named Tony Gruber. What's also interesting to note is half of those terrorists were women and Joe kills all of them in cold blood.
Ha, ha... timing. My twelve-year-old son and I are sitting down tonight to watch our favourite Christmas movie; Die Hard, of course! I'll watch Love Actually with the wife later, though... and laugh in the face of diversity... apparently.
Lethal weapon is definitely a Christmas movie - always one of mine at least - I rewatched this a few month ago and I was surprised how long it took to build the tension- great movie but slow in places which I hadn’t remembered- great review as always
If Home Alone, which is essentially Die Hard in a Home and with a Child (whose alone), is a Christmas movie, then Die Hard is too. They have the same narrative! And both end with the male lead mending their relationship with a female co-star! Isnt that a Christmas-y thing too?! Someone is even spending time walking around with no shoes on, treading on nasty bits too! Which, as any parent will confirm, is also a thing that happens at Christmas. The defense rests your honour.
Love your work! It was your Goodies essay that got me hooked. Give me a shout if you'd like to see a special cut of Die Hard that I made, complete with a new score of back-to-back Christmas hits.
Which "middling movie"? Blind Date or Sunset? Or Both. I really liked Sunset, it has it's own weird charm. I only remember blind date for Bruce forcing John Larroquette to dance the Moonwalk
Oh man, how has somebody not done a parody of Die Hard with Sinatra in the lead? You know in every scene he'd have a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other, and would disarm Gruber just by being such a hep cat.
_"If Christmas is an integral part of the plot, it's a Christmas movie."_ Agreed. _"The story of Die Hard only occurs because it's Christmas."_ Disagree. The story occurs because there's an office party and thieves take over the tower while a cop is visiting his wife who works there. You could set it on the fourth of July and nothing in the plot, story, or characters within the movie would change.
@@TheNightBadger The only reason John is there is because it's Christmas. Christmas is an excuse to see his kids. If it wasn't such an important holiday, Holly wouldn't have to let him. The Nakatomi Building is only open for a Christmas party. Something that was very present in the corporate culture of the 80s. The company wouldn't throw a party on the same scale for any other holiday. The thieves, knowing that it is Christmas, explicitly choose that day. It would have been a perfect plan, if not for John. If you change the date/holiday, Die Hard can't happen. Christmas is critical to the basis of the plot.
@@SommersetStriker _"The only reason John is there is because it's Christmas. Christmas is an excuse to see his kids. If it wasn't such an important holiday, Holly wouldn't have to let him."_ It could have been a birthday. It could have been the 4th July. The audience wouldn't have cared, and the plot would happen just the same way. _"The Nakatomi Building is only open for a Christmas party. Something that was very present in the corporate culture of the 80s. The company wouldn't throw a party on the same scale for any other holiday."_ Again, make it 4th of July - a Japanese company recognising an important American holiday - it would have worked fine. _"The thieves, knowing that it is Christmas, explicitly choose that day. It would have been a perfect plan, if not for John."_ The Police, the Feds - they all turn up in good time. It being Christmas made no difference. The chauffeur even waited in the car park. _"If you change the date/holiday, Die Hard can't happen. Christmas is critical to the basis of the plot."_ No it isn't. It's incidental. John coming home for his kids birthday and the company celebrating winning a big deal would have worked just as well - none of it impacts the audience, because it's an action movie about a heist gone wrong. I could literally edit out any and all references to Christmas, and play someone the movie and they wouldn't be able to tell it was set at Christmas - and it wouldn't impact the level of entertainment of the film.
Hard disagree... Lethal Weapon is also a Christmas movie, and the second-best one just behind Die Hard. _"...and then they'd stop for a very long time, and then they made a few more."_ Nope. Hard disagree there, too. Anything after Die Hard With a Vengeance was just a shared fever dream and never really existed.
They cast Paul Gleason AND William Atherton, but still have it so NEITHER is the biggest asshole in the movie. Assholes to be sure, but Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis wins in this one. Of course we love Hans Gruber way more than them.
I honestly believe this film is pretty crap, how it's become such a cult movie is beyond me, I guess it's because it's the perfect anti-christmas movie for men who have had enough of hearing " I wish it could be Christmas everyday" and sick to death of turkey!!😁😁
The little sniffle after saying Ellis’ name 🤣
I personally love how in Die Hard you get one of the most badass male action leads, who's fearless, emotional, snappy, witty, angry, empathetic and brave. John McLane will forever be in my top 3 favourite male leads
It's a Christmas movie all right with a lot of snow! Die Hard definitely shows how pervasive cocaine was in the 1980's.
One of the greatest action classics in history.
It's definitely a Christmas movie!
Another great review. So much humour with snappy pacing. You do so much solid work reviewing mostly cult TV shows but it's nice to see you do a well-known movie. On a sad side note, actor Clarence Gilyard Jr (Theo) passed away just a few days ago 28th Nov 2022.
Alan Rickman went from his star making turn in The Hard to an almost cameo role as Kevin Kline's painter friend in the January Man less than year later. He was that kind of fellow.
Fascinating 🥱
Die Hard explores all facets of Christmas; depression, selfishness, and tensions that threaten to erupt into violence?
In all seriousness, Die Hard is one of the best movies ever. Ever! So well made, so memorable, so much fun!
Also RIP to cast members no longer here
Not to mention self destructive substance abuse … a key facet of Christmas.
Family, redemption, reconciliation...
It's actually a summer movie. I refuse to explain further.
During Bruce first film blind date you can see the die hard building through the lawyers office window
Not just one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time but one of the greatest movies ever made in my opinion 🎄💥
The music moves it into becoming a true action xmas movie.
This is my action movie of all time.
Magnificent work as usual Stam Fine. Little sad news the actor who played Theo passed away today. Sorry his name escapes me. Yes Theo is as annoying as any other character in the film. Nice job sir. R.I.P.
You could have just looked it up before posting. I’d recommend this little known website named “Google”.
A Christmas film realised during the summer
It’s not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off of the Nakatomi Plaza.
I like how both actors that portrayed Johnson & Johnson appeared in the James Bond film _License to Kill._
Clarence Gilyard Jr (Theo) was also a professor of film at UNLV after he retired in the 2000s. But did come back for that commercial spoof of the film a few years ago.
I miss the 80ies and 90ies. Feels like we had so much more impactful stuff back then. Today's movies is just "another one of those" over and over.
'Die Hard' is the best action movie ever made that isn't called 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'
LIKED this video a LOT........Just like I LOVE this movie :)
The Hard ... that is the funniest German joke I've heard in a very long time! Thank you Stam Fine 🙂
Yes! Bravo! 👏 definitely my favorite Christmas movie.
The great actor Clarence Gilyard aka Theo passed away this week, RIP
I love Die Hard 4.
No mention of the other Christmas Classic... Gremlins?
The actor who played the tech guy Theo just died recently. He was an art professor
Let it (sniff) snow, let it (sniff) snow, let it snow! (sniff)
Love this film, especially when Ellis gets it
Just Ur titles alone deserve a like
This and with a vengeance are the best in the franchise. One of the actors that played a terrorist went on to play the main villain Vigo in Ghostbusters two the following year. You see him with a ponytail as they first arrive and walk towards the camera as there coming out of the back of a truck.
With a Vengeance is my favorite. I love SLJ & Willis's chemistry as well as the New York setting. The Gruber brothers were played by terrific British actors.
he's the one that chucks the tantrum on learning McClaine killed his brother.
Oh Stam, you know us well....I was waiting right to the end for it :) Yippee!!
"Die Hard, or as Hans Gruber would know if, The Hard"...
Goddamn don't tell me you didn't giggle for the rest of the day after coming up with that one 😆 Lovely work as always!
an attempt to learn a bit of german in the early 90s pays off with a joke 20 years later.
@@StamFine I know how wrong it sounds, but the early 90s are now 30 years ago.
Kudos for not mentioning that Bruce Willis was an extra in The Detective.
The bathroom scene with the broken glass still makes me wince
A fine review of the greatest action movie ever made.
I hope you get around to covering Moonlighting some day - I have some affection for it, even though I barely remember it - I was only a kid at the time. It doesn't appear to be streaming anywhere and the DVD box set is now super expensive.
RIP Theo's actor.
I've not seen it ever since it was on. My brother and I loved it. Just as it was starting our mum would bring us crackers and cheese every time. These days watching it there would probably be enough cheese in the show to feast on :)
Jingle Bells, Gruber fell, John is in a duct, Ellis thinks that he's the shit but hes completely fu...
dude you are hilarious. love it. thanks as always for sharing!
Merry Christmas!
went to see this in the UK in 1987 when it came out wth some work colleagues at the time. Ten minutes into the film we realised we were in the wrong cinema and were watching cocktails with Tom Cruise instead and eneded up running to the right one.
It’s a Wonderful Life played on TV every December.
Isn’t it a Christmas movie? 🤷🏼
Eliis...sniff.
Man, you're just getting better 👍 Merry Christmas.
Thanks. And to you and your fam. Also, podcats.
I have read the book, Nothing Lasts Forever. I would hardly call it great literature. Back in the day, it was the sort of thing written for long car or plane rides. However, it's a surprisingly grim and down beat action thriller. The protagonist, a much older man named Joe Leland, was saving his daughter from terrorists who were the real deal lead by a sadist named Tony Gruber. What's also interesting to note is half of those terrorists were women and Joe kills all of them in cold blood.
so, sounds like they lightened up the story not just a little, but a lot!
@@StamFine Yep, the end of that book will not prompt you to sing "Let it Snow".
Die Hard is a Christmas movie. It’s the one movie everyone can sit down and watch after the big Christmas dinner 😊Classic
Not a Christmas movie.
Awesome movie, though. Classic. Oh, & RIP Clarence Gilyard.
Ha, ha... timing. My twelve-year-old son and I are sitting down tonight to watch our favourite Christmas movie; Die Hard, of course! I'll watch Love Actually with the wife later, though... and laugh in the face of diversity... apparently.
Stam, You should do a video about Christmas movies. You couldn't cover them all, of course, but we know you could craft a hilarious video on this.
Thank you for identifying the real reason Die Hard is a Christmas movie... because I'd rather watch it than some crappy Christmas movie.
Ho, Ho (sniff) Ho. It's a Rolex... of a Christmas movie (sniff).
Lethal weapon is definitely a Christmas movie - always one of mine at least - I rewatched this a few month ago and I was surprised how long it took to build the tension- great movie but slow in places which I hadn’t remembered- great review as always
Agree with you about lethal weapon
It's only a Christmas movie if Die Hard 2, Lethal Weapon, Batman Returns, First Blood, Rocky IV, and Invasion USA are Christmas movies.
Die Hard was also originally a planned sequel to the Schwarzenegger film Commando .✌
It is a Christmas movie even if it did not come out at Christmas.
It's a Christmas movie, because Stam Fine told me so. End of story.
If Home Alone, which is essentially Die Hard in a Home and with a Child (whose alone), is a Christmas movie, then Die Hard is too. They have the same narrative! And both end with the male lead mending their relationship with a female co-star! Isnt that a Christmas-y thing too?! Someone is even spending time walking around with no shoes on, treading on nasty bits too! Which, as any parent will confirm, is also a thing that happens at Christmas.
The defense rests your honour.
rad.
Hi Stam - any chance you could review Manhunter?
It's weird that people argue this is a Christmas movie, but you don't really get people having the same debate about Lethal Weapon.
It's a XMas movie, so is Gremlins LOLs
Love your work! It was your Goodies essay that got me hooked. Give me a shout if you'd like to see a special cut of Die Hard that I made, complete with a new score of back-to-back Christmas hits.
No takers so far I see. 😂
@@Robert-tl2vg There's only one person included in this invitation, but thanks for your input.
"Mild Spoilers Ahead"
Anyone who watches your channel but hasn't seen Die Hard is seriously confused.
We could all use a pal like Al Pal.
enunciate
Die Hard is a Christmas movie while all those other movies are merely set around Christmas. Why? Because it has the Christmas spirit.
Sniff.
Well now I need to watch it , ahahaha
Who is "Block of Really Dumb Wood"?
Steven Seagal.
Which "middling movie"? Blind Date or Sunset? Or Both. I really liked Sunset, it has it's own weird charm. I only remember blind date for Bruce forcing John Larroquette to dance the Moonwalk
Theo was clearly meant to be a bad version of Axel Foley, but it never quite stuck.
Oh man, how has somebody not done a parody of Die Hard with Sinatra in the lead? You know in every scene he'd have a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other, and would disarm Gruber just by being such a hep cat.
"I keep on telling you, he's 82 years old and he's dead."
I'd totally watch it, though.
--sniff--ellis...
If Christmas is an integral part of the plot, it's a Christmas movie.
The story of Die Hard only occurs because it's Christmas.
Yeah but that then means you can't watch it unless it is christmas.
_"If Christmas is an integral part of the plot, it's a Christmas movie."_
Agreed.
_"The story of Die Hard only occurs because it's Christmas."_
Disagree. The story occurs because there's an office party and thieves take over the tower while a cop is visiting his wife who works there. You could set it on the fourth of July and nothing in the plot, story, or characters within the movie would change.
@@TheNightBadger The only reason John is there is because it's Christmas. Christmas is an excuse to see his kids. If it wasn't such an important holiday, Holly wouldn't have to let him.
The Nakatomi Building is only open for a Christmas party. Something that was very present in the corporate culture of the 80s. The company wouldn't throw a party on the same scale for any other holiday.
The thieves, knowing that it is Christmas, explicitly choose that day. It would have been a perfect plan, if not for John.
If you change the date/holiday, Die Hard can't happen. Christmas is critical to the basis of the plot.
@@SommersetStriker _"The only reason John is there is because it's Christmas. Christmas is an excuse to see his kids. If it wasn't such an important holiday, Holly wouldn't have to let him."_
It could have been a birthday. It could have been the 4th July. The audience wouldn't have cared, and the plot would happen just the same way.
_"The Nakatomi Building is only open for a Christmas party. Something that was very present in the corporate culture of the 80s. The company wouldn't throw a party on the same scale for any other holiday."_
Again, make it 4th of July - a Japanese company recognising an important American holiday - it would have worked fine.
_"The thieves, knowing that it is Christmas, explicitly choose that day. It would have been a perfect plan, if not for John."_
The Police, the Feds - they all turn up in good time. It being Christmas made no difference. The chauffeur even waited in the car park.
_"If you change the date/holiday, Die Hard can't happen. Christmas is critical to the basis of the plot."_
No it isn't. It's incidental. John coming home for his kids birthday and the company celebrating winning a big deal would have worked just as well - none of it impacts the audience, because it's an action movie about a heist gone wrong. I could literally edit out any and all references to Christmas, and play someone the movie and they wouldn't be able to tell it was set at Christmas - and it wouldn't impact the level of entertainment of the film.
@@TheNightBadger I disagree with you. I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the film and it's themes.
Sliders
Some call The Godfather "the perfect movie." NO WAY! Die Hard is the only perfect movie. Followed closely by Back to the Future. ;)
The best Xmas film is Gilliam's Brazil
The star was Bruce Willis
S! A! N! T! A! SANTY CAUS!!
🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
Not a Christmas movie. 😆
In hindsight, the characters of Dwayne, Dick and Harvey were done so wrong in this movie
Hard disagree... Lethal Weapon is also a Christmas movie, and the second-best one just behind Die Hard.
_"...and then they'd stop for a very long time, and then they made a few more."_ Nope. Hard disagree there, too. Anything after Die Hard With a Vengeance was just a shared fever dream and never really existed.
HIlariously as a kid i thought dude was sniffing cos he had a sinus issue or cold as it was winter and that it's annoying to sniff loads
It was due to the snow :)
They cast Paul Gleason AND William Atherton, but still have it so NEITHER is the biggest asshole in the movie. Assholes to be sure, but Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis wins in this one. Of course we love Hans Gruber way more than them.
Who doesn't love the first one. I also love die hard with a vengeance.
I even can tolerate the fourth one
I've tried to watch 4 but didn't get very far.
@@6581punk
That's OK.
I think everyone can agree about the fifth one 🙄😂👍
Yep, 1 and 3 are the best by far. I enjoy 2 but it's basically the first film without the tense, claustrophobic setting or the awesome villain.
Hans ! Boobby ! I'm your white knight 😇
I honestly believe this film is pretty crap, how it's become such a cult movie is beyond me, I guess it's because it's the perfect anti-christmas movie for men who have had enough of hearing " I wish it could be Christmas everyday" and sick to death of turkey!!😁😁
Is it a Christmas movie? “No,” President Obama
I don't think it's as christmassy a movie as Home Alone, yet like that movie, I wouldn't feel right watching Die Hard when it isn't Christmas.
It’s a Christmas movie for that week after Christmas when I’m sick of Christmas.
Stam: u listed several films set at Christmas but isn’t considered a Christmas movies…odd right?
Not a very reliable source on the subject
Certainly you’re more intelligent than Obama is