Die Hard (1988)

 "You macho assholes!"

It's December. Merry Christmas. This is, of course, the consummate Christmas film, so there can be no better time for me to watch it again for the first time since, disturbingly enough, the twentieth century.

The conventional opinion is that a film lives and dies by its script, or at least for those not convinced by the French school of the director auteur. Now, I love France and its cinema (I voted Remain, to boot), but I am one of said school. Except... this is a so so script, perfectly fine but no more than that. And yet this a magnificent film, one that has been remembered. Why?

Admittedly, it's because of not only the superb direction, which makes the many extended action scenes entertaining rather than boring, as action sequences often can be, because of the movement and the tension which is ALWAYS present, but because of the superlative individual performance by the excellent Bruce Willis, the everyman who faces a group of cynical, materialistic, one may almost say Thatcherite terrorists, led by the almost equally charismatic Alan Rickman. His performance is truly magnetic.

The script really is middling. The direction is brillianty, but focussing on the two main principals, Bruce Willis makes this film, and solidifies his career as action hero leading man. Alan Rickman chews the scenery in the best possible way.

But let's agree on the main point. This is THE Christmas film, set on Christmas Eve, with lot of Chritmas tree. It's the epitome of Christmas, right?

Right.