In honor of the holidays, every Thursday in December, Accent staffers will take a look at some of their favorite holiday movies. This week: "Die Hard."
"All right, listen up guys. 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except . . . the four (expletive deleted) coming in the rear in standard two-by-two cover formation."
If that line doesn't say Christmas, I don't know what does.
I know, I know. When you think holiday favorites, 1988's "Die Hard" doesn't usually come to the front of the queue. But for this writer, the action flick starring Bruce Willis is a staple of the Christmas season.
Based on the 1979 novel "Nothing Lasts Forever," the film centers around New York City detective John McClane played masterfully by Willis. When McClane flies to Los Angeles to reunite with his estranged wife for the holidays during her company Christmas party, chaos ensues in the form of Hans Gruber and his band of merry terrorists.
Gruber, played by Alan Rickman, holds the partygoers hostage in what turns out to be a robbery on a very grand scale. But with McClane able to slip away unnoticed, this is not going to be a walk in the park for Gruber.
But Willis and Rickman aren't the only stars of this show. From Bonnie Bedelia as McClane's wife Holly to William Atherton as sleezy journalist Richard Thornburg, each actor fills his part to perfection.
Possibly the best of the rest is Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Al Powell. VelJohnson is best known as Carl Winslow on the '90s hit TV show "Family Matters." As McClane's man on the outside, Powell deals with his own demons while getting in a few one liners of his own.
And while this film is a top notch shoot-em-up adventure, what makes this one a classic is a perfect blend of action and comedy, with Willis the consummate stirrer. Even while huddled in an air duct, gunfire all around him, McClane takes a second to reflect on his invitation to the party. "Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs," he says as he changes the clip in his gun.
So next time you're rifling through your DVD collection looking for the perfect holiday film, don't look past "Die Hard." This Christmas, instead of "ho ho ho," make it a "yippee-ki-yay."
Ha, Die Hard and Die Hard 2 are definitely on my Christmas watch list. Silent Night, Deadly Night is another must-watch.