Hey, sprechen ze talk?
Last night, HBO was showing Die Hard in glorious HD. It took a lot of will power not to watch the whole thing. Many people have gone on and on about the greatness that is Die Hard. From Bruce Willis to Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber to how the movie began a new genre in the action thriller movie, it's all been said.
I watched a couple scenes last night. The first scene was when McClane first sees his wife. The slimy co-worker Harry Ellis then makes a big deal about Holly showing the Rolex the company gave her as "A little token of our appreciation for all her work."
After that scene I thought the Harry Ellis character never gets enough credit in Die Hard. Isn't he the perfect caricature of the 80's corporate yuppie. "Hey babe, I negotiate million dollar deals for breakfast. I think I can handle this Eurotrash." He puts American Psycho's Patrick Bateman character to shame. Also, he's the perfect "victim" that's so slimy the audience cheers when the villain kills him? Sure he's only in the movie for all of four scenes, but Die Hard wouldn't be Die Hard with out you. Here's to you Harry Ellis.
"Hans? What am I a method actor? Put away the gun this is radio not television."
"Hans, bubby, I'm your white knight!"
1 comment:
I was an unqualified Die Hard junkie, back in high school. I'm not sure I could stomach much of it, now. I bet it'd feel like a victim of its own success -- so many imitators that the major characters feel like stereotypes.
Anyhow, it sure was original at the time.
And, for sure, that scene of him hanging off the building, by the fire hose -- well, that still works.
Post a Comment