Die Hard (1988)
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94% of critics liked it
(53 reviews) -
91% of users liked it
(485,577 ratings)
It's Christmas time in L.A., and there's an employee party in progress on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation building. The revelry comes to a violent end when the partygoers are taken hostage by a group of terrorists headed by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who plan to steal the 600… More It's Christmas time in L.A., and there's an employee party in progress on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation building. The revelry comes to a violent end when the partygoers are taken hostage by a group of terrorists headed by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who plan to steal the 600 million dollars locked in Nakatomi's high-tech safe. In truth, Gruber and his henchmen are only pretending to be politically motivated to throw the authorities off track; also in truth, Gruber has no intention of allowing anyone to get out of the building alive. Meanwhile, New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) has come to L.A. to visit his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), who happens to be one of the hostages. Disregarding the orders of the authorities surrounding the building, McClane, who fears nothing (except heights), takes on the villains, armed with one handgun and plenty of chutzpah. Until Die Hard came along, Bruce Willis was merely that wisecracking guy on Moonlighting. After the film's profits started rolling in, Willis found himself one of the highest-paid and most sought-after leading men in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- John McTiernan
- Written By
- Jeb Stuart, Steven E. de Souza
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure
- In Theaters
- Jul 15, 1988 Wide
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox
Critic Reviews
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Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
In the first half of Director John McTiernan's movie, Willis wears an undershirt. In the second half he gets rid of it. And that's pretty much it for his performance.
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Variety Staff, Variety
Die Hard is as high tech, rock hard and souped up as an action film can be.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
A serviceable if rather overextended and overblown adventure thriller.
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, Time Out
A hi-tech thriller with a human heart.
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Caryn James, New York Times
The scenes move with such relentless energy and smashing special-effects extravagance that Die Hard turns out to be everything action-genre fans, and Bruce Willis's relieved investors, might have hoped for.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Bruce Willis
as John McClane
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Alan Rickman
as Hans Gruber
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Bonnie Bedelia
as Holly Gennero McClane
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Alexander Godunov
as Karl
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Reginald VelJohnson
as Sgt. Al Powell
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William Atherton
as Thornburg
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Paul Gleason
as Dwayne T. Robinson
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De'voreaux White
as Argyle
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Hart Bochner
as Ellis
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James Shigeta
as Takagi
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Robert Davi
as Big Johnson
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Grand L. Bush
as Little Johnson
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Clarence Gilyard Jr.
as Theo
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Selma Archerd
as Hostage
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Cheryl Baker
as Woman
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Gerard Bonn
as Kristoff
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P. Randall Bowers
as Kissing Man
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Rebecca Broussard
as Hostage
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Lorenzo Caccialanza
as Marco
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Betty Carvalho
as Paulina
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George Christy
as Hasseldorf
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Bruno Doyon
as Franco
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Rick Ducommun
as City Worker
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Taylor Fry
as Lucy McClane
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Mark Goldstein
as Station Manager
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Stella Hall
as Stewardess
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Dennis Hayden
as Eddie
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Diana James
as Supervisor
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David Katz
as Soundman
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Matt Landers
as Capt. Mitchell
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Michele Laybourn
as Girl in Window
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Al Leong
as Uli
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Robert Lesser
as Businessman
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Kym Malin
as Hostage
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Bill Marcus
as City Engineer
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Anthony Peck
as Young Cop
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Joey Plewa
as Alexander
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Tracy Reiner
as Thornburg's Assistant
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Mary Ellen Trainor
as Gail Wallens
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David Ursin
as Harvey Johnson
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Wilhelm von Homburg
as James
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Andreas Wisniewski
as Tony
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Carmine Zozzora
as Rivers
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Fred Lerner
as Guard
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Richard Parker
as Man
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Gary Roberts
as Heinrich
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Scot Bennett
as Hostage
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Hans Buhringer
as Fritz
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Rick Cicetti
as Guard
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Terri Lynn Doss
as Girl at Airport
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Kate Finlayson
as Hostage
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Jon E. Greene
as Boy at Airport
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Shanna Higgins
as Hostage
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Bob A. Jennings
as Cameraman
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Noah Land
as John Jr.
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Bill Margolin
as Producer
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Shelley Pogoda
as Dispatcher
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Bruce P. Schultz
as Cameraman
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Dustyn Taylor
as Ginny
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Kip Waldo
as Convenience Store Clerk



