journal features
movie reviews
photo of the day

movie review - Die Hard

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Tokyo, 2019.11.12

My eleven-year-old son and I watched this in the run-up to Christmas. It's about a cop from New York who's visiting his estranged ex-wife in Los Angeles. He's at her office when heavily-armed crooks show up to stage a massive robbery thinly veiled as an act of eco-terrorism. The cop escapes into an unfinished part of the building and begins to fight back against the vicious gangsters, who have started killing hostages. The whole thing plays out with a perfect note of semi-seriousness. I have to say, it's held up better than I expected, with its over-deliberate delivery and over-the-top plot being right at home with today's movie vibe. It's actually a bit smarter than I remember, which good threads to the story that bring together a piece that works as a whole.

Recommended.

rand()m quote

I'm pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have, in fact, caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But, as you see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time.

—Mayor Vaughn, Jaws