Yippie kay-yay, action fans. The iconic Bruce Willis action flick Die Hard was released 34 years ago, and while your average fan might be just another American who saw too many movies as a child, still they’ll come out to Twitter, they’ll get together, have a few laughs. While Die Hard stans might consider it one of the greatest Christmas movies ever made, the film that put Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman on the map was released on July 15, 1988, right in the heart of the summer season.
In addition to its many instantly-recognizable lines like “Ho ho ho, now I have a machine gun,” it’s also remembered for Willis’ classic performance as beleaguered NYPD officer John McClane whose trip out to Los Angeles is ruined by a terrorist group who take his wife hostage during her company Christmas party. McClane decides to take on the terrorists all by himself, and his only backup are Reginald VelJohnson’s Hostess-loving street cop and Argyle the limo driver who spends the entire movie in a garage listening to music.
Fans remembered Die Hard’s anniversary by pointing out that Willis, who up until that point was best known for the detective comedy series Moonlighting, was a hard sell as an action star:
While this fan had to give props to Steven E. deSouza, one of the film’s credited screenwriters, for the movie’s clever storytelling that set up scenes in Act I that paid off down the line:
While other fans remember that this was Alan Rickman’s film debut, one of the best in the history of cinema:
And still other fans remembered the great John McTiernan, the director of Die Hard and the equally-classic Die Hard with a Vengeance, as well as Predator and The Hunt for Red October:
And finally, let’s just enjoy some great art about great art: