A Good Day to WATCH "Die Hard"
The first entry on my watchlist of critically acclaimed films I've been told I need to see, yet for some reason never have, is John McTiernan's 1988 classic action thriller, Die Hard. Now before I go into my thoughts about this movie, there are two things that I feel like I should mention.
First, the reason why Die Hard was first on my list was because my having never seen it in my 22 years of existence got me suspended from an online movie trivia league that I'm part of, and they wouldn't let me back in until I had seen the movie. Now that I've seen it, they've let me back in.
Secondly, while I had never seen this movie until yesterday morning, various aspects of this movie have been spoiled for me in the past by parody/tribute episodes of FOX's The Cleveland Show and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (20th Century Fox was Die Hard's distributing company). I was a fan of the former when it was on and I was younger, and I'm a current fan of the latter even though its repetitive need to end each season on a cliffhanger can be very annoying at times. So I enjoyed both of those parody/tribute episodes for what they were, and I guess that you could say I came into my first viewing of the original movie with the perspective of someone who regularly eats the local supermarket's "Crisp Rice" cereal trying Kellog's Rice Krispies for the first time. Having that perspective, it raises the question of how does the brand name original taste compared to the grocery store knockoff? The same? Different? Better? Worse?...
Well, when compared to a Seth MacFarlane-made cartoon that got cancelled (no offense to him, I'm a fan) and a quality comedy show that for some reason keeps getting very close to suffering the same fate as the former, of course the original movie is better. But what is it that makes the original film better when compared to its knockoff spinoffs? Simply put, the original has more (successful) emotionally impactful moments.
For example, The Cleveland Show's parody takes multiple jabs at Sgt. Al Powell's admission of shooting a kid by having Cleveland Brown Jr. playing the character, repeatedly admitting that he shot a kid in the most deadpan manner to everyone he talks to, and then shooting a kid at the end of the parody. When I watched the actual film, Reginald VelJohnson (who for some reason has played a policeman in literally everything I've ever seen him in) delivers the same line of "I shot a kid" in a similarly direct manner, but you can also detect a hint of regret in his voice as he says it. Then the emotional music starts playing in the background and VelJohnson as Powell goes into his monologue about how the police academy doesn't prepare you for living with the mistakes one makes as a rookie, and he ends the monologue by saying that he hasn't been able to use his gun ever since that incident. I'll admit to snickering a few times when Cleveland Jr. was making light of the situation, but the combination of all the elements I mentioned in the previous two sentences playing out in the actual movie doesn't leave a lot of room for snickering. That's not a scene that makes you go, "Haha!" That's a scene that puts a lump in your chest as you think to yourself, "Damn... That's rough." And then at the end of the movie, Powell shoots the foreign guy with the long blonde hair, breaking his vow of never pulling his gun again so he can save John and Holly McClane, and you see the look on everyone's faces and hear the emotional, yet celebratory music in the background... It's a powerful moment.
Another big difference between the parody and the original is that the original gives you a better look at how cunning and calculated the character of John McClane is. A big quality in all of Seth MacFarlane's characters is that something ridiculous has to be said or done by somebody every 30 seconds, regardless of whether or not the character who says or does said ridiculous thing is the smartest or dumbest person on the show. So when Cleveland Brown is portraying John McClane, a lot of the seriousness and toughness of the character when portrayed by Bruce Willis is replaced with cheap laughs.
When the CEO gets shot in the head, Cleveland Brown can't help but make a smartass remark and give away his position. When in it happens in front of Bruce Willis, he realizes the severity of the situation and does everything he can to remain undetected, properly showcasing the increasingly dark and serious shift the story is taking.
When Hans Gruber/Tim the Bear is about to fall out the window and take Holly/Donna with him by her wrist/weave, Cleveland Brown tells Donna to pull the pins out of her hair and cracks jokes, undercutting the severity of the situation. Meanwhile, Bruce Willis as John McClane realizes the severity of the situation, holds onto his wife for dear life and removes Holly's wristwatch, causing the late Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber to fall to his death.
Parody's are meant to make you laugh at the things you enjoy. Family Guy's parodies of the original Star Wars trilogy always put a smile on my face when I watch them. However, what I've learned from this week is that when you watch the parody first, it gives you a unique appreciation and respect for the original when you finally see it, because you've now seen it the way it was always intended for me to see. I now understand who John and Holly McClane and Al Powell are, and I can empathize with them because I now know what makes them tick. I now understand who these "terrorists" were, and I have a better respect for them now that I've seen them not portrayed by cartoons. And most importantly (well, not really, but I needed a good way to end this post)... I now really want to watch the sequels!
First, the reason why Die Hard was first on my list was because my having never seen it in my 22 years of existence got me suspended from an online movie trivia league that I'm part of, and they wouldn't let me back in until I had seen the movie. Now that I've seen it, they've let me back in.
Secondly, while I had never seen this movie until yesterday morning, various aspects of this movie have been spoiled for me in the past by parody/tribute episodes of FOX's The Cleveland Show and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (20th Century Fox was Die Hard's distributing company). I was a fan of the former when it was on and I was younger, and I'm a current fan of the latter even though its repetitive need to end each season on a cliffhanger can be very annoying at times. So I enjoyed both of those parody/tribute episodes for what they were, and I guess that you could say I came into my first viewing of the original movie with the perspective of someone who regularly eats the local supermarket's "Crisp Rice" cereal trying Kellog's Rice Krispies for the first time. Having that perspective, it raises the question of how does the brand name original taste compared to the grocery store knockoff? The same? Different? Better? Worse?...
Well, when compared to a Seth MacFarlane-made cartoon that got cancelled (no offense to him, I'm a fan) and a quality comedy show that for some reason keeps getting very close to suffering the same fate as the former, of course the original movie is better. But what is it that makes the original film better when compared to its knockoff spinoffs? Simply put, the original has more (successful) emotionally impactful moments.
For example, The Cleveland Show's parody takes multiple jabs at Sgt. Al Powell's admission of shooting a kid by having Cleveland Brown Jr. playing the character, repeatedly admitting that he shot a kid in the most deadpan manner to everyone he talks to, and then shooting a kid at the end of the parody. When I watched the actual film, Reginald VelJohnson (who for some reason has played a policeman in literally everything I've ever seen him in) delivers the same line of "I shot a kid" in a similarly direct manner, but you can also detect a hint of regret in his voice as he says it. Then the emotional music starts playing in the background and VelJohnson as Powell goes into his monologue about how the police academy doesn't prepare you for living with the mistakes one makes as a rookie, and he ends the monologue by saying that he hasn't been able to use his gun ever since that incident. I'll admit to snickering a few times when Cleveland Jr. was making light of the situation, but the combination of all the elements I mentioned in the previous two sentences playing out in the actual movie doesn't leave a lot of room for snickering. That's not a scene that makes you go, "Haha!" That's a scene that puts a lump in your chest as you think to yourself, "Damn... That's rough." And then at the end of the movie, Powell shoots the foreign guy with the long blonde hair, breaking his vow of never pulling his gun again so he can save John and Holly McClane, and you see the look on everyone's faces and hear the emotional, yet celebratory music in the background... It's a powerful moment.
Another big difference between the parody and the original is that the original gives you a better look at how cunning and calculated the character of John McClane is. A big quality in all of Seth MacFarlane's characters is that something ridiculous has to be said or done by somebody every 30 seconds, regardless of whether or not the character who says or does said ridiculous thing is the smartest or dumbest person on the show. So when Cleveland Brown is portraying John McClane, a lot of the seriousness and toughness of the character when portrayed by Bruce Willis is replaced with cheap laughs.
When the CEO gets shot in the head, Cleveland Brown can't help but make a smartass remark and give away his position. When in it happens in front of Bruce Willis, he realizes the severity of the situation and does everything he can to remain undetected, properly showcasing the increasingly dark and serious shift the story is taking.
When Hans Gruber/Tim the Bear is about to fall out the window and take Holly/Donna with him by her wrist/weave, Cleveland Brown tells Donna to pull the pins out of her hair and cracks jokes, undercutting the severity of the situation. Meanwhile, Bruce Willis as John McClane realizes the severity of the situation, holds onto his wife for dear life and removes Holly's wristwatch, causing the late Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber to fall to his death.
Parody's are meant to make you laugh at the things you enjoy. Family Guy's parodies of the original Star Wars trilogy always put a smile on my face when I watch them. However, what I've learned from this week is that when you watch the parody first, it gives you a unique appreciation and respect for the original when you finally see it, because you've now seen it the way it was always intended for me to see. I now understand who John and Holly McClane and Al Powell are, and I can empathize with them because I now know what makes them tick. I now understand who these "terrorists" were, and I have a better respect for them now that I've seen them not portrayed by cartoons. And most importantly (well, not really, but I needed a good way to end this post)... I now really want to watch the sequels!
Not where I thought you would go with this, but it works. Be sure to proof everything before you post. You missed an opportunity to post a clip from the film and a parody clip, so we can do our own analysis.
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