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Tuesday, January 05, 2016

A Very 80s Christmas

Over Christmas, I had a chance to watch the original Die Hard movie. I know some people consider this movie a holiday tradition, but I'm not sure when I saw it last. It's been a long time. I have to say it was an interesting experience to see it again after all this time.

The first thing that struck me was all the smoking. I could be wrong because I'm not a huge movie watcher, but I don't think current-day films show the sheer amount of smoking that this film did. Was smoking this prevalent in 1988 (the year Die Hard was released)? I swear that I started coughing in sympathy for Bruce Willis's lungs. And the terrorists could have found him by cigarette smoke alone...if they weren't lighting up themselves.

Shoulder pads. OMG, I can't believe how huge the shoulder pads were that Holly McClane was wearing in the movie. She looked like a linebacker.

The film's plot seemed to hold up, and while it was a bit larger than life, it wasn't completely over the top cartoony the way that Live Free or Die Hard, the fourth movie in the franchise, was. I swear all I did was say "Yeah, right" while I watched that one.

The suspense held up as well. I had a fair memory of what happened the movie, but I was still on the edge of my seat. Then there was John McClane having to deal with the idiot deputy chief of the LAPD and the FBI guys. Fortunately, the uniform officer Sgt Al Powell was there with common sense.

It was kind of fun to revisit Die Hard after all this time, but I don't think I'll make it a holiday tradition or go out of my way to see it again. I think I'm set for a while now.