Success of ‘Die Hard’ lies in the film’s details

I tried to read the newspaper the first time I experienced “Die Hard” while lounging on the couch with HBO on in the background. Even though it was the sports section, it was impossible to focus on baseball stats when the courageous John McClane was risking his life racing through a corporate tower to save hundreds of innocents, including his estranged wife.

Bruce Willis was an unlikely action hero at the time. Willis was a comic actor who was moonlighting while away from his television hit “Moonlighting.” But Willis’ comedic touch, vulnerability and wit help make “Die Hard” one of the finest action films ever.

Everything clicked. Even Willis’ ridiculous schedule, which was shooting “Moonlighting” all day and focusing on “Die Hard” at night worked in his favor. Willis looks so beleaguered throughout the film and it perfectly fit his world-weary character.

The film could have just been an updated “Towering Inferno,” but the clever script, Willis performance and the consistently excellent action scenes, propelled “Die Hard” to the head of the action film class.

Screenwriters Jeb Stuart and Steven E de Souza pay extraordinary attention to detail, keep the action moving and never confuse the audience. It’s not an easy feat. So many action films, particularly sequels, fail to have the deft touch “Die Hard” possesses. The detail is extraordinary. “I always enjoyed to make models when I was a boy,” Alan Rickman’s evil character Hans Gruber said. It’s such a nice, realistic touch for a native German to deliver his line in mangled English.

And then there is the call back. During the first scene of the film, McClane, who is flying in white knuckle manner, from New York to Los Angeles, is relaxed by his seatmate. McClane was advised once he settles in to take off his socks and shoes and make fists with his toes on the rug.

Well, McClane fights the bad guys barefoot on shards of broken glass throughout the unlikely but relentlessly entertaining flick. “Die Hard” is a feel good film, which was the breakout vehicle for Willis, who was dismissed as a television actor at the time.

“Die Hard” wasn’t a critical darling with the exception of Rickman and director John McTiernan. However, the film was a box office monster. That’s significant since expectations for box office success were minimal. Willis’ image was not part of early promotional material. “Die Hard” was also nominated for four Oscars.

The success of “Die Hard” is notable since it’s the antithesis of the predictable action films, which focus on invincible heroes that shoot more bullets than utter words.

Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds, Nick Nolte, Don Johnson, Paul Newman, James Caan and Al Pacino, each turned down the part of McClane.

It’s difficult to imagine anyone else playing McClane but Willis, who reprised the role in four “Die Hard” sequels. Some critics joked about the impact of Die Hard and how it inspired “Die Hard on a Bus,” which is “Speed”; “Die Hard” on a plane “Air Force One” and “Die Hard” on a mountain, which is “Cliffhanger.”

But Die Hard deserves respect and it finally received its due. In 2017, “Die Hard” was selected by the United States Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”

Not bad for a film, which the studio reportedly had little faith in and for a movie starring a TV actor.