diehard (original)

E

ether

Well-known member
I believe this to be a criminally underrated movie.

For me it has it all, from coke sniffing 80's yuppies, officious German terrorists, that mongolian looking bloke who always seems to pop up in movies as a generic henchman hanging of the back of a lorry waving a machine gun. Alan rickmans pantomime baddy hanz gruber. mclains dry wit. The modern action hero never seems to have to pull shards of glass from his feet.

a modern classic.

revisit.
 
Gavin

Gavin

booty bass intellectual
Yes this is probably the best 80s action movie, but I don't think it's underrated (at least in the U.S.). Bruce Willis's substantial career since has been a footnote to his role.
 
S

shudder

Well-known member
i just can't watch movies from this period. there's something so bad about the *look* of these late '80s movies. does anyone know what I'm talking about? I don't really mean the cinematography (as in shots or angles or whatever), but I guess it's just the photography or something.
 
Z

zhao

there are no accidents
Gavin said:
but I don't think it's underrated (at least in the U.S.). Bruce Willis's substantial career since has been a footnote to his role.
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i think he means under rated by the hipster intellegensia contingency. i.e. there should be a k-punk piece about it.
 
rockypoppy2

rockypoppy2

wtf?
i think the look of this film is fine - it neatly encapsulates a view of america that is both compelling (mclain's grit and determination) and repulsive (lack of responsibility from authorities, coke head, lack of trust between man and his environment). and scott johnson designed the office block which features in the hijack, which not only looks great, but when i was a kid watching this kind of set the standard for what i thought high rise architecture should be. its not just any office block, its alluring, and extravagant in places (the marble clad double height space 20 storeys up) and stark in others (unfinished office floors, with building materials strewn about, elevator shafts, and the concrete roof)

it also had a strong element of 24 hour living, both with the party going on during the night, and the fact that its all set at night, and people are working (chauffeur, cops etc...) which i hadnt seen depicted filmically before. but then this was one of the first action films i ever saw, so its got a nostalgic tinge in my view
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
There's some awesome sci-fi action stuff from this period: Aliens, anyone? Terminator? Total Recall?
Not to mention Robocop, (the first one!): Verhofen at his sick, slick, cynical best. Surely as good a comment on 80s corporate culture as any Wall Street drama.
 
E

ether

Well-known member
shudder said:
i just can't watch movies from this period. there's something so bad about the *look* of these late '80s movies. does anyone know what I'm talking about? I don't really mean the cinematography (as in shots or angles or whatever), but I guess it's just the photography or something.
Click to expand...

your so wrong about the look of movies from this era, Ive recently made a conscious effort to not watch any movies with gratuitous CGI in, as apart from making my eyeballs hurt, I find it far less authentic and convincing than some of the lush sets and special effects of films from the late 70's and 80's which has made me revisit them, not through nostalgia but through a desire for some kind of visual authenticity.
 
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