Why only Bruce Willis could be irresistible McClane
34 years later, explosions, gunfire, and a recognizable, yet modified, cowboy replica still successfully withstand the test of time.
The first time we see Bruce Willis as John McClane, the hero's left hand, prominently displaying a wedding ring, is gripping the recliner tightly in the seats of a plane that has just landed in Los Angeles.
The passenger next to him gives him unusual advice on how to bear the flight more easily - as soon as he gets the chance, he should take off his shoes and socks and clench his toes into a fist.
McClain then opens the overhead luggage compartment, revealing a gun in a holster. In just one scene, we learned that John McClane is a policeman, but an ordinary man, married, with a fear of flying.
And it is precisely his ordinariness, his vulnerability, that set John McClane apart from other action heroes of the eighties, in a film that pushed the boundaries of the genre and launched Bruce Willis to the very top of Hollywood.
Die Hard, one of the best action movies of all time, premiered in barely twenty theaters in America on July 15, 1988. And 34 years later, explosions, gunfire, and a recognizable, yet modified, cowboy replica still successfully withstand the test of time.
However, like many great Hollywood films, "Die Hard" had to go through a thorny road, and die several times itself, before it was showered with the success it deserved.
Today, one would say that only an unreasonable person would refuse to direct "Die Hard". But in the late 1980s, on paper, “Die Hard” looked like just another action movie, maybe not a good one.
Paul Verhoeven, director of “Robocop”, declined the engagement. The same was done by John McTiernan, the director of one of the biggest action films of the eighties - "Predator", with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
McTiernan refused because "Die Hard" was a film about terrorists. But the producers were persistent and sent him the script three more times. In the end, he agreed, but on the condition that it would not be a film about terrorists, but about robbers.
Clint Eastwood was asked to star in the film, but he refused, writing all over the script that he "doesn't understand humor". Then the role was turned down by Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Gere, Burt Reynolds, and James Caan.
In the end, the choice fell on Bruce Willis, known to the audience only for his role in the series "Moonlighting", a romantic comedy about a former model and a detective who run a private detective agency.
View this post on Instagram
As was the case with Al Pacino in "The Godfather", and De Niro in "Taxi Driver", almost no one believed that Bruce Willis was the right choice for the role. But it's not like they had a choice.
Unusual. That is the adjective that would describe the actors in the first part of "Die Hard". The famous ballet dancer Alexander Godunov was chosen for the role of the villain Karl. Alan Rickman, a Broadway actor who didn't even know how to hold a gun menacingly, was cast as Hans Gruber.
“Hans had to be a highly educated European, in a suit” - said director John McTiernan for Netflix. And Rickman fit in perfectly and brought to the screen one of the most memorable villains of all time. Reginald VelJohnson got the role of Sergeant Al Powell, McClane's comrade with whom he communicates by radio throughout the film.
Some would say that if "Die Hard" is a love story, then it is the story of McClane and Powell and their eventual meeting at the end of the film. However, for McClane's true love, Bonnie Bedilia, whom Willis recommended, had to be cast.
Post by: Rinna James
