Cinemas most wonderful action hero, John Mcclane has a place in everyone’s hearts and it’s fun to explore this in all of the Die Hard films with a different scenario each time.
One thing is for sure, there is a john mcclane in every single one of us in life, we either know it or will explore it at some point in the future.
Some of cinemas greatest action heroes may wear flying capes, be millionaires, own modified vehicles and have wealth certain to serve them for life. John Mcclane is a more down to earth relatable man, even down to the clothes he wears.
Yes, sometimes he wips out the vest, but we can see him wearing either casual dad clothes or his work uniform. Ignore Bradd Pitt from Fight Club, John Mcclane is the true man that us men aspire to be.
Most superhoers always have a back up plan and most of the time have technology to safely ease themselves out of any situation that is thrown on their laps, yes I’m talking to you Batman, who has Alfred to help guide him through life and Superman who can fly himself out of any situation, quite literally.
When John Mcclane is in trouble, nothing will save him. Often he has to improvise in some pretty incredible moments. Take this scene below for an example. He decides to drive the car into the helicopter unwillingly.
What makes this character so likeable, is that if you take away the action and just look at the situation. John Mcclane really is in the wrong place at the wrong time, quite literally, he gets stuck in some of lifes most audacious and intense situations.
You then add the action sequences on top and now you have an action blockbuster mega hit but the character and the situation is there in at least the first four films, meaning the 5th took the concept abroad with a rather tame plot, but family was still at the core.
John Mcclane isn’t just an everyday man, I’d argue he is as human as you can get with the occasional witty one-liners and action hits, crazy enough to wipe out cinemas most intelligent villains. Many view Die Hard as an action series, however, there is no reason why we cant see them as a drama series or a deep and rich character study of someone who just cant take a break and cant we all.
For all of the crazy situations he gets in, there is something we can learn from these scenes and most of the time these situations serve as great visual entertainment but also develop the character in some way and show us a different side to him, whether that’s his sense of humour or his moral integrity.
Upon watching all of these films, John Mcclane ironically gets a lot of decision making wrong, he sometimes opens the wrong doors and says the wrong things, however, you get the sense that he tries to do the right thing most of the time and is unintentionally thrown into these situations against his own will.
Take this scene below for example, a film that in my opinion I consider a drama, it makes the experience better. Here John Mcclane is trying to do the right thing and actually gets shot at, its the ultimate form of rejection towards active duty service.
Notice the way he talks to himself, ‘John, what the fuck are you doing’. He has that relationship with himself that we have, speaking the subconscious mind.
All of these films have these great standout moments, where John Mcclane is as vulnerable and as explosive as you can get. However, him getting his back stabbed is’nt the only time in the franchise. Take 2007’s fourth installment, Live Free or Die Hard, John Mcclane gets shot at by advanced jets with missiles, a techological nod and step up by from the scene in the first Die Hard. Take a look below.
Although, the fourth was’nt the best received, it is a film that has gotten better with age and I have grown to appreciate it a lot more, thanks to solid direction from Len Wiseman and Justin Long who provides us with a sense of charm to combat the stubbornness of John Mcclane. Its a nice contrast.
A sixth film was reported a while ago, but I believe it has been cancelled and Bruce Willis seems to found his feet in straight to DVD films. The Die Hard series in my opinion show us just how good of an actor Bruce Willis is. There have been millions of Die Hard rip off’s and general action films, most of the time we forgot who the action lead is but John Mcclane has this screen appeal that I think both women and men connect with.
Out of all the action films ever made that have spawned sequels, some of cinemas most famous action leads include Terminator, Rambo, Bond, Bourne, Luke Skywalker, Indianna Jones, Ethan Hunt, Rocky but John Mcclane may be the most human of them all.
The Die Hard films allow his colours to come through on screen and we see multiple different sides to him, whereas in some of the Bourne and Bond films, their characters appear to be at times one noted and straight forward, designed to serve the plot. John Mcclane expresses his emotions as we all do, especially towards the end in Die Hard 2 and there are multiple moment in the franchise where he appears to be a broken man.
One of my favorite scenes from Die Hard is the moment where John Mcclane is forced to walk on broken glass to hide from the villains. Its a great scene as he forgot to wear his shoes and the aftermath is just so unique for an action film, where we see his feet, covered in blood and he begins to take out the broken glass.
Most action films wouldn’t be interested in going this far, either because of a PG-13 rating or just having the lead to be indestructible. Its a perfect blend of violence and drama, making it compelling and another reason to love John Mcclane.
The series pretty much deals with all of the right components with action franchises, intense plots that are simple to get through that evolve in drama from film to film, a leading man who is father, husband, vulnerable but strong, a charmisic and comedic pairing to help ease the drama with humour, incredible action sequences that are actually intense to watch and family. What more could anyone want from this Die Hard series or any other action series for that matter.
Notice that the action set pieces aren’t tightly choreographed, unlike the Bourne or Rambo films. The action set pieces have more of a spontaneity quality to them, out of the blue yet they have real consequences. If anything, the director creates the orchestra of calamity and chaos and throws Mcclane into the situation. Its unchoreographed chaos at its finest and most enjoyable.
Some of the industry’s most proficient directors have worked on the Die Hard series, including Predator’s John McTiernan, Cliffhanger’s Renny Harlin, Underworld’s Len Wiseman and Behind Enemy Lines John Moore. It’s very common for an action series to stick with the same director throughout, Die Hard likes the mix-up the formula a tad.
As of yet, Live Free or Die Hard has brought in the most amount of finance with an impressive $382,288,147 of the series highest budget of $110,000,000, with a rotten tomatoes score of 82% and an imdb rating of 7.1. With the lowest being Die Hard with a budget of $28,000,000, scoring $139,434,346 worldwide. Although it has a rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
| You can buy all 5 films on blu ray here. |
What do you think of the Die Hard series and John Mcclane?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
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