There has been a barrage of action films over the last two decades. Stallone's and Segal's stuff come to mind. All of these movies had plenty of action, violence and profanity. But the two things these movies were lacking were sustainable plot and character development.<br /><br />In 1988, Die Hard came out. Bruce Willis, who before hand had only Blind Date and Moonlighting to his credit, was cast as the main character, John McClane. Richard Gere, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Burt Reynolds were all up for the role. The thing that separates McClane from all other action heroes before this movie is that McClane is an average character. He isn't a robot; he isn't some big muscley guy, or an expert and karate. He's vulnerable, bitter about his failing marriage, he's a funny guy. Schwarzenegger or Stallone would have never been able to achieve this. Gere and Reynolds have had too much confidence. Neither is particularly good at being sarcastic either. And the main thing that separates Bruce Willis from all the others is that Willis ad-libbed most of his funny one-liners. No one else could have brought the same charisma to John.<br /><br />The opening scene has John McClane gripping his seat as his plane is landing. This opening scene shows you how McClane can be vulnerable and that he does have fears. The passenger next to him notices John's fear of flying and gives him this advice: "After you get where you're going, take off your shoes and socks and make fists with your toes." Once at the Christmas party, he learns that his wife, Holly, still uses her maiden name, and meets Ellis, the womanizing, cocaine snorting, co-worker of Holly. Ellis evidently has his eye on Holly. He's also pretty arrogant as he points out the Rolex that he and the company gave to Holly for all her hard work. John and Holly get away to a private washroom to talk by themselves, a talk that escalates into an argument over their marriage. In the middle of their argument, Holly is brought out to give a speech to the rest of the workers. John is left there to think about his stupidity of picking an argument with his wife the minute he arrives. Still tense from the flight, he takes off his shoes and socks and makes fists with his toes.<br /><br />Meanwhile, a man named Hans Gruber and his group of "terrorists" pulls into the in-door parking lot of Nakatomi Plaza. After cutting off the phone lines and exits, they seize control of the Christmas party by gathering them all into one room. John McClane, armed with only his police issue Berretta, manages to escape out the emergency exit while the terrorists are gathering up the others. Shoeless and sickle's, he manages to make it to an empty floor where he's panicked, alone, and scared.<br /><br />Hans Gruber is methodical, precise, and is patient. He's charming and intelligent and he doesn't seem like the type of person to kill another human in cold blood. He takes the head of the company, Takagi, up to the next floor where they work him for the access code to the main computer. When Takagi makes it apparent that he doesn't know the code, Hans doesn't hesitate. He shoots him through the head, point blank. Meanwhile, a shocked John is hiding behind a table, where he witnesses the killing of Takagi.<br /><br />This is a summary of the first 30 minutes of the film, and I'm not going to give anything else away. Already, we've got a sense of what our two main characters are like. Unlike most action movies, the bad guy isn't a maniacal psycho who enjoys violence and kills people without an ounce of mercy. He's still an evil man who will kill anyone if it serves his purpose. But we understand Han's motivations. John McClane is a much chattier protagonist than most action heroes, and even talks to himself on numerous occasions before he starts talking Hans or the cops. It's easier to identify with him.<br /><br />Even if you are not a fan of action movies, Die Hard is a movie that everyone should see at least once. It will definitely help you appreciate action movies much more, even if it doesn't convert you into a total fan of the genre.