Don't get me wrong, I liked John McClaine, and I like Bruce Willis (even when he was the bad guy in The Jackal and The Whole 9 Yards). The real bad guys were Takagi(sp?) and Dick Thornburg. The terrorists were akin to Robin Hood.
_______________
My iMDB profile http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4297325/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Robin Hood gave to the poor, he didn't use them as hostages with the intent of blowing them up when he got what he wanted. I know what you're trying to say but at least make an intelligent effort at it!
Hey! You're not old enough to drink! Now go and die for your country!!!
So do you think that Hans was evil or was he just an opportunist? What do you think?
shareNor was there any indication Hans was planning to give the money to the "poor." He intended for his gang to become rich and he didn't care who he hurt or killed in the process. Yes, he was evil. He was in no way a Robin Hood.
I love a good heist movie but this wasn't it. To enjoy a heist movie there has to be a redeeming value to the criminal a'la "Parker". There was nothing to admire about the gang of thugs in Die Hard.
shareI certainly think Hans Gruber is worthy of admiration for his wit and erudition. As an interesting aside, in the book upon which the movie was based, Anton Gruber (renamed Hans for the film) is more of a Robin Hood-like character. His goal is to rob an oil corporation of $6 million in cash, then throw the money from the windows of the building to the crowds below.
shareYes, and in the book The Little Mermaid committed suicide. Just as that example - this movie didn't specifically follow the book either. You can extrapolate the motive into the movie but the only motive presented was a brutal cash grab.
shareMy point isn't that the film mimics the book. I think Gruber and his crew are far more interesting and developed than the villains in most films, and Gruber especially is a fascinating character. While most audience members are certainly rooting for John McClane, and the film is viewed as a twist on the classic Western motif, it's equally possible to enjoy it as a classic heist film and root for Gruber and crew.
shareI completely agree that Hans and his crew are wonderfully drawn characters. They may have been evil but they were intriguing, fully conceived characters. While serving a common goal the henchmen were not just less sophisticated versions of their boss, Hans.
A film which is pitting good against evil often succeeds on the strength of the villains. Hans and his crew were some of the best I've ever seen.
Hans is one of the key elements that elevates Die Hard from what could have been a run-of-the-mill action film to its place among the greatest films ever made.
shareI disagree. Cinema is littered with one-dimensional bad guys and I would say in most cases for a film to work itβs the protagonist not the antagonist that you need to relate to or admire. Die Hard is a cartoonish action spectacle and Gruber is a perfectly cartoonish villain to match.
shareYou're really not like me then, screenwriter. I like my villains being unsympathetic. In real life I don't care why people commit violent acts. As far as I'm concerned the guys who committed the murders at Colombine do not deserve sympathy. Osama bin Ladin deserved no sympathy. Saddam Husain deserved no sympathy. Joseph Stalin deserved no sympathy. Adolph Hitler deserved no sympathy. I don't want to understand why villains do what they do. As far as I'm concerned there is no good reason ever for anyone to commit a terrible crime. I don't like a villain to say, "I am poor and can't afford to give my daughter the medical treatment she needs. Therefore I am committing armed robbery."
shareSeems you missed my point completely or you don't understand the genre of "Heist". Or do you like to root for characters in a heist that have no redeeming qualities as a "thing" for you? You'd enjoy a Hitler stealing jewels (which technically he did - from the Jews)? You'd enjoy bin Ladin as switching out a painting in the Louvre? While there is a "heist" within Die Hard the movie is not a Heist movie at its core.
shareI really don't even get what you're even trying to say with this post.
shareYou will as soon as you understand the conventions of a Heist genre.
shareWell, frankly I don't care your opinion. As far as I'm concerned anyone that breaks into a place
armed with guns and steals stuff from a safe is not a good person.
How sweet you think my "opinions" formed the conventions of the Heist Genre. The statement of the OP is that he/she rooted for the "bad guys" in Die Hard. I merely observed that the "bad guy" characters in Die Hard were not written on any level to evoke any sympathetic feelings for them (a convention of the Heist genre). Root for them all you wish - lots of people even root for characters like Michael Myers or Freddy or Jason - that doesn't change the genre expectations of the stories.
shareI see. I thought you were insisting every criminal in every heist movie was sympathetic.
shareThey were thieves posing as terrorists. They were stealing or themselves, not to help others.
share