YIPPEE KI-YAY

“Die Hard, Bruce Willis, and the Reinvention of the Action Movie

A sprightly, incisive, and definitive account of Die Hardthe greatest action movie of all timeand its sequels, combining Hollywood history, behind-the-scenes drama, and criticism, and drawing on extensive research and original interviews with the cast, writers, producers, and filmmakers

When it was released in the summer of 1988, box office prognosticators did not have high hopes for Die Hard. It was up against Rambo III, the most expensive movie in history to that point, a new film from Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a new Dirty Harry movie as well. Every man of action in Hollywood had passed on the Die Hard script (strike one), which left it in the hands of Bruce Willis, a TV star (strike two) only known as a comic actor (strike three). Yet today, many consider Die Hard the greatest action movie ever made, with a pr