One of my very favorite things about Die Hard isn’t even in the movie. When it was shown on UK broadcast TV a million years ago, John McClane’s (Bruce Willis) famous yell of “yippie-ki-yay, mother–” wasn’t beeped; it was overdubbed with the words “melon farmers” instead.
Today, Die Hard is infamous for the annual argument over whether it’s a Christmas movie. And the answer to that is yes. It starts on Christmas Eve, McLane’s wife is called Holly, the soundtrack is packed with Christmas songs including the transcendent Christmas in Hollis, and there’s a persuasive argument that the movie is really It’s A Wonderful Life with guns and swearing. Case closed.
More importantly, it’s not just a holidays movie. It’s a great movie and one worthy of being one of the best Prime Video movies.
Why you should stream Die Hard for the holidays
Reviewing the movie for its 30th anniversary re-release, The Guardian gave it the full five stars. “Only the hardest of hearts could fail to enjoy the great 80s action classic… with uproarious explosions, deafening shootouts and smart-alec tag lines following the bad guys getting shot.”
Empire gave it five stars too. “John McClane’s smart-mouthed New York cop was a career-defining turn, mixing banter, action heroics and a dirty white vest to stunning effect. Acting up to him every step of the way is Alan Rickman, at his sneering best”. If it’s not the best action movie of all time, Empire says, “it’s damn close.”
Not everybody loved it. Roger Ebert wasn’t a fan, giving it just two stars: the hopeless deputy chief that keeps getting in John McClane’s way clearly annoyed Ebert so much that it ruined the movie for him, despite the “superior special effects, impressive stunt work and good performances, especially by Rickman as the terrorist”.
We can forgive Ebert the odd grump, but two other highly qualified reviewers think Die Hard is brilliant: my teen and tween kids, who are working their way through the entire Die Hard series. They, rightly, think the original is a melon farming classic.