Like many, many others, I dedicate a few hours every December to spend time with Bruce Willis. Despite what the haters say, Die Hard is unquestionably a Christmas movie, and it never gets old spending the holiday annually watching John McClane navigate the upper floors of Nakatomi Plaza as he works to foil the plans of the nefarious Hans Gruber. The film features Willis at his “everyman” best, and the character is obviously a performance, it’s nonetheless comforting to know that it very much a reflection of who the actor is as a person.
Vanity Fair recently published a profile of Jerry Bruckheimer, and while the well-known super producer didn’t work with Bruce Willis on Die Hard (that was Joel Silver’s domain), he does recall his experience collaborating with the star on Michael Bay’s 1998 blockbuster Armageddon. Contrary to the cliched image of a Hollywood A-lister, the Willis described by the filmmaker was a dedicated worker on the set of the hit disaster movie, which echoed his blue collar past. Said Bruckheimer,
He was a bartender. So he knows what it is, how hard you have to work to get to where you are, and he’s another guy that crew loved. He just took care of everybody. He was such a good guy, and that’s so important. Some actors you work with show up in the morning and say, ‘When can I go? I want to go.’ Not Bruce, he stayed. These guys, that’s why they’re movie stars.
It takes no effort at all to find stories about big time actors who habitually show up late, boss around members of the crew, and bolt to their trailer at every opportunity, but that’s the opposite of the man with whom Jerry Bruckheimer worked telling the story of a crew of oil drillers who become astronauts and save the planet.
Because of the nature of an actor’s work, it can be very easy to misinterpret who they actually are when they are off screen, but there’s a loveliness in Bruce Willis being of the more “genuine article” sort, and the knowledge will only serve to make Die Hard a greater comfort watch.
Should you be interested in watching the greatest holiday classic from 1988, Die Hard is a blockbuster that’s very easy to access in the modern age of entertainment. Unlike most films that have only one streaming option, you can start watching the Bruce Willis film with just a few clicks if you have A) a Hulu subscription, B) an Amazon Prime subscription, and/or C) a Peacock subscription. Other online options include digital rentals/purchase from all major outlets, and if you’re a physical media collector, you can pick up a copy on 4K UHD or Blu-ray.