THROUGH THREE MOVIES, the “Die Hard” franchise has set a new standard for action films, raking in the modern-day equivalent of $450 million and giving Bruce Willis the ability to date Playmates. So what is it that audiences love so much?
Two words: John McClane.
The grizzled lug of a cop with the Beretta sidearm, R-rated catchphrases and wicked sense of humor is what ticket buyers come to see again and again. And what’s so great about him?
Before making “Live Free or Die Hard,” Fox attempted to find out by assembling an informal roundtable of experts that included Willis, director Len Wiseman, writer Mark Bomback and Jason Smilovic, who penned “Lucky Number Slevin” and is a gigantic fan of the “Die Hard” films.
Smilovic (who’s now working on NBC’s “Bionic Woman,” premiering this fall) agreed to break down what the group decided were the essential aspects of McClane’s character.
1. John McClane never asked for this s—.
“He’s a hero not because he wants to be a hero, but because fate seeks to make him a hero. There’s that old Malcolm X line ‘We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.’ Something always happens to him, and then he has to deal with it. He starts out reactive and quickly becomes proactive. That’s how he works best.”
2. John McClane will go to any lengths to save his loved ones.
“His family always has to be involved, because he’s a family-oriented guy and that’s the thing that he’s often
trying to deal with, whatever the disaster is. In the first one, Nakatomi Plaza is taken over by terrorists, and his wife is stuck inside. In the second one, terrorists take over the airport, and his wife is on one of the planes.
3. John McClane is just like us.
“He’s an everyman. His presentation is not pristine. He doesn’t care about his clothes. He doesn’t care about his hair. He’s a guy who likes to sit down and drink a beer and watch a football game. He’s incredibly intelligent,
but the packaging and presentation of that intelligence lacks pretension.”
4. John McClane is human, not superhuman.
“In the first installment of the franchise, the first scene you see with John is his hand clenching the armrest of a plane. That’s the first thing you learn about this guy: that he’s afraid to fly. We can all relate to that. That’s really the key to ‘Die Hard.’ It’s about a guy who’s afraid to fly, it’s about a father, it’s about a guy who’s trying to reconcile with his wife. Then after that, it’s about a cop.”
5. John McClane is old-school.
“He’s an analog cop in a digital universe. This is what Bruce always used to say. What’s great is that by making this guy a relic – who doesn’t use a computer, who types really slowly, who still uses old-fashioned police work to get things done – it makes him the most human character. He’s the last analog man standing.”