Last night the Raleigh/Cary TCM Backlot Chapter a.k.a. @TCMBacklotRDU met up to see the 30th Anniversary TCM Big Screen Classics screening of Die Hard (1988).

During our pre-show dinner we discussed our excitement to see the film, realizing some of us had seen it in the theater 30 years ago, one of us in back-to-back marathon mode over two days.

We couldn’t all sit together for the showing, but we were happy to split up as the theater was packed. It was great to see this kind of attendance for a TCM Big Screen Classic movie.

I reveled in Alan Rickman’s performance as one of my all-time favorite film villains Hans. But I admit I equally enjoyed Alexander Godunov as the revenge-obsessed Karl. They are just so good at being bad.

While I tend to focus on the baddies in this movie, this viewing I also appreciated the good guys in the film. Bruce Willis’ John McClane and Reginald VelJohnson’s Sgt. Al Powell bond over their experiences as cops and as husbands, and they both are admittedly carrying some baggage. I like them, and I like that they are flawed. It does make me want to root for them all the more.

In the end bumper for the showing, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz pondered if Die Hard can be classified as a Christmas movie. Our TCM Chapter debated this. I completely came down on the side that it is. The whole movie takes place across several hours of Christmas Eve and the holiday-themed plot, set, dialogue, music all combine to enhance the fantasy of the events as they unfold. Die Hard is a clear addition to my holiday movie list.

I could go on, but to quote Hans,“I could talk about industrialization and men’s fashion all day, but work must intrude.”

Ho, Ho, Ho!