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Paul Flory
Paul John Flory was a chemist and Nobel laureate.
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The premeire of the film blockbuster, Die Hard15.7.1988

Wikipedia (05 Jul 2013, 14:47)

Die Hard is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Steve de Souza and Jeb Stuart. It is an adaptation of the 1979 bestselling novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp following off-duty New York City Police Department officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) as he takes on a group of highly organized criminals in a Los Angeles skyscraper led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who perform a heist under the guise of a terrorist attack using hostages, including McClane's wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), to keep the police at bay.

The film's success spawned four sequels: Die Hard 2 (1990), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013).


Critical reception

Based on 50 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of critics gave Die Hard a positive review, with an average rating of 8.2/10. Among others, English film critic Mark Kermode has expressed admiration for the film, calling it an exciting setup of, "Cowboys and Indians in The Towering Inferno." The film's title and its story of a lone hero battling a multitude of single-minded opponents in an isolated setting also became a common descriptor for later action films: "Die Hard on a _____" became a simple and easy way to define the plot of many action films that came in its wake. For example, the 1994 film Speed was called "Die Hard on a bus", and the 1996 film The Rock was dubbed "Die Hard on an island". However, Roger Ebert gave it a less than flattering review, giving it a mere two stars and criticizing the stupidity of the deputy police chief character, claiming that "all by himself he successfully undermines the last half of the movie."

Die Hard had a budget of $28 million. Released in 21 theaters on July 15, 1988 it widened to 1,276 theaters the following weekend, grossing $7.1 million. The film earned $83 million domestically and $140.7 million worldwide. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing (Don J. Bassman, Kevin F. Cleary, Richard Overton and Al Overton, Jr.) and Best Visual Effects.

The film spawned four sequels: Die Hard 2 (1990), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013). In 2001, Die Hard was listed at #39 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list America's most heart-pounding films. In the June 22, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly, it was named the best action film of all time. In 2003, Hans Gruber was listed at #46 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list. He was also listed as the 17th greatest film character by Empire magazine. John McClane was placed at number 12 on the same list. McClane's catchphrase "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker" was voted as #96 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere magazine in 2007. In 2010, Die Hard was voted by Empire magazine as "The Greatest Christmas Film of All Time".

In July 2007, Bruce Willis donated the undershirt worn in the film to the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution.


   
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