I received this c/ the publisher, Bloomsbury.

Yes, this is a book. No, it’s not the book that Die Hard the movie is based on. (Yes, at least to some degree the movie is kinda based on a book. Ish.) Yes, this is an academic-ish take on the movie. Yes, I received this just in time for Christmas, and yes I am Gen X enough that this fact made me giggle-snort.

In under 100 pages, Jon Lewis situates the movie Die Hard within Reagan-era politics and economics. The way it sits within an America still coming to grips with its loss in Vietnam and the events of the American embassy in Tehran, among other things. And the way Americans view terrorism and terrorists, too, and how that connects to Hans and his crew – these things may not have been directly in McTiernan’s mind, but the zeitgeist is real.

The book also situates the film within the larger action movie oeuvre, and situates John Maclaine alongside and against other action-movie heroes. I did not know that the director also did Predator (and The Hunt for the Red October)! I had no idea that the white ribbed singlet – the wife-beater – so iconically (for me) worn by Maclaine was first made iconic by Brando in A Streetcar named Desire. But I can absolutely see how the libertarian hero – often but not always affected by experiences in Vietnam – were a significant feature of this moment in American cinema. The “hard-body” heroes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger are different from the slighter Willis – what that means for relatability is interesting – and I had no idea that Maclaine’s pithy quips almost certainly derive at least in part from Willis’ TV detective.

Lewis spends a surprising amount of time recounting the beats of the film – surprising because I assume no one is picking this book up who hasn’t already watched the film (possibly several times, maybe not necessarily at Christmas) – but does usually tie this narrative recounting in to his theorising. My one significant gripe is that in listing the “whammies” – the moments of violence that punctuate the story – Holly’s punching of the reporter isn’t mentioned. It’s not as excessively violent as other moments, and it doesn’t kill anyone, but it’s definitely a shock. And one of the threads that Lewis follows throughout is the question about whether Maclaine is a decent husband (no), and – I think by extension – a decent father. This moment shows Holly getting to defend the kids, rather than Maclaine.

Anyway: if you or someone you know has a habit of watching Die Hard for Christmas, or quoting any of the eminently quotable one-liners at dubiously appropriate moments, and they don’t mind a bit of broader cultural discussion this is likely to be a good book for them.