More gratuitous than the violence are the constant reminders of how much this was a movie of it's time. When "breaking news" wasn't just a buzzword and used only for something as serious as a terrorist take-over, limousines had tape decks, and the price of gas was less then a dollar. This extends to some of the production details too, namely using real locations in Los Angeles, painted backings and relying almost entirely on practical physical effects.

These things conversely have helped make this a timeless film, and perhaps the zenith of it's genre. With his third directorial effort (and crucially, his second project with producer Joel Silver who’s own bombastic cinematic sense is all over this) John McTiernan simultaneously summarized, dissected and celebrated every 80's action cliche, with not just the real fire-power that went into it's production but with rich characters played out by an excellent cast. What makes this all the more timeless on that level is that it's hero is much closer to the working man than may have been allowed at it's time.

Machismo, adrenaline and superhuman physiques largely carried the action genre throughout the decade and in the face of all that, John McClane stands out as someone who's bravery is more to do with the career he chose as a policeman, the training and danger he encountered in what he did for a living, and to perhaps the lower-middle class life he toiled in. The audience first identifies with him through the bemused culture shock he finds himself when first encountering Los Angeles, and perhaps when he looks in the mirror sarcastically applauding himself after an argument with his wife.

Those first 15-20 minutes are crucial to setting this up as a character piece, as much as a blow-em-up slobber-knocker. It also gives us some framework later on when we see John converse with fellow cop Al Powell through CB radio (don't see that much these days either), lamenting the regrets of his marriage as it overlays the physical pain that comes along with waging a war on a well-armed intelligent band of master criminals. It's those moments that helped Bruce Willis not just become a box-office champion but a respected actor and well-rounded leading man.

Short of being the most cynical film snob, there's a lot here to be enjoyed and to marvel at. Almost every baddie in the company of Alan Rickman (who's performance as Hans Gruber is as iconic as Willis' turn) has their own moment of glory ranging from decent to fleeting, with minor moments of humor and further irreverence to genre expectations. The camera movements, Jan de Bont's lighting and Jackson DeGovia's production design helped complete the visual end, giving it a flair that is deceptively helpful towards the narrative. It all lends itself to the geography of what the story tries to tell, a hallmark of McTiernan's work.

Finally I must dedicate a paragraph on it's own to the late great Michael Kamen's score. Along with the likes of (also too-soon departed sadly) James Horner and Basil Poledouris, Kamen was part of that last pre-Media Ventures generation of film scoring that relied little on electronics and letting the orchestra breathe. And breathe it does in this, as it does in the two sequels he also composed. Brass and percussion huff and puff through the action sequences, the strings supplying onto the tension and suspense, and the humor reflected in it's nods to the themes of Singin' in the Rain, Roy Rogers westerns (a nod to McClane's famous line) and Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". Like the film itself, it showed both his own humor and flexibility towards mixing up the genre's formula to create something bold, dynamic and full of character.