AtoZ Challenge: Fiction to Film: Nothing Lasts Forever (better known as Die Hard)

                                                      

Growing up Die Hard was basically a classic in my house, so when this challenge came along and I discovered it was based on a book I couldn't resist the opportunity to cover this adaption. It's been several years since I last watched Die Hard so I felt like I was able to read the book with only the minimum amount of expectation.

Despite the fact that there are less than 10 years between the publishing of the book and  release of the movie the world seems to have changed very much and the movie was modernized to reflect that. 

But that's not all...I think its fair to say that the movie is only a loose adaption of the book... very loose.

In the movie John McClane is NY Police Officer who travels to California to visit his family. He ends up at his wife, Holly's, office Christmas party, terrorists invade, and chaos ensues.

In the book, Joe LeLand is a retired NY Police Officer who travels to California to visit his daughter, the rest remains the same. Joe's wife Karen is actually his Ex, and has passed away 8 years prior to the story beginning.

While the movie still follows the action of the novel for the most part, the change in who John/Joe is fighting for is significant and makes for a very different story.

In the novel, Joe's daughter Stephanie has had a challenging upbringing, and Joe himself questions the person she's become, he lets a man die in order to protect her, and it is suggested that his daughter is herself guilty of corruption. Spoilers--> In the novel Stephanie ends up dying, being pulled out of a window buy head bad guy, Little Tony. While Joe is devastated it doesn't stop him from wanting to "kill them all."

I found it hard to care 

None of the characters are really sympathetic. I don't feel a loss when Stephanie dies and Joe doesn't seem to either. Joe only becomes relatable through side characters; the LAPD officer Al, Taco Bill, and the stewardess he met on his flight Kathie Logan. His conversations with her give you a sense he wants something more for his life.

The movie...

 

...does a lot to fix this. Joe now John, has a family, one that seems to care about him. He is not the seasoned veteran he is in the novel but more of an every man, even if he is still a NYPD officer. He is fighting to protect his wife and never once contemplates escaping the building. He makes one friend in Al- the LAPD officer, and expresses his regret and love for his family. But most of all John is sympathetic because he is almost relatable.

Does he take down a building of hostages on his own?..........Yes.

But he is scared doing it, terrified.

I don't know if this touch is the screenwriters or Bruce Willis' but it makes the movie. Seeing him scared, second guessing himself, makes him believable and likable as a character.

Other than Bruce Willis doing an amazing job as the revised version of the protagonist, it's difficult to speak to casting, as none of the characters are the same as what was depicted in the novel. I will say the pacing of the movie moves more quickly, which is to its benefit.  

There are definite call backs to the novel- our protagonist running around barefoot, the watch of doom, a stolen glance with a stewardess, who may or may not have been Kathie Logan in another world.

Maybe it's just nostalgia but this is one instance where I would say the movie is better than the book. The only thing that it's missing is Taco Bill.

Any thoughts? Was I the last one to know Die Hard was based on a novel? Have you read it? Share in the comments below.