Pages

Thursday 18 July 2013

'Die Hard' Makes Bruce Willis a Megastar





"Has Bruce Willis Gone Flat?" the headline asked more than 25 years ago.

It was early 1988. Willis, then 32, was in the midst of what the Hollywood press considered a career crisis: After bursting on the pop-culture scene via "Moonlighting" in 1985, the actor had hawked wine coolers (to great disdain), released a Motown album (to great disdain), and starred in No. 1 movie "Blind Date" (to great disdain).

Things got worse that spring when "Sunset," a 1920s-set mystery-comedy costarring James Garner, tanked at the box office. The knives weren't out for Willis; they were being buried right in his solar plexus.

[What Movie Do You Want Watch? Get the Lowdown on 'Pacific Rim' and 'Grown Ups 2']

And then he donned a wife-beater, ran over broken glass with his bare feet, and yelled, "Yippee-ki-yay [you-know-the-rest]."

That did it. That was it. Bruce Willis was a movie star.

"Die Hard," about a divorced off-duty cop (Willis) who single-handedly defeats a dastardly heist, was released in just 21 theaters on July 15, 1988. From the modest launch, the film went on a blockbuster run, spawning four sequels and producing a franchise that has grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide.

For action-movie fans of the '80s, "Die Hard," clever, funny, and with a refreshingly mortal hero, was deliverance from the death grips of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

For Willis, the movie was a definitive answer: No, he hadn't gone flat; he was just getting started. As a tough guy ("Pulp Fiction"). As a hero ("Armageddon"). As an Everyman ("The Sixth Sense"). As a you-never-know-what-you're-going-to-get star (from the popular "The Whole Nine Yards" to the little-seen "Breakfast of Champions").

Courtesy:  yahoo movies

No comments:

Post a Comment