Die Hard is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It stars Bruce Willis (pictured), Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, and Bonnie Bedelia. Based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, Die Hard follows New York City police detective John McClane (Willis) who is caught up in a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper. Filming took place in 1987 and 1988, on a $25–35 million budget. Reviews were mixed, but Die Hard became the year's highest-grossing action film. It received four Academy Award nominations, elevated Willis to leading-man status and made Rickman a celebrity. It is now considered one of the greatest action films. It revitalized the genre, largely due to its depiction of McClane as a vulnerable and fallible protagonist. "Die Hard" became a shorthand for plots in which a hero battles in a restricted environment. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2017.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American Civil War: Robert Smalls escaped from slavery by commandeering the CSS Planter and sailing it from Confederate- controlled waters to the Union blockade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smalls
1909:
The first edition of the Giro d'Italia began in Milan, with Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna becoming the eventual winner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giro_d%27Italia
1958:
Algerian War: A group of French military officers led a coup in Algiers, demanding the formation of a government to defend French control of Algeria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1958_crisis_in_France
2005:
Uzbek Interior Ministry and State Security Service troops fired at protesters in Andijan, killing between 187 and 1,500 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andijan_massacre
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
slip-up: (idiomatic) A (small) error or mistake; a (minor) misstep. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slip-up
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I felt that I had done my duty. Nothing drove me now. I had run out of causes and was as close as I might ever be to peace. With all this behind me, I felt that if I had to die now, it was all right. I would not protest quite so loudly as I would have at any other time. --The Courts of Chaos https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Amber#The_Courts_of_Chaos_%281978%29