Trailer Rewind: Die Hard

Today marks the launch of a new feature in The Basement, one dedicated to something I love and Shawn has retired from watching . . . movie trailers!

To me trailers -- AKA previews -- are an art unto themselves. There should be an Academy Award for best trailer. They are the perfect way to sell a movie, and almost always sell them wrong. Almost. How many trailers have you watched that made the movie look cool? And how often did the movie suck? Case closed.

What we'll do is feature a film, share thoughts on the trailer, then give a brief synopsis of how the movie held up. This way we can put our theory that the trailer is often better than the movie to the test.

Die Hard

The Trailer: Yipee ki yay, motherfucker! They don't make 'em like this anymore. From the 80s synthesizer music to the reliance on exposition from Trailer Guy, this is a product of an era long past. We get a lot of the one liners, tons of explosions and the promise of a thrill ride. And you gotta love the line "He's an easy guy to like, and hard man to kill."

The Movie: Adjusted for inflation, this is still a decent, if not dated, trailer. Viewed in the era it came out? It owned. But as good as this trailer was back in 1988, even it couldn't hint at the classic Die Hard would become. This is one of the best movies of the 80s and one of the greatest action films ever made. It's also one my Top 10 all-time favourites. And it made The Bruce into The Bruce. One of those rare cases where the movie exceeded expectations.

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