Die Hard: An Oral History

by Brian Abrams

In the late 1970s, long before an optimistic era of popcorn fare invaded theaters with the likes of steroidal heroes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, a young bartender from south Jersey named "Bruno" had worked the service bar at Cafe Central on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Eventually, the barkeep-turned-actor would grace the small screen opposite Cybill Shepherd in the ABC series "Moonlighting" and, with a few turns of luck, the big screen in the unlikely role of John McClane.

Bruce Willis would then forever be recognized as the world's ultimate anti-hero, a blue-collar Everyman with the worst luck, always surrounded by terrorists taking over something or other. And, in this definitive oral history of "Die Hard," writers, actors, producers, and studio executives reveal behind-the-scenes stories, from the curious origins of the film's title, to the script's evolution from a depressing ‘70s character study to an optimistic Reagan-era blockbuster, to the seminal negotiations between 20th Century Fox and Willis's then-agent which sent his client's career into the stratosphere, to details of moguls Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver’s famously tumultuous relationship while developing some of the '80s most successful franchises.

Brian Abrams’ first book, "Party Like a President: True Tales of Inebriation, Lechery, and Mischief from the Oval Office" (Workman Publishing), was released in February 2015 and earned attention from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, NPR, and Vanity Fair. His Kindle Singles, "AND NOW...An Oral History of 'Late Night with David Letterman,' 1982-1993" and "Gawker: An Oral History" became #1 bestsellers in 2014 and in 2015. He is editor-in-chief of the news and culture site Death and Taxes Magazine and lives in New York City.

Cover design by Adil Dara.

Genres: Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Media Tie In, Film

86 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2016

Reviews

[Peter Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy shit, read this instead of Nothing Lasts Forever. Way more entertaining.

Also, further proof that nobody knows what the fuck they're doing. Nobody thought an action movie with humor would work. Everyone thought Bruce Willis would not be a star.

Guh...wha?

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fyi, 70 pages counts as a book

I am a huge Die Hard fan, so this hit the spot. There's some .we info here but it's mostly just fun to read accounts of the movie by the people who were there.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die Hard is one of the greatest movies of all time, and easily my most favorite Christmas movie. I do wish this short was expanded into a full length book with additional sections on the day to day filming, perhaps even an interview with Bruce as well. Such a shame that Rickman has passed away, one of the great villains.

The full review can be found on my blog: https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.b...

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly about the lead-up to Die Hard rather than making the movie

Here are the portions of this book spent on various events related to the movie Die Hard. The first 3/5 is on how the movie was conceived and planned. Then the next 1/5 is about the actual filming. The remainder is about the aftermath and impact. I would like to have had more of the middle section and less of the preliminaries. That said, I did enjoy the "Inside Hollywood" nature of these shared memories, and the oral history format suits itself well to telling these stories in that way.

[Nathan Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important book

Anyone who cares about movies, Christmas, Hollywood, duct tape, John Wayne, success, narrative constructs, harmonicas, Alan Rickman, bearer bonds, Shane Black, Mr. Takagi, tanks and Reginald Veljohnson who plays a major role in this tale , MUST read this book. It's an unexpected gift for friends and Germans alike.

[Ankur Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like Die Hard, you will love this book.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief, behind-the-scenes look at the making of DIE HARD, particularly focusing on its inception and getting it to the screen in the first place. In the end, the only thing I can say about this book is that I was hoping there would be more of it. There's no interview material with Bruce or Bonnie but second-tier players like William Atherton, Reginald Vel Johnson and Robert Davi show up and they're most welcome. John McTiernan's here too, which is crucial, alongside Joel Silver and Steven De Souza. The whole thing is full of character and '80s Hollywood wrangling, which is very entertaining, but you're just getting into it and then it ends suddenly, which is a real pity.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Die Hard so I was looking forward to this, but I wish there was more of it. I understand it's a Kindle single, but I would love to read a full-length version of this with more depth and detail. I also wish that after the initial introduction of people, subsequent attributions still included who they were. It also would have been helpful to identify actors by who they played somewhere other than the appendix. There were some cool tidbits of info and I don't regret reading it or anything, but it felt very surface-level.

[A Cesspool · Rating 3 out of 5]

a "Kindle Single" indeed.
Retreads and amplifies everything, and then some, into Roderick Thorp's source novel(s) through pre-production, but only middling anecdotals regarding the actual production of (or Post-production) the [Best '80's] feature film.

also, Steven E. de Souza is a bimbo!

[Jonathan Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad read, but rather slight. Takes quite a while to actually get to Die Hard. Mostly quotes from writers and producers, with interesting quotes from the non-stars (nothing from Bonnie, Bruce or Alan.) My version also had no sourcing, so hard to tell if the author did all the interviews or spliced parts from other sources.

[frank laviano · Rating 2 out of 5]

It died

Thought there would be untold stories about the movie,Bruce etc.seems like the author was trying to set the all-time record for listing of credits.glad it was an kindle unlimited selection

[Kiko Vega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiene una de las coñas más divertidas que he leído en toda mi vida sobre los putos productores resabidillos.
Coña divertida REAL.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent oral history focusing mostly on the development of the film. I'd have liked a bit more on the actors and filming, but this was interesting even without that.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. I only read the kindle sample

[Ben Dick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun surface read - missing key players

Not for lack of tryin, I’m sure, but not having any quotes (even from interviews) from the four main players in the film hurts an oral history of Die Hard. It’s still a fun, quick, read with good information, but it would be that much better with some additional insight from the driving forces on screen.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

okaish

[Denise Shaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fast read about one of my favorite movies. There wasn’t a lot of new information, but it was something easy to read while everyone else was watching football.

[John Bleasdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent fun

[Jake Powers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and interesting quick read. Missed out on Bruce and Rickmans view point unfortunately.

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
80s action actors and Hollywood players, pay demands, work team fallouts and Moonlighting - great honest summary from the people involved in a classic film

[Arnied · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read for fans of the movie. I wish it was longer with more details though.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical film anecdotes

Nothing new here, but worth a read for fans of the film or with an interest in stories around film making.

[Brett's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished a short book entitled "Die Hard: An Oral History," by Brian Abrams, which was essentially a mix of personal anecdotes about Bruce Willis career, his stint on the television series "Moonlighting," and into the surprise success of the "Die Hard" movies.  The book addressed the various personalities involved in taking a risk on the then unknown actor, and book "Nothing Lasts Forever" that "Die Hard" is based on.  I enjoyed the book very much, it was a light read, and it was a nice break from my current science fiction doldrum.  

[Philip McClimon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to the party, pal!

Die Hard is probably my all time favorite movie. The sequels don't really compare and few if any other movies hold up like it for sheer fun every time I watch it. So, when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it and I am glad I did. Very interesting insights and behind the scene glimpses at the machinations of the filming of this iconic classic. If you love the movie, get this book. It's like 70 pages of extra features.

[Paul Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 71-page ebook on the making of Die Hard has a lot of good behind-the-scenes stuff on the build-up to the movie, particularly the casting of Bruce Willis. The book seemed to end abruptly after the film's release, and it could have used a couple more marquee contributors. Still a fun and easy read though.

[Brett Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Star is Born

Dig a classic action franchise? This gives some background details on how Did Hard launched Bruce Willis into stardom while changing the game on action movies. Great history from the people who lived it. Plus, William Atherton appears here,which is always a treat.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the editorial-free nature of this book. There are lots of conflicting stories, and there's tons of eighties-machismo throughout. Pretty fun read, but no real stand-out stories. Made me interested in seeking out an oral history of Moonlighting, mostly.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's full of a lot of useless information but I don't think I can ever have too much knowledge on Die Hard.

[Ricardo Lopez espinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

The only thing that would've make it even better, was if the author had interviewed Bruce Willis. Lots of fun things to find out about one of the coolest movies ever

[Rob Cohen]

Good-- not long enough. Could have been more, and of course, no Bruce Willis (Although I am sure he probably refused to participate).