Nothing Lasts Forever is a 70’s era action novel centering on retired NYC detective named Joe Leland. In the story, Leland visits his daughter’s work place, when German terrorists take over the building during a Christmas party. Between 1979 when the book was written and 1988, with all manner of twists and turns, Nothing Lasts Forever became one of the greatest movies and greatest Christmas movies of all-time, Die Hard.
If you want me to go deep, I can explain to you the lore, history, and all the backstory of Die Hard. I would tell you how over 30 movies, including films like Home Alone, are what filmmakers call “the children of Die Hard.” Of all the stories surrounding the making and production of Die Hard, the story of screenwriter Jeb Stuart may be my favorite.
Stuart, after being offered the chance to turn Nothing Last Forever into a screen play, had an argument with his wife. Stuart went for a drive along the California coast. As he drove, a refrigerator box fell off the back of a truck and Stuart nearly crashed into it. He swerved off the road and drove into a ditch.
Sitting in the wreckage it came to him: “This is what the movie is about. A man has a fight with his wife, and he’s determined that it can’t end that way.”
Die Hard might be my favorite movie ever. Like, for real. Ever. I cannot count how many times I’ve seen it, including Christmas 2023 in the theatre. Yes, the theatre.
In the shadow of actions films staring the likes of Arnold and Stallone, Bruce Willis ushered in a new kind of every man action hero. It’s the is every man figure which makes Die Hard so intriguing, lasting, and it’s the reason the film has been copied so many times.
