Why Die Hard is the best action movie of all time

1. Alan Rickman as the sympathetic mastermind villain with a voice that is simultaneously terrifying and sexy

2. John McClane is a flawed hero (afraid of heights, smokes, drinks, leaves his wife)

3. John McClane is a noble hero (sacrifices self for others, cunning, witty, kicks butt without wearing shoes).

4. Holly Gennero is a "tough female lead" who shows strength through her mind and her bravery. And just because McClane goes all action hero, doesn't mean she's going to remarry him. This chick can survive on her own.

5. Argyle is the unaware limo driver offering suitable doses of comic relief and acts as a surrogate for the audience to relate to McClane.

6. Creepy eastern Europeans in a movie that comes out right after the end of the Cold War.

7. Reginald VelJohnson plays a great small time cop with big time loyalty. He is the only one who believes McClane and sticks with our hero, without even meeting face to face until the very end.

8. MacGuyver problem solving skills taken to a new level. McClane and Gennero play brilliant mind games against the terrorists, making many other action films appear formulaic and rather idiotic by comparison.

9. Those quriky stress-induced lines:

911 DISPATCH: This channel is reserved for emergency calls only.
MCCLANE: No F***g Sh** lady! Does it sound like I'm ordering a pizza!?

10. The only good movie from the 80s that John Hughes had nothing to do with.