One of the best love stories ever written ;-)
Broad or specific, this is a feast of a film conversation movie. An action packed adventure 30+ stories up. At the core, a love story.
Today though, audio motifs are on the mind, and Die Hard has a great one with a super fun setup.
Soooo, what do we have in this kind of movie?.. Hostages, guns, demands, explosives, electricity... keep going... Shoes or lack of shoes, a walkie-talkie... Elevator shaft... Up and down... Bad guys, good guys, different floors, loved ones, guns, up and down.
Up and down in regard to our environment. A building.
The elevator doors, upon each opening symbolize a completely new possibility, mostly danger or death, mostly Hans' goons coming for us, into our space.
Enter our audio motif. "Ding." Every time the elevator opens.
Early on when John takes the elevator this sound is nothing, normal, standard.
By the end of the film, this "Ding" means "Get ready."
Even more fun, is that it's actually set up in the opening scene of the film, in the airplane. Listen for the seatbelt signal. "Ding."
"Get ready."
(Directed by John McTiernan, written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the novel by Roderick Thorp.)
Be well. http://www.LionSuit.com