Dan’s DVDS

I’ve been re-watching my Die Hard trilogy this week, and was inspired to look up trivia about the film – on which I found that Bruce Willis was actually fifth choice for the role. Ahead of him were Arnold Schwarznegger (unsurprisingly), Sly Stallone, Burt Reynolds and er…Richard Gere.

Now forgive me if I’m wrong but he doesn’t actually strike me as the action hero type. Not ahead of Bruce Willis. What I have to look at is that they were both accomplished actors, but neither had really hit their peak, so they were just finding themselves. But I just want to express my relief that Gere didn’t take the role as if it wasn’t for this then everybody would be a loser.

 Die Hard (1988) wouldn’t be as successful as it is, we may not even have a trilogy as we know it, perhaps just a lone film that bombed. His reputation would have suffered. In my opinion anyway I think there is no way he could have made a good John McClane. Bruce Willis would have missed out on the peak of his career and it could have led to Gere missing out on his most accailmed role in Pretty Woman (1990).

Willis was so successful in that role that 19 years since the first film, Die Hard 4 is in production. I intend to have a look at whether that will be any good in the coming weeks.

What do you think, would Richard Gere have made a good John McClane? Could Arnie have out Bruce Willis-ed Bruce Willis?