Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
This is the film I've probably watched the most out of all of my choices. I think it was the first 18 certificate film that I had the guts to rent from the video shop when I was 15. Every time I watched it knowing more about cinema I'd appreciate it even more rather than less. The writing and the structure. It's such a well crafted script and I think that's why it's lasted so well. Even compared to the rest of the Die Hards it's tremendously self-contained. As soon as they bought the mayhem out into the street it lost its tension. It's almost like Rio Bravo where being contained in a building really helps. The bigger you go the less tension there is. When you've got one person in a room its always going to be more tense than a bunch of people blowing up the earth.