The Die Hard franchise, featuring Bruce Willis as John McClane—one of the greatest action heroes ever to blow stuff up on a movie screen—has been heralded as among the top action thrillers ever created. From the barefoot guerrilla warfare of the first movie to the Man versus Harrier Jet showdown of the fourth, there is never an ordinary moment in this series, or an idle punch thrown.

Terrorists are the recurring villains in the mix, as relevant today as they were in 1988 when the first of the Die Hard movies came out. Scheming to battle what they see as morally deplorable acts with even more morally deplorable acts, they concoct one brilliant, foolproof plan after another, only to be foiled time and again by one man who is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or is it exactly the right place?

What was it that made this movie stand out from the other action films of the past few decades that nobody really remembers? After all, it lacks the well muscled almost to the bursting point, thug heroes displayed in the better half of the other violence decathlons of the movie age. And it also lacks the kung fu superheroes found in the other half. In the absence of these two time proven action hero staples, what is it that allures us about John McClane and his death defying antics?

Although to the untrained eye these movies seem to have a simple enough formula—guns, cars, and blood—, there may be more to them than meet the eye. Are guns, cars, and blood alone enough to draw audiences in the millions back to the same basic scheme not twice or thrice but four times, or is there something else bubbling up just underneath the surface that draws us to the Die Hard movies?

Here are a few ideas of what might have contributed that little extra to these iconic films to set them apart from all the other punch-fests out there. On their own, each of these factors may not take your breath away but together they pack a powerful punch.

Grit

If there’s something John McClane does more than other action heroes, it’s getting dirty. You can’t watch ten minutes of any Die Hard movie without seeing the man covered from head to toe in some gritty, smeared, realistic looking dirt that must be a lot of fun for the make-up artists to apply. And not only does he get dirty but he gets sweaty, bloody, and just good old fashioned tarnished in general. Nothing is pretty, smooth, or perfect about these movies; they are going for stark reality and, in the make-up department at least, nine times out of ten they pull it off.

Good Bad Guys

Good, not as in noble, just, and well-motivated, but as in brilliant, cunning, and just, frankly, all around scary. From the glassy eyed stare to the clipped, precise speech to the smoldering resentment and hatred always just under the surface, these psychologically manipulative and physically destructive evil geniuses know how to crawl under our skin and toy with our insides. A good bad guy is so important to bring out the good in a good good guy and these are some of the best.

Everyman

What made Bruce Willis so endearing to the public was not his massive, sculpted muscles but precisely the lack of them. He was just another guy going about his life, finding himself in adverse circumstances, and refusing to give up. You could relate to him.

John McClane got hurt. He got tired. He even got divorced. He was slightly balding and he didn’t always make the right choices. Much like us. That is part of what made the Die Hard movies so successful—in a strange, noble, self exalting way, we could almost relate to them.

The Cutting Edge of Action

No matter which director it was coming from, every Die Hard movie had at least one scene that made you say, “No way.” In some cases these movies went from one unbelievable action scene to the next without stopping for a moment to allow you to catch your breath.

Here are some of my favorites:

Swinging through a plate glass window on a fire hose
Ejecting from a plane straight towards the camera
Sliding from a bridge to a ship down a thick cable
Driving an airborne car into a helicopter
Jumping out of a fighter jet before it explodes

Lots of Guns, Lots of Cars, and Lots of Blood

If there’s one thing you can say about these action movies it’s that they have a lot of action. From each well crafted beginning to each climactic finale, the Die Hard franchise gave a brand new meaning to nonstop. And if there’s anything we action fans love it’s lots of guns, lots of cars, and lots of blood. detail.