The Real NAKATOMI PLAZA - FOX PLAZA - CENTURY CITY - LOS ANGELES - From DIE HARD - Filming Location

Just a few days after I graduated high school in 1988, a film was released that changed the way I watched movies. Like GHOSTBUSTERS in 1984 and BACK TO THE FUTURE in 1985, DIE HARD (1988) brought genre moviemaking to a new level for me. It made a superstar out of Bruce Willis, who I was already a massive fan of from TV's MOONLIGHTING and the LEVI'S 501 JEANS commercial even before that. (Yep, Google it.)

I had started what I considered my first real job working in a movie theater in 1988: the year of DIE HARD, MIDNIGHT RUN, A FISH CALLED WANDA, BIG, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, COCKTAIL, MARRIED TO THE MOB, THE THIN BLUE LINE, DEAD RINGERS, BIRD... Just one fun, terrific movie after another. That's how Hollywood worked back then. And DIE HARD owned the summer. It played for almost a full calendar year. Twelve months in a theater. People just kept coming to see it, for many good reasons. And the location of the Nakatomi Building was a massive part of the appeal.

Cut to 2024. The grown up version of that teen Matthew Movie Guy finally reaches Los Angeles. Of course one of my first stops in terms of sightseeing was FOX PLAZA in CENTURY CITY. My first visit was at night several months, well after working hours. It took me while to get back to the neighborhood, but here I was a couple of days ago on a bright sunny day and here's some video to show you just how gorgeous the property remains. Filmed not far from locations also seen in INTO THE NIGHT and TROUBLE MAN, I got closer to the property this time than I did last time and even managed to enter the lobby for a very brief look. I'd love to get in there further, so if anyone could make that happen, I'd be eternally grateful. And the Nestle Crunch bars would be on me.

Thank you to Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Alexander Gudunov, William Atherton, John McTiernan, Jan de Bont, Richard Edlund, Jeb Stuart, Steven E. de Souza, Lawrence Gordon, Joel Silver, Roderick Thorp, Michael Kamen, Alan Rickman and all the cast, crew, artists and makers at 20th Century Fox.

And a couple of weeks in advance: to you and yours, Merry Christmas 2024!