Die Hard

Die Hard: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for John McTiernan's 1988 action film Die Hard starring Bruce Willis, that features an original score composed by Michael Kamen and incorporates diegetic music pieces. It has been critically acclaimed and assessed as one of Kamen's best works in film music and won him a BMI TV/Film Music Award for his work on the score. The album was not officially released alongside the film, until 2002, when Varèse Sarabande issued a 21-track album featuring Kamen's score. It was then reissued in November 2011 by La-La Land Records, that consisted the full score packed into a two-disc set into a limited edition of 3,500 units, and again reissued in March 2017 of over 2,000 units. In November 2018, La-La Land Records released Die Hard: 30th Anniversary Remastered Edition featuring additional cues and demos, and sold over 5,000 units. Background Kamen initially saw a mostly incomplete version of Die Hard and was unimpressed, as he saw the film as primarily about a "phenomenal bad guy" who made McClane seem less important. He was initially dismissive of film scores, believing they could not stand alone from the film, until he agreed to do so. His original score incorporates pizzicato and arco strings, brass, woodwinds and sleigh bells added during moments of menace to counter their festive meaning.