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I saw Die Hard for the first time as a private-detective-obsessed middle schooler. The film blew me away, but it also managed to revolutionize the action movie--better heroes, better stunts, and better characterization. 

According to Wikipedia, the whole film is based on a novel called Nothing Lasts Forever. In honor of the upcoming release of Live Free or Die Hard*, here is a link to all the facts about the book that created a cinematic revolution, a bit of Die Hard Literary Theory, if you will:

"Nothing Lasts Forever is a sequel to Thorp's 1966 novel The Detective. It follows Detective Joe Leland, who is visiting the Klaxon Oil Corporation's headquarters in Los Angeles, where his daughter works. While he is visiting, a German terrorist team led by Anton "Tony" Gruber takes over the building. Leland remains undetected and fights off the terrorists one by one."

*This is a woe-begotten title that translates to Die Hard, Part IV and totally corrupts the legacy of the franchise name.

You see, "Die Hard" is supposed to refer to the fact that it is very difficult for terrorists and bank robbers and whatnot to kill Bruce Willis in each movie. So, to say "Live Free or Die Hard" implies that Bruce Willis must choose between "dying hard" or "living free" and that the two activities are mutually exclusive--creating a false duality.

I would argue that the whole point of the franchise is to prove that a guy who "dies hard" can indeed protect us from terrorists and bank robbers and whatnot, therefore enabling us to "live free." In reality, these two activities are both essential components of Bruce Willis' complex character.