As a revelatory look at the labyrinthine, previously unexposed back corridors of the built environment… the first "Die Hard" movie remains exemplary. Disguised as an action film, it is actually architectural moviemaking at its best and most spatially invested, turning walls, floors, and ceilings ­­– rooms, corridors, and stairwells – into the unacknowledged costars of the picture, demonstrating that heist films are the most architectural genre of all.

— A Burglar's Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh (Page 228)