In my thesis paper first I am going to examine some of the main features of popular genres, and then I am going to give a short summary of the western, since it created those types of heroes the action film later developed. After a general description of the American society and the American foreign policy before and during the Reagan era, I am going to analyse an action film, Die Hard, which created both the sequel of its own and a subgenre of the action film. I would like to see how it fulfils the general requirements of the genre and its political era. I am going to base my analysis on Die Hard first, and then bring up further examples from the following parts of the series, Die Hard 2 and Die Hard with Vengeance. Although Die Hard 4.0 carries on the basic elements of the sequel, it was produced twelve years after the previous part in a different political and social milieu, so it is going to be discussed in a separate chapter. Finally, I would like to see if there are any similarities between John McClane, the hero of Die Hard, and Bruce Willis, the actor, who was so successful that he based his fame in Hollywood by this film (Stilvell).