Die Hard (1988)

An NYPD officer tries to save his wife and several others taken hostage by German terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

Roderick Thorp (novel), Jeb Stuart (screenplay)

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia

Top Rated Movies #124 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	John McClane
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Holly Gennaro McClane
Reginald VelJohnson	...	Sgt. Al Powell
Paul Gleason	...	Dwayne T. Robinson
De'voreaux White	...	Argyle
William Atherton	...	Thornburg
Hart Bochner	...	Ellis
James Shigeta	...	Takagi
Alan Rickman	...	Hans Gruber
Alexander Godunov	...	Karl
Bruno Doyon	...	Franco
Andreas Wisniewski	...	Tony
Clarence Gilyard Jr.	...	Theo
Joey Plewa	...	Alexander
Lorenzo Caccialanza	...	Marco

Storyline

NYPD cop John McClane goes on a Christmas vacation to visit his wife Holly in Los Angeles where she works for the Nakatomi Corporation. While they are at the Nakatomi headquarters for a Christmas party, a group of robbers led by Hans Gruber take control of the building and hold everyone hostage, with the exception of John, while they plan to perform a lucrative heist. Unable to escape and with no immediate police response, John is forced to take matters into his own hands.

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Plot Keywords:

hostage | one against many | los angeles california | christmas | christmas eve | 

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Taglines:

40 Stories Of Sheer Adventure!

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Italian Japanese

Release Date:

20 July 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Hard

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles International Airport - 1 World Way, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$601,851, 17 July 1988

Gross USA:

$83,519,093

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$141,482,154

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Gordon Company, Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints) (4 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The news anchor shares the same name and introduction as one of the characters from Bye Bye Birdie (1963).

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Goofs

When Deputy Police Chief Dwayne T. Robinson assumes the body that fell out of the window could be suicide by a depressed "stock broker", this assumption could easily disputed by Powell because the "stock broker had multiple gunshot wounds on his legs.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Businessman: You don't like flying, do you?
John McClane: What gives you that idea?
Businessman: You wanna know the secret to surviving air travel? After you get where you're going, take off your shoes and your socks then walk around on the rug bare foot and make fists with your toes.
John McClane: Fists with your toes?
Businessman: I know, I know, it sounds crazy. Trust me, I've been doing it for nine years. Yes sir, better than a shower and a hot cup of coffee.
John McClane: Okay.
[the businessman sees John's gun]
John McClane: It's okay, I'm a cop. Trust me, I've been ...

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Crazy Credits

In the widescreen version, the 20th Century Fox logo is stretched.

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Alternate Versions

In the German dub of the movie, the German terrorists were given English names, for example Hans Gruber became "Jack Gruber", Karl became Charlie, Heinrich became Henry etc. In the scene where McClane writes down the names Hans and Karl on his forearm, we hear him say. "I'm gonna call you Hans and Karl, just like the 2 evil giants in the fairy tale." Later on, he still refers to them as Jack and Charlie.

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Connections

Referenced in How I Met Your Mother: The Chain of Screaming (2008)

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Soundtracks

Skeletons
Written and Performed by Stevie Wonder
Courtesy of Motown Record Corp.

User Reviews

The ultimate action film.

Die Hard tells the story of a New York City detective named John McClane who is separated from his wife. She invites him to a Christmas party at her office building in Los Angeles, and he decides to go to work things out. Once there, a group of German terrorists come in and take hostages with the intent of stealing millions of dollars in bonds. McClane manages to escape and begins to fight the terrorists one by one to save the people in the building.

Die Hard is a classic film because it completely revolutionized action films. The 80s were a time of unrealistic action sequences, predictable characters, and rudimentary plots. Die Hard changed all that. Die Hard takes place in a real world setting, or at least about as real as you can get with an action movie, so the action sequences, while insane, are slightly believable. The plot of the movie is simple, yet it's so brilliant at the same time. And the characters in this movie are engaging and a lot of fun to watch. John McClane is a really likable everyman kind of guy, we can all relate to him. Hans Gruber is an awesome villain, both cold and ruthless, yet very human. The supporting characters on the outside of the building are all great as well. Another great thing about Die Hard is that even though it's a hardcore action movie, it manages to be extremely funny at some parts, almost to a point of being able to call it a comedy. This makes the movie really easy to watch over and over again. There's really nothing wrong with this movie whatsoever in any department.

The acting is great. Bruce Willis is hilarious and hardcore as John McClane, and he portrays the adrenaline and the frustration of the situation very well. Alan Rickman is awesome in one of his earlier roles as the main villain Hans Gruber. Reginald VelJohnson is enjoyable as McClane's outside contact Officer Al Powell, and Paul Gleason is funny as a hardheaded and incompetent deputy chief of police.

Overall, Die Hard is the ultimate action film because it's fast, funny, and hardcore. It also gave us one of the most famous action movie one liners of all time...You know the one.

8/10