A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
- Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 8 wins & 8 nominations total
Joseph Plewa
- Alexander
- (as Joey Plewa)
Gérard Bonn
- Kristoff
- (as Gerard Bonn)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe fictional Nakatomi Plaza is the headquarters of 20th Century Studios, so the studio could use one of its own buildings and didn't have to hold back on stunts and action sequences. While Jeb Stuart was writing the screenplay, he did a tour of the building, and immediately incorporated some of the locations and objects he found there into his script as set pieces (such as the cart that McClane and Karl end up riding during their fight). The company charged itself rent for the use of the then-unfinished building. Some of the middle floors were occupied by legal and administrative departments, so only empty floors were used for filming. Still, the filming of scenes that involved gunfire had to be postponed until after hours because some of the employees from the active floors started to complain about the noise.
- GoofsSeveral times during transmissions with the two-way radios, characters interrupt each other, which would be impossible given the type of radios they were using.
- Quotes
John McClane: [huddled in an air vent, recalls his wife's invitation] "Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."
- Crazy creditsIn the widescreen version, the 20th Century Fox logo is stretched.
- Alternate versionsThe Ultimate edition DVD contains the following deleted/extended scenes:
- Extended power shutdown sequence.
- Extended opening flight scene.
- Brief dialogue in the first Hans/McClane confrontation.
- Extended scene where Robinson/Powell brief the FBI on the tower situation.
- Brief dialogue when Hans interrogates Takagi.
- Brief dialogue after Theo says "You didn't bring me along for my charming personality".
- Extended/alternate dialogue in McClane/Powell conversation after McClane uses the plastic explosives.
- Brief scene of FBI agents getting stuck in thorn bushes as they make their way towards the building.
- At the end, McClane says "You got a warranty for this (Holly's watch, a gift from Nakatomi Corporation)?" to which Holly laughs.
- Argyle's dialogue as Powell's police cruiser flies by in the background.
- Brief Ellis dialogue reacting to the terrorist intrusion.
- City engineer briefly coughs before pulling out the power cord.
- Brief dialogue in Hans/Karl argument about "neutralizing" McClane.
- Additional Holly dialogue after seeing Karl's reaction to McClane's escape.
- ConnectionsEdited into Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
- SoundtracksSingin' in the Rain
Written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown
Featured review
I've got to admit, I only really watched this movie because of the (many, many) references in Brooklyn 99. And I got thinking, is Die Hard really that good? So, I gave it a watch, guided by the many, many Jake Peralta jokes that I had grown accustomed to. And I've got to say, this is the action movie that paved the way for all future action movies.
I usually have an aversion to Christmas movies as they all tend to turn into cheesy rom-coms but this was pretty awesome. And I think the reason for that is because that even though it was Christmassy where it mattered, the plot didn't completely revolve around it.
I've got to admit, most of it was guns and explosions and there was very little plot to go off of besides a pretty traditional three-act structure, but it was still pretty damn entertaining. And you know it's a good movie when about 90% of it was guns and blood and explosions and the other 10% was Bruce Willis saying badass things and crawling through vents in an ever-disintegrating tank top, and you stilled enjoyed it.
There was never a still moment in this movie, but unlike most times, where I just end up getting bored of the CGI-fest explosions, I was actually pretty captivated through the entire runtime. I'm actually really pleasantly surprised. The ending is predictable, but it's nice. Not all movies have to be intellectual masterpieces. Sometimes you just need to switch your brain of a little and watch Bruce Willis kick ass.
So, Jake of B99 was right. I mean, it's badass, Bruce Willis has the best one-liners, you have cool explosions. There's not too much more I could say about this movie. Yippie kayak, other buckets.
-Sasha.
I usually have an aversion to Christmas movies as they all tend to turn into cheesy rom-coms but this was pretty awesome. And I think the reason for that is because that even though it was Christmassy where it mattered, the plot didn't completely revolve around it.
I've got to admit, most of it was guns and explosions and there was very little plot to go off of besides a pretty traditional three-act structure, but it was still pretty damn entertaining. And you know it's a good movie when about 90% of it was guns and blood and explosions and the other 10% was Bruce Willis saying badass things and crawling through vents in an ever-disintegrating tank top, and you stilled enjoyed it.
There was never a still moment in this movie, but unlike most times, where I just end up getting bored of the CGI-fest explosions, I was actually pretty captivated through the entire runtime. I'm actually really pleasantly surprised. The ending is predictable, but it's nice. Not all movies have to be intellectual masterpieces. Sometimes you just need to switch your brain of a little and watch Bruce Willis kick ass.
So, Jake of B99 was right. I mean, it's badass, Bruce Willis has the best one-liners, you have cool explosions. There's not too much more I could say about this movie. Yippie kayak, other buckets.
-Sasha.
- lostonthehighway
- Dec 8, 2020
- Permalink
Everything New on Prime Video in November
Everything New on Prime Video in November
Your guide to all the new movies and shows streaming on Prime Video in the US this month.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Duro de matar
- Filming locations
- Fox Plaza - 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA(Nakatomi building, interiors filmed on the 29th and 35th floors)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $28,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $85,892,546
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $601,851
- Jul 17, 1988
- Gross worldwide
- $143,651,650
- Runtime2 hours 12 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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