One of the BEST action movies of ALL time. Just look at all the movies that ripped it off. The only action movie that might be better is Raiders of the Lost Ark.

When the leader (forgets his name) watches the main characters' daughter on television, the television appears to be plugged in. How can that be, if the power for the entire hotel has been cut off (so that the crooks have access to the vault)?

The head baddie's name is Hans.

Nit. The emergency dispatcher hears gunfire and just tells her partner, "oh send a black and white and see if anything's there"?????

When the villians fire a missile at the police "RV," they bold a large launcher to the floor. They fire a missle that shatters the window and hits the armored car. Hans tels the crew to "hit it again" to which Bruce Willis' character say's "you've made your point." The screen flashes back to the rocket people who fire "again" shattering the window and hitting the car.
Either they removed all the bolts and moved the launcher over while we were not looking or there was a bit of re-used footage. Since nitpickers don't deal in reality, I'd say they liked the shattering glass so much that the moved the entire launcher assemble over one window.

Another nit on the launcher. The backblast would probably take out the floor above them also. Just anyone who has been in the military.

Another nit on the launcher. The backblast would probably take out the floor above them also. Just ask anyone who has been in the military.

Section 31 was involved in Die Hard 2.

As it was In the Shawshank Redemption :)

And anyone who's ever owned or used a CB radio or walkie talkie will tell you that they're half-duplex not full-duplex -- meaning that only one party can talk at a time. It's impossible to interrupt someone because they won't hear you until they release their talk button.

There were also a few times when the question of "what channel is he on" came up - because people heard stuff that they shouldn't have because they were on a different channel a moment ago. It came up too often for me too keep track of exactly who or when.

These are my biggest nits - which were also repeated in Die Hards II and III

I was just watching Die Hard: With a Vengance on TV, and I caught something for the first time. After they get off the ship near the end, Zeus has someone give McClain change for the phone... but yet, when he gets to the phone, he calls collect!

Maybe he had a date with Eva Savealot and had to call 1-800-COLLECT.

I am waiting for the Leslie Nielsen spoof, if it ever will be done. I would call it "Die Already" (I think I heard that fake title on some sitcom, possibly the "Mad About You" with Bruce Willis.)

Why does a huge office building like Nakatomi Plaza have only 2 security guards on duty at the entrance?

When Gruber makes his first announcement to the Nakatomi employees, he opens a small notebook, but doesn't appear to refer to it at any point. Why open it then?

The first terrorist McClane kills appears to be about 6 inches taller than him, but his shoes are too small for McClane. Does this seem right?

When Thornberg listens to Powell's desperate call for backup on the police scanner, the lights continue to scan. They should be locked on one channel.

At one point, McClane ecapes through an air duct. Why is it that in the movies and on TV that air ducts are always 1.) large enough for an adult to fit through and 2.) spotlessly clean?

After he emerges from the air duct, McClane's undershirt changes from white to brown.

The henchman who takes over at the security guard desk has has the complete uniform, except for the blazer, which he apparently takes off the dead guard. With the preparation they did on this mission, wouldn't Hans and the gang get him his own blazer, and not one which would potentially be the wrong size and have bloodstains on it? And why doesn't the blazer have bloodstains on it, anyway?

McClane's shirt could have changed colour because it is caked in grease! I my college there where some air ducts big enough to crawl through, & me & some friends called then "Brucie Vents" in hommage to this film.

Would the tape holding the gun on McClane's back stick? Shouldn't the tape be useless due to all the sweat and grease McClane accumulated? Still, one of the best actioners ever. Look at what ripped it off: "Passenger 57," "Under Siege" 1 and 2, "Air Force One," the Next Gen episode "Starship Mine", and countless others.

Hey! Duct Tape is like the Force. It has a light side, and a dark side, and it holds the universe together!

After McClane kills the first terrorist, and sends him down the elevator with a Santa hat on, Hans pushes the terrorist's head to one side. Right before he hits the dead guy's head, he (the dead terrorist) blinks.

Another nit, guys. When McClane sends the stiff down the elevator, there is a message written on his shirt. ("Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho.) You also see him writing the "terrorists" names on his arm a bit later. Allegedly, they were both supposed to be written by him, but the printing styles are different between the shirt and when he is writing on his arm.

"The first terrorist McClane kills appears to be about 6 inches taller than him, but his shoes are too small for McClane. Does this seem right?"

Not necessarily. I'm 5'9" but have size 13 shoes. I know guys 6'+ with smaller feet.

I am 6'1" and have size 10 1/2 shoes.
All three "Die Hard" pics will be re-released on souped up DVD's on July 10, 2001, in a three-pack or individually. Glad I waited.

Outstanding! Case in point -- always wait for the special edition DVD!

I also use a size 10 or 10 and a half, and Bruce Willis is a bit taller than me.

I am waiting for the first six Trek films to be re-released in "Special Edition" DVD's, too, as the "Director's Cut" DVD of "ST-TMP" will be out in 12/01. Maybe there will be a six-pack of "Special Editions" for Trek. I am ever the optimist on this.
In NYC, the new "Die Hard"'s are $19.99 apiece, or $54.99 for the three-pack at J&R. Seems like a DVD steal.
How tall is Bruce Willis anyway? I think he's about 5'9" or 10".

"Die Hard" DVD update-TWO DVD's per pic, one with the film and the second chock full of extras, like "Gladiator" is offered on DVD. An even bigger steal than J&R is being offered by Best Buy, who has the three-pic-pac (six DVD's!) for $49.99.

Got the 6-Pack DVD set... pretty cool if I may say.

I have a great nit..
The promo/tag line for the origonal Die-Hard movie proclaims "40-Stories of Sheer Adventure."
The Nakatomi building the movie is set in only has 35 stories. Unless the line intended to count any garage levels which would be odd since those are never counted as "stories" on the height of a building.

The first movie has the best extras with an editing feature (you edit a small part of the movie yourself.) It has alternate scenes and the screenplay.
I'll give everyone here a rundown of the features..
DH1: D1: Full length commentary, scene-specific comentaary, subtitle commentary. "Branching version" with an extended power shut-down scene put back in. Usual languages and subitile additions.
DH1: D2: 2 Extended Scenes, Editing Room re cut and re mix favorite scenes. Delted lines/sequnce reels, Gag reel, Newscasts reels. Interactive articles from some mags, screen play, still gallery, trailers. Widescreen/ pan and scan comparisson.
DH2: D1: Commentary w/ director. Languages/subtitles.
DH2: D2: Making of Docu., Making of Featurette, Villans profile featurette, 4 Deleted sceens, Interview w/ Renny Harlin, Behind Scene 'Viginettes; Storyboard sequence, Visual effects breakdown, trailers.
DH3: D1: Commentary, languages, subtitles.
DH3: D2: Alternate ending, Behind Sceens Specails, Making of Specail, Behind Scenes Viginettes, Storyboard Sequence, Bruce Willis Interview, SFX Breakdown, and trailers.

All are presentend in widescreen, and all have nifty animated menus. DH1 Flies around the upper floors of the Nakatomi building, DH2 around the control tower, and DH3 in a subway tunnel.

All the discs are neat and full of features, but the most features are on the first movie's disc and the others are fairly skimpy... but i think the boxset was a great purchase for any Die Hard fan.

When Argyle rams Theo's van, and subsequently decks him, Theo's eyeglasses (along with Theo) are lying on the van's seat; one lens is cracked like a spider web. Eyeglass lenses have been made from plastic since the 70s, and don't shatter like shown in this film. (I should know; I've worn them since the mid 60s.)

I don't remember seeing you wear glasses, Adam? Were you not wearing them at those screenings?

I don't remember seeing you wear glasses, Adam...

I wore my glasses as the movies were shown, but took them off before and after, as I didn't really need them for general purposes. (If I didn't wear them for movies, I'd get a monster of a headache.) I did wear them in school, and have since (IIRC) the fourth grade. My reading vision began to decline in 1998, when I started to need reading glasses. But, until 2004, I didn't need my glasses to drive; my right eye was 20/20 for distance until then, and I always passed the DMV eye tests without them. Now, I need glasses just about all the time, as this photo documents. (I couldn't have read the menu without them. )

In case anyone felt they needed a map of where each of the bad guys bought it...

Ed Harris over at The Agony Booth has written a brief article comparing the four Die Hard movies with the four Lethal Weapon flicks. Interestingly, his rankings are pretty much the same as mine. (I'd place Die Hard With A Vengeance second on that list, after the original, if for no other reason than it takes place in my hometown, good ole' New York City.) The article can be read here.

With a Vengeance was easily the worst of the four for me. To each his own.

I thought the second one was too corny and was just terribly written IMHO. Plus, it supposedly took place at Dulles Airport, but the only scene that was actually there was a couple two-second shots from the outside, probably the same footage if used more than once. I know that movies/TV shows are filmed elsewhere all the time but none of DH 2 was inside Dulles. I think it was mostly in the Denver Airport. As Luigi says though, to each his own.

Gotta agree with Luigi, With a Vengeance is the only Die Hard movie I don't own. It's that bad.

It doesn't bother me that a film is made in a location other than its setting. If it, there's a lot of movie that'd •••• me off because, say, Toronto is standing in for Los Angeles. It's standard practice in the industry.

Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber is so cool and suave, he never takes off his suit jacket, or even loosens his tie and shirt collar, throughout the flick. Even with all the mayhem going on.

McClane tells Argyle that this is his first time riding in a limo. Didn't he ride in one on his wedding day? I did (and it was a lot of fun, too). Maybe McClane and Holly eloped...?

They might not have been able to afford one, and just used a car instead.

A bit of history, from the TCM streaming app - This flick was based on a novel titled Nothing Lasts Forever, by Roderick Thorp. That novel was first written as a sequel to his book titled The Detective. The 1968 film version of which starred Frank Sinatra. Attempts were made to get Sinatra to do a film version of Nothing Lasts Forever. When that failed, that novel was retooled as an attempt at a sequel for the Schwarzenegger pic Commando. When that didn't gel, it became the action flick we all know and love. Which spawned four sequels.
Can you imagine Frank Sinatra saying "Yippee Kay Ay, mother f...er!" Maybe Schwarzenegger...

Sinatra was 73 in 1988. Hans Gruber would have laughed at Sinatra’s John McClane in his Depends (which back then much more looked like baby’s nappies) and just finished his Evil Plan…

Natalie, you're banned from Movies. Any further posts from you under this board will be summarily deleted.

Should Die Hard count as a
Christmas Movie, anyone know that
debate ?

It is. Period.

It just isn't Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off of Nakatomi Tower.

I doubt that there is any such debate.

Except maybe in Jeff's head.

It's become a Christmas (or "Anti-christmas?) movie in our pop culture, for sure. What may shock those who were not around when it first came out, though, it was a summer blockbuster when it was originally in theatres (granted, Die Hard 2 did premiere around Christmas season).

@Tim, same thing on the DS9 board about Garak.

Here's some backstory on how this pic came to be. In the novel tbe movie was based on, the protagonist was named Leland, not McClane. And was a lot older than McClane was supposed to be. From which may have sprung the idea of casting Sinatra.
As for whether this is a Christmas movie, even though it was released in July, the answer comes straight from the horse's (actually the screenwriter's-Jeb Stuart's) mouth. (Yes, Jeff, read the linked article for your answer. Please.)

I've heard this origin story for the movie.