Die Hard is a 1988 Christmas film about a New York cop who is in a Los Angeles skyscraper when a gang of heavily-armed terrorists takes over the building. He must battle them to rescue his estranged wife and save the other hostages.

Directed by John McTiernan. Written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp.
40 Stories Of Sheer Adventure! taglines

John McClane

  • [sees a fire truck coming towards the building] Come on, baby, come to Papa. I'll kiss your fuckin' Dalmatian! [the truck turns away] You stupid motherfuckers! No, no! Turn the fuckin' truck around!
  • [sarcastically mocking Holly] Come out to the coast! We'll get together, have a few laughs.
  • [crawling in a heating duct] Now I know what a TV dinner feels like.
  • [after dropping Marco's body onto Powell's car] Welcome to the party, pal!
  • Happy trails, Hans!
  • Nine million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill the one with feet smaller than my sister...
  • [quietly, over the radio to Hans] Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker.

Hans Gruber

  • [to hostages] I wanted this to be professional. Efficient, adult, cooperative, not a lot to ask. Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way, so he won't be joining us for the rest of his life.
  • You ask for miracles. Theo, I give you the F...B...I.
  • [reading McClane's note] "Now I have a machine gun. Ho…ho…ho."
  • [to Mr. Takagi] I'm going to count to three. There will not be a four.
  • [Humming "Ode to Joy", to Mr. Takagi] Nice Suit. John Philips, London. I have two myself. Rumor has it Arafat buys his there too.
  • [to Mr. Takagi] And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept...for there were no more worlds to conquer. Benefits of a classical education.
  • [to Mr. Takagi] I could talk about industrialization and men's fashion all day, but I'm afraid work must intrude.
  • When they touch down, we'll blow the roof. They'll spend a month sifting through the rubble and by the time they figure out what went wrong— [pause and a slight smile] —we'll be sitting on a beach, earning twenty percent.
  • [to Karl, in grammatically incorrect German] Karl... schieß dem Fenster. [Karl stares back, nonplussed] Shoot the glass!

Chief Dwayne T. Robinson

  • [watching as the FBI helicopter is destroyed] We're gonna need some more FBI guys, I guess.
  • [seeing Hans Gruber fall to his death] Oh, I hope that's not a hostage!

Other

  • Theo: [laughing after a SWAT armored vehicle is destroyed with a missile] Oh my God, the quarterback is toast!
  • Sgt. Al Powell: [to Chief Robinson] The man is hurting! He's alone, he's tired, he hasn't seen diddly squat from anyone down here... and you're going to stand there and tell me that he's going to give a damn about what you do to him, if he makes it out of there alive? Why don't you wake up and smell what you shovel'n?

Dialogue

Fritz: Spitzen-Stereoanlage! ["Nice stereo system!"]
James: Ich hab' zwei davon in Berlin. ["I've got two of them in Berlin."]
Marco: You are dog now! No more table! Where are you going, pal?! Next time you have a chance to kill someone, don't hesitate.
[McClane, knowing where Marco is from his taunting, shoots through the table, killing him]
John McClane: Thanks for the advice.
[John is hiding from the gunmen]
John McClane: Argyle, tell me you heard the shots. You're calling the police right now.
[Parking garage. Argyle is in John's limo listening to hip-hop and talking on the carphone]
Argyle: Yeah, of course, I'm still coming by later. Sweetheart, have I lied to you? My boss? He thinks I'm on my way to Vegas.
John McClane: Drop it, dickhead. It's the police.
Tony Vreski: You won't hurt me.
John McClane: Oh, yeah? Why not?
Tony Vreski: Because you're a policeman. There are rules for policemen.
John McClane: Yeah. That's what my captain keeps telling me. [elbows Tony in the ear]
John McClane: [calling the police on a radio taken from the terrorists] Mayday, Mayday, emergency, anyone copy, channel nine. Terrorists have seized the Nakatomi Building, and are holding at least thirty people hostage. I repeat, unknown number of terrorists, six or more armed with automatic weapons at Nakatomi Plaza, Century City. Somebody answer me, god dammit!
First LAPD Operator: [to other operator] It's the same address as that fire signal.
Second LAPD Operator: I'll take this. [to McClaine] Attention, whoever you are: this frequency is reserved for emergency calls only.
John McClane: No fuckin' shit, lady! Do I sound like I'm orderin' a pizza?! They have already killed one hostage, they are fortifying their positions while you're jerkin' me off on a radio! Now send the police down ASAP...
Second LAPD Operator: [interrupting] Sir, I've already told you: this is a reserved channel. If this is an emergency call, dial 911 on your telephone. Otherwise, I'll report this as an FCC violation.
John McClane: Fine, report me! Come the fuck down here and arrest me! Just send the police now!
[Karl shoots at him. The operators react with annoyed surprise on the other end when the hear the gunshots]
Second LAPD Operator: See if a black-and-white can drive by.
Hans Gruber: I thought I told all of you, I want radio silence until further-
John McClane: Ooooh, I'm very sorry Hans. I didn't get that memo. Maybe you should've put it on the bulletin board. I figured since I've waxed Tony and Marco and his friend here, I figured you and Karl and Franco might be a little lonely, so I decided to give you a call.
Karl Vreski: [to Hans] How does he know so much about us?!
Hans Gruber: Eh, that's... very kind of you. I assume you are our mysterious party crasher. You are most troublesome, for a security guard.
John McClane: [imitates buzzer] Sorry, wrong guess, Hans. Would you like to go for Double Jeopardy where the scores can really change?
Hans Gruber: Who are you then?
John McClane: Just a fly in the ointment, Hans. The monkey in the wrench. The pain in the ass.
Hans Gruber: Mr. Mystery Guest? Are you still there?
John McClane: Yeah, I'm still here. Unless you wanna open the front door for me.
Hans Gruber: Uh, no I'm afraid not. But you have me at a loss. You know my name but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he's John Wayne? Rambo? Marshall Dillon?
John McClane: I was always kinda' partial to Roy Rogers actually. I really liked those sequined shirts.
Hans Gruber: Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mister Cowboy?
[Elevator rings as Hans's minions arrive on John's floor]
John McClane: [quietly] Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.
John McClane: [after causing an explosion with C4 in the building] Is the building on fire?
Sgt. Al Powell: No, but it's gonna need a paint job and a shit load of screen doors.
Deputy Chief Dwayne Robinson: I got a hundred people down here and they're all covered in glass!
John McClane: Glass? Who gives a shit about glass? Who the fuck is this?
Deputy Chief Dwayne Robinson: This is Deputy Chief Dwayne T. Robinson, and I am in charge here.
John McClane: Oh you're in charge? Well I got some bad news for you Dwayne, from up here it doesn't look like you're in charge of jack shit.
Deputy Chief Dwayne Robinson: You listen to me you little asshole-
John McClane: Asshole? I'm not the one who just got butt-fucked on national TV, Dwayne! Now, you listen to me, jerk-off, if you're not a part of the solution, you're a part of the problem. Quit being a part of the fuckin' problem and put the other guy back on!
Big Johnson: [Whooping as their helicopter buzzes along just above street level] Just like fuckin' Saigon! Eh, Slick?
Little Johnson: [grins back] I was in junior high, dickhead!
Fritz: They're using artillery on us!
Hans Gruber: You idiot. It's not the police. It's him.
Theo: Those guys in the suits, I don't know who they are.
Hans Gruber: That's the FBI. They're ordering the others to cut the building's power. Regular as clockwork.
Theo: [grins in realization] Or a time lock.
Hans Gruber: Precisely. The circuits that cannot be cut are cut automatically in response to a terrorist incident. You asked for miracles, Theo. I give you the F...B...I...
Holly Gennero-McClane: I have a request.
Hans Gruber: What idiot put you in charge?
Holly Gennero-McClane: You did. [Hans looks up, surprised] When you murdered my boss. Now, everybody's looking to me. Personally, I'd pass on the job. I don't enjoy being this close to you.
Holly Gennero-McClane: [noticing Hans taking the bearer bonds] After all your posturing, all your little speeches, you're nothing but a common thief.
Hans Gruber: I am an exceptional thief, Mrs. McClane. And since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite!
[last line]
Argyle: If this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year's.

Taglines

  • High above the city of L.A. a team of terrorists has seized a building, taken hostages and declared war. One man has managed to escape. An off-duty cop hiding somewhere inside. He's alone, tired... and the only chance anyone has got.
  • Twelve terrorists. One cop. The odds are against John McClane... That's just the way he likes it.
  • He's the only chance anyone has got.
  • It's Christmas Eve In L.A. And The Party Action's About To Explode... On The Fortieth Floor!
  • Suspense, Excitement, Adventure, On every level!
  • 40 Stories High — with Suspense, Excitement and Adventure on every level!
  • 40 Stories of Sheer Adventure

Cast

Encyclopedic article on Die Hard at Wikipedia

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