Die Hard (1988)

The screenwriter Jeb Stuart was asked to adapt the novel Nothing Lasts Forever, which itself was inspired by the 1974 film The Towering Inferno. According to John McTiernan, Stuart envisioned the movie as more than just a simple action film. After a heated argument with his wife, he decided to incorporate the theme of a man striving to reconcile with his family into the script. The final screenplay underwent numerous revisions during filming, resulting in some lines being unrehearsed.

At the time Bruce Willis was mainly known for his comedic role in the TV series Moonlighting, and to prevent expectations of Die Hard being a comedy, his face was initially removed from the movie posters. Actually, the secret to the movie lies in the blend of his comedic flair with the shoot-'em-up vibes, creating an iconic hero who's just an ordinary man fighting bad guys, wearing only a dirty undershirt (17 different tank top in various stages of degradation were used).

Hans Gruber and his gang are depicted as German terrorists driven by greed rather than political ideals, and their assault is underscored by a theme based on Beethoven's Ode to Joy. However, the German they speak is sometimes grammatically incorrect, and in the original German version of the film, the terrorists' names were changed to English equivalents (Hans became Jack Gruber). Ironically, Rickman, who played Hans Gruber, was English, while Willis was born in West Germany.

The Nakatomi Plaza was actually the 20th Century Studios HQ in L.A., under construction at the time. Willis, who insisted on performing most of his own stunts, suffered hearing loss due to the loudness of the gunshots and explosions. To protect his feet while walking barefoot on broken glass, he had to use fake feet. When Hans Gruber falls from the building, Rickman, suspended on a platform, was dropped onto a blue screen airbag earlier than expected, resulting in a genuine look of shock.

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