10 Greatest Pre-Kill Movie Lines

With regard to Bruce Willis' signature role, movie buffs may raise eyebrows at this phrase's inclusion over John McClane's now synonymous catchphrase of "yippee ki yay motherf*cker". However, one could argue that McClane's au revoir to Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber - possibly the greatest film villain of all time - during Die Hard's heart pounding conclusion, is his most emblematic line.

After seemingly surrendering to Gruber - who holds his wife Holly hostage - McClane is revealed to have a gun taped to his back as Hans taunts him with the aforementioned phrase of "yippee ki yay motherf*cker". The scene positively crackles with tension - sharply juxtaposed with McClane's fits of hysterical laughter - as Gruber levels his gun at the wounded detective to finish him off.

McClane explodes like a coiled spring, shooting Gruber and his final henchman with his two remaining bullets before blowing smoke off his gun barrel like Billy the Kid. As Rickman's mortally wounded baddie staggers backwards towards the precipice of a dizzying drop behind him, McClane laconically drawls the coldest of parting shots to the terrorist leader as he finally topples backwards through the window.

"Happy trails, Hans."

McClane's kill sadly isn't as clean as his delivery; a stricken Hans attempts to drag Holly out of the window with him but is duly detached from McClane's screaming wife to plummet to his death below. However, the sharp blend of gritty realism and Willis' exemplary slapstick delivery make this utterance one of the more unforgettable lines before a kill to date.