6. Alan Rickman - Die Hard
Bruce Willis' John McClaine is one of, if not the greatest action heroes of all time, yet he is still upstaged by Alan Rickman's portrayal of German cyber-terrorist, Hans Gruber. Gruber is slick, sophisticated and completely unflappable. His attacks on American culture are hilarious and he proves to be a genuine threat to McClain, something you can very rarely say about American action blockbuster movies. The ruthless megalomaniac goes toe-to-toe in a battle of verbal warfare with McClain and the results are scintillating. Every time Gruber is on screen he has our immediate attention. He's completely hypnotising and it's clear to see why Hollywood wanted villains in the mold of Gruber after the success of Die Hard. Gruber is interesting because he was a villain unlike any seen before in a big Hollywood movie as his evil spouted from his words and calm actions rather than impulsive and exaggerated behaviour. Later villains in the Die Hard series could never live up to Gruber and even Willis' McClain at his best and most charismatic pales in comparison.