10. Last Legs
As we reach the final confrontation, the film remembers to give a little pause and show us just what the ordeal has done to John. Barely recognisable to his wife, streaming with blood, dragging his feet and covered in a large proportion of the building, hes an utter mess, especially in comparison to Hans who, with his plan nearly complete, has seemingly regained his self control. Die Hard has spent nearly two hours building up such brilliant characters, on both sides, its great that it lets us have this one final head to head before the end.
9. Classic Dialogue #10
Beautifully written, right to the end, the final exchange between Hans and John is superb.
Hans: "Still the cowboy Mr. McClane? You Americans, you're all alike, except this time John Wayne does not walk off into the sunset with Grace Kelly."
John: "It's Gary Cooper." Perfectly summing up the film, the American ideal of the lone sheriff, taking down the invincible bad guy in a shoot out and walking off with the girl. Lovely stuff.
8. Two For One
Ingenuity, improvisation and guts. Thats why we love John McClane. And thats why the way he takes down Hans and Eddie is so perfect. There are also the little touches - the Christmas wrapping holding the gun in place, the jingle bells on the soundtrack, the fact everyone is laughing at each other. And we get to share in the tension too, the film brilliantly disguises Johns plan we never see his back until the last moment - before a great reveal. Then its that brutal one-two (great headshot work on Eddie), before the cowboy blow of the gun and the final Happy trails, Hans." Just about the perfect way to dispatch the villain...
7. Hans Holding
Except theres one more trick up their sleeves, well, Hollys sleeve to be precise. Hans drags her to the window as he topples out, holding onto the watch on her wrist - buying him a few more moments. Its a great touch, laden with symbolism. Its the fact that the watch is the corporate gift that Ellis highlighted nearly 100 minutes ago, the reward for moving to LA and putting her career first, its that which they have to jettison to save themselves. In the same way that John has to give up his macho posturing and admit hes sorry, heres the moment that the corporate worlds grip on Holly is finally loosened. Obvious to some, it took me a few viewings to cotton onto, but another example of how well layered and nuanced the script is. Perhaps thats why its my greatest action movie of all time - because its a great movie in its own right, with superb action layered on top.
6. Best Ever Villain Going To His Death
Back in the 1980s, without the use of CGI or green screen wire work or magic hover robots, making someone look like they were falling hundreds of metres wasnt that great. I love Robocop to bits, but the "villain falling to his death" scene in that sums up the problem - obvious blue-screen, baddie pasted over the top, falling far too quickly from camera - the result is just a few wasted seconds of bad-guy bye-bye. Hans fall begins with that turn towards camera, snarl on his face, like hes going to get a shot off, before gravity kicks in, the breath is sucked from his lungs and he falls away, startled that hes actually been defeated. It looks great, and we get it in slo-mo because its a moment to be savoured - plus it looks utterly convincing. That pounding chime on the soundtrack, the final seconds of life tolling away, is an equally brilliant touch. Then the cut to the side shot of his body plummeting down Nakatomi Plaza (presumably a stuntman onto a load of boxes or a massive bouncy castle-type thing) shows us the scale of his doom. Alan Rickman's surprise when Gruber was dropped is allegedly genuine, with the rumour being that he was released a full second before he expected it in order to get genuine surprise. Rickman was apparently furious at the trick but, if its true, the on-screen result clearly benefits from it. Great villains deserve great endings, and this is my favourite: Hans down. Sorry, couldnt resist.