20. Classic Dialogue #8
Its just a quick scene, but as Karl returns to the hostages, theres a moment where Holly clearly thinks that her husband might be dead. Her face changes to a smile as Karl smashes up a table in frustration.
Holly Gennero McClane: "He's still alive."
Ginny: "What?"
Holly Gennero McClane: "Only John can drive somebody that crazy." A lovely little aside, but also a sign that the romance might not have gone out of the relationship - she recognises one of her husbands character traits is what is keeping him alive.
19. Unhappy Feet
And the bloody aftermath of Johns escape from the Computer Room is revealed. He drags himself into a bathroom. The camera peers down from above to show the blood pouring from his badly cut feet, bits of glass still glinting. Gory enough already, but as he talks to Al, the camera pans down to share the enormous shards stuck in his foot. Its a real 18 certificate moment, and one that elicits a cry from the more squeamish viewer. These humanising moments, showing John as vulnerable, are in sharp contrast to later sequels where he appears to be able to bounce back from anything fighter jet, massive fall, nuclear explosions (probably) with scarcely a scratch. And as John suffers, Al tells the story of how he accidentally killed a child. A touching moment between two strangers who have rapidly become friends, and a scene about the wounds you can see, and the ones you cant.
18. Merry Christmas, Mr. Gruber
Hans plan comes to fruition, and the precious vault swings open as the local power supply is cut. Beautifully shot, the dazzling white light playing across Hans face and the accompanied strains of Beethovens Ode to Joy create a triumphant atmosphere - it actually feels like the bad guys have won for a moment. And that sums up another reason why Die Hard works so brilliantly as an action film it remembers to give the space to the bad guys and allows them to take centre stage now and again, rather than make them two dimensional thugs. Of course, that means its much more fun to then watch them get their comeuppance. Interesting how the use of Beethoven later became the trailer music for the sequels, calling back to this scene in an attempt to make us feel at home. And, having seen the later films, its actually the trailers that work better to capture the spirit than the full movies themselves.
17. Die Hard With A Heart
Weve seen snatches of it up until now, but with his life under threat and a pair of feet that really arent going to get him through week one of Strictly Come Dancing, John asks Al to find Holly if the worst happens. Again, the true beauty of Die Hard is the fact that it's an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation. He has his own doubts and, when it comes down to it, he knows that he needs to make peace with the woman he loves. For an action film to have a moment where the central character says: Shes heard me say I love you a thousand times... shes never heard me say Im sorry" and for it not to feel like a cliché, you know you are onto a winner.
16. That "Oh No" Moment
As if things couldnt get any worse, we get one of the best oh shoot moments of the whole film. Hans has been close to discovering just who Holly is a few times, but the sequence in which he finally pieces it together racks the tension up even more than before. How many of us thought she was dead meat the first time he pulled out his gun? And how many levels of menace can one bad guy pull off - no wonder they made him the Sheriff of Nottingham.