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01/02/2024

31/05/2022

Speaking of literary roots, the decision to have all events take place in a single night grew partly out of director John McTiernan's appreciation of Shakespeare. As The Independent points out: "McTiernan was inspired to change it so that all the action unfolded over the course of a single night, after reading Shakespeare's classic A Midsummer Night's Dream, therein ensuring the story conformed to Aristotle's classic principles of dramatic unity as outlined in his work Poetics." And for awesome Hollywood trivia, see the 30 Movie Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

31/05/2022

You'd think being the basis of one of the great action films of all time would ensure strong, long-term sales, and while Nothing Lasts Forever did strong business when the movie hit, it didn't keep selling. (It didn't help that most people had no idea the film was based on a book.) But in 2013, the book was released to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the film.

31/05/2022

The bear was owned by director John McTiernan and popped back up in his 1990 film as the character of Jack Ryan buys the same bear for his daughter toward the end of the movie.

31/05/2022

The building that serves as Nakatomi Plaza in the film is actually Fox Plaza, the corporate headquarters of 20th Century Fox. The building was under construction during filming, so the unoccupied 33rd and 34th floors were where the filming took place. But even though Die Hard was a Fox project, they still charged themselves a location rental fee for the use of the space. And for more fascinating facts straight from the upper floor of famous skyscrapers, learn the 40 Crazy Facts about the World's Tallest Buildings

31/05/2022

Die Hard destroys lots of glass—by shooting it, by jumping through it, by pulling it out of feet. All told, the movie's production spent about $130,000 on glass alone. And for more crazy facts about your favorite action films, don't miss these 50 Amazing Facts about Tom Cruise.

31/05/2022

At 73 years old when the movie was being cast, and not especially known for his acting chops, the Chairman might have seemed like an odd choice for the role of McClane. But he had played the same character in an adaptation of Thorpe's previous book The Detective, in 1968. The producers were contractually obligated to offer him the role—but fortunately for everyone, he turned it down.

31/05/2022

That look of surprise in the classic shot of Hans Gruber dropping down the side of Nakatomi tower was not totally the work of great acting. Though he'd prepared to take the 25-foot drop onto an airbag below, instead of dropping him on the count of three, as planned, producer Joel Silver dropped him at the count of "one."

31/05/2022

You might not think an action classic would have literary pretensions, but Die Hard is actually based on a book. That would be Roderick Thorp's 1979 Los Angeles crime novel Nothing Lasts Forever, which has most of the elements that made the movie great (though the hero is named Joe Leland and the villain is Antonio Rojas)—but does not quite have the same underdog charm.

31/05/2022

Extra-loud blanks were used in a few scenes to create a better level of realism, but when one was shot off too close to Bruce Willis' ear, it led to permanent hearing loss. When asked by The Guardian what his most unappealing habit was, he said, "Due to an accident on the first Die Hard, I suffer two-thirds partial hearing loss in my left ear and have a tendency to say, 'Whaaa?'"