Forty Stories. Twelve Terrorists. One Cop.|Jul. 15, 1988|United States|131 Min.|TV-14
Genre: Action;Thriller
Description: On Christmas Eve, NYPD Detective John McClane travels to Los Angeles in hopes of reconciling with his estranged wife, Holly, at a holiday party hosted by her employer, the Nakatomi Corporation. Arriving at Nakatomi Plaza, McClane is greeted by a limo driver, Argyle, who agrees to wait in the garage. As McClane changes clothes, the building is suddenly overtaken by a group of heavily armed terrorists led by German radical Hans Gruber. The terrorists, including Karl and Theo, take everyone in the tower hostage—except McClane, who manages to evade capture.
Gruber, posing as a terrorist, reveals his true motive: to steal $640 million in untraceable bearer bonds stored in the building’s vault. After failing to extract the vault access code from executive Joseph Takagi, Gruber kills him and assigns Theo the task of breaking into the vault. Meanwhile, the terrorists discover McClane’s presence and send Tony to eliminate him. McClane kills Tony, seizes his weapon and radio, and uses the radio to contact the LAPD, though they remain skeptical. Sergeant Al Powell is sent to investigate but finds nothing unusual—until McClane drops a terrorist’s body onto Powell’s car, prompting him to call for backup.
As the situation escalates, McClane continues to take down terrorists and retrieves a bag of C-4 explosives and detonators. A SWAT team attempts to storm the building but is countered by the terrorists. McClane uses the explosives to create a diversion, killing several terrorists and halting the assault. During the chaos, Holly’s coworker Harry Ellis tries to negotiate with Gruber on McClane’s behalf but is killed when McClane refuses to surrender.
Later, Gruber encounters McClane on the roof, pretending to be a hostage. McClane, unaware of Gruber’s true identity, hands him a gun. Gruber attempts to shoot McClane but finds the gun unloaded, and other terrorists intervene before McClane can act. Wounded by broken glass and having lost the detonators, McClane continues his fight. Outside, FBI agents take control and shut off the building’s power, which Gruber anticipated, allowing his team to unlock the vault and seize the bonds.
John McClane’s relentless efforts to save the hostages and thwart Gruber’s plan unfold in a series of intense and action-packed moments.
Cast director: John McTiernan
Cast actor: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton, Paul Gleason, Hart Bochner, James Shigeta, Bruno Doyon
Original name: Die Hard