Categories & segments

Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

Most Rewatchable Scene

Ellis getting a Coke (two votes); the roof/fire-hose escape; Hans posing as a hostage

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:08Read transcript
  • McClane crossing broken glass barefoot is nominated for its immediate physical vulnerability.
  • Hans interrogating Takagi is nominated as the first full display of his charm and ruthlessness.
  • Ellis drinking Coke while trying to negotiate with Hans is nominated and later chosen by two participants.
  • McClane’s improvised attempts to attract Al Powell, culminating in dropping a body on the police car, are nominated.
  • The SWAT assault and Theo’s “Night Before Christmas” narration are nominated.
  • McClane leaping from the roof with a fire hose and barely surviving the swing into the building are nominated; one participant selects this sequence.
  • Hans pretending to be an escaped hostage, accepting a cigarette, and receiving an unloaded gun are nominated; one participant selects it.
  • McClane’s fight with Karl, every FBI appearance, and the under-table shooting are additional nominations.
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Hart Bochner’s full Ellis performance

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:59Read transcript
  • The performance is compared to a Dennis Miller imitation and praised for making Ellis simultaneously the movie’s worst and most entertaining figure.
  • The panel debates whether Bochner invented the broad performance on set or developed it with John McTiernan.
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

What’s Aged the Best?

The title, Jan de Bont’s cinematography, McTiernan’s spatial clarity, McClane’s character-rooted one-liners, and the widescreen renaissance

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:18Read transcript
  • The title “Die Hard” is praised as compact, memorable, and descriptive.
  • The incompetent 1980s LAPD, a surprisingly diverse villain crew, and distinctive minor henchmen are appreciated as period texture.
  • John McTiernan, Jan de Bont, Michael Kamen, the cast, and the production team provide unusually coherent and sophisticated action filmmaking.
  • McClane’s one-liners work because Willis underplays them and they arise organically from his personality.
  • Modern widescreen televisions restored the intended compositions and created a home-viewing renaissance after cropped television broadcasts.
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

What’s Aged the Worst?

The jokes and anxieties about Japanese power

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:36Read transcript
  • The Pearl Harbor joke and the era’s fear that Japanese companies were buying America are judged dated and offensive, though Takagi remains a comparatively substantial character.
  • Visible guns and pervasive smoking on airplanes and in airports mark a vanished era.
  • Holly’s late-1980s perm and the apparent effort to expose more cleavage late in the film are criticized.
  • Hans’s practical-effects fall is questioned, then strongly defended as an ideal villain send-off.
  • The 131-minute runtime is judged roughly twelve minutes too long by one participant, while others defend the setup.
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:07Read transcript
  • Hart Bochner’s eleven minutes are compared to a high-scoring, high-turnover basketball performance and he is treated as the winner.
  • Argyle is presented as the closest rival.
  • William Atherton’s Richard Thornburg extends his specialty in bureaucratic antagonists and carries into the sequel.
  • Paul Gleason’s deputy police chief continues his run of authoritative jerks and receives extended praise.
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

Apex Mountain

Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, 1980s action movies, Argyle, and John McTiernan

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:16Read transcript
  • Bruce Willis is accepted despite the later Pulp Fiction revival because Die Hard created the action-star track that enabled the rest of his career.
  • John McTiernan is accepted by one participant, while another prefers The Hunt for Red October.
  • Alan Rickman is accepted for the career-making Hans Gruber debut.
  • The film is accepted as a plausible Apex Mountain for 1980s action movies.
  • Argyle is accepted as reaching his apex here.
  • Bonnie Bedelia is rejected in favor of Presumed Innocent or Heart Like a Wheel.
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Theo’s basketball play; the alleged USC–Notre Dame game; Ebert’s judgment; Hans’s escape plan; bearer bonds; the McClanes’ marriage

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:02Read transcript
  • Which Lakers game is Theo describing in the lobby?
  • Could USC and Notre Dame have been playing football on Christmas Eve in the 1980s?
  • How could Roger Ebert give Die Hard only two stars, and does that undermine his judgment?
  • Did Hans ever intend to extract his entire crew, given the ambulance size and his willingness to detonate the roof?
  • What are bearer bonds, how could Hans convert $640 million of them, and why would Takagi keep them in one building?
  • What agreement governed John and Holly’s separation, children, geography, and surnames?
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

Picking Nits

Gruber’s research and getaway, Takagi’s bonds, Argyle’s phone, Karl’s return, McClane’s lack of shoes, and the scale of McClane’s injuries

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:17Read transcript
  • Hans’s otherwise meticulous team apparently does not know what Takagi looks like.
  • Takagi should either disclose the vault combination to live or explain why $640 million in bearer bonds are stored on site.
  • The ambulance appears too small for the full crew and equipment, and the plan to earn ordinary interest on stolen bearer bonds seems implausible.
  • Argyle’s early cell phone works perfectly from a skyscraper basement, and he waits there drinking for the entire crisis.
  • Karl survives an apparent hanging, passes through police lines with a machine gun, and returns solely to attack McClane.
  • McClane should prioritize finding or modifying shoes after recognizing how much running and fighting lies ahead.
  • McClane’s glass wounds, fall, hearing damage, and likely tendon injuries are incompatible with his continued mobility.
  • The public knowledge and single-site storage of the bearer bonds remain implausible.
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

Half-Assed Internet Research

The ventilation-shaft fall reportedly used footage of a stunt error, and Bruce Willis shot Moonlighting by day and Die Hard at night while marrying Demi Moore during production.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:35Read transcript
  • The stunt performer reportedly fell unexpectedly in the ventilation shaft, recovered, and the production used the shot.
  • Bruce Willis reportedly filmed Moonlighting during the day and Die Hard at night and married Demi Moore during the shoot.
Die Hard The Rewatchables
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Die Hard

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

“Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker”; “Come out to the coast…”; Hans’s classical-education line

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:12Read transcript
  • “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker” is selected as the unsurpassable iconic line.
  • McClane’s sarcastic “Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs” is one participant’s favorite.
  • “Just like fucking Saigon” and the response about being in junior high are praised.
  • Hans quoting Alexander and adding “Benefits of a classical education” is the strongest villain alternative.
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