When talking about the best action movies ever made, Die Hard inevitably is brought up as a strong contender for the title. The Christmas favorite changed action movies forever while inspiring a whole new subgenre of films. The movie has a lot going for it including great action sequences, a thrilling premise, and a superb villain. But one thing that really sets Die Hard apart is its hero.
John McClane is a guy who is in the wrong place and the wrong time. Though that doesn’t sound too heroic, it’s exactly what makes him so special. Bruce Willis became a star thanks to his grounded and charismatic performance as McClane, and movies have been trying to replicate this character for years. Relive some of John McClane’s finest moments that prove he is the greatest action movie hero of all time.
Calling For Help
There’s no doubt that John McClane is a badass. He gets off the plane in Los Angeles and this tough New York City cop immediately starts acting like he’s too cool for this place. But when trouble starts, we see McClane do something you’d never see Schwarzenegger or Stallone do — he calls for help.
Much of the first act of the movie is McClane trying to get in touch with the authorities to send help. He sets off a fire alarm and calls 911 because he knows one man against a group of terrorists is stupid.
Fighting Tony
The first fight McClane gets in with one of the bad guys says a lot about his character. After luring Tony into a trap, the villain isn’t worried because “there are rules for policemen.” McClane proceeds to beat the man in the head, showing he’s got a bit of bad guy in him too.
This moment also shows how McClane represented a new kind of hero. Willis wasn’t the bodybuilder type and they don’t ignore that. He gets thrown around and beaten up by Tony in a sloppy fight that you don’t usually see in these movies.
Spying
Though McClane makes some questionable and reckless decisions throughout the film, he also shows that he is more of a strategist than some of his action movie counterparts. McClane hides in the elevators and spies on the villains, gaining information.
He gets a headcount to better understand what he’s up against and even catches a few of their names, which he uses to throw them off. It’s not too often we would see the meat-head action heroes take such a planned approach to fighting the bad guys.
Complaining
“Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs”. This is one of the most famous quotes from the movie and is also a great example of what makes McClane such a fun hero. He says this sarcastically after evading gunmen, falling down a shaft and squeezing himself into an air duct.
As impressive as all that is, McClane doesn’t want to be here. He is not just a reluctant hero, he complains about having to be the hero. He’s annoyed that he’s in this situation and would rather he was anywhere else.
Getting Attention
One of the best aspects of Die Hard is its dark sense of humor, and a lot of that comes from John McClane. While it wasn’t unusual for action heroes to be harsh on the villains, McClane is so gruesome in how he handles the baddies, it becomes funny.
After failing again to get the police’s attention, McClane takes drastic measures by throwing one of the guys he just killed onto the cop car below. If that was done by the bad guys, it would be appalling, but when McClane does it, it’s a cheer-worthy moment.
Taunting Hans
It’s very satisfying seeing Hans Gruber’s intricate and meticulous plan slowly come undone all because of one man. McClane is not just a physical problem for the bad guys; he’s a mental annoyance throughout the film, and he really takes pleasure in being a jerk to them.
After killing some of Hans’ men, McClane steals the walkie-talkies and begins daunting his enemies. There’s no real reason to do it other than to make them angry. McClane even describes himself as a “fly in the ointment” and “a pain in your a**” before signing off with the iconic “Yippe-ki-yay motherf**ker”.
Walking On The Glass
The movie is not satisfied with leaving McClane severely outnumbered by the bad guys. They also throw in another disadvantage in that McClane spends the whole movie saving the day without shoes. At first, it is just an interesting way to make him more vulnerable, but then it becomes one of his best moments.
After running into Hans and Karl, McClane finds himself pinned down. Knowing he isn’t wearing shoes, Hans shoots all the glass around him, trapping him. But when they go to finish the job, they find that he walked through the field of glass and escaped.
Happy Trails
When it comes to his final showdown with Hans, McClane once again finds himself at a disadvantage. He is low on ammo and Hans has his wife, but that doesn’t deter McClane from confronting Hans.
Holding Holly hostage, Hans orders McClane to throw away his gun and prepares to kill this nuisance of a man. But McClane pulls a gun he has tapped to his back and guns Hans down, sending him out the skyscraper window and down to the pavement below.
Christmas Present
The Christmas theme of the movie is a fun inclusion that adds a nice little touch to the whole adventure. It also provides a set-up for one of the most memorable moments in the movie. After killing Tony, McClane sends his body down on the elevator wearing a Santa hat and a message that reads, “Now I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho.”
Once again, this would be pretty disturbing if he wasn’t the hero of the story. And it’s another instance of McClane just messing with the villains. Rather than use the element of surprise a little longer, he’s straight-up challenging them.
Jumping Off The Roof
McClane is kept a somewhat grounded hero for much of the film, but the rooftop sequence is certainly his big action hero moment. While it might be a bit over-the-top, the moment avoids betraying the character as we’ve come to know him.
He knows the roof is going to blow and knows he needs to get down, so he ties a fire hose around himself and jumps. However, he is scared the whole time. We rarely see a hero scared, but McClane does not hide how petrified he is, yet he jumps all the same.
