Bruce Willis made a leap of faith on November 2, 1987, when he finally wrapped up filming the comedy-drama series “Moonlighting” and entered the sets of “Die Hard.” He had no idea how drastically his life was about to change.
Bruce Willis plays John McClane in the film, while Bonnie Bedelia plays Bruce’s wife Holly. The original villain of all villains, Hans Gruber, is portrayed by Alan Rickman. Important parts are played by William Atherton as Richard Thornburg and Reginald Vel Johnson as Sgt. Al Powell.
The director of the picture is John McTiernan, an American action director best known for his works on “Predator” and “The Hunt for Red October.” Nothing Lasts Forever is a novel by Roderick Thorp that was adapted for the big screen by screenwriters Steven E. de Souza and Jeb Stuart.
John McClane, an NYPD officer, is in Los Angeles for Christmas in an attempt to make amends with his divorced wife and kids. German terrorists commanded by Hans Gruber take control of the facility and cut off all contact with the outside world while he is having a meeting with his wife at a Christmas party in the Nakatomi Corporation.
For the remainder of the movie, McClane eliminates each terrorist one by one. “Die Hard” is essentially what you get when you combine all of the “Home Alone” movies with a sprinkle of clever one-liners, a tablespoon of violence a la Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a tablespoon more violence.
Who can forget the scene where McClane, grunting insults at Vel Johnson, takes shards of glass out of his nude feet? For “Die Hard,” the production team didn’t need to search far for appropriate shooting sites. A lot of the filming took place in and around Century City’s Fox Plaza.
Thirty years after “Die Hard” was released, the 34-story building is still referred to by its fictitious name, Nakatomi Plaza. A few parts of the movie were also filmed on Santa Monica Boulevard, Olympic Boulevard & Balsam Avenue, and Tom Bradley International Terminal.
Die Hard Filming Locations
Nakatomi Plaza, Los Angeles
Located southwest of Beverly Hills and south of Santa Monica Boulevard, Fox Plaza, commonly referred to as “Nakatomi Plaza,” is a portion of the 180-acre Los Angeles business area. Additionally, 20th Century Fox uses it as its corporate headquarters.
Fox Plaza is the tallest of all the Los Angeles locations used for filming. Thirty years later, not much has changed. There have reportedly been very minor external extensions made to both sides of the tower since 1988, however, the lobby and elevators of the building have remained intact.
In reality, the sequence where McClane scales the roof was recorded in the basement. Fans of the film who got the rare chance to visit the building have reported that anytime someone runs down a hallway, uses the stairs or elevator, or passes by the industrial pipes, you can practically feel the scene unfolding in front of your eyes.
The classic sequence was shot on the roof of the well-known building and features Hans Gruber’s impersonation of an American citizen during McClane and Gruber’s first meeting. The team added a few obstacles to the roof to heighten the scene’s dramatic effect.
The sequence in which McClane confronts Gruber’s gang was filmed on a genuine construction site since 20th Century Fox owns a portion of the incomplete tower. During the movie’s filming, the structure was undergoing minor construction.
Thus, it is real when McClane is shown investigating an incomplete floor with construction equipment all over it. Former President Ronald Reagan’s office moved into the completed chamber. Building on the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Fallingwater mansion, the filmmakers reconstructed the film’s 30th level, the location of the hostages.
Because McTiernan thought the building’s insignia looked like a swastika, he had a Samurai warrior’s helmet made for the movie. A SWAT Greyhound truck crashes into a railing in the movie while climbing a staircase; the railing has never been fixed.
As a result, the structure currently only has four railings. To win Fox’s approval, the creators had to work hard. With barely two hours to shoot, the team spent over six months perfecting the helicopter sequence toward the conclusion. It has been stated that nine camera units were used in three attempts to complete the picture. There have also been rumours that nobody but the crew is allowed within 500 feet of the flight path.