History Awesome / DieHard

--->'''[=McClane=]:''' I figured since I've ''waxed'' Tony and Marco and his friend here, I figured you and Karl and Franco might be lonely so I wanted to give you a call.

* To stop the [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill continuous missile fire against the SWAT AFV]], [=McClane=] ties a computer and a brick of C4 to a chair, drops it down the elevator shaft, to the bottom floor where the terrorists are holding their weapons. The huge explosion bags the firing terrorists and can be felt by the hostages and Hans. [=McClane=] looks down to see the blazing fire sprouting up. He screams "[[OhCrap OH SHIIIT!]]" and jumps out of the way just as the explosion reaches his floor.

'''Hans:''' You were saying?

** Gruber's face when he falls to his death is ''genuine''. The crew member(s) told Alan Rickman they were going to let go of his arm after counting to three. However, come the filming of the actual scene, the crewmen/stuntmen let go of Rickman's arm upon reaching 'two' and thus, his shocked/terrified face as he falls is completely real. After this shot was done, though, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Rickman was REALLY pissed off]].

** Holly's CMOA is negotiating with Hans at that level, and Hans' CMOA is that he simply accepts being called an idiot, because she was right!

* John using the radio he took off one of the dead members of Hans' crew to casually call up the mastermind and casually reveal that ''he knows their names'' to put Hans' crew on edge.

-->'''[=McClane=]:''' You shoulda head your brother squeal, WHEN I BROKE HIS FUCKIN' NECK!!\\

* When [=McClane=] ties a firehose around his waist and leaps off the roof of the Nakatomi Plaza. In slow motion. Just as the FBI is about to shoot him from a helicopter, as the roof explodes behind him. It's one of the best shots in the movie.

* Pretty much Creator/AlanRickman's [[EvilIsCool whole performance]]. Prior to this film he had purely been a stage actor and was very nervous about whether he could transfer that to working with cameras. And he completely knocked it out of the park, even while dealing with a character who'd pretty much been a non-entity in the original novel.
** In addition, despite it being his first ever film, he played WagTheDirector and pretty much made Hans the character he is. Highly cultured, well-dressed and polite? Yeah, that was Rickman. Initially, he was going to be a more generic bad guy. Instead, in his [[StarMakingRole first feature film]], he created one of the [[EvilIsCool most iconic villains ever]].
** You can possibly see it in his character's opening speech. In that scene, while his minions are running around waving their weapons, Hans is standing casually with a notebook in his hands. That book was holding a copy of his lines for his scene in case he flubbed them in his nervousness. As you seen Rickman speak with the masterful talent the world now knows he had, Rickman concludes it with him closing his book: that is the sight of an actor realizing that he can relax, since he's got this role down cold and is about to run with it.

** Ruthless though it is, the villains [[CurbStompBattle utterly repulsing]] the attempted SWAT assault is a thing of tactical beauty. Capped off by a Theo's ''gleefully'' sadistic "[[BondOneLiner Oh my god, the quarterback is]] '''[[BondOneLiner toast!]]'''" when their armored car is blown up with an anti-tank missile.

* [=McClane=]'s final confrontation with Hans. At this point, the good cop is horribly injured, bleeding all over and is near the end of his sanity after everything he had gone through. The situation is not good for [=McClane=] as he is outnumbered, Hans has his wife hostage and he only has two bullets left. As [=McClane=] laughs at his current predicament, with Hans and Eddie joining him, the camera slowly pans over to [=McClane=]'s back, revealing that he had [[HiddenWeapons taped his pistol to his back]]. With his hands over his head, [=McClane=] quickly draws his pistol and shoots both Hans and Eddie with his last bullets.

** This, after he had a profound heart to heart with John about why he doesn't want to ever unholster his weapon again by the way too. He overcame that fear when it mattered the most.
* After wildly increasing the danger she was in with his thoughtless prestige-chasing reporting style, Dick Thornberg's request for an interview is ''infuriating'' to see, especially since he's hounding a woman who is rightfully rattled after being a hostage for hours and Karl's final attempt to kill her husband. Understandably, [[CatharsisFactor Holly slugs him across the face for even asking.]] Not a slap like most movies would have done, a closed fist ''hook''. Even better, his own news crew laughs at him getting what he deserves and the sequel confirms she took a couple of his teeth out.

* Holly punching the smarmy reporter in the face.
** And tasering him a year later.

* And then there is Sgt. Al Powell... besides a magnificent aversion of PoliceAreUseless, he also gets one hell of a Big Damn Hero moment by being the one to finally take down Karl for good. In a crowdful of cops, Powell is the only one to stand his ground, fire true, and finish him off with a final shot to the heart.

* [=McClane=] taking out the rocket launcher-wielding terrorists with their own plastic explosives.

* How about Holly punching the smarmy reporter in the face?

* "Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way, so [[BondOneLiner he won't be joining us for the rest of his life.]]" He says it very coolly, while eating a sandwich. The best part? [[ThrowItIn Alan Rickman just thought it was the kind of thing Hans would do.]]

** The best part? Hans Gruber's face when he falls to his death is ''genuine''. The crew member(s) told Alan Rickman they were going to let go of his arm after counting to three. However, come the filming of the actual scene, the crewmen/stuntmen let go of Rickman's arm upon reaching 'two' and thus, his shocked/terrified face as he falls is completely real. After this shot was done, though, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Rickman was REALLY pissed off]].