History Trivia / DieHard

* FakeNationality:
** Creator/AlanRickman as a German.
** Russian Alexander Godunov plays Karl, who is from Germany.
** The actress who played Paulina was actually Italian.

** Bearer bonds were already being phased out in the United States after a 1982 law severely restricted their issuance, for the exact reason depicted here: their untraceable nature made them ideal vessels for fraud, money laundering and other criminal activities. Today it's rare that bearer bonds are even honored in the U.S., much less new ones issued, although electronic bonds are still used in various European countries (a loophole American corporations are, naturally enough, happy to exploit).

** Taiwan: ''The Ultimate Detective''

** Norway: "Aksjon Skyskraper"

* BeamMeUpScotty: Hans' quote on Alexander the Great. The original quote (from John Calvin in 1547) is actually "Alexander of Macedon, who, upon hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered one", though this would fit in with Hans' posturing and delusions of grandeur.

* BeamMeUpScotty: Hans' quote on Alexander the Great. It's actually "Alexander of Macedon, who, upon hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered one", though this would fit in with Hans' posturing and delusions of grandeur.

** Creator/SamNeill turned down the role of Hans Gruber. Creator/RobertDuvall, Creator/LaurenceFishburne and Creator/GeneHackman were also considered.

** Creator/WesleySnipes [[https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2386622/wait-wesley-snipes-auditioned-for-die-hard auditioned]] for Sgt. Al Powell.

** Creator/GlennClose, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis, Creator/GeenaDavis, Creator/SallyField, Creator/CarrieFisher, Creator/LindaHamilton, Creator/GoldieHawn, Creator/DianeKeaton, Creator/MichellePfeiffer and Creator/MerylStreep were each considered for Holly [=McClane=]. But, Creator/BruceWillis rejected them, because he wanted Bonnie Bedelia to play her since he was a fan of her work.

* ActorInspiredElement: [[https://twitter.com/chrismcquarrie/status/1077362045031350272 According to]] Creator/ChristopherMcQuarrie, the villains were originally going to wear camoflage gear. It was Creator/AlanRickman who suggested they wear suits, suggesting a potential meeting between the hero and villain.

** Creator/SamNeill turned down the role of Hans Gruber.

** The original script called for terrorists to hijack the building, and for a super-hero cop to stop them. [=McTiernan=] modified the script to change the bad guys into robbers pretending to be terrorists so that the audience could enjoy their intention of grabbing a load of money. He felt having terrorists as the villains would make the movie less enjoyable and give it a political angle, which he wanted to avoid. [=McTiernan=] also changed the hero, John [=McClane=], into an everyday, flawed man that rises to the occasion in dire circumstances. He felt the audience would identify more with him than with a "super-cop".

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: So, so much.

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Much of the script was improvised due to the constant screenplay tweaks that were being made during filming.

** This is the big one: ''Nothing Lasts Forever,'' the novel in which this franchise started from, was a sequel to the novel ''The Detective'', which was adapted to film starring Music/FrankSinatra. Sinatra was 73 at the time, but a clause in the first movie's contract meant he had a right to reprise his role as Joe Leland in the sequel before it could be offered to anyone else. In other words, Frank Sinatra technically was and would have been the original John [=McClane=], which actually would have fit pretty well in the adaptation, as the source novel's hero was an old, retired cop who found his inner badass during a terrorist siege.

* ActorInspiredElement: According to [[https://twitter.com/chrismcquarrie/status/1077362045031350272 Christopher McQuarrie]], the villains were originally going to wear camoflage gear. It was Creator/AlanRickman who suggested they wear suits, suggesting a potential meeting between the hero and villain.

* BeamMeUpScotty: Hans' quote on Alexander the Great. It's actually "Alexander of Macedon, who, upon hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered one", though this would fit in with Hans' posturing and DelusionsOfGrandeur.

** Creator/RichardDeanAnderson, Creator/AlecBaldwin, Creator/TomBerenger, Creator/CharlesBronson, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/ClintEastwood, Creator/HarrisonFord, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/MelGibson, Creator/DonJohnson, Creator/MichaelKeaton, Creator/ChristopherLambert, Creator/StephenLang, Creator/MichaelMadsen, Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/NickNolte, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/BillPaxton, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/MickeyRourke, Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/PatrickSwayze and Creator/JohnTravolta could have been John [=McClane=].

** Creator/GlennClose, Creator/SallyField, Creator/GoldieHawn, Creator/DianeKeaton and Creator/MerylStreep were each considered for Holly [=McClane=]. But, Creator/BruceWillis rejected them, because he wanted Bonnie Bedelia to play her since he was a fan of her work.

** When Will finds himself crawling through the vents in an episode of ''Series/Sanctuary'', he quotes McClane's iconic lines.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: Bruce Willis ''is'' left-handed, and while he did do most of his own stunts (which made the producers very, very nervous), a stunt man was necessary for a few scenes. If you look closely at these scenes, you can tell the stunt man is not left-handed.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: Bruce Willis ''is'' left-handed, and while he did do most of his own stunts (which made the producers very, very nervous), a stunt man was necessary for a few scenes. If you look closely at these scenes, you can tell the stunt man is not left-handed.

* ReferencedBy: ''Webcomic/KnightsOfBuenaVista'' talks about this film using estranged people in love having to overcome their estrangement. One character also gives FanonDiscontinuity to the fourth and fifth films.

* OrphanedReference: Notice when [=McClane=] hands Gruber a cigarette, he looks at Gruber's watch. [[https://www.slashfilm.com/die-hard-deleted-scene-watches/ According to Steven E. de Souza]], this was part of a deleted subplot where [=McClane=] would notice that the villains all have the same watch.

** This is the big one: ''Nothing Lasts Forever,'' the novel in which this franchise started from, was a sequel to the novel ''The Detective'', which was adapted to film starring Music/FrankSinatra. Sinatra was 73 at the time, but a clause in the first movie's contract meant he had a right to reprise his role as Joe Leland in the sequel before it could be offered to anyone else. In other words, Frank Sinatra technically was and would have been the original John [=McClane=], which actually would have fit pretty well in the adaptation, as the source novel's hero was an old, retired cop who found his inner BadassGrandpa during a terrorist siege.

** Creator/RichardDeanAnderson, Creator/AlecBaldwin, Creator/TomBerenger, Creator/CharlesBronson, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/ClintEastwood, Creator/HarrisonFord, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/MelGibson, Creator/MichaelKeaton, Creator/ChristopherLambert, Creator/StephenLang, Creator/MichaelMadsen, Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/NickNolte, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/BillPaxton, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/MickeyRourke, Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/PatrickSwayze and Creator/JohnTravolta could have been John [=McClane=].