History YMMV / DieHard

* GeniusBonus: The Alexander quote Hans mentions ("Alexander wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer") is incorrect. It's actually "Alexander of Macedon, who, upon hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered one". This is more accurate to Hans' situation, as he has not yet succeeded [[spoiler:and soon after dies.]] It also gives an early clue to the viewer that Hans may not be as intelligent or clever as he makes himself out to be.

** Argyle is fairly popular for his fun-loving personality, and he even manages to take out Theo by himself.

* MisaimedFandom: John [=McClane=] is often seen as an example by gun rights activists of how "a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun." However, this completely ignores how John spends almost the entire film on the defensive, with his very first move being to run away and try to get help. He also spends a good chunk simply hiding in a remote part of the building and not confronting the terrorists at all.

* CatharsisFactor: As fun and awesome a villain as he is, seeing Hans be dropped to his demise is an amazingly satisfying moment.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: While Hans Gruber is the big bad of this film, his (Barely [[FauxAffablyEvil Faux]]) AffablyEvil personality almost makes him nicer compared to the arrogant [[FBIAgent FBI Agents]], [[PoliceAreUseless Deputy Chief Dwayne T. Robinson]], and the SmugSmake businessman Harry Ellis. But the biggest jerk in Die-Hard is Richard "Dick" Thornburg, the amoral reporter that ends up exposing Holly's identity by threatening their housekeeper with deportation for the sake of a story. He gets his comeuppance when Holly punches him in the face at the end of the movie. The FBI Agents in particular, have no qualms about killing about 25% of the hostages caught in the crossfire if it means defeating the terrorists. You can very much understand why no one sheds a tear when they're blown up in the helicopter.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: While Hans Gruber is the big bad of this film, his (Barely [[FauxAffablyEvil Faux]]) AffablyEvil personality almost makes him nicer compared to the arrogant [[FBIAgent FBI Agents]] and [[PoliceAreUseless Deputy Chief Dwayne T. Robinson.]] But the biggest jerk in Die-Hard is Richard "Dick" Thornburg, the amoral reporter that ends up exposing Holly's identity by threatening their housekeeper with deportation for the sake of a story. He gets his comeuppance when Holly punches him in the face at the end of the movie. The FBI Agents in particular, have no qualms about killing about 25% of the hostages caught in the crossfire if it means defeating the terrorists. You can very much understand why no one sheds a tear when they're blown up in the helicopter.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: While Hans Gruber is the big bad of this film, his (Barely [[FauxAffablyEvil Faux]]) AffablyEvil personality almost makes him nicer compared to the arrogant [[FBIAgent FBI Agents]] and [[PoliceAreUseless Deputy Chief Dwayne T. Robinson.]] But the biggest jerk in Die-Hard is Richard "Dick" Thornburg, the amoral reporter that ends up exposing Holly's identity by threatening their housekeeper with deportation for the sake of a story. He gets his comeuppance when Holly punches him in the face at the end of the movie.

** Argyll jokingly asking [=McClane=] if his wife beat him up wouldn't exactly get a laugh today.

* GeniusBonus: The Alexander quote Hans mentions ("Alexander wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer") is incorrect. It's actually "Alexander of Macedon, who, upon hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered one". This is more accurate to Hans' situation, as he has not yet succeeded [[spoiler:and soon after dies.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: At one point during the movie John tells Hans that he would make a decent cowboy. Just a few years later Alan Rickman would play a villainous Australian {{cattle baron}} in ''Film/QuigleyDownUnder'', who has something of a ForeignCultureFetish for the American West, trying hard to be a western cowboy/gunslinger.

** Ellis's sexual pursuit of Holly has ''not'' aged well, especially considering he outranks her at the company and knows she's married. Then again [[HateSink it wasn't likely meant to be viewed positively then either.]]

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The bizarrely out-of-place scene where John appears to ogle an undressing woman in a nearby building, shortly before he pulls the fire alarm. Even Bruce Willis said he had no idea the scene would play out like that during filming, and believed it to have been inserted just to add a little extra fanservice.

** Ellis's sexual pursuit of Holly has ''not'' aged well, especially considering he outranks her at the company and knows she's married.

** Nakatomi having over 640 million dollars in bearer bonds ''after'' TEFRA was passed in 1982 has led to speculation that they're up to some pretty shady stuff, including from ''WebVideo/CinemaSins''.
** Does Ellis lie to Hand that John is his friend and guest because he wants to protect Holly? Or does he just want to make himself look more important to the hostage-takers and get better treatment?

** Sure, sending Tony's corpse down the elevator was meant as a intimidation tactic, but tucking a Santa's hat on him? Not to mention that John not only wrote "Now I have a machine gun" on his shirt in what is presumably blood, but he also included "Ho-ho-ho" at the bottom.

* NarmCharm: Alan Rickman's American accent in the scene where he and [=McClane=] first meet is [[BrokenBase questionable]], but it's still a tense moment for the audience and the characters, and one of the film's more popular scenes.

* RootingForTheEmpire: More than one commentary have pointed out that Hans and his crew are more like the protagonists than John and that its hard not to root for them like its a heist film and John is the antagonist they must overcome. It helps that everyone they are facing are unlikable assholes save for John, Al and Argyle.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Losing 20-25% of the hostages and saving the rest would be a pretty good result under the circumstances, Johnson & Johnson are just a little bit too excited by the upcoming bloodshed.

** Holly asks her pregnant co-worker if her unborn baby is able to handle a drink, to which she replies that the baby is ready to be a bartender. There has more awareness about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder [[note]]formerly referred to fetal alcohol syndrome[[/note]] in the years since the movie was released, making the scene less funny.

** The original [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] adaptation manages to be both faithful to the film and, in some ways, innovative. (John can't see around corners, for instance, despite the top-down view.) A set number of terrorists spawn in random locations throughout the building, so each playthrough is different. There is, however, quite a bit of TrialAndErrorGameplay. Some people have described it as a prototypical ImmersiveSim.

** The original [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] adaptation manages to be both faithful to the film and, in some ways, innovative. (John can't see around corners, for instance, despite the top-down view.) A set number of terrorists spawn in random locations throughout the building, so each playthrough is different. There is, however, quite a bit of TrialAndErrorGameplay.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: While Hans Gruber is the big bad of this film, his (Barely [[FauxAffablyEvil Faux]]) AffablyEvil personality almost makes him nicer compared to the arrogant [[FBIAgent FBI Agents]] and [[PoliceAreUseless Deputy Chief Dwayne T. Robinson.]] But the biggest jerk in Die-Hard is Richard "Dick" Thornburg, the amoral reporter that ends up exposing Holly's identity by threatening their' housekeeper with deportation for the sake of a story. He gets his comeuppance when Holly punches him in the face at the end of the movie.

** Furthermore, it reveals that Hans is an utter fake. At first Hans tries to pretend that he is a man of culture and class, talking about his expensive suits and making artistic quotes. While in reality he is merely a fake and nothing more than, as Holly states, "a common thief"

** [[BikerBabe Irina]] in ''Good Day.''

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Apparently, before Creator/BruceWillis was approached to play John [=McClane=], the job had already been turned down by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/HarrisonFord and Creator/MelGibson, who didn't believe in the script, and Creator/JohnMcTiernan, who would later direct it, even turned down several offers. When his agent delivered the news to Willis, he immediately advised him not to do it, thinking he'd make a complete fool of himself. However, due to the payment being simply too good to turn down, Willis accepted to play [=McClane=], kicking off his career as one of Hollywood's most popular and well-paid actors. Not to mention how the movie became influential in formula and protagonist type of later movies. It is now virtually impossible to find a ''Best Action Movies'' list that does not contain it, more often than not, at the top of the pile.

** Simon, his team of FormerRegimePersonnel soldiers and his mute KnifeNut Katja in ''With a Vengeance''.

* EvilIsCool: Most of the badass villains in the films:

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: It's mentioned in a news broadcast that Hans was a member of a radical West German terrorist organization known as Volksfrei, but ended up expelled from the group. Since the report never explains why he was kicked out, a number of possibilities have been suggested. Was it because [[EvenEvilHasStandards his methods were too violent and extreme for them]]? Because he was [[OnlyInItForTheMoney more interested in making money than the cause]]? Or because he was [[StealingFromTheTill defalcating funds]]?
* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Apparently, before Creator/BruceWillis was approached to play John [=McClane=], the job had already been turned down by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/HarrisonFord and Creator/MelGibson, who didn't believe in the script, and Creator/JohnMcTiernan, who would later direct it, even turned down several offers. When his agent delivered the news to Willis, he immediately advised him not to do it, thinking he'd make a complete fool of himself. However, due to the payment being simply too good to turn down, Willis accepted to play [=McClane=], kicking off his career as one of Hollywood's most popular and well paid actors. Not to mention how the movie became influential in formula and protagonist type of later movies. It is now virtually impossible to find a ''Best Action Movies'' list that does not contain it, more often than not, at the top of the pile.

* CompleteMonster: [[TheChessmaster Hans Gruber]] is a self-described "exceptional thief" who [[BigBad leads]] the takeover of Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles. A former German terrorist, Hans is focused [[{{Greed}} solely on his own profit]], attempting to steal millions in bearer bonds--a plan which involves demanding the release of numerous terrorists worldwide to throw the authorities off. Executing company head Joseph Takagi when he refuses to cooperate, Gruber has a [[CopKiller SWAT team wiped out]] when they storm the building, and when [[BadassUnintentional John [=McClane=]]] interferes, Hans murders a hostage who claims to be John's friend and threatens to begin shooting more until he "gets to someone you do care about!" Hans never intends to let any hostages go, instead placing all of them on the roof to rig it with explosives, which he then plans to detonate--killing over 30 innocent people as a distraction--and fake his own death to escape with the bonds. While only succeeding in killing members of the FBI, Hans immediately kidnaps John's ex-wife before attempting to kill her and John in retribution. Ruthlessly devoted to his own profit above anything else and mixing an utter lack of regard for human lives--[[BadBoss even those of his own men]]--with [[FauxAffablyEvil an air]] of [[WickedCultured urbane sophistication]], Hans Gruber remains the most deeply personal enemy [=John McClane=] has ever faced, and serves as a prototype for countless future action movie villains.