# Die Hard questions and discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 23, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175 "2010-12-23T12:16:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175/21 "2010-12-25T01:57:00Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > It seems that the novel [Nothing Lasts Forever](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Lasts_Forever_%281979_novel%29), has different names and some other minor details. But Wiki says that a lot of the plot and dialog is similar or the same. > > I just wish I could find the book for less then $40. In the novel, the protagonist’s name is Joe Leland, who is visiting his daughter, Steffie, at the headquarters of Klaxxon Oil. The main villain’s name is Tony (not Hans) Gruber, who is a German terrorist actually intent on stealing money. Joe Leland is clearly older than John McClane and the action is somewhat less intense (he doesn’t through himself off of the roof with a firehose wrapped around his waist) but many of the plot points are the same or similar, although I don’t recall anything like the obnoxious reporter (played to the hilt by the incomparable William Atherton) It isn’t a great book, although it is noteworthy that it is the sequel to a novel called _The Detective_ that was made into a (very different) movie starring Frank Sinatra which was one of the highest grossing movies of 1968. _Die Hard_ was originally written as a Schwarzenegger film (although not a sequel to _Commando_ as indicated in the Wikipedia entry) but as the Governator was trying to soften his action image with more humorous roles like _Twins_ and _Kindergarden Cop_ he passed on the script, so it was eventually sold as a breakout vehicle for _Moonlighting_ star Bruce Willis. Later in the series, a script titled _Simon Says_ that had been floating around Hollywood for over a decade was redrafted into _Die Hard With A Vengence_. The story is almost as convoluted as _M_A_S_H\*. With regard to the film: yes, it is both an awesome action film, containing a humanly flawed protagonist, a suavely sinister villain, an implacable henchman, a clockwork plot that sets up like dominos, a compelling reason why the hero can’t just walk away, and just enough comic relief to break the tension without becoming silly. Bonnie Bedelia is a perfect foil for Alan Rickman; she seems to be the only person he interacts with who he just doesn’t think he can control. This, along with _Kiss Kiss Bang Bang_, and Billy Wilder’s genre-twisting _The Apartment_ are my stock Christmas movie viewing picks. (I’d wedge _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_ in there, too, but that would be a true marathon.) As for the o.p.‘s question, the bomb takes out the floor that the recoilless anti-tank weapon is mounted on, which appears to be the third or fourth floor up. Personally, I think the way he triggered the block of C4 is pretty questionable; even detonators are pretty hard to set off. As to why he didn’t destroy or hide the bag, it is clear that he was planning to trade his wife for them and/or just didn’t have time to think about stashing them. Remember, between the time he finds the detonators and the time that Hans’ people come looking for him is only a few minutes, and he’s still under the hope that the LAPD is going to resolve the situation while he hunkers down. It is only after SWAT attempts to ineffectually storm the building (and why were they picking or cutting the locks rather than blowing open the doors?) that he realizes that it is up to him to save his wife. Merry Christmas, and Yippie-Ki-Yah, motherfucker! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175/22 "2010-12-25T01:57:42Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > The floor he blew up was a few levels up. It was the one with the missile launcher, not the goons on the ground floor. Yep, this is right. The ground floor/lobby stay intact. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175/23 "2010-12-25T01:58:58Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I’m still peeved about that dispatcher woman who basically blows McCain off-you mean they aren’t trained to recognize gunfire when they hear something which sounds like it over the phone-and is fucking loud enough to make them reflexively take off their headphones? But no, we’ll just send in the overweight desk jockey who is at the end of a shift. This annoys me, too. Everytime I watch it, I get irritated at her. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175/24 "2010-12-25T02:57:25Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Yep, this is right. The ground floor/lobby stay intact. Well I don’t know about that, but it is hard to tell in the [scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPb9-OK9r9I). You do see the guys with the rocket launcher get blown up, but there’s an awful lot of smoke and crap coming out of the bottom windows. But if this is the thing I have to nit pick about this movie then so be it, it’s still the best action movie ever. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175/25 "2010-12-25T04:10:30Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I’m still peeved about that dispatcher woman who basically blows McCain off-you mean they aren’t trained to recognize gunfire when they hear something which sounds like it over the phone-and is fucking loud enough to make them reflexively take off their headphones? But no, we’ll just send in the overweight desk jockey who is at the end of a shift. Based on the many stories that pop up every year of 911 dispatchers acting with astounding degrees of stupidity and negligence, I thought that might well have been the only realistic part of the movie. And she wasn’t even a 911 dispatcher, just a patrol dispatcher… basically a taxi dispatcher with a uniform. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175/26 "2010-12-25T04:21:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Based on the many stories that pop up every year of 911 dispatchers acting with astounding degrees of stupidity and negligence, I thought that might well have been the only realistic part of the movie. > > And she wasn’t even a 911 dispatcher, just a patrol dispatcher… basically a taxi dispatcher with a uniform. It’s not just the dispatcher. She calls Sgt. Powell and asks him to go to Nakatomi Plaza; as he leaves the convenience store he looks at the building and it’s just up the street. That’s at the same time as they’re shooting at McClane on the roof. It certainly seems like he was close enough that he should have heard the shots. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175/27 "2010-12-25T04:53:27Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The story is almost as convoluted as _M_A_S_H\*. This is what I love about the Die Hard movies. They’re an accidental franchise. None of them, including the first one started out as Die Hard. They were all adapted from other projects. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-questions-and-discussion/565175.md?page=1)