“Die Hard” Trivia!

Rob Hunter at Film School Rejects posted 37 Things We Learned from Steven E. de Souza’s ‘Die Hard’ Commentary. (Sadly the piece is no longer available.) But here are three of my favorites and my thoughts on each…

8. Sinatra was actually the first of many actors to decline the role. “You have to view this movie in the context of the time it was made. In the 1980s there had been all these action movies with these muscular, steroid, pumped up, roid rage heroes.” He adds that he played a role in that, “mea culpa,” as a reference to films like Commando (1985) and The Running Man (1987). The only one he mentions by title, though, is 1985’s Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) — which he didn’t write. The point being that McClane spends a big chunk of the time trying to hide and call the cops, something action stars of the decade weren’t too keen on. “So in that context, this guy is a coward, he’s a pussy.” (The fact that McClane didn’t act like an action hero made him more believable.  It made the film better. – Craig)

12. After Sinatra said no, Fox took the script to other stars, but they were turned down by “Arnold, then Sly, then Clint Eastwood, then Mel Gibson, then Richard Gere, then Don Johnson, then Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Kurt Russell, James Caan, and Burt Reynolds who was a Hail Mary call from our producer.” In desperation, the studio made the offer to Willis whose management was well aware of the film’s hard release date — and negotiated a killer deal as a result. (I believe Willis ended up getting $5million for his role.  It was interesting that when the movie was first being advertised it didn’t focus on him being the star. The feeling was that the studio had waaay overpaid.  Turns out they got a bargain. – Craig)

7. The novel is actually a sequel to 1960’s The Detective, also based on a Thorp novel, which stars Frank Sinatra in the lead role. When Fox moved forward on Die Hard they has to approach Sinatra and offered him the role. “He said ‘I’m too old and too rich to do this, and the chases in the building would have to be on Rascal scooters.’” The character names were all changed to sever that connection, and they also took the opportunity to age down the retired cop character to a younger, active police officer. (I am so glad that Sinatra had the good sense to pass.  I’ve read the novel (NOTHING LASTS FOREVER) and it isn’t near as good as “Die Hard” turned out to be.  As you’ll see if you click over to Hunter’s article, many of the things fans love about “Die Hard” happened by accident or good luck. Everything came together to make a classic movie. – Craig)