Unveiled to American audiences on July 22, 1988, Die Hard became one of the biggest hits of the year. Fun fact: most of their dialogue turns out to be incomprehensible gibberish. The villains of the film, by the way, are German.
To play Hans Gruber, the big bad, the studio hired Alan Rickman after seeing him play Valmont in a stage adaptation of Liaisons dangereuses. Later, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Burt Reynolds, Al Pacino and Mel Gibson were approached, before their successive refusals encouraged the production to turn to television actors such as Don Johnson and Richard Dean Anderson, but above all the lead Bruce Willis, then star of the comedy series Moonlighting.
Too old, the crooner refused, but the studio wanted to give him the honour. In this, since he had played in the previous adaptation of the book, Frank Sinatra is the first actor to be offered the role of John McClane. The screenplay for Die Hard is based on the novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. However, from the beginning, and even if both films were based on a script taking place entirely inside a building, Die Hard was from the start considered as a separate project. de Souza, the co-writer of the first Die Hard, has indeed been working on a potential Commando 2. It’s often said that Die Hard was first envisioned as a sequel to Commando, the cult action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger released in 1985. The first part of Die Hard is thus shot in a vase-clos, in the middle of the construction site of a tower that will hold a very special place in the Los Angeles skyline. At the same time, the technical team builds a scale model of Fox Plaza for the last part, during which the roof explodes.
A painting of more than 115 meters long preciously preserved by the studio and used since by other films. This fresco has the particularity of being animated to give the impression that in the distance, lights flicker and cars circulate. For the scenes taking place on the upper floors, director John McTiernan can count on a gigantic painted backdrop, giving the illusion of a breathtaking view of the city. A choice that also offers the studio a certain financial security. Still under construction and therefore relatively flexible to represent the building where the action takes place, the production company chose Fox Plaza, its headquarters. To find the ideal place to shoot, 20 th Century Fox will not look far. The action of Die Hard takes place almost exclusively in one place, namely the Nakatomi Tower in Los Angeles.
“Come out the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs.” John McClane (Bruce Willis) Celebrated for its dialogue and virtuoso direction, it allowed Bruce Willis to become a world star. The first part of the Die Hard saga has a special status in pop culture.
0 kommentar(er)
