Die Hard and Bruce Willis
Gunfights & Films
Die Hard Film Franchise
The Die Hard series is a series of action movies beginning with Die Hard in 1988, based on the 1979 best-selling novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp that takes us all the way up through 2013. There are 5 films but we're going to take a look at three of them today. These films are known to iconic for the dialogue, the action sequences and the ever charming John McClane, who is played by Bruce Willis. The series features the adventures of John McClane, a New York City and Los Angeles police detective who continually finds himself in the middle of violent crises and intrigues where he is the only hope against disaster.For a full list of the films go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard_(film_series)
Die Hard
Released in 1988 this is the first installment in this film franchise.John McClane, a detective with the New York City Police Department, arrives in Los Angeles to attempt a Christmas reunion and reconciliation with his estranged wife Holly, who is attending a party thrown by her employer, the Nakatomi Corporation, at its American branch office headquarters, the high-rise Nakatomi Plaza. McClane arrives at the towers to surprise his wife. When McClane refreshes himself from the flight in Holly's corporate room, they have an argument over the use of her maiden name, Gennaro, but Holly can't get into it with him as she is called away.
As the party continues, a convoy of trucks makes its way to the building. Two men, Karl and Theo, arrive at the front desk to divert security's attention away from the trucks. Karl guns down the guards while Theo commandeers the closed circuit security field. Terrorists led by German anarchist Hans Gruber emerge from the trucks and hold the partygoers as hostages in exchange for terrorist operatives in prison. In the confusion, McClane is able to disappear unnoticed into the building's maintenance areas, and learns that Gruber is actually using the hostage situation as a cover to steal $640 million in bearer bonds stored in the building's vault. McClane is unable to stop Gruber from executing Joe Takagi, Holly's boss, when he refuses to hand over the vault's combination. It would seem that the vacation to amend his marriage has become deadly. This is a theme through out this franchise and what drives these films. John McClane and the world gets in to trouble, John McClane gets everyone out of trouble.
McClane attempts to alert the local police by setting off the fire alarm, but to no avail. He is then promptly discovered by Karl's brother, Tony. McClane kills Tony, taking his gun and radio, which he is able to use to contact the LAPD. Karl demands vengeance, and convinces Gruber to send two more henchmen, Marco and Heinrich, to neutralize him. McClane dispatches of them both and secures a quantity of C4 explosives as well as all the crucial detonators which Heinrich was setting into prepared explosives. Sergeant Al Powell arrives to check the building, finds nothing amiss and drives off, but McClane gets his attention by using Marco's corpse on Powell's patrol vehicle. The situation rapidly escalates, and the SWAT team arrives to storm the building. However, Theo notices their movements on the security feed and alerts Gruber. McClane attempts to get Powell to stop the SWAT team from walking into a trap, but Powell cannot convince his superiors. We watch the next sequence as the SWAT team is repelled, the armoured vehicle is disabled by a rocket launcher, and the police are out-gunned by the firepower of the terrorists. McClane drops C4 down the elevator shaft and destroys an entire floor where the terrorists are firing from and gives the cops a chance to retreat. Now it's attracted the attention of the press, being led by a less than desirable reporter known as Richard Thornberg , and the FBI, led by Special Agent Johnson
As the remainder of Gruber's men attempt to find McClane and the detonators, one of the hostages betrays McClane's identity to Gruber. Gruber uses the radio to contact McClane, and demands that McClane return the detonators or else he will shoot a hostage. McClane refuses, and Gruber kills Ellis while the police are forced to hear everything on radio. McClane continues to keep moving through the building to trying to figure out Gruber's plans. McClane and Gruber accidentally meet but Gruber gains McClane's trust by passing himself off as an escaped hostage. However, Gruber's identity is discovered as he threatens to shoot McClane. When Gruber's men arrive, McClane flees, dropping the detonators. The FBI shut off the building's power while they plan a helicopter raid onto the roof. However, Gruber had planned for the FBI's predictability - disconnecting the power opened the final electromagnetic lock on the vault and gave him access to the bonds. He has used the recovered detonators to rig the helipad on the building's roof with explosives, knowing the FBI would attempt a sneak gunship attack on the building. After the FBI informs Gruber that his demands have been met, Gruber's men force the hostages to the roof to be killed by the explosions, so they could escape in the confusion. McClane, after fighting off Karl and failing to warn the police of the Gruber's doublecross, is able to get the hostages back inside safely, but the FBI helicopter shoots at him, thinking he's one of the terrorists. The helipad explodes, the helicopter is destroyed and Johnson is killed in the explosion.
Gruber has discovered from Thornberg's investigative newscast that Holly Gennero is McClane's wife. He holds her hostage to prevent McClane from interfering in his villainous escape. McClane, down to his last two bullets, is able to lull Gruber into a trap, killing the last remaining terrorist and wounding Gruber, who falls backwards and out of the building through a window. Gruber manages to hang onto Holly's wristwatch, his weight dragging her out the window as well. McClane is able to unstrap the watch and we see Gruber fall to his death. Meanwhile, Theo is detained by McClane's limo driver, Argyle, after collecting the bonds. McClane and Holly leave the building together, and meet Powell face to face for the first time. Karl comes out behind McClane and Holly with an assault rifle, but Powell manages to draw and shoots him before he can cause any harm to McClane and Holly. Thornberg attempts to interview them as they are leaving the scene, Holly punches him in the face. McClane and Holly take off in Argyle's limo as the building is secured by the police.
I've always loved this film as it's the story that starts it all. Bruce Willis becomes McClane and I don't think any actor could've played it better. But let's take a look a couple of the guns that star on the silver screen as well.
The Beretta 92F features prominently in the film as the sidearm of Detective John McClane At one point, Hans Gruber is seen holding the Beretta. Karl gets ahold of it during a fight near the end of the film as well. Another Beretta can also be seen being carried by one of the SWAT officers involved in the ill-fated raid on the Nakatomi Building.
Beretta 92F (9x19mm) used by Bruce Willis in Die Hard. This is the screen-used gun from the film; note the extended mag release and slide release, which were modifications made specifically for Bruce Willis.
John McClane holds the Beretta 92F while hiding in the Nakatomi boardrooom.
McClane fires over 15 rounds from his Beretta 92F. Two rounds were fired on the terrorist first entering the room, and about 15 were fired through the table. According to the director, the proximity of the gun to Willis' ear during this scene caused permanent hearing loss for Willis.
"Happy Trails, Hans..." McClane blows away the smoke from the barrel of his 92F.
Hans Gruber holds Detective John McClane at gunpoint with McClane's own Beretta 92F.
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) carries a hard chrome Heckler & Koch P7M13 as his main weapon, notably using it to threaten Joseph Takagi and Harry Ellis, and then brandishing it at the climax of the film, holding McClane's wife Holly at gunpoint. When he first brings out the weapon while threatening Takagi, he is shown removing a matching suppressor from the barrel, thus indicating it's not a P7M13SD because there is no threaded barrel to use a suppressor. According to the script, Hans was supposed to carry a Walther. It is assumed that the P7M13 was used in place of this, as it bears resemblance to a Walther PPK, and both firearms are German, like Hans himself.
Hans falls from the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Building while still holding his Heckler & Koch P7M13. The look on his face is authentic as Rickman was dropped prematurely when performing the stunt.
To watch the scene where we see McClane recruit the help of the cop go here: https://youtu.be/I6wRZCV7naE
Watch a favorite catchphrase here: https://youtu.be/BSRrzrQtmto
Spoiler Alert! Watch Gruber fall here:https://youtu.be/cnQEo4bazIo
To see a full listing of the weapons used go to: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Die_Hard
Grab your snacks & beverages and have a McClane-a-thon!
Die Hard With a Vengeance
The 1995 sequel finds John McClane having to collaborate with a reluctant store owner as they are forced to race through Manhattan completing specific tasks or else a terrorist named Simon will destroy the city. Helmed by original Die Hard director John McTiernan. Die Hard With A Vengeance is the third installment of the film franchise.Returning to the station, McClane and Carver learn that Simon is possibly in possession of several gallons of a bio-chemical agent explosive stolen the night before. Simon calls the station again and demands McClane and Carver put themselves through a series of both trivia and physical challenges in a twisted version of Simon Says to prevent any more explosions. McClane is forced to lie to Carver to gain his trust.
One of Simon's games require McClane and Carver to travel to the Wall Street subway station, over 70 blocks away, within 30 minutes to stop a bomb on it. Though McClane manages to get aboard the train, identify the bomb, and throw it off the train car, Simon still ignites the bomb, ravaging much of the station but without any fatalities thanks to McClane and Carver. Once they get through that situation the two are met by FBI agents that have identified Simon as Simon Gruber, the brother of Hans Gruber, who we all know was killed by McClane. During the debriefing, Simon calls into the group and warns that another bomb has been planted in one of New York's City schools, and that any police radio could set it off. As McClane and Carver are forced to complete more challenges to identify the school, the police organize a massive search of every school, forcing the teams to rely on telephone communications.
McClane, while playing at Simon's games, realizes that something isn't right about the whole set up and returns to Wall Street. All the while Carver continues to follow Simon's instructions. McClane finds Simon's men have raided the Federal Reserve Bank through the ruined subway system, making off with $140 billion of gold bullion from the vault, hauling it away in dump trucks.
At first McClane attempts to follow the dump trucks through the aqueduct, but Simon destroys a cofferdam and floods the tunnel. The duo of McClane and Carver meets back up and they continue to follow the dump trucks to a tanker, and make a daring attempt to board it, but are quickly caught. At the same time that the police attempt to evacuate the school they think the bomb is in, McClane and Carver find that Simon has instead used the rest of the explosive to rig the tanker to explode, which would send the gold to the bottom of the sea.
After Simon leaves, McClane and Carver escape (of course!) the doomed tanker just before the bomb is detonated. As they regroup with the police and have their wounds tended to, McClane reveals that there was no gold on the ship, as it was replaced with scrap metal, and Simon has likely gotten away. Carver prompts McClane to call his estranged wife Holly, but while on line with her, discovers that an aspirin bottle given to him by Simon identifies a nearby border town in Quebec. McClane leads a raid along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on a warehouse where Simon and his men have started to distribute the gold. Simon attempts to escape on a helicopter and shoot down McClane, but McClane is able to fire upon a power line, severing it onto the helicopter and destroying it.
Action, adventure, witty dialogue and plot twists galore this particular Die Hard is my personal favorite. Let's take a look at the weapons that were used.
In a scene reminiscent of the original Die Hard, a nickel Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver with Pachmayr grips is taped to back of McClane. Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) steps in and grabs the revolver off McClane's back, using it to intimidate an assembled mob.
Smith and Wesson Model 36 (nickel) .38 Special as used by Bruce Willis in the film
Detective John McClane with the nickel S&W Model 36 taped to his back
Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) threatening a mob drawn by McClane's racist sign using the nickel Smith & Wesson Model 36 strapped to McClane's back
To watch this scene go here: https://youtu.be/RDnvXAkMnx8
As in Die Hard 2, NYPD Detective Lieutenant John McClane carries a Beretta 92FS as his sidearm, despite the fact that the Beretta is not an authorized firearm by the NYPD. The Beretta is first seen as it is given back to McClane once he is reinstated. He uses it several times throughout the movie, most notably pulling it when surrounded by Simon's men in an elevator and firing it while driving a Mercedes to kill a pair of pursuing terrorists in a pickup during the film's car chase on the L.I.E. (Long Island Expressway). Katya also uses a Beretta to fire at a helicopter overhead.
While Simon and his men are at the Federal Reserve, Simon Gruber (Jeremy Irons) can be seen armed with a Makarov PM. In an alternate ending, Simon pulls out and throws away his Makarov when confronted by McClane.
Makarov PM - 9x18mm Makarov
One of Simon's comrades tosses a Makarov PM over to him.
In the alternate ending, Simon takes out his Makarov.
Did you know this film had an alternative ending??? Watch it here: https://youtu.be/l-GqY-M5fE4
To see the signature catch phrase watch here: https://youtu.be/crPJvv2Y3hk
For a list of all the weapons used go to: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Die_Hard_with_a_Vengeance
Grab your friends, family or your pet and settle in for a weekend of Die Hard some time soon!
A Good Day To Die Hard
This is the fifth installment in the long-running Die Hard film franchise. Bruce Willis returns as John McClane, who travels to Moscow to look for his estranged son Jack, only to get caught up in another terrorist plot that the two must find a way to thwart. Directed by John Moore, the film was mostly shot in Budapest, Hungary and was released in the US on February 14th, 2013.In Moscow, Viktor Chagarin, a high-ranking but corrupt Russian official, plans on incriminating political prisoners and government whistleblowers like Yuri Komarov without a fair trial when Komarov refuses to hand over a secret file believed to have convicting evidence against Chagarin. In a separate incident, Jack McClane is arrested as a result of an assassination, but agrees to testify against Komarov for a shorter sentence.
John McClane, who has not been in touch with Jack in years, learns of his son's whereabouts and circumstances and decides to go to Russia to help him out. When John arrives and approaches the courthouse that happens to also currently hold Jack and Komarov on trial, an explosion orchestrated by Chagarin and his henchmen occurs in the courthouse, and Jack breaks free with Komarov. Seeing his son, John confronts him, but their dispute is cut short when the henchmen, led by Alik, chase them on the streets of Moscow, but John, Jack, and Komarov manage to escape.
Hiding in a safe house, John finds out that Jack has been a CIA Officer in an undercover operation for the past three years. Meanwhile Collins, Jack's partner, demands the file's location from Komarov, so that the CIA can bring Chagarin down, but Collins is soon eliminated by Chagarin's men and dies, as John, Jack, and Komarov survive subsequent heavy gunfire and escape once again. The trio then make their way to a hotel in the city to find the key to a vault containing the file. There, they meet Komarov's daughter, Irina, whom they head planned on joining, but John grows suspicious of Irina. His suspicions are proven correct when Alik and his men crash in and tie John and Jack up, while Komarov is taken as a hostage, and Irina confesses to snitching on them for the money she'll get. However, Jack manages to break free of his ties, and the father-son duo fights back, culminating in a gunfire exchange that results in John and Jack's escape.
That night, the two steal a car full of firearms and drive to Chernobyl,which is the location of the vault that houses the file, which was revealed earlier by Komarov at the safe house. When they arrive, they find that Komarov, Irina, and Alik have already gotten there, but what they don't know is that on their way there, it was revealed that there was never a file in existence, and that the vault actually contains billions of dollars worth of weapons-grade uranium. Alik is then shot in the head by the seemingly helpless Komarov, who later called Chagarin and told him that he and Irina had manipulated the entire sequence of events since the beginning in an attempt to obtain the uranium and get revenge on Chagarin for his past betrayal of Komarov. Chagarin was then killed by a subordinate of Komarov's.
At this point, John and Jack enter the vault, discover Komarov's true plot, and take him under arrest. Irina, with another henchman, comes to her father's aid, but before they can escape, Jack goes after Komarov, while John goes after Irina, who is escaping on a helicopter. Irina tries to protect her father by firing the helicopter's cannons at Jack, but John is able to bring the helicopter out of balance by driving a truck in the hangar section of the helicopter, still shackled by a rope, out of the open back door, muttering his catchphrase of "Yippee ki-ya." In rage, Jack hurls Komarov off the rooftop, and Komarov falls into the spinning helicopter's rotors and is killed. John jumps off the helicopter and reunites with Jack inside the building. Wanting to avenge her father, Irina rams the helicopter into the building, destroying the building and killing herself in the process, but John and Jack survive by leaping off the building into a large pool of water.
This film is the last of the films for this franchise as far as we know. It's got some great modern upgrades to a set of films that's had a healthy lifespan. Let's take a look at some of the weapons used in this movie.
Jack McClane (Jai Courtney) grabs a Makarov PM from a table in a kitchen and opens fire in a nightclub in the beginning of the film. (Just like the one from Die Hard With A Vengeance)
Jack McClane takes the Makarov.
Jack McClane (Jai Courtney) hands John McClane (Bruce Willis) a Remington 870 police entry shotgun with an M4-type stock, Surefire dedicated forend weaponlight and side saddle holder in the elevator to the ballroom.
Remington 870 Police "Entry Gun" with a Surefire dedicated forend weaponlight - 12 Gauge
Bruce Willis holds the Remington 870 shotgun on the left in a publicity still.
To see the ballroom shoot out scene watch here: https://youtu.be/j9GrYaCOu1M
For a full listing of the weapons used go to: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/A_Good_Day_to_Die_Hard
To see the top 10 moments in the Die Hard franchise go here: https://youtu.be/8YXi9JAgdf0
I can't get enough of the McClane's! Which movie is your favorite???
Labels: action, adventure, bruce willis, catchphrases, cinema, die hard, film franchise, films, guns, movies, shootouts, weapons, yippy ki ay
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| Shawn in the Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. |
For more info on these and other weapons
Technical specs compiled from:
http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/Active_FM.html
http://world.guns.ru/index-e.html
https://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.militaryfactory.com/
http://www.olive-drab.com/
http://www.army.mil/
http://dok-ing.hr/products/demining/mv_4?productPage=general
http://www.peosoldier.army.mil/
posted by Unknown @ 4:14 PM
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