"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs." That line, one of many quotable moments from Die Hard, was an on the spot insertion during filming by actor Bruce Willis and director John McTiernan. That's just one of numerous ad lib or almost accidental elements added to the film which make it such a memorable modern classic. When Die Hard premiered in July 1988 John McClane didn't just become a fly in Hans Gruber's ointment, he heralded in a new era of action movies, inspired countless knock-off action movies best described as "Die Hard in a" or "Die Hard on a" copycats, and created a franchise that spanned five decades (if you include the 2020 DieHard battery commercial). Even thirty-five years later it continues to inspire heated annual debates regarding the film's status as a Christmas movie. This guide, lovingly researched by a die-hard (pun completely intended) fan of the 1988 action-adventure blockbuster collects trivia, behind-the-scenes stories of the movie, the script, the actors, and the books and other written material that Die Hard and several of the follow-on films in the franchise were based on or inspired by. If you're a fan of Die Hard, then you're going to love Yippee Ki-Yay, Motherf*cker! Welcome to the party, pal!
Author
Mark is a writer, editor and bookseller who was born and grew up in Sudbury, spent many years in Ottawa and Hamilton and currently lives in Waterloo, Ontario. When he is not writing, he tacks "Lefebvre" back onto his name and works as a book industry consultant, having been a bookseller since the 1992, the same year his first short story was published. Apart from publishing novels and non-fiction paranormal explorations under the name Mark Leslie, having works occasionally appearing on his mother's refrigerator door under the name Mark Lefebvre, and podcasting and consulting about the book industry under the name Mark Leslie Lefebvre for his Stark Publishing/Stark Reflections brand, Mark is a lover of craft beer. When he's not enjoying craft beer or playing around with his three given names, he can usually be found wandering, awestruck through bookstores or libraries.
