Summary
- Die Hard quotes showcase thrilling aspects, humor, and iconic characters in the classic action movie.
- Memorable dialogue in Die Hard sets up the heroic everyman McClane and the dastardly Gruber as compelling characters.
- Die Hard’s amazing dialogue, beyond its action sequences, solidifies its place as a top action movie with iconic one-liners.
Though one of the greatest action movies of all time, the best Die Hard quotes also highlight its superb screenplay. The classic follows Bruce Willis’ John McClane, a New York cop who attempts to reconnect with his estranged wife at a Los Angeles corporate Christmas party only for it to be taken over by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his band of thugs. The story sets up a thrilling action story, but viewers likely didn’t expect such memorable Die Hard quotes.
The most memorable quotes in Die Hard exemplify the movie’s thrilling aspects, its humor, and its iconic characters. From the heroic everyman McClane to the dastardly yet dashing Gruber to the many colorful side characters, they all pop with great lines. Some of the dialogue has gone down as classic action movie one-liners while others are reminders of how many great Die Hard quotes remain overlooked. Far more than just action sequences, the movie that kicked off Bruce Willis’ greatest franchise should also be honored for its amazing dialogue.
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25 “Fists With Your Toes?”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
That bit of advice sets McClane up to be even more vulnerable
The first moments of Die Hard set John McClane up as a more relatable action hero than the action heroes in the 1980s played by actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. McClane is shown to be a nervous flyer, and that is something noticed by the man sitting next to him on the plane. The man offers some advice to ease the tension after a flight by removing his shoes and socks and making fists with his toes.
While that piece of advice might work for some, giving them something else to focus on instead of their fear of flying, king of like a stress ball giving a person a place to focus their anxiety, it ends up causing McClane more difficulties later. That bit of advice sets McClane up to be even more vulnerable as he then faces the action of the rest of the movie in bare feet.
24 “Who Said We Were Terrorists?”
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)
Modern movie audiences know Adam Rickman as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, but before he started mixing potions and playing a double agent in the Wizarding World, he had a variety of roles under the belt of his wizard’s robes. One of his most memorable is as the villain in Die Hard. Alan Rickman adds so much to the movie with his performance as Hans Gruber, including his deceptive plan.
When Gruber is introduced, he seems to be a stoic and gravely serious threat. However, behind closed doors, as he interrogates Mr. Takagi, he is shown to be more playful, albeit still dangerous. When Takagi learns that Gruber and his men are really after the money, he questions what kind of terrorists they are. Gruber laughs at the notion of them being terrorists and immediately, Gruber and his dastardly plan become a lot more interesting.
23 “I Want Blood.”
Karl (Alexander Godunov)
While Hans Gruber is the more memorable and intelligent villain in the movie, he is far from the only villain in Die Hard. After all, McClane spends most of the movie’s runtime battling the people working for Gruber. Karl is a perfect action movie henchman as he presents a more physical threat to McClane than Gruber.
While Gruber only really cares about taking out McClane so that his plan is not jeopardized, once McClane kills Karl’s brother, the giant killer is solely on a path of revenge. The moment when Hans has to subdue Karl as he yells for blood is pretty terrifying. It shows the audience that this man no longer cares about the money that he has spent so much time working toward. He has decided he will bring down the entire building in order to kill McClane.
22 “If You Are What I Think You Are, Then You’ll Know When To Shut Up, When To Listen… And When To Pray.”
Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson)
Without Powell, McClane would be even more in the dark.
Though they only speak over walkie-talkies for the duration of the movie, Al Powell is a huge support to McClane during his one-man mission to save the day and a true fan-favorite of the Die Hard franchise. While the rest of the police on the ground are skeptical about McClane or simply want him out of the way, Powell sees him as a hero. Even with all the doubt around McClane, Powell is willing to trust his gut and sees McClane as their best hope of resolving this situation the right way.
Throughout the movie, Powell and McClane are the only ones able to give one another insider information. Powell can keep McClane informed about what the police force is doing on the outside, while McClane can offer information on what the criminals are up to on the inside. Without Powell, McClane would be even more in the dark.
21 “Why The F*** Didn’t You Stop ‘Em, John? ‘Cause Then You’d Be Dead, Too, A**hole.”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
Part of the reason why it is a good thing that there was never a Die Hard prequel was that McClane’s heroics at Nakatomi Plaza feel like the first time he has ever been in a situation like that. Though he thinks quickly on his feet and he seems to work out what is happening easily, he makes mistakes and isn’t completely prepared for what he’s facing.
That is another way the movie helps to cement McClane as a different kind of action hero than those who came before him, one who is not always the toughest guy in the room and can get scared at times. After watching helplessly as Gruber executes Takagi, McClane has a moment where he doubts himself and his failure to act before reassuring himself that he doesn’t want to be dead as well.
20 “Twas The Night Before Christmas, And All Through The House, Not A Creature Was Stirring, Except… The Four A******* Coming In The Rear In Standard Two-By-Two Cover Formation.”
Theo (Clarence Gilyard Jr.)
Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Or simply an action movie that happens to take place during the holidays? Though fans can debate if Die Hard should truly be considered a Christmas movie, there is no denying the holiday setting gives the movie a special flare of fun. It is fun to see the tropes typically seen in Christmas holiday movies repurposed for an action story.
When the police SWAT team attempts to storm the building, one of the villains, Theo, watches their movements on the security cameras and lets his teammates know what they’re up to in the form of a cheesy Christmas story. Specifically, he riffs on the classic children’s tale “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas,” which has been parodied and homaged in music and movies many times before and after this instance.
19 “Nice Suit. John Philips, London. I Have Two Myself.”
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)
Just as John McClane was a different kind of hero for the action genre at the time, so too was Hans Gruber a fun new kind of villain who was later copied endlessly. Alan Rickman brings a brilliant sense of sophistication to the role that is in perfect contrast to McClane. If McClane is someone who will pull the cleanest t-shirt from the top of his dirty laundry pile, Gruber is someone who will make sure his outfit is perfectly tailored, matching, and pressed.
After making his intimidating entrance at the party, Gruber takes Mr. Takagi in the elevator where his intense demeanor suddenly changes, and he compliments the man’s suit. It is the first hint that Gruber is not a mindless thug but rather someone who knows just what he wants and how to get it.
18 “Thanks For The Advice.”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
…out of context, it doesn’t seem like anything special.
There are quite a few obvious iconic action movie one-liners in Die Hard that remain unforgettable. But as evidence of the movie’s quality, there are also some brilliant one-liners that often get overlooked by action movie fans. After McClane hesitates to shoot one of the villains, the bad guy overpowers him and is ready to take John out. As a way of taunting his target, the villain suggests he should never hesitate to pull the trigger. McClane then guns the man down and offers his gratitude for the helpful advice.
Of course, when this Die Hard quote is seen out of context, it doesn’t seem like anything special. It’s only once fans of the movie have the context of the scene in which it occurs that it truly leaves an impression on the audience.
17 “I Read About Them In Time Magazine.”
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)
Even with all the exciting action, Die Hard knows to maintain a fun sense of humor as well, even with its villain characters. Though Hans and the others pretend to be hardened terrorists with a list of demands, they are really only interested in getting the money in their hands. Hans has little respect for the police outside, sending in his fake list of demands just to toy with them.
When he mentions getting the members of a group called Asian Dawn released from prison, his henchman Karl questions him, and Hans admits he simply took the idea from a news article. It’s a great way to show the audience that he can find a way to distract the police from the most innocuous of places. It’s also a way to demonstrate that he keeps up with current events, since not everyone reads Time Magazine.
16 “Now I Know What A TV Dinner Feels Like.”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
In a lot of crime dramas, more specifically heist movies, running around in air ducts is made to look incredibly easy. Characters just slip right through them. This is typically accomplished, at least in modern cinema, by building fake vent systems to accommodate both the actor and the camera operator on a sound stage. No one is really going to be effortlessly gliding their way through a ventilation system. Die Hard understands that.
One of the most iconic images in Die Hard is John McClane cramped inside an air vent and cracking jokes to himself about his claustrophobic situation. It was yet another way McClane helped to usher in a new form of action hero. Instead of being the kind of hero who is effortlessly cool as he saves the day, McClane continually found his situation getting worse and worse. Not worrying about making the hero look dignified at all times was a surprisingly effective strategy.
15 “Does It Sound Like I’m Ordering A Pizza?”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
Something the Die Hard sequels forgot about John McClane is that he is vulnerable, and he doesn’t want to be the lone hero. He wants to have help however he can get it, which leads to him calling 911 in the first place to inform them of the building’s takeover. When McClane finally does reach the police department, he is warned away from using that line as it is reserved for emergencies, which leads to one of McClane’s most sarcastic, expletive-laden responses in the film as he begins to reach his boiling point.
It’s actually a stark contrast to who he is just a few movies later as he becomes someone who doesn’t want to work with a team. The audience can understand him not wanting to put others in danger, and can even explain away his behavior with the idea of him getting used to being in stressful situations, but it doesn’t really line up with who he is in the first movie.
14 “Only John Can Drive Somebody That Crazy.”
Holly Gennaro McClane (Bonnie Bedelia)
McLane is only in Los Angeles at the Nakatomi Plaza’s Christmas party hoping to reconnect with his wife, Holly, who had moved to the city with their children for work. Her move had only furthered the divide between husband and wife. He wants to find a way to close that gap and bring their family back together.
After Gruber takes control of the party and Holly begins to see the stress develop in her captors, she realizes that it is McClane who is causing them problems, as she was all too used to those same feelings and knew that John was about to make their lives a living nightmare. Of course, in this instance, she’s grateful for the stress he’s causing, since the headache is aimed at someone else while he is also saving the day.
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13 “From Up Here It Doesn’t Look Like You’re In Charge Of Jack S***.”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
When John McClane finally receives assistance from the police on the ground thanks to Sgt. Powell, the arrival of Deputy Chief Dwayne T. Robinson leads him to attempt to take control of the situation. He begins to bark orders at McClane through the common radio. That doesn’t sit well with McClane, who has already been in the thick of it while the police are comfortably outside and out of any danger.
McClane quickly puts him in his place and lets him know that he is still on the ground and removed from the situation while the real guy in charge was on top of things and taking down the thieves from the inside. McClane’s amusement and frustration is understandable, since he’s being told what to do by someone who doesn’t even know what he’s up against.
12 “I Am An Exceptional Thief, Mrs. McClane. And Since I’m Moving Up To Kidnapping, You Should Be More Polite.”
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)
The back and forth between John McClane and Hans Gruber makes for some exciting confrontations between the two powerful men as they struggle for control of the tense situation. There were, however, quite a few captivating conversations between Gruber and Holly Gennaro as well since Holly was one of the hostages who didn’t have much patience for the difficulties she was being put through.
When Holly calls Gruber out for being “nothing but a common thief,” Gruber’s demeanor immediately changes, and he takes offense for the first time that evening, though he quickly sets the record straight to defend his honor as a world-class thief. Rickman’s delivery of the line makes it funny and menacing, but the exchange is also a great indicator to the audience of what arguments in the McClane house might have been like.
11 “Just A Fly In The Ointment, Hans. The Monkey In The Wrench. The Pain In The Ass.”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
Never has John McClane described himself as well as he did during his discussion with Hans over the radio, which he uses to not only learn about Gruber’s plans at Nakatomi Plaza but to also get under the skin of his opponent. However, there are quite a few people who would agree with McLane’s description from across the Die Hard movies, beginning with his superiors on the police force to his various allies across the films, not to mention the various bad guys he’s tangled with over the years.
His estranged wife, especially, would understand the pain of the villains McClane went up against. After all, she was all set to divorce him when he swooped in to save the day just in time for Christmas. She just couldn’t seem to escape McClane’s knack for being a “monkey in the wrench.”
10 “He Won’t Be Joining Us For The Rest Of His Life.”
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)
Bruce Willis’ John McClane might be the face of the franchise, but it could be argued that the first film truly belongs to Alan Rickman’s villainous Hans Gruber. He is perfectly cast in the role and has some great deliveries of lines that other people might have made cartoony or cheesy in his place.
Rickman helped create a new take on the classic villain as a smooth, charming, yet ruthless foe who is just as compelling as the hero of the film. After executing Mr. Takagi, head office boss, Gruber explains in a deadpan matter-of-fact way how he tried to reason with the man. He says, “Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way… so he won’t be joining us for the rest of his life.” It’s certainly an ominous announcement from Gruber.
9 “No Relation.”
Little Johnson (Grand L. Bush)
Gruber and his goons are the true villains of the movie, but there are plenty of immoral side characters who cause McClane a lot of problems. Some of them are surprising additions to McClane’s long list of problems. As the hostage situation escalates, the FBI is called in and the cold and unheroic agents Johnson and Johnson arrive.
The agents, one an older white man and the other a younger Black man, provide for some unusual and unexpected comic relief. Right away, there is a sense of their oddness as the younger Johnson introduces them, “I’m Agent Johnson, this is Special Agent Johnson. No relation.” While it’s entirely possible for two men of different ethnic groups to be related, Johnson is a common enough last name in the English-speaking world that no would necessarily assume familial attachment anyway, making it an unnecessary addition, but a funny one.
8 “Hans, Bubby, I’m Your White Knight.”
Ellis (Hart Bochner)
Ellis gets the brilliant idea that he will negotiate with Hans for their release.
Ellis is the typical slimy dirtbag from 1980s action movies who is obviously doomed. He’s the character the audience is supposed to root for. This particular type of character is the one most likely to betray everyone they know, most likely to be so arrogant they never see the danger coming, and the one the audience isn’t really going to miss when something inevitably happens to them.
Ellis is one of Holly’s more obnoxious co-workers and is constantly trying to pick her up, despite the fact that she is married to John. After doing a bit of cocaine, Ellis gets the brilliant idea that he will negotiate with Hans for their release. The scene is darkly funny as Ellis continues to act obnoxiously, oblivious to the fact that Hans is going to shoot him at any moment.
7 “Come Out To The Coast, We’ll Get Together, Have A Few Laughs…”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
He gets hurt, he gets beat up, and most of all, he is exhausted
Part of what makes John McClane such a great hero is seeing how much he is struggling. He is not the usual tough guy seen in these action movies who walks into a gun fight without even flinching. He gets hurt, he gets beat up, and most of all, he is exhausted as the day goes on. The last thing he wants to be doing is having to save the day.
One scene that best sells this trait of his is the iconic air vent scene. After finding himself crawling through a tiny vent system to escape the bad guys, McClane takes some time to complain to himself. It’s a great human moment from the hero. Clint Eastwood turned down Die Hard and it’s a good thing as it is hard to see him playing such an honestly vulnerable hero.
6 “And Alexander Wept, Seeing As He Had No More Worlds To Conquer.”
John McClane (Bruce Willis)
Though he is a murderous thief, it’s hard not to want to watch a whole movie about Hans Gruber. As soon as he arrives, he is a captivating presence, and the audience clings to every word he says. As he has his private meeting with Mr. Takagi, Gruber looks over the models of the various building projects for the company. He says “And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.” It is another example of Gruber as a more sophisticated villain than is usually seen in action movies.
His line is in reference to the ancient ruler Alexander the Great, but it’s also not referenced correctly. Earlier discussions, like in Plutarch’s Moralia, actually depict Alexander the Great as weeping because there is a theory of infinite worlds, and he has yet to fully conquer one. Of Course, Moralia is also fictional accounts by Plutarch meant to teach readers lessons in morality, so it’s possible that Die Hard flips the idea to demonstrate how confident Gruber is in his plan.