Great Character: Hans Gruber (“Die Hard”)

In December, guest columnist Jason Cuthbert looks at Christmas Grinch characters. Today: Hans Gruber from the 1988 movies Die Hard, screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, novel by Roderick Thorp.

Alan Rickman is a reputable and recognizable British actor that many movie audiences remember from his appearances as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter cinematic series, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd and Sheriff George of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But before all of these pop culture performances, Rickman rose up to the top floor of elite action movie villains with his 1988 portrayal as Hans Gruber in Die Hard directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza based on the novel “Nothing Lasts Forever” by Roderick Thorp.

Die Hard from IMDB:

John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save wife Holly Gennaro and several others, taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

Hans Gruber may be cool, calm and not alarmed, but his sinister administration of murder is as calculated as a math problem. Stealing $640 million from the Nakatomi Plaza tower with a gang of 12 gun-slinging disciples and an ambulance is ironically justified by Gruber’s anti-greed agenda, which is a total lie to distract the authorities during his heist. The very fact that he has onlookers and participants believing he is fulfilling a mission for the “greater good” adds a complicated sense of purpose to his heinous criminal actions. But it also establishes the three-steps-ahead level of intelligence that surges through Hans Gruber’s personality and strategic efforts.

HANS GRUBER: “You know my name but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he’s John Wayne? Rambo? Marshal Dillon?”

As the ruthless antagonist of John McClane (Bruce Willis), the first and arguably the most memorable villain that the Die Hard series had to offer, Gruber was a supreme thief pretending to be a freedom-fighting terrorist who turned Christmas Eve in Los Angeles into an unholy hell for his hostages.

HANS GRUBER: “I am an exceptional thief Mrs. McClane and since I’m moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite.

Killing hostages, including the CEO of the Nakatomi Plaza, is all in a day’s work in the foul fabric of the psychotic Gruber lifestyle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWjfC9Ywiv8

By having Hans Gruber skate across the line of a smooth classy gent and a disruptive sociopath provides plenty of unpredictable moments where Gruber can catch audience members off guard, as well as satisfy their expectations of his horrible behavior.

HANS GRUBER: “It’s Christmas, Theo. It’s the time of miracles. So be of good cheer… and call me when you hit the last lock.”

Gruber is direct, often quite hilarious and crudely savage with his moral corruption. He instills fear with no over-the-top villainy and his Heckler and Koch MP5 automatic pistol.

HANS GRUBER: “I’m going to count to three, there will not be a four. Give me the code.”

When you have a villain as smart as the protagonist counterpart, or even more so, the action gets a chance to escalate and delineate the creativity that Hans Gruber exudes while under pressure. When Gruber pretends to be just another hostage instead of the head culprit, we get our opportunity to get Gruber and McClane matching wits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSdpRP_bVOM

For his cold leadership prowess, his functioning fondness for formal fashion and formal education and his strong pre-game planning for his plots — Hans Gruber is a GREAT CHARACTER in the world of Christmas Scooges.

Every year during Christmas week, my family watches a different movie that has something to do with the season. This year we watched Die Hard. A great reminder why it has been such an inspiration for other action movies (i.e., Die Hard in a plane, Die Hard in a submarine). Part of the reason the formula woks so well is Hans Gruber who through the critical choice of not making him simply a terrorist, but a thief posing as one immediately became a richer, more nuanced Nemesis.

What do you think about the movie? See you in comments to carry on the conversation.

And how about a special holiday shout-out to Jason who has tirelessly composed Great Character posts each week all year long! Thanks a ton, Jason! You may follow him on Twitter: @A2Jason.


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