Great Character: John McClane (“Die Hard”)

This month’s Great Character theme: Cops. Today: Jason Cuthbert’s guest post features John McClane from the 1988 classic action movie Die Hard, screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, novel by Roderick Thorp.

Bruce Willis was predominantly known for the television series Moonlighting until 1988 rolled around and he became one of the most memorable cop characters of the 1980s — Officer John McClane in Die Hard. Hot off of the success of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Predator, director John McTiernan was at the helm of this explosive story of a New York City cop outside of his East Coast element in Los Angeles, trying to prevent his wife and her hostage co-workers from becoming extinct on Christmas Eve at the hands of terrorists robbing their corporate tower. Screenwriter’s Steven E. de Souza (48 Hrs, Commando) and Jeb Stuart (Leviathan, The Fugitive) crafted this clever script from the novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. Not only would Die Hard join the ranks of the best action films ever, along with genre titans like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Aliens, it also spawned four more sequels, including the most recent — A Good Day to Die Hard being released ironically on Valentines Day of 2013.

Die Hard plot summary 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.

Making John McClane a fish out of water that is having difficulty swimming on the West Coast is brilliantly accomplished scene after scene. We quickly learn that this witty wisecracking protagonist was not too excited about his wife moving their family out to California from New York City — so much so that McClane didn’t bother to follow them. His Christmas holiday reunion with his estranged namesakes is the emotional epicenter of his quest to stop the hostage situation that his wife and himself find themselves in. McClane has no other local friends to assist him, he doesn’t know his way around L.A. and he is unfortunately barefoot throughout this bullets and broken glass ordeal.

JOHN MCCLANE: [stealing Tony’s shoes] Nine million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister.

Officer John McClane’s hardheaded sense of pride that originally put this distance between himself and his wife to begin with also keeps pushing him deeper into this overwhelming predicament. He is clearly outnumbered, and also facing an incredibly intelligent adversary in Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). But this regret-ridden renegade refuses to have his rebound moment with his wife interrupted by some murderous plot to swipe over half a billion dollars.

HANS GRUBER: Who are you then?
JOHN MCCLANE: Just a fly in the ointment, Hans. The monkey in the wrench. The pain in the ass.
HANS GRUBER: Uh, no, I’m afraid not. But, you have me at a loss. 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?
JOHN MCCLANE: Was always kinda partial to Roy Rogers actually. I really like those sequined shirts.

Like any self-respecting action movie hero, McClane wisely has his own catchy slogan that has followed him throughout the series and crossed directly over the frontlines of pop culture.

HANS GRUBER: Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mr. Cowboy?
JOHN MCCLANE: Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.

The odds are certainly stacked against John McClane’s survival, making for excellent suspense and audience sympathy. Not only has he just endured a cross country flight while not being the biggest fan of flying, he is now faced with even more high flying heights on the roof of this tower. He may be reckless, but this urban cowboy has the confidence, even if it is bordering on foolish grandeur, to make many life-saving decisions at the spur of the moment. His wildness gets the job done with wise choices like: giving Hans a gun with no bullets to prove his intentions to McClane and dumping a corpse outside to alert the police that there is trouble inside. For his hilarious rebuttals, bright ideas at a moment’s notice and relentless selflessness to save his wife and rebuild his family — John McClane is a remarkably GREAT CHARACTER.

Great movie. Great character. Unfortunately no video clips online… except for this:

What do you think it is about John McClane that makes him such a great character?

Thanks to Jason (@A2Jason) for another great analysis.

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