Great Scene: “Die Hard”

Hard to believe, but it was 20 years ago that the action movie Die Hard was released. It grossed $138M worldwide — not bad for a movie with a production budget of just $28M. People forget, but Bruce Willis was not a huge movie star when Die Hard came out. Fresh off his success in the TV series “Moonlighting,” Willis had had only one starring movie role in the underwhelming Blind Date (1987). So it was a huge gamble for 20th Century Fox to go after Willis, especially for an action movie, when he had made a name for himself as a light romantic-comedy lead. But to his credit, producer Larry Gordon finagled a $5M offer to Willis, he bit, and the rest is history.

The scene here is taken from the shooting script — note the scene numbers — but still retains some great action-writing. Note the use of intercuts between various characters and sub-locations within the primary setting — those quick bits of business help to sustain the action. Also, the writers use CAPS on key words to highlight not only sound but also movement — that is one way to ‘direct’ a script without using directing lingo (e.g., ZOOM IN, TILT UP, PAN ACROSS) as the capped words naturally draw the reader’s attention. Caps can be overdone, but used judiciously, they can help break up scene description and punch certain key actions for readers.

348 THE ROOF 348McClane herds the last of the hostages inside, starts for the
door himself, when with a ROAR and a CHATTER of rotors, the
lead chopper zooms overhead! McClane throws himself down on the
ground, looks up as the chopper banks in a tight turn and then
from the open side GUNFIRE erupts! Shocked, McClane DIVES out
of the way of the bullets that stitch across the door.349 HOSTAGES - ON LOWER FLOORS (OR IN STAIRWELL) 349descending, SCREAMING and HOWLING as a chopper SWEEPS past a
window on a loop back towards the roof.350 IN THE CHOPPER 350Both Johnsons FIRE AWAYBIG JOHNSON
Bank and we'll nail him!351 THE VAULT ROOM 351Hans whirls towards Kristoff.HANS
Blow the roof. Now!KRISTOFF
But Karl and Uli are up there --CAMERA ADJUSTS to show the remote detonator on a table. Hans
goes to it.352 THE ROOF 352McClane DIVES away from another burst.MCCLANE
You assholes, I'm on your side -- !They come in on another pass. Desperate, he looks around, see
a fire hose. Makes up his mind. With the chopper LOOMING UP
behind him, he slings Uli's weapon, runs to the fire hose,
unreels three yards, loops it around his back and under his legs.
He looks over the edge, hesitates:MCCLANE
Fuck this...Bullets HIT all around him. He JUMPS:353 THE VAULT ROOM 353Hans extends the antenna...HITS the button.354 LONG SHOT - THE ROOF 354The helipad EXPLODES! A FIREBALL rolls into the sky.355 THE HOSTAGES 355lose their footing on the floor. Dust and debris fall down,
but they're okay.356 JOHNSON AND JOHNSON'S CHOPPER 356STRAINS to avoid the rising fireball...can't! It's CAUGHT in
the explosion! It tips over, a rotor hits the roof -- it
CRASHES, EXPLODES, tumbles down the side of the building!357 MCCLANE 357Dangling against the side of the building, he DUCKS and winces
as FLAMING DEBRIS soar past him.358 THE ROOF - HOSE WHEEL DEVICE 358Flame ROARS TOWARDS it, engulfs it. It JERKS on its foundation
PIVOTS 180 degrees as several bolts slip:359 MCCLANE 359DROPS several more feet. He swallows, then KICKS against the
side of the building, his bloody feet leaving smears. The
shatterproof glass doesn't budge! Wincing as more FLAMING DEBRIS
sizzles by, McClane levels the machine gun, KICKS off from the
building, SWINGS back ten feet -- reaches the zenith of his
arc -- FIRES the gun and sails back in:360 INSIDE THE BUILDING 360McClane SMASHES through the shattered glass, SAILS inside, rolls
onto the floor, PLOWING through furniture and decor. Finally
he STOPS, catches his breath with relief...rises to one knee:361 UP ON THE ROOF 361The fire hose mounting is BLASTED off the roof, SAILS past the
CAMERA:362 OUTSIDE THE BUILDING 362The hose mechanism tumbles downward!363 INSIDE 363McClane is YANKED off his feet, dragged towards the window!364 THE HOSE WHEEL - OUTSIDE 364It SLIDES down the side of the building! The hose PLAYS OUT
on the edge of the windowsill, dragging McClane towards his death!365 MCCLANE 365CLAWS at the floor...no help. Inches from the shattered window,
he braces his legs against the sill, groans as he fights the
weight of the hose and the reel. One foot SLIPS. Only his
already wounded foot keeps him indoors.He scrambles to untie his improvised rappeling rig -- gets free
just before the hose nozzle CRASHES out and into the great beyond!Winded, strength ebbing, he staggers to his feet -- just in time
for:366 THE ROOF 366to RECOIL from another staggering explosion!367 THE HOSTAGES 367They scream, cry out:368 IN THE VAULT ROOM 368As Holly covers her head from falling plaster, the men work
like automatons, piling up the bonds.369 MCCLANE 369recovers from another AFTERSHOCK, runs up the steps -- is
momentarily amazed to HEAR a "ding" from the elevator -- he looks
at:370 THE SHAFT 370where suddenly the WALL EXPLODES OUTWARD as an ENTIRE ELEVATOR
CRASHES THROUGH THE WALL, swinging on its cable like a
demolition ball on a crane!371 BACK TO SCENE 371McClane runs up the steps as brickwork flies past his head like
schrapnel:372 THE ELEVATOR 372reaches the apex of its swing, drops down in an arcing turn:373 WIDE SHOT 373the elevator CRASHES into the stairs! The section McClane in
on SNAPS LOOSE! At the last minute McClane LEAPS towards:374 THE VAULT FLOOR BALCONY 374and catches it as stairs and elevator CRUMBLE behind and beneath
him! With his last effort, he hauls himself onto the balcony
and them moves off!CUT TO:

A paradigmatic action movie sequence.