Written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E de Souza
Based on the novel Nothing Last Forever by Roderick Thorpe
Directed by John McTiernan
Running time: 128 minutes
Year: 1988
Die Hard
Yippee ki-yay, motherfucker!
Yeah, that’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Die Hard. Well, either that, or a man jumping off an exploding skyscraper roof with a firehouse tied around his waist. Maybe it just depends on my mood. Released back in 1988, this film kicked arse at the box office, spawned three four sequels, and as a result, has been ripped off more times than the white man at a Cherokee Nation casino:
- Speed (1994) — Die Hard on a bus.
- Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) — Die Hard on a boat.
- Under Siege (1992) — Die Hard on a boat.
- Executive Decision (1996) — Die Hard on a plane.
- Con Air (1997) — Die Hard on a plane.
- Air Force One (1997) — Die Hard on Air Force One.
- Toy Soldiers (1991) — Die Hard in a boarding school.
- Cliffhanger (1993)– Die Hard on a mountain.
- Night at the Museum (2006)– Die Hard in a museum.
- Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) — Die Hard in a mall.
Die Hard
Our general rule is look at the structure of Die Hard, and if you’re not doing that, you’re probably wrong. 1
~Thomas Lennon
- Find the Die Hard script at IMSDb.
- Download ScreenplayHowTo’s Die Hard screenplay analysis (PDF).
Click here to go back to our Die Hard script analysis page for an extensive write-up on both the film and script.
Visit our Screenplay Analysis section for breakdowns on some of my favorites. If you have any questions, shoot me an email — rr at screenplayhowto dot com.
