I started reading this screenplay with only minimal intent to finish it. "I kind of already remember the movie, and I'm not sure if I really want to read this," was my line of thinking. Luckily, within a few pages, it had me.
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Introduce John McClane and his wife. Some chemistry still between them, but clearly some distance.
18: The bad guys break into the building and kill a guard.
Bad guys round up the hostages, set-up shop. John sneaks away, starts exploring other floors of the building. We find out that the terrorists are after money; they kill an executive who doesn't help them.
30: John pulls a fire alarm, trying to bring help. The bad guys now know that they have an unaccounted-for intruder.
Bad guys send one guy to investigate. John takes him out in a short but sweet action sequence. John takes his radio.
McClane goes to the roof, uses the radio to call for police help. Police reluctantly send one unit to investigate. Bad guys hear John over the radio, send men up to the roof to take him out. John escapes the bad guys.
Police officer pokes around downstairs. Everything seems normal. John tries to break a window with a chair to signal to the cop, but a bad guy finds him. Action ensues, cop starts to leave, John throws the bad guy's body out the window. John has also acquired the EXPLOSIVE DETONATORS from one of the dead bad guys.
Cop calls in reinforcements. John engages in some banter with Hans (lead bad guy) and then tells the cops over the radio what the situation is.
63: A hot-shot deputy chief assumes command, ignores John's advice, gets ready to send in the SWAT TEAM. To certain doom.
64-72: SWAT team goes in. Get injured, try to escape, but are pinned. John rescues them by sending some explosives down the elevator shaft. BOOM.
74-78: Ellis, a sleazy co-worker of John's wife, tries to negotiate with the bad guys. Pretends to know John like an old friend. He's killed when John doesn't cough up the detonators.
Bad guys tell the cops some bogus demands. John is incredulous. FBI take command of the situation. Hans goes up to check on explosives, John catches him, but Hans pretends to be a hostage. Action sequence ensues where Hans escapes and John loses the detonators.
91: The bad guys recover the explosive detonators.
FBI cuts power to the building. This opens up the money vault for the bad guys. FBI says they're sending in transport helicopters (one of the demands), but they're really sending in gun ships. Hans reveals that he plans to blow the roof, killing all the hostages, but allowing for the bad guys' escape.
McClane realizes Hans must've been checking something when he was upstairs. McClane goes to investigate, finds the explosive, starts to radio it in, but is ATTACKED by another goon. He kills the goon and rescues the hostages, but Hans kidnaps John's wife (thanks to information from a TV report).
114: John goes to rescue his wife. Tapes a gun to his back. Kills the bad guys.
Some last minute action, but mostly denouement as John and his wife make-up. All the bad guys are vanquished.
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The witty banter between John and Argyle (his limo driver) is what hooked me around page seven. Further, the main plotline exudes intelligence for an action movie. For example, the bad guys are smart, John informs the police of the situation (but they still act stupidly), etc.
Also, the few side elements (John's relationship with his wife, John talking to a cop over the radio, seeing the bad guys and their plan) were all woven well into the main story.
As in some other stories, we have a hero here who has a unique set of skills and tackles the main problem of the story with those skills. The hero takes very logical steps to solve the problem, which become the main sequences of the story: pulling a fire alarm, calling for police over a radio, convincing the police that there's a problem, saving the police, etc.
Any other thoughts on Die Hard?
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Introduce John McClane and his wife. Some chemistry still between them, but clearly some distance.
18: The bad guys break into the building and kill a guard.
Bad guys round up the hostages, set-up shop. John sneaks away, starts exploring other floors of the building. We find out that the terrorists are after money; they kill an executive who doesn't help them.
30: John pulls a fire alarm, trying to bring help. The bad guys now know that they have an unaccounted-for intruder.
Bad guys send one guy to investigate. John takes him out in a short but sweet action sequence. John takes his radio.
McClane goes to the roof, uses the radio to call for police help. Police reluctantly send one unit to investigate. Bad guys hear John over the radio, send men up to the roof to take him out. John escapes the bad guys.
Police officer pokes around downstairs. Everything seems normal. John tries to break a window with a chair to signal to the cop, but a bad guy finds him. Action ensues, cop starts to leave, John throws the bad guy's body out the window. John has also acquired the EXPLOSIVE DETONATORS from one of the dead bad guys.
Cop calls in reinforcements. John engages in some banter with Hans (lead bad guy) and then tells the cops over the radio what the situation is.
63: A hot-shot deputy chief assumes command, ignores John's advice, gets ready to send in the SWAT TEAM. To certain doom.
64-72: SWAT team goes in. Get injured, try to escape, but are pinned. John rescues them by sending some explosives down the elevator shaft. BOOM.
74-78: Ellis, a sleazy co-worker of John's wife, tries to negotiate with the bad guys. Pretends to know John like an old friend. He's killed when John doesn't cough up the detonators.
Bad guys tell the cops some bogus demands. John is incredulous. FBI take command of the situation. Hans goes up to check on explosives, John catches him, but Hans pretends to be a hostage. Action sequence ensues where Hans escapes and John loses the detonators.
91: The bad guys recover the explosive detonators.
FBI cuts power to the building. This opens up the money vault for the bad guys. FBI says they're sending in transport helicopters (one of the demands), but they're really sending in gun ships. Hans reveals that he plans to blow the roof, killing all the hostages, but allowing for the bad guys' escape.
McClane realizes Hans must've been checking something when he was upstairs. McClane goes to investigate, finds the explosive, starts to radio it in, but is ATTACKED by another goon. He kills the goon and rescues the hostages, but Hans kidnaps John's wife (thanks to information from a TV report).
114: John goes to rescue his wife. Tapes a gun to his back. Kills the bad guys.
Some last minute action, but mostly denouement as John and his wife make-up. All the bad guys are vanquished.
************************
The witty banter between John and Argyle (his limo driver) is what hooked me around page seven. Further, the main plotline exudes intelligence for an action movie. For example, the bad guys are smart, John informs the police of the situation (but they still act stupidly), etc.
Also, the few side elements (John's relationship with his wife, John talking to a cop over the radio, seeing the bad guys and their plan) were all woven well into the main story.
As in some other stories, we have a hero here who has a unique set of skills and tackles the main problem of the story with those skills. The hero takes very logical steps to solve the problem, which become the main sequences of the story: pulling a fire alarm, calling for police over a radio, convincing the police that there's a problem, saving the police, etc.
Any other thoughts on Die Hard?
