Die Hard: With a Vengeance
Think fast. Look alive. Die hard.
Country
Budget
$90 000 000
Box office
$361 212 499
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Jackson DeGovia, Peter Rogness
Audition
Editing
Short description
New York detective John McClane is back and kicking bad-guy butt in the third installment of this action-packed series, which finds him teaming with civilian Zeus Carver to prevent the loss of innocent lives. McClane thought he'd seen it all, until a genius named Simon engages McClane, his new "partner" -- and his beloved city -- in a deadly game that demands their concentration.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was originally titled "Simon Says".
- David Trewhella could have been cast in the role of Simon Gruber.
- The phrase "Yipee-ki-yay, motherfucker!" is used in all five films of the franchise.
- The initial script was based on the novel "Troubleshooter," which was about terrorists hijacking a cruise ship in the Caribbean.
- Despite not participating in the filming of this movie, Alan Rickman is nevertheless credited in the end credits as Hans Gruber.
- Laurence Fishburne was the producers' initial choice for the role of Zeus, but he declined the offer to appear in the film. After Fishburne changed his mind, the role had already gone to Samuel L. Jackson.
- Samuel L. Jackson personally created Zeus's appearance after reading numerous books about Malcolm X.
- Sam Phillips, a pop singer, was invited to audition after the producers saw her photo on the cover of her compact disc.
- It was intended that this screenplay would be used to film 'Lethal Weapon 4' (1998).
- Many action sequences were filmed against a green screen and then combined with other footage on a computer.
- Creating background extras graphically wasn't yet possible in 1995. This method would be used 12 years later in the fourth film of the series.
- During the explosion of the store at the very beginning of the film, a truck parked near the building can be seen. The truck belongs to Atlantic Courier. In "Die Hard" (1988), Hans Gruber and the other terrorists arrive at the Nakatomi building in a truck belonging to Pacific Courier.
- In one scene of the film, McClane says to Zeus, "I've gotten used to my regular routine, smoking cigarettes and watching 'Captain Kangaroo'." This line is a quote from the song "Flowers on the Wall" by "The Statler Brothers." The song was used in the soundtrack of "Pulp Fiction" (1994), which also starred Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.
- Simon calls a radio DJ to announce that a bomb has been planted in one of the schools. The radio DJ's name is Elvis Duran. He is a real radio DJ who works at station Z100 (100.3 FM).
- In 2003, a special collector's edition of the film was released on DVD in the first region, featuring an alternate ending. Simon Gruber manages to escape with the stolen gold: the gold is melted down into small "Empire State Building" figurines and smuggled out of the USA. John McClane is fired from the police and is also suspected of aiding and abetting the robbery. Several months later, John and Simon meet somewhere in Eastern Europe: John manages to track down Simon using the number on an aspirin bottle. Having found Simon, John challenges him to a peculiar version of Russian roulette, only instead of a revolver, there's a Chinese bazooka (John has disassembled the bazooka so it's unclear where the projectile will come from). In addition, each of them must answer riddles they pose to each other. In the end, Simon answers incorrectly, pulls the trigger, and is literally blown to pieces.
- As in the film "Die Hard" (1988), most of the phrases spoken in German are grammatically incorrect, and some of them don't make any sense at all.
- At the 29th minute, when the protagonist rushes through the park in a taxi, traces of the car on the grass from previous takes are visible.
- The bomb in the park, which required solving a riddle to deactivate, would have detonated if it had high accuracy, as Simon claimed. Because the water in the bottle splashed significantly during weighing, the scales would have shown different weights. Furthermore, it is impossible to pour exactly 4 gallons with unmarked bottles.
- Filming took place from September 16 to November 19, 1994.
- After the film's release, Jonathan Hensleigh was detained by FBI agents, as they believed he possessed too much information about the “Federal Gold Reserve” in Manhattan. Hensleigh stated that he found all the information in articles published in the “New York Times”.
- In one scene, Simon Gruber introduces himself as Fred Thompson. Fred Thompson is an actor who played the role of the Trudo Airport Chief in “Die Hard 2” (1990).
- After reviewing the initial version of Jonathan Hensleigh’s script, 20th Century Fox, at the time strongly impressed by the rising action star Brandon Lee and their collaboration “Rapid Fire” (1992), became interested in the project, envisioning Brandon in the lead role. However, after the young actor’s tragic death, the film's development was shelved for a long time, until the script reached John McTiernan.
- The erotic scene between Jeremy Irons and Sam Phillips was added to the film at the very last moment. John McTiernan knew the film would receive an “R” rating regardless, so he decided to shoot such a scene.
- When Simon, identifying himself as a civil engineer, meets Ricky Walsh, a faint red emblem can be seen on one of the buildings in the background. This building belongs to the Home Insurance Company, which specifically installed a large red canvas on its building to ensure it would be noticed in the film.
- The original title of the film was "Simon Says".
- The role of Simon Gruber could have gone to David Thewlis.
- The original version of the script was based on the novel "Troubleshooter," which dealt with terrorists who seized a cruise ship in the Caribbean.
- Laurence Fishburne was the producers' original choice for the role of Zeus, but he turned down the offer to appear in the film. By the time Fishburne changed his mind, the role had already gone to Samuel L. Jackson.
- After the film was released, Jonathan Hensleigh was detained by FBI agents because they believed he possessed too much extensive information about the "Federal Gold Reserve" in Manhattan. Hensleigh stated that he found all the information in articles published in the New York Times.
- Pop singer Sam Phillips was invited to audition after the producers saw her photo on the cover of her compact disc.
- It was intended that this script would be used for the filming of "Lethal Weapon 4" (1998).
- In one of the scenes, Simon Gruber introduces himself as Fred Thompson. Fred Thompson is the actor who played the airport manager, Trudo, in the movie "Die Hard 2" (1990).
- After reviewing Jonathan Hensleigh's initial draft of the script, 20th Century Fox—deeply impressed at the time by rising action star Brandon Lee and their collaboration in 'Rapid Fire' (1992)—became interested in the project, envisioning Brandon in the lead role. However, following the young actor's tragic death, the studio shelved the film's development until the script eventually reached John McTiernan.
- During the store explosion at the very beginning of the film, a truck can be seen parked near the building. The truck belongs to a company called 'Atlantic Courier.' In the movie 'Die Hard' (1988), Hans Gruber and the other terrorists arrive at the Nakatomi building in a 'Pacific Courier' truck.
- In one of the film's scenes, McClane tells Zeus: 'I've already gotten used to my usual routine, smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo.' This phrase is a quote from the song 'Flowers on the Wall' performed by The Statler Brothers. This song was also featured on the soundtrack of 'Pulp Fiction' (1994), which also starred Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.
- Simon calls a radio DJ to announce that a bomb has been planted in one of the schools. The DJ's name is Elvis Duran. He is a real-life radio DJ working at station Z100 (100.3 FM).
- The erotic scene between Jeremy Irons and Sam Phillips was added to the film at the very last moment. John McTiernan knew that the movie would receive an 'R' rating regardless, so he decided to film such a scene.
- When Simon, posing as a city engineer, meets Ricky Walsh, a blurry red emblem can be seen on a building in the background. This building belongs to the Home Insurance Company. The company specifically installed a huge red banner on its building so that it would be noticed in the movie.
- In 2003, a special collector's edition of the film was released on DVD in the first region, which includes an alternative ending. Simon Gruber manages to escape with the stolen gold: the gold was melted down into small figurines of the Empire State Building and smuggled out of the US in that form. John McClane was kicked out of the police force and suspected of aiding the robbery. A few months later, John and Simon meet somewhere in Eastern Europe; John managed to track Simon down using a number on a bottle of aspirin. After finding Simon, John proposes a peculiar version of Russian roulette, but instead of a revolver, they use a Chinese bazooka (John disassembled the bazooka so that it is unclear where the projectile is supposed to come from). Additionally, each of them must solve riddles they pose to one another. In the end, Simon answers incorrectly, pulls the trigger, and literally blows to pieces.
- As in the movie Die Hard (1988), most of the phrases spoken in German are grammatically incorrect, and some of them make no sense at all.
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