As far as action at law ( andChristmas ) pic go , John McTiernan’sDie Hardis blame - about utter . It says a lot about aBruce Willismovie when Bruce Willis is n’t the one delivering the spoiled one - liner ( that laurels belong to Clarence Gilyard Jr. , who playscomputer nerd Theo — a.k.a . “ The signal caller is toast ! ” guy ) . Which is n’t to say that themovieis flawless , or withoutplot holes . But thanks to Steven E. De Souza , the motion picture ’s co - writer , we now cognize the response to one of the questions that has been nagging us for nearly 30 old age .
In one of the movie ’s most memorable scenes , Willis — as NYPD detective John McClane — stumbles upon felonious mastermind Hans Gruber ( played byAlan Rickman , in his feature plastic film debut ) who put on a passably undecomposed American accent to test and gain the trust of McClane , who is mess up the whole hostage spot Gruber has create . The two men kick back , smoke a cigarette , and natter it up like Nakatomi Plaza is n’t in the midst of a terrorist takedown . But at some period in the conversation , McClane gain that Gruber is not full ol’ " Bill Clay " from the twenty-ninth floor .
After McClane hands Gruber a hit man , it becomes clear to the interview that the wily detective fuck he was being play . But what tipped him off ? Gruber ’s vigil ! What look out ? Well , that ’s a good question .
At a viewing issue forThe Running Man , De Souza explained that a blue-pencil tantrum would have made that clear . “ There was originally a aspect at the beginning of the film where Hans Gruber and his squad all synchronize their watches , and the interview sees that every one of them is wearing the precise same watch,”wrote CinemaBlend ’s Dirk Libbey . “ As John McClane get down taking down the bad cat in the building , he notices this fact when searching the bodies , so when he find out Hans Gruber ’s watch , when handing him a cigaret , he knows he ’s contend with another one . ”
For totalDie Harddiehards , the reason why the prospect was scrapped is interesting , too : The ambulance that appear at the terminal of the movie as Gruber ’s planned getaway vehicle was a last - minute of arc decision on the solidification . Had the deleted setting played out as shot , the ambulance would be nowhere in sight — thus befuddle viewer . So McTiernan opted to foreshorten McClane ’s timepiece revelation instead . Can we get ayippee - chi - yay ?
[ h / t : CinemaBlend ]
