Die Hard: With a Vengeance

Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)

Timing: 2:8 (128 min)

7.3/10
6602

7.661/10
125858

7.6/10
429000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 113

Actors and characters

Release date

1995-05-19

Country

United States

Production

20th Century Fox, Cinergi Pictures Entertainment, Andrew G. Vajna Productions

Genre

Action, Thriller

Budget

$90 000 000

Revenue

$366 101 666

Website

https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/die-hard-with-a-vengeance

Director

John McTiernan

Actors

Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Larry Bryggman, Graham Greene, Anthony Peck, Nicholas Wyman, Kevin Chamberlin, Colleen Camp, Sam Phillips
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Jonathan Hensleigh

Producer

John McTiernan, Michael Tadross, Buzz Feitshans, Andrew G. Vajna, Robert Lawrence

Operator

Peter Menzies Jr.

Composer

Michael Kamen

Artist

Peter Rogness

Audition

Patricia McCorkle

Editing

John Wright, Justin Moritt
All team (274)

• 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.
• After the film was released, Jonathan Hensley was detained by FBI agents because, in their opinion, he possessed too much information about the 'Federal Gold Reserve' in Manhattan. Hensley stated that he found all the information in articles published in the 'New York Times'.
• 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).
• In one scene, Simon Gruber introduces himself as Fred Thompson. Fred Thompson is an actor who played the role of the airport chief, Mr. Trudo, in "Die Hard 2" (1990).
• 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.
• After reviewing the initial screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, 20th Century Fox, at the time greatly impressed by 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.
• 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).
• 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 anyway, so he decided to shoot such a scene.
• When Simon, posing as a civil engineer, meets Ricky Walsh, a faint red emblem can be seen on one of the buildings in the background. The building belongs to the "Home Insurance Company." The company specifically installed a large red canvas on its building so that it would be noticed in the film.
• 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.