Question: When Hans is interrogating Takagi, why would he remove a silencer to fire the weapon indoors without hearing protection? Wouldn't it be more menacing to put a silencer on in that situation?
raywest
17th Feb 2023
Die Hard (1988)
Answer: They used guns with silencers to access the building and take control swiftly and quietly. Now that they no longer need to do that he takes off the silencer. A silencer affects the gun's accuracy. It is also highly likely he wanted the people in the other room to hear the shot.
12th Oct 2021
Die Hard (1988)
Question: Can someone explain what the one Johnson agent meant to the other one when he said "it's like Saigon, ain't it slick?"
Answer: I don't remember the exact quote, verbatim, but using your wording, the proper punctuation would be "It's like Saigon! Ain't it, Slick?" The older Johnson is referring to Army Helo Ops in Vietnam. He's calling the younger Johnson "Slick", as a nickname. I believe the younger's response was something like "I was just a kid then" or something similar.
The younger one says "I was in junior high, dickhead". :-) Clearly not holding the older Johnson in especially high regard, or keen to make it clear he's not as old.
Answer: The elder Agent Johnson is a Viet Nam vet who excitedly says, "It's just like f***in' Saigon, eh Slick? The younger Johnson mockingly responds, "I was in Junior High, dickhead!" meaning he was too young to have served in that war. The older Johnson is comparing shooting at the terrorists (or just John McClane) atop the Nakatomi Tower to killing enemy soldiers from a helicopter in Nam. He is macho, has lost objectivity about the hostage situation, and is treating it like an arcade game. As pointed out in another answer, "Slick" is just a nickname, like calling someone "Dude."
Answer: "Like Saigon" could mean that under the circumstances, they were not likely to win or be successful in what they were trying to accomplish. Largely in the 1960s, the U.S. military was stationed in Saigon. While there, parts of the city were ruined or demolished by fighting. There was a lot of destruction in the Die Hard movie, and the situation seemed dire.
15th Jul 2021
Die Hard (1988)
Question: In one scene, McLane turns on an electric saw to distract the terrorists. When he's having no luck finding shoes that fit, why didn't he just use the saw to cut the toes off a pair of shoes?
Answer: There's no answer, though it would have been dangerous for McClane to go back and use a noisy saw. The dead guy's cohorts might be around and/or are looking for him and could hear the noise. McClane also had to move quickly to get the body into the elevator and down to the party floor, so he could gain info about the other terrorists. The shoes may also have been too tight and narrow as well as too short, making them unusable.
16th Mar 2021
Die Hard (1988)
Question: It is quite obvious that both Hans and Karl are Germans. So how is this possible that, when Hans ordered Karl to shoot the glass (Schieß dem Fenster) in German, Karl didn't understand it? He complied with this order only after Hans repeated it in English.
Answer: Karl understood what Hans was saying in German. He hesitated because he was puzzled by the request, probably unaware, unlike Hans, that John would have to run through shattered glass while barefooted. Hans repeating it in English is merely a plot device so that the audience understands what he's saying without subtitles being used and it emphasizes Hans' urgency.
My interpretation is that when Hans said it in German, he said it too quietly for Karl to hear. When Hans repeated his command in English, he said it louder.
16th Mar 2021
Die Hard (1988)
Question: When John sees a group of SWAT guys head to the building, why does he react by saying, "No, no, no!" Wasn't having the police come to help exactly what he wanted?
Answer: As you may have noticed in the immediate run-up to this, he has been trying to warn them against taking direct action. He has tried to tell them that they are fighting heavily armed and highly trained terrorists who are well-prepared to handle a small group of policemen overtly entering through the front door. So, he was saying that because he knew the SWAT men were about to get hurt, or worse, in their idiotic attempt to, as Dep. Chief Dwayne puts it, "kick ass."
23rd Dec 2020
Die Hard (1988)
Question: If the guy at the reception desk knew that the only ones left in the building were on the 30th floor, why did he tell John to use the screen?
Answer: Most large companies, particularly hi-tech or multinational ones, require visitors to check-in, especially afterhours. By having John search for Holly's name, it can be verified that he actually knows someone who works there, that there is an actual employee with that name, and otherwise assess whether John is a legitimate visitor. This scene's real purpose, however, is for plot exposition. John learns from the monitor that Holly now goes by her maiden name (Gennero) rather than her married surname. We see John's annoyed reaction to learning this, which sets up a later confrontation between him and Holly over their troubled marriage.
Answer: Any answer is speculation; but a simple explanation is he may have forgotten the only people left were there for the Xmas party until John mentioned the 30th floor. The guard also seems fairly proud of their new high-tech touchscreen system so he might have just had John use it to show off how nice the building is.
Answer: Most likely he just wanted to showcase a nifty (by 80s standards) piece of technology to a visitor.
Answer: The party was on the 30th floor and John was asking for a specific employee, his wife. He had no idea where she was exactly.
22nd Nov 2020
Die Hard (1988)
Question: Why would an exploding helicopter take so long to slide down the side of the building? Enough time for McClane to get down to the party area?
Answer: This is a movie, not reality. The doomed helicopter's descent was deliberately slowed down on film for a visually dramatic effect. It is also timed so it coordinates with McClane's movement and better serves the plot's pacing. It is also not necessarily linear, timewise, cutting back and forth at different points to show what is happening.
Sorry not adequate explanation. Hundreds of action movies are made regularly the world over they don't make these sorts of errors. Insufficient explanation.
17th Mar 2020
Die Hard (1988)
Question: While running away from the bad guys, John McClane severely wounds feet by stepping on broken glass. Wouldn't his feet be at risk of infections if they were as severely wounded as shown in the movie? He's feet don't appear to have any infections.
Answer: Infections take time to set in. The whole events of this film take place over 1 evening. Not long enough for an infection to set in. Especially since he receives medical attention at the end.
How long would John have to go without getting medical for his feet to get infected?
Per a google search: "An infection can develop any time between two or three days after the cut occurred until it's healed."
Answer: Infections take a while to develop - the events of Die Hard are borderline real time, and given the injuries happen towards the end of the film, that's way too soon for any significant side effects.
13th Dec 2019
Die Hard (1988)
Question: The armoured vehicle that gets sent in when the SWAT team are struggling to get in, before they're even attacked...what's that meant to actually achieve? If it's just meant to smash the doors, the men with guns could do that. And if not...will it just sit there?
Answer: I believe it is supposed to be that it was a precautionary measure and probably standard operating procedure to have it on site when dealing with a terrorist situation. To have it at the ready for if they needed it. Not only this, but a large armored vehicle like that could serve as physiological warfare to make the terrorist more fearful merely by it just being there. A show of strength. As for using it on the door, yes, guys with guns can smash those doors. But guys with guns are still targets to be shot at especially though glass doors. The armored vehicle can smash through it and get the men inside without exposing them to small arms fire.
But why send the armoured car into the lobby before being attacked? And why send it in in the first place? Once it's in the lobby it becomes a sitting duck. Easy pickings for when the occupants decide to disembark.
In some cases, maybe. But the vehicle itself still provides cover for the men in it. They usually would exit from the back or the top, and have that as something to hide against or shoot from. Also, most armored SWAT vehicles like that usually have a very high powered water cannon on the top that has the pressure of a fire truck. This can quickly subdue any hostile forces and knock their defenses down, giving the SWAT ample time to make their move while the enemy is still recovering. Not only this, but the vehicle can have inside more equipment the SWAT members can use, like throwing out smoke and flash bang grenades, or have riot shields as the exit. But this at least gets them inside and up where they can do good. If they tried to walk up to the door without cover, they would be easy pickings from small arms fire and snipers.
Good answer. I would add that presumably, the SWAT vehicle could be put in reverse, and once the front entrance was breached, it would back up. Also, this being a movie, it's shown that the overall police and F.B.I. response is supposed to be somewhat bungled, with different egotistical characters vying for control. Plot wise, it shows how well armed the "terrorists" are supposed to be by blowing up the SWAT vehicle with a missile, and how they anticipate and outsmart the police's every move. This is not reality.
20th Nov 2017
Die Hard (1988)
Question: What's with the scene where the cops drive towards the Nakotami building, but then turn around? Didn't Hans order 911 to be called so the FBI could be called out?
Answer: It was all about timing. Hans' plan did require having the police and the F.B.I. involved eventually, but John McClane set off the fire alarm before Hans was ready for the authorities to intervene. That was why Hans then ordered Eddy, the terrorist impersonating the security guard at the front desk, to call 911 and cancel the alarm.
It was just the Fire Department that responded.
6th Nov 2017
Die Hard (1988)
Question: How many hostages did Gruber take in total?
Answer: When John McClane went to the roof to call 911, on the Walkie Talkie, he said that the terrorists were holding 50 or so hostages.
7th Sep 2017
Die Hard (1988)
7th May 2013
Die Hard (1988)
Question: After the scene Ellis was killed in McClane talks to Powell and stands up. After which he meets Hans at the roof, why did he go to the roof at the time?
Chosen answer: McClane had gone to the roof where he could get better transmitter reception when he made the emergency call to police. Hans, meanwhile, had gone to the top floor to inspect the work that was being done to wire the roof with explosives. McClane ran into Hans on his way back down.
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Answer: I think he's just subtly showing Takagi that he's in control of the situation - there's no need to hide behind a silencer, which they were using earlier. They've taken over and can do whatever they want, including loudly executing people. It's a very subtle power-play.
TedStixon