Plot | Trivia | Personality | Quotes | Reception and legacy
Hans Gruber is a fictional character and the main villain of the 1988 action movie Die Hard. He is portrayed by Alan Rickman.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m not playing ‘the villain’. I’m just playing somebody who wants certain things in life; has made certain choices, and goes after them. “― Alan Rickman on Hans Gruber
Gruber is a thief and criminal mastermind from West Germany who holds an office building hostage to steal $640 million in negotiable bearer bonds. His plan is foiled by New York police officer John McClane (played by Bruce Willis). Due in no small part to Rickman’s performance, the character of Hans Gruber has had an enduring popularity and is constantly voted as one of the top villains of all time. Due to this, Hans is often seen as John McClane’s one true nemesis and the quintessential Die Hard villain, only seconded by his brother, Simon, in Die Hard with a Vengeance.
Plot
Gruber, a native of Germany and a former member of a radical West German movement, posed as a terrorist. He was highly intelligent, composed, and refined, with a sarcastic view of American pop culture. In the film Die Hard, he takes employees of the Japanese corporation Nakatomi hostage in the Nakatomi Plaza skyscraper in Los Angeles. While negotiating with the police, he demands the release of “revolutionary brothers” to divert attention. Hans’s main goal, however, is to steal $640 million in bearer bonds locked in the building’s vault.
Using a truck disguised as a “Pacific Courier” vehicle, Hans and his accomplices infiltrate the building, killing two guards in the process. The terrorists disable the elevators, phone lines, and all exits. Hans crashes the company’s Christmas party, presenting himself as a revolutionary terrorist. He takes the branch director, Joseph Takagi, hostage. When Takagi refuses to provide the access codes to the vault, Hans kills him.
However, his plans are disrupted by John McClane, who stealthily calls the police, eliminates some of the terrorists, and seizes the detonators for their explosives. This infuriates Gruber, who kills a hostage in retaliation. When Hans goes to inspect the bomb-rigged rooftop, he encounters McClane. Unrecognized by McClane, Hans pretends to be a Nakatomi employee. Their confrontation escalates when backup arrives, and McClane manages to escape.
When Gruber discovers that McClane’s wife, Holly, is among the hostages, he takes her to the now-open vault. In the final showdown, McClane shoots Gruber, who falls out of the window with Holly in his grasp. John manages to unhook Holly from Gruber, sending Hans plummeting from the 30th floor to his death.
Trivia
- Hans is the only main villain to ever say John’s catchphrase, which was also his last words ever before his death.
- It is also interesting to point out that unlike the other sequels, the catchphrase is said by the villain and then dies while in the other films John, says his line then finishes off the villain (with the exception of Yuri Komarov).
- According to Hans Buhringer, the German actor who portrayed Fritz, Alan Rickman did an excellent German accent and meticulously researched German speech. Since English is a second language in Germany, Rickman even got the dialect of German English down. For example, when Hans tells Takagi that he enjoyed making models as a boy, he says: “I always enjoyed to make models when I was a boy.” This is the correct German way to say that in English.
- Hans Gruber was the first major film role for Alan Rickman. He was cast after producer Joel Silver saw him in the Broadway production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
- A blue screen was used for Gruber’s infamous death scene. Rickman was dropped from a height of 40 feet (12 meters), and he was released earlier than expected, resulting in the genuinely shocked expression on Gruber’s face.
- Similar to Die Hard with a Vengeance, Hans Gruber could be referenced again if Die Hardest is made.
- His death is very similar to that of Dick Jones’s from RoboCop (which was released the year prior to Die Hard). The only difference is that Dick Jones screams as he falls to his death.
- He is the only terrorist from Die Hard whose full name was revealed in the movie.
- Hans is the only main villain whose henchmen are all named.
- In the German dub of Die Hard, he is called “Jack” Gruber. His nationality is changed to British.
Personality
Hans preferred to switch between a casual persona and an intimidating one in order to surprise people with his next move, as he had many different tricks up his sleeve. This is the main dilemma of the film, as Hans and John are both trying to stay one step ahead of each other in a battle of wits. Hans had a casual attitude to killing as shown when he murdered Takagi and Ellis and intended to murder the staff of Nakatomi which included a pregnant woman whom he was aware of.
As shown when dealing with Holly, he also had a curt attitude to people whom he did not know.
Hans also has a good, but clearly dark sense of humor, and isn’t afraid to make light of very dark and serious situations. This is furthered by his apparent jokey nature with Karl and Theo, two people he presumably knew well and liked. Even McClane often shot witty remarks back and forth either face to face or over the radio with Hans. The last thing Hans ever says, in fact, is a repetition of McClane’s trademark phrase that he had jokingly coined over the radio earlier in the film.
A highly intelligent man, Hans liked to flaunt his knowledge and boast of his high education, as shown during his conversation with Takagi. Gruber was also knowledgeable about business and finance, and he was also able to determine what kind of high priced suit one was wearing just by looking at it (or perhaps he just had a penchant for John Philips suits in particular).
Hans also seems to enjoy reading magazines, making references to things that he has read in Forbes and Time. While speaking to the LAPD and FBI, Hans diverts their attention by pretending to have ideological aims, as had been presumed (as opposed to the simply self-interested theft which the operation truly is), and demands the release of supposedly imprisoned members of various groups in Canada, Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland, referring to these as “comrades in arms”. He has, of course, no concern whatsoever for these people. This leaves Karl perplexed, as it was likely not part of the plan, or it is possible Karl never heard of a terrorist group called the Asian Dawn. Hans calmly remarks to Karl “I read about them in Time magazine”.
Due to his blatant disregard for human life, along with the unbelievable things he’d done for the sake of a robbery, John had no problem doing away with Hans. McClane likely feels that Gruber is one of the most disgusting beings he’s ever met. Even in the third film, Hans’s estranged brother, Simon, concurs with McClane, saying in agreement that his brother was, indeed, an ‘asshole’.
Hans Gruber quotes from the movie Die Hard:
“When you steal $600, you can just disappear. When you steal $600 million, they will find you unless they think you’re already dead.“
Reception and legacy
Gruber has gone on to become one of the most iconic villains in cinematic history and is often considered one of the greatest. Gruber was listed by Empire magazine as the 17th Greatest Movie Character of All Time out of 100, while John McClane placed 12th on the same list. Gruber also ranked #4 on Empire’s list of the Greatest Movie Villains of All Time, only being beaten by Darth Vader, The Joker and Loki. Gruber was also selected by the American Film Institute as #46 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Heroes & Villains. Gruber was listed by IGN as #14 of their top 100 villains. Gruber would also go on to influence subsequent movie villains such as Howard Payne in Speed, Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom in Con Air, Eric Qualen in Cliffhanger and Ivan Korshunov in Air Force One.
Due to the popularity of Gruber, actor Alan Rickman ended up being cast as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in 1991, and was subsequently typecast as villainous characters until he portrayed the anti-hero Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series.
Rickman would also go on to cite Gruber as one of his favourite characters that he portrayed during his lifetime. Due to the film and the character’s iconic status, Gruber has been referenced multiple times in popular culture. The police-comedy show Brooklyn Nine-Nine makes references to Gruber (and Die Hard itself) quite often, as the character of Jake Peralta cites Die Hard as his favourite film of all time. One episode in particular includes the cast going to the Fox Plaza (which acted as the stand-in for Nakatomi Plaza in the film and where the majoriy of the film was shot) and re-enacting iconic scenes from the film, including Gruber’s death. As well as a Christmas themed episode where Peralta is thrown into a “Die Hard-esque” scenario involving terrorists and hostages. Other shows such as The Office and Friends have also featured references to Gruber. Gruber’s death was also briefly parodied in The Lego Batman Movie in a scene where Alfred Pennyworth seemingly falls to his death. Gruber is also the subject of a parody video done by Funny Or Die in which Gruber negotiates via walkie talkie with Tropic Thunder character Les Grossman, played by Tom Cruise. Gruber is the namesake for Texas based punk rock band “Hans Gruber and the Die Hards”, and was among the bases for the character Artemis Fowl II, the main antagonist of the book series of the same name, described by its author Eoin Colfer as “Die Hard with fairies”.
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