292:. A blue screen was used for the now infamous scene of Gruber's death. Rickman was to be dropped 40 feet (12 m), and was let go sooner than expected, causing the shocked look of fear on Gruber's face to be genuine. The first shot taken ended up being the one used in the movie. The scene where Gruber pretends to be an escaped hostage named Bill Clay was not originally included in the script, and was added once the production crew discovered that Rickman could pull off a convincing American accent. According to actor Hans Buhringer, who portrayed the criminal Fritz in the film, Rickman researched meticulously to perfect his German accent and was even able to achieve the German-English dialect throughout the film.
1528:
251:, who happened upon Gruber's plot by mistake. Since his first appearance, Gruber has been cemented as one of the most iconic villains in film history – as well as often being ranked as the greatest action movie villain of all time and one of Rickman's most iconic roles. The villain became so popular with movie fans that the producers introduced his brother, Simon (played by
439:(which acted as the stand-in for Nakatomi Plaza in the film and where the majority 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
53:
303:
with the mindset of Gruber being the protagonist of the story. De Souza stated, "If he had not planned the robbery and put it together, Bruce Willis would have just gone to the party and reconciled or not with his wife. You should sometimes think about looking at your movie through the point of view
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in 1991, and was subsequently said to be typecast as villainous characters (despite playing other kinds of characters more frequently) until he portrayed the anti-hero
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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
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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
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Due to the film and the character's iconic status, Gruber has been referenced multiple times in popular culture. The police-comedy show
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350:. Gruber was listed by IGN as #14 of their top 100 villains. Gruber would also go on to influence subsequent movie villains such as
481:. Gruber is the namesake for Texas-based punk rock band "Hans Gruber and the Die Hards", and was among the basis for the character
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who holds the
Nakatomi Plaza hostage to steal $ 640 million in negotiable bearer bonds. His plan is foiled by
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575:"Die Hard at 30: How the every-dude action movie defied expectations and turned Bruce Willis into a star"
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1095:"Alan Rickman on 'Die Hard' Role: "It's Shocking How Thrilling It Is to Shoot a Machine Gun""
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1144:"30 pop-culture references that prove 'Die Hard' is as awesome as ever, 30 years later"
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706:""There is no such thing as an action movie." Steven E. de Souza on Screenwriting"
1069:"An Ode to Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber, Possibly the Greatest Screen Villain Ever"
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1020:"Alan Rickman never disappeared into a role. But that's what made him great"
869:"8 films that are basically Die Hard, from planes to trains and automobiles"
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magazine as the 17th
Greatest Movie Character of All Time out of 100, while
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1120:"Why Alan Rickman Originally Wanted Nothing To Do With His Die Hard Role"
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995:"Why Hans Gruber remains the greatest action movie villain of all time"
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1044:"Here's Why Alan Rickman In 'Die Hard' Is The Best Movie Bad Guy Ever"
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list of the
Greatest Movie Villains of All Time, only being beaten by
631:"The Science Project That Resulted in 'Die Hard's Most Killer Stunt"
461:
was named Hans Gruber. Gruber's death was also briefly parodied in
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as his favorite film of all time. Episodes depict the cast going to
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656:"DIE HARD Screenwriter Answers a Question We've Had for Years"
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1213:
606:"31 Things We Learned From the 'Die Hard' Commentary Track"
844:"In Praise of Hans Gruber, the Finest Villain of Our Time"
520:"Celebrating the Brilliance of Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber"
322:
placed 12th on the same list. Gruber also ranked No. 4 on
681:"Alan Rickman Brought Hans Gruber's Real Origins To Life"
451:
have also featured references to Gruber. In the ABC show
255:), as the primary antagonist of the third film in the
919:"10 Famous Movies That Copied the "Die Hard" Formula"
756:"17. Hans Gruber - The 100 Greatest Movie Characters"
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of the villain who is really driving the narrative."
731:"4. Hans Gruber - The Greatest Villains Of All Time"
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785:"AFI'S 100 YEARS... 100 HEROES & VILLAINS"
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544:"AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains"
16:Character in Die Hard, played by Alan Rickman
8:
970:"The 9 Best and Worst 'Die Hard' Knock-Offs"
895:"Death is Hard . . . Reincarnation Is Easy"
348:AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains
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427:itself) quite often, as the character of
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389:Due to the popularity of Gruber, actor
945:"The Top 10 Hans Gruber Type Villains"
222:is a fictional character and the main
32:
7:
820:"Hans Gruber - #14 Top 100 Villains"
1596:Film characters introduced in 1988
1018:O'Sullivan, Michael (2016-01-14).
477:character Les Grossman, played by
338:. Gruber was also selected by the
284:. Rickman was cast after producer
14:
288:saw him during a Broadway run of
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423:makes references to Gruber (and
1194:"Hans Gruber and the Die Hards"
712:from the original on 2015-09-15
586:from the original on 2022-05-09
23:character. For other uses, see
893:Broeske, Pat H. (1994-06-12).
1:
1198:Hans Gruber and the Die Hards
1118:Reyes, Mike (16 April 2015).
943:Sully, Cameron (2019-10-10).
654:Marnell, Blair (2017-03-05).
400:Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
203:Marcel Gruber (son; deceased)
167:Volksfrei Movement (based on
968:Meyer, Joshua (2018-07-11).
794:. 2014-03-28. Archived from
762:. 2011-11-07. Archived from
518:Nathan, Micah (2016-01-15).
491:book series of the same name
25:Hans Gruber (disambiguation)
1093:Ritman, Alex (2015-04-16).
704:Frazier, Dan (2015-08-24).
604:Kirk, Jeremy (2011-07-19).
393:ended up being cast as the
268:Hans Gruber ranked 46th on
1617:
1576:Fictional German criminals
993:George, Tim (2016-12-07).
708:. Creative Screenwriting.
629:Failes, Ian (2018-08-13).
493:, described by its author
19:This article is about the
18:
1521:
1441:Die Hard with a Vengeance
1395:Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas
1313:Die Hard with a Vengeance
1253:
362:Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom
299:wrote the screenplay for
262:Die Hard with a Vengeance
50:
40:
1566:Fictional mass murderers
679:Mark, Jon (2016-01-15).
572:Power, Ed (2019-11-26).
290:Les Liaisons Dangereuses
226:of the 1988 action film
89:Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza
792:American Film Institute
551:American Film Institute
340:American Film Institute
184:(semi-automatic pistol)
143:In-universe information
1571:Fictional crime bosses
1455:A Good Day to Die Hard
1327:A Good Day to Die Hard
1099:The Hollywood Reporter
380:and Egor Korshunov in
1448:Live Free or Die Hard
1320:Live Free or Die Hard
1270:Nothing Lasts Forever
464:The Lego Batman Movie
395:Sheriff of Nottingham
182:Heckler & Koch P7
1586:Fictional terrorists
1581:Fictional kidnappers
1561:Action film villains
308:Reception and legacy
1024:The Washington Post
610:Film School Rejects
195:(brother; deceased)
30:Fictional character
1601:Male film villains
899:The New York Times
454:American Housewife
420:Brooklyn Nine-Nine
297:Steven E. de Souza
109:Steven E. de Souza
60:as Hans Gruber in
1591:Fictional thieves
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469:Alfred Pennyworth
467:in a scene where
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501:with fairies".
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84:Last appearance
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1276:Walter Wager
1268:
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1244:
1201:. Retrieved
1197:
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1177:. Retrieved
1175:. 2019-01-31
1173:Funny Or Die
1172:
1163:
1152:. Retrieved
1150:. 2018-07-13
1147:
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1127:. Retrieved
1123:
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1075:. 2016-01-14
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1050:. 2018-03-21
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925:. 2017-03-30
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875:. 2017-02-22
872:
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852:. Retrieved
850:. 2016-01-14
847:
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827:. Retrieved
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796:the original
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764:the original
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739:. Retrieved
737:. 2019-07-30
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429:Jake Peralta
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410:Harry Potter
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391:Alan Rickman
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289:
282:Alan Rickman
279:
267:
260:
253:Jeremy Irons
249:John McClane
241:East Germany
238:
234:Alan Rickman
227:
219:
218:
193:Simon Gruber
137:Alan Rickman
133:Portrayed by
122:Anton Gruber
87:
74:
61:
58:Alan Rickman
41:
20:
1465:Other media
1419:Soundtracks
1365:Video games
1351:Hans Gruber
1124:CinemaBlend
999:Den of Geek
873:Digital Spy
524:Vanity Fair
495:Eoin Colfer
412:film series
377:Cliffhanger
372:Eric Qualen
328:Darth Vader
286:Joel Silver
220:Hans Gruber
212:East German
208:Nationality
164:Affiliation
36:Hans Gruber
1550:Categories
1434:Die Hard 2
1338:Characters
1306:Die Hard 2
1281:58 Minutes
1203:2019-10-23
1179:2019-10-23
1154:2019-10-23
1129:2019-10-23
1104:2019-10-23
1079:2019-10-23
1054:2019-10-23
1029:2019-10-24
1004:2019-10-23
979:2019-10-24
954:2019-10-24
929:2019-10-24
904:2019-10-24
879:2019-10-24
854:2019-10-24
829:2019-10-23
805:2019-10-23
770:2019-10-23
741:2019-10-23
716:2019-10-27
690:2019-10-23
665:2019-10-23
640:2019-10-23
615:2019-10-23
590:2019-10-23
529:2019-10-23
505:References
479:Tom Cruise
442:The Office
276:Production
224:antagonist
173:(formerly)
156:Occupation
104:Jeb Stuart
97:Created by
1491:Fox Plaza
1376:(1990–91)
1356:Al Powell
1148:USA Today
685:Inquisitr
635:Thrillist
557:29 August
437:Fox Plaza
332:The Joker
257:franchise
151:Bill Clay
46:character
1556:Die Hard
1534:Category
1505:Ricochet
1473:Year One
1427:Die Hard
1409:Vendetta
1373:Die Hard
1299:Die Hard
1246:Die Hard
1048:LadBible
710:Archived
584:Archived
499:Die Hard
433:Die Hard
425:Die Hard
324:Empire's
301:Die Hard
245:New York
229:Die Hard
200:Children
159:Criminal
118:Based on
76:Die Hard
63:Die Hard
43:Die Hard
21:Die Hard
1484:Related
1388:Trilogy
660:Nerdist
489:of the
448:Friends
407:in the
367:Con Air
344:villain
342:as #46
1500:(film)
1381:Arcade
1073:People
760:Empire
735:Empire
553:. 2005
485:, the
431:cites
315:Empire
189:Family
178:Weapon
92:(2002)
79:(1988)
1291:Films
974:/FILM
848:Maxim
799:(PDF)
788:(PDF)
547:(PDF)
357:Speed
148:Alias
559:2020
497:as "
445:and
336:Loki
334:and
247:cop
1278:'s
1260:'s
824:IGN
459:pig
397:in
374:in
364:in
354:in
346:on
125:by
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