John McClane (Bruce Willis) is a hard-working New York City Cop who has flown out to LA to save his shaky marriage on Christmas Eve to Holly Gennero (Bonnie Bedelia), who is flying-high in her career at a Japanese technology firm, located at the Nakatomi Plaza Hotel.
  A gang of international terrorists led by Hans Gruber (an excellently cast Alan Rickman), break their way past security and hold everyone in the building hostage, with the real intention of clearing the vault of some $600million worth of bonds.
  John McClane is the only man to have escaped unnoticed, and alone must take down the 13 armed guards and save the day.  Yippee-ky-ay!

Gruber works out the identity of McClane's wife with thanks to a primetime, slimey news reporter, and finally gains the upper-hand as he blackmails his enemy to show himself.  Down to two last bullets, John straps a gun to his back with Christmas tape and walks painfully towards the terrorists - still without his shoes.  In a beat he shoots the buffon-haired terrorist and then injures Gruber, who falls back and out the window to his death (after a brief struggle with Holly's watch).
  Leaving the building, the McClane's meet Officer Powell for the first time - who ends the movie as a hero himself when he shoots the long-haired Iron Maiden terrorist, who has come back to life while lying on the ambulance death-bed -- still with a handy assault-rifle in his hand.
  Holly right-hooks the dodgy reporter in the face live on tv, and they exit in the limo that has been waiting for John since he arrived.  It's all smiles and Christmas songs - until they'll soon realise the meter has been running all this time.

Did you know: Die Hard was originally intended as a sequel to Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Commando'??