Hans Gruber is the main antagonist of the second draft for the 1988 action thriller film Die Hard.
He was portrayed by the late
in the final project.
Biography
There is not too much of a difference between Hans in the final project versus the second draft. Like the final project Hans Gruber leads a terrorist organization on the Nakatomi Plaza so he can rob the place and later blow it up with at least 30 hostages inside on a Christmas Eve party, killing security guards in his way. When he takes Joseph Takagi hostage for info on the code for the vault that contains the money, Hans shoots him dead when the latter proves he has no knowledge of said code. As NYPD cop John McClane is hiding in the building, he proves a foil to Hans' plans to rob the place. When Harry Ellis claims to be a friend of John's to negotiate with Hans, Hans shoots him dead in an effort to pressure John into giving him back his weapons he stole from him. As John gets closer to Hans, Hans takes his wife, Holly, hostage and prepares to kill them both. However John pulls his pistol on him and shoots Hans in the shoulder, shattering a window from behind him which he falls out of to his death 30 stories below.
The main differences between the final project as well as the second revised draft is that Hans is shown to be slightly more callous in the draft. Unlike in the finished film, where Hans is indirectly responsible for his men shooting missiles at police choppers coming towards the plaza, in the second draft he directly orders his men to shoot them down. He also shoots an elderly woman dead once she panics upon learning he plans to blow up the building with the hostages inside.
Trivia
- While Hans Gruber is still extremely callous in the theatrical release, he would have been much worse than in the finished product had the second draft been filmed.
External Links
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