The movie is set on Christmas Eve at the Nakatomi building in Los Angeles, California. NYPD officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) is flying in from New York to meet his wife Holly during the Nakatomi’s annual Christmas party. While there, they get into an argument over Holly's choice to use her maiden name instead of her married name. Shortly afterwards, a group of German terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) invade the building and take all the people hostages. They want the bearer bonds in the building ' s vault and ask the CEO, Joseph Takgai, for the access code to the first barrier. When he says no, Gruber shoots and kills him.