Die Hard (film series) reunite with separated wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Los Angeles at her company's Christmas party. Holly left to pursue her career with their two children, and uses her maiden name. At the fictional Nakatomi Plaza, East German terrorists break in and take the celebrants hostage. McClane escapes detection and hides throughout the building. He kills off the gang and learns their real plan, to steal $640 million in bearer bonds from the building's vault. In the finale, McClane shoots the terrorist leader, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), out the window to fall thirty stories. It was released on July 15, 1988
Die Hard turning Willis into an action star, and became a metonym for an action film in which a lone hero fights overwhelming odds. The film's success created the "Die Hard" franchise, which includes four sequels, a number of video games, and a comic book, and later in 2017 was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. "Die Hard" has been named one of the best action and Christmas-themed films ever made. The film also ranks on "Empire"s 2017 list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. On Christmas Eve, NYPD detective John McClane arrives in Los Angeles,