296:. 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.
1503:
262:, 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
64:
443:(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
307:
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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354:. Gruber was listed by IGN as #14 of their top 100 villains. Gruber would also go on to influence subsequent movie villains such as
485:. 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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550:"Die Hard at 30: How the every-dude action movie defied expectations and turned Bruce Willis into a star"
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1070:"Alan Rickman on 'Die Hard' Role: "It's Shocking How Thrilling It Is to Shoot a Machine Gun""
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681:""There is no such thing as an action movie." Steven E. de Souza on Screenwriting"
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1044:"An Ode to Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber, Possibly the Greatest Screen Villain Ever"
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995:"Alan Rickman never disappeared into a role. But that's what made him great"
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magazine as the 17th
Greatest Movie Character of All Time out of 100, while
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1095:"Why Alan Rickman Originally Wanted Nothing To Do With His Die Hard Role"
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970:"Why Hans Gruber remains the greatest action movie villain of all time"
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1019:"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
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606:"The Science Project That Resulted in 'Die Hard's Most Killer Stunt"
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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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631:"DIE HARD Screenwriter Answers a Question We've Had for Years"
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581:"31 Things We Learned From the 'Die Hard' Commentary Track"
819:"In Praise of Hans Gruber, the Finest Villain of Our Time"
524:"Celebrating the Brilliance of Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber"
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placed 12th on the same list. Gruber also ranked No. 4 on
656:"Alan Rickman Brought Hans Gruber's Real Origins To Life"
462:
455:
have also featured references to Gruber. In the ABC show
266:), as the primary antagonist of the third film in the
894:"10 Famous Movies That Copied the "Die Hard" Formula"
731:"17. Hans Gruber - The 100 Greatest Movie Characters"
308:
of the villain who is really driving the narrative."
706:"4. Hans Gruber - The Greatest Villains Of All Time"
1144:"Les Grossman Destroys Hans Gruber In This Mash-Up"
284:Hans Gruber was the first major film role given to
548:
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250:Gruber is a thief and criminal mastermind from
992:
760:"AFI'S 100 YEARS... 100 HEROES & VILLAINS"
1204:
27:Character in Die Hard, played by Alan Rickman
945:"The 9 Best and Worst 'Die Hard' Knock-Offs"
870:"Death is Hard . . . Reincarnation Is Easy"
352:AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains
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431:itself) quite often, as the character of
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393:Due to the popularity of Gruber, actor
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920:"The Top 10 Hans Gruber Type Villains"
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233:is a fictional character and the main
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795:"Hans Gruber - #14 Top 100 Villains"
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1571:Film characters introduced in 1988
993:O'Sullivan, Michael (2016-01-14).
481:character Les Grossman, played by
342:. Gruber was also selected by the
288:. Rickman was cast after producer
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292:saw him during a Broadway run of
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427:makes references to Gruber (and
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34:character. For other uses, see
868:Broeske, Pat H. (1994-06-12).
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1173:Hans Gruber and the Die Hards
1093:Reyes, Mike (16 April 2015).
918:Sully, Cameron (2019-10-10).
629:Marnell, Blair (2017-03-05).
508:
404:Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
279:
214:Marcel Gruber (son; deceased)
178:Volksfrei Movement (based on
1218:
943:Meyer, Joshua (2018-07-11).
769:. 2014-03-28. Archived from
737:. 2011-11-07. Archived from
522:Nathan, Micah (2016-01-15).
495:book series of the same name
36:Hans Gruber (disambiguation)
7:
1068:Ritman, Alex (2015-04-16).
679:Frazier, Dan (2015-08-24).
579:Kirk, Jeremy (2011-07-19).
397:ended up being cast as the
10:
1592:
1551:Fictional German criminals
968:George, Tim (2016-12-07).
683:. Creative Screenwriting.
604:Failes, Ian (2018-08-13).
497:, described by its author
30:This article is about the
29:
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1458:
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1416:Die Hard with a Vengeance
1393:
1370:Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas
1339:
1311:
1288:Die Hard with a Vengeance
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366:Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom
303:wrote the screenplay for
273:Die Hard with a Vengeance
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1541:Fictional mass murderers
654:Mark, Jon (2016-01-15).
547:Power, Ed (2019-11-26).
294:Les Liaisons Dangereuses
237:of the 1988 action film
100:Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza
767:American Film Institute
344:American Film Institute
195:(semi-automatic pistol)
154:In-universe information
18:Hans Gruber (character)
1546:Fictional crime bosses
1430:A Good Day to Die Hard
1302:A Good Day to Die Hard
1074:The Hollywood Reporter
384:and Egor Korshunov in
1423:Live Free or Die Hard
1295:Live Free or Die Hard
1245:Nothing Lasts Forever
468:The Lego Batman Movie
399:Sheriff of Nottingham
193:Heckler & Koch P7
1561:Fictional terrorists
1556:Fictional kidnappers
1536:Action film villains
312:Reception and legacy
999:The Washington Post
585:Film School Rejects
206:(brother; deceased)
41:Fictional character
1576:Male film villains
874:The New York Times
458:American Housewife
424:Brooklyn Nine-Nine
301:Steven E. de Souza
120:Steven E. de Souza
71:as Hans Gruber in
1566:Fictional thieves
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505:with fairies".
491:main antagonist
487:Artemis Fowl II
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1251:Walter Wager
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1176:. Retrieved
1172:
1163:
1152:. Retrieved
1150:. 2019-01-31
1148:Funny Or Die
1147:
1138:
1127:. Retrieved
1125:. 2018-07-13
1122:
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1102:. Retrieved
1098:
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1077:. Retrieved
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1052:. Retrieved
1050:. 2016-01-14
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1027:. Retrieved
1025:. 2018-03-21
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902:. Retrieved
900:. 2017-03-30
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877:. Retrieved
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852:. Retrieved
850:. 2017-02-22
847:
838:
827:. Retrieved
825:. 2016-01-14
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802:. Retrieved
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778:. Retrieved
771:the original
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743:. Retrieved
739:the original
734:
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714:. Retrieved
712:. 2019-07-30
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433:Jake Peralta
428:
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414:Harry Potter
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356:Howard Payne
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324:John McClane
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286:Alan Rickman
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264:Jeremy Irons
260:John McClane
252:East Germany
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245:Alan Rickman
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204:Simon Gruber
148:Alan Rickman
144:Portrayed by
133:Anton Gruber
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69:Alan Rickman
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31:
1440:Other media
1394:Soundtracks
1340:Video games
1326:Hans Gruber
1099:CinemaBlend
974:Den of Geek
848:Digital Spy
528:Vanity Fair
499:Eoin Colfer
416:film series
381:Cliffhanger
376:Eric Qualen
332:Darth Vader
290:Joel Silver
231:Hans Gruber
223:East German
219:Nationality
175:Affiliation
47:Hans Gruber
1525:Categories
1409:Die Hard 2
1313:Characters
1281:Die Hard 2
1256:58 Minutes
1178:2019-10-23
1154:2019-10-23
1129:2019-10-23
1104:2019-10-23
1079:2019-10-23
1054:2019-10-23
1029:2019-10-23
1004:2019-10-24
979:2019-10-23
954:2019-10-24
929:2019-10-24
904:2019-10-24
879:2019-10-24
854:2019-10-24
829:2019-10-24
804:2019-10-23
780:2019-10-23
745:2019-10-23
716:2019-10-23
691:2019-10-27
665:2019-10-23
640:2019-10-23
615:2019-10-23
590:2019-10-23
565:2019-10-23
533:2019-10-23
509:References
483:Tom Cruise
446:The Office
280:Production
235:antagonist
184:(formerly)
167:Occupation
115:Jeb Stuart
108:Created by
1466:Fox Plaza
1351:(1990–91)
1331:Al Powell
1123:USA Today
660:Inquisitr
610:Thrillist
441:Fox Plaza
336:The Joker
268:franchise
162:Bill Clay
57:character
1531:Die Hard
1509:Category
1480:Ricochet
1448:Year One
1402:Die Hard
1384:Vendetta
1348:Die Hard
1274:Die Hard
1221:Die Hard
1023:LadBible
685:Archived
559:Archived
503:Die Hard
437:Die Hard
429:Die Hard
328:Empire's
305:Die Hard
256:New York
240:Die Hard
211:Children
170:Criminal
129:Based on
87:Die Hard
74:Die Hard
54:Die Hard
32:Die Hard
1459:Related
1363:Trilogy
635:Nerdist
493:of the
452:Friends
411:in the
371:Con Air
348:villain
346:as #46
1475:(film)
1356:Arcade
1048:People
735:Empire
710:Empire
489:, the
435:cites
319:Empire
200:Family
189:Weapon
103:(2002)
90:(1988)
1266:Films
949:/FILM
823:Maxim
774:(PDF)
763:(PDF)
361:Speed
159:Alias
501:as "
449:and
340:Loki
338:and
258:cop
1253:'s
1235:'s
799:IGN
463:pig
401:in
378:in
368:in
358:in
350:on
136:by
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