John McClane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John McClane is a fictional character and protagonist of the Die Hard trilogy of films. He is played by Bruce Willis. McClane is loosely based on the fictional character Detective Joe LeLand from Roderick Thorp's novel, Nothing Lasts Forever. He is depicted as the American Cowboy, a running gag throughout the films, which in addition to McClane's catch phrase "yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker," often has the villain comparing McClane to John Wayne. He typically carries a Beretta 92 pistol as his standard sidearm, though will often commandeer one of his enemy's weapons (usually an MP5 sub-machine gun) when additional firepower is required. McClane also has some type of support from an African American person whether be it giving advice, or providing physical back-up, starting with Al Powell (played by Reginald VelJohnson) during Die Hard and Die Hard 2, Leslie Barnes (played by Art Evans) and temporarily Major Grant (played by John Amos) during Die Hard 2, and lastly, Zeus Carver in Die Hard: With a Vengeance (played by Samuel L. Jackson)
[edit] History
John McClane is a police officer with the New York City Police Department. In the first film he had been an officer for 11 years. At the beginning of the first Die Hard, which was set in 1987, he was separated from his wife, Holly Gennero McClane (played by Bonnie Bedelia), who was using her maiden name. They were separated because Holly moved to Los Angeles several months earlier to pursue a career which John ultimately thought would fail. His decision to stay in New York is an indicator of his stubborn nature and highlights his desire to be proved right in all instances. They have two children, John Jr. and Lucy.
On Christmas Eve, John decides to visit his wife at her workplace at the Nakatomi Plaza which goes sour when he picks an argument with her. Unknown to the couple, the master criminal, Hans Gruber, initiates his plan to steal $640 million in bearer bonds and takes the office of the building hostage. McClane escapes detection and through considerable physical effort, eventually defeats the criminals.
With husband and wife reconciled in that trying night, John moves to the Los Angeles to join that city's police force. However, the next Christmas Eve finds McClane in a similar situation as the previous one (Die Hard 2: Die Harder) as he discovers mercenaries have seized control of a major Washington D.C airport's communications and threatened to cause deadly plane crashes, including the plane that is carrying his wife, unless their demands are met. McClane manages to foil this scheme and rescue his wife.
However, by the time of their depiction in the film Die Hard: With a Vengeance, the McClanes have divorced (or at least separated), which makes John's efforts to foil the explosive revenge plot of Hans Gruber's brother and his real primary scheme that much more difficult.
While ultimately a heroic character, McClane has no shortage of personal problems; his marriage is in a constant state of crisis, his vigilantism and disregard for authority have put him in danger of losing his job more than once, and he is a chain-smoker who is described as "two steps away from being a full-fledged alcoholic."
However, Bruce Willis will finally reprise his legendary role for the fourth Die Hard, currently titled Live Free or Die Hard, which will be released in 2007. In the film, McClane will now be retired, but is forced to return to battle genius computer-programmers.
[edit] Trivia
- Bruce Willis appears as John McClane in National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1.
- McClane is No. 46 in Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time list.
- McClane is often compared to the character Ash Williams from the Evil Dead movies, in reference to the amount of physical punishment both characters endure. This has led to some fan fiction crossovers, with either Ash helping John fight terrorists or John helping Ash fight zombies.
- In video games, McClane is voiced by Jamey Scott.
- An alternate ending for Die Hard With a Vengeance suggests that McClane and Simon Gruber were actually conspiring together to share the stolen gold. McClane meets up with Gruber in Europe then kills him in a rigged game of Russian Roulette involving a rocket launcher.
[edit] External links
| The Die Hard films |
|---|
| Die Hard | Die Hard 2 | Die Hard with a Vengeance | Live Free or Die Hard |
| Characters |
| John McClane | Hans Gruber | Simon Gruber |
| Video games |
| Die Hard | Die Hard Arcade | Die Hard Trilogy | Die Hard Trilogy 2 | Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza | Die Hard: Vendetta |
