Yippee ki-yay! Die Hard is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2018. When it was first released, the studio wasn’t even sure that Bruce Willis could be the centerpiece of a summer blockbuster, as he was mostly known for his comedic role on the series Moonlighting. Instead, Die Hard became an all-time action classic, turned Willis into a movie star, and was a box office success, making over $140 million worldwide on a $28 million budget.
It has since spawned four sequels—and potentially a fifth—that have grossed over $1.4 billion and some of Hollywood’s most memorable movie lines.
Nearly All of the Explosions in ‘Die Hard’ Were Real
The action sequences in Die Hard are so memorable because they feel realistic, and there’s a good reason why: most of them were. Cinematographer Jan De Bont, who later directed Speed, spoke with SlashFilm in an interview and explained how some of the stunts were done in the film.
