© "DIE HARD" Screenplay by Jeb Stuart based on the novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp eo SECOND REVISED DRAFT October 2, 1987 A Gordon Company/Silver Pictures ProductionA983 “DIE HARD" FADE IN 405 FREEWAY - LOS ANGELES - EARLY EVENING 1 Christmas tinsel on the light poles. We ARE LOOKING east past Inglewood INTO the orange grid of L.A. at night when suddenly we TILT UP TO CATCH the huge belly of a landing 747 -- the noise is deafening. INT, 747 - PASSENGERS - SAME 2 The usual moment just after landing when you let out that sigh of relief that you've made it in one piece. ON JOHN MCCLANE 3 mid-thirties, good-looking, athletic and tired from his trip. He sits by the window. His relief on landing is subtle but we notice. Suddenly, he hears a voice next to him. MAN'S VOICE (o.s.) Don't fly much do you? McClane looks over at a grinning middle-aged BUSINESSMAN sitting next to him. MCCLANE No. BUSINESSMAN Want to know the secret of surviving air travel?...Take off your shoes and socks when you get where you're going and walk around ten minutes barefoot. Better than a shower and a cup of coffee... MCCLANE (warily) Thanks...I'1l remember that. The Businessman picks up on McClane's scepticism and takes it as a challenge. His salesman's smile broadens. BUSINESSMAN You think I'm crazy don't you? Trust_me. I've been a salesman for twenty years. I know what I'm talking about. (CONTINUED)A98 2 CONTINUED: 3 ‘The Businessman oozes confidence. McClane reaches up to help a woman down with her bags and the butt of his Beretta handgun suddenly becomes visible to the Businessman. The man blanches at the sight and McClane notices the look. He's seen it before. MCCLANE It's okay...I'm a cop. We SEE this doesn't totally calm the Businessman. McClane holds his look and produces a gold NYPD Detective's shield. MCCLANE (€irm and definite) Trust me. I've been doing it for thirteen years. INT. THE NAKATOMI BUILDING (LOS ANGELES) - EVENING 4 CLOSE ON A bottle of Dom Perignon as the cork explodes across a large office floor decorated for Christmas. A Japanese man, mid-fifties standing on a desk holds up the bottle triumphantly and looks out at an adoring audience of junior executives and office personnel. He is JOSEPH TAKAGI, Sr. V.P. of Sales for Nakatomi, a multinational corporation. TAKAGI Ladies and gentlemen...1 congratulate each and every one of you for making this one of the greatest days in the history of the Nakatomi corporation... In the b.g., obviously still at work, an attractive BUSINESSWOMAN in her mid-thirties, studying a computer printout, heads toward her office. Falling into step with her is HARRY ELLIS, thirty-seven, V.P. of Sales. Well-dressed, with stylish, slicked-back hair, he looks and acts very smooth. ELLIS What about dinner? WOMAN (HOLLY) Do you ever look at the calendar, Harry? Christmas Eve...Santa's arriving. ..Family...Those things ring a bell? She turns into:agg 3 HER OFFICE 5 Her name is HOLLY GENNARO MCCLANE, though the nameplate on her door stops after the first two. She puts the printout down on her secretary's desk. HOLLY (to her secretary) Go on out, Ginny, they're opening the champagne. GINNY (grateful to be released) Thanks Ms. Gennaro. Ginny passes Ellis in the doorway as Holly punches a number on the phone. ELLIS (not giving up) How about tomorrow night? HOLLY (dryly) Worse. Just then the party on Holly's phone picks up and WE: INTERCUT: INT. NICE HOUSE IN SANTA MONICA 6 where a four-year-old girl, LUCY MCCLANE, answers the phone with a sense of importance. Lucy Hello, this is Lucy McClane. Holly suddenly smiles. It is the first time we've seen her smile and it speaks volumes about the person hidden under a tough business exterior. HOLLY (with affection) Hello, Lucy McClane. This is your mother. She looks up and watches Ellis leave. Lucy Mommy! When are you coming home: (CONTINUED)6 CONTINUED: 6 HOLLY Soon. You'll be in bed when I get there, though. Lucy Will you come say ‘good night'? HOLLY Don't I always, you goose? (enjoys her daughter's giggle over the line) May I speak with Paulina, please? Lucy hands the phone to a young Salvadorian woman, PAULINA, the housekeeper. } PAULINA Hello, Ms. Holly. You coming home soon? HOLLY Hopefully. (beat) Mr. McClane didn't call, did he? PAULINA No ma'am. Holly hides a trace of disappointment. HOLLY Maybe that means he got a flight. Why don't you make up the bed in the spare room, just in case. PAULINA (smiling) Yes ma'am, I already did. Holly's smile comes through again. 7 INT. LAX - EVENING 7 ool topcoat and carrying a huge imal and his hangup bag, comes down amp with the Businessman from the BUSINESSMAN *. Remember...bare feet, ten minutes. Merry Christmas. (CONTINUED) AgsA98 CONTINUED: 7 MCCLANE Yeah...Merry Christmas The Businessman moves down the ramp and is lovingly greeted by his family. McClane watches, moved by the sight, then looks around the waiting area, just on the chance his family might be waiting. Instead he spots a thin, gangling, black kid, WILLIAM, in an ill-fitting chaufeur's uniform. ‘As he waits he beats -out a rhythm on a card with J. McCLANE printed on it. McClane pauses in front of him. MCCLANE I'm John McClane. WILLIAM William, Sir...I'm your limo driver. Nice bag. He turns and starts walking. MCCLANE Don't you take this? WILLIAM (stops) Do 1? MCCLANE Hell, I don't know. I've never been picked up by a limo before. William takes McClane's bag. WILLIAM Hey, that's good...'cause I've never driven one before. CUT TO: INT. LIMOUSINE - DUSK 8 McClane and William both sit in the front seat as the black limo turns off the Santa Monica Freeway and heads north toward Century City. The huge toy animal sits in the backseat. McClane hears a rustling at his feet and looks down to see a bunch of fast food wrappers. Picks one up -- it says Taco Bell -- and looks at William who grins sheepishly. WILLIAM What can I say, man? I didn't expect you to sit up front. (CONTINUED)A98 CONTINUED: 8 WILLIAM (Cont.) (popping in a cassette) Mind if I play some tunes? A hard RAP SONG blasts from the speakers. MCCLANE How "bout some Christmas music? WILLIAM That is Christmas music. McClane gives up and grins, tosses the wrapper back on the floor and looks out the window. HIS P.0.V. 9 Convertibles with Christmas trees in their backseats, Time/Temperature signs which read: 69°, and palm trees trimmed in Christmas lights -- it is clear that Christmas L.A. style is a foreign commodity he could live happily without. WILLIAM (to the animal in the back) You know, you're stocked backed there, We got CD, CB, TV, phone, full bar. I even know a couple of Teddy Bears... (to McClane) ...Or is he married? MCCLANE Married. WILLIAM She live out here? MCCLANE As of six months ago. WILLIAM And you live in New York? MCCLANE You're nosey, you know that, William? WILLIAM Hey, I'm sorry. I got to quit doing that, you know... (CONTINUED)9 CONTINUED: 9 MCCLANE That's okay. WILLIAM So, you divorced or what? McClane gives up. : MCCLANE She had a good job, it turned into a great career. WILLIAM But meant her moving here. MCCLANE j You're fast. ‘ WILLIAM So, why didn't you come? MCCLANE ‘Cause I'm a New York cop not an IBM salesman. I don't just get up and move. WILLIAM (to the point) And you didn't think she'd make it here? McClane grins, he likes William even if he is direct. MCCLANE, You're fast, William. 10 INT. LOS ANGELES POLICE STATION - NIGHT 10 A miniature Christmas tree with blinking lights sits on a desk of SERGEANT AL POWELL, thirties, a man who's had enough experience to know how bad it can be out there. He speaks in low tones to the telephone. POWELL (defensively) Yeah, yeah, honey, don't go crazy -~ (listening, then) I know you're pregnant. I know you get cravings. I didn't say I wouldn't buy ‘em, I just said I wish you'd buy ‘em in big’ boxes... (CONTINUED) A9810 a 12 Ags 8 CONTINUED: 10 Suddenly Powell's miniature tree is knocked on its side and a handgun goes spinning across the desk into his lap. He looks up to see two cops trying to subdue a struggling suspect in front of his desk. COP #1 looks up at Powell and grins. cop #1 Don't worry, Al, it ain't loaded. POWELL (to phone) I got to go. Powell hangs up and puts the heavy firearm on the desk as the two cops shove the suspect into a chair in front of him. COP #2 stares at the suspect and points at Powell. CoP #2 Sergeant Powell's a very deadly man with a handgun, so don't try anything or he might kill you... by accident. The two cops laugh. Powell ignores them, and expertly rolls in a sheet of paper into his main weapon -- the typewriter. POWELL (to suspect) Full name, last name first... ‘INT. LIMO - NIGHT 12 McClane and William pull up in front of the Nakatomi building, a forty story, ultra-modern highrise in Century City. WILLIAM You here to patch things up? MCCLANE I'm here to try. Thanks for the ride, William. He gets out and William sits a moment in the car alone before getting out to help him with the bags. EXT. NAKATOMI BUILDING - NIGHT 12 William climbs out of the limo and stops by the trunk. WILLIAM What happens if you don't get back with your wife? Where're you going to stay? (CONTINUED)age 12 13 14 15 12 CONTINUE! MCCLANE I'll find someplace. He looks up at the highrise lit by huge spotlights, then back at William who's made no attempt to open the trunk. WILLIAM Look, I'm going to pull into the parking garage and wait. You score with your wife give me a call on the car phone and I'll leave your bags inside at the desk. You strike out...I'1l get you to a hotel. He hands McClane a slip with the number on it. MCCLANE (taking the number) Thanks. What're you going to do? WILLIAM Don't worry about William... (points to the stuffed animal) :+,He's going to hang out with his friend here till you call. INT. NAKATOMI LOBBY - NIGHT 13 Beautiful and deserted. A large Christmas tree stands next to the security table where the GUARD sits. McClane goes to the desk and signs in. MCCLANE Holly Gennaro. International Sales. GUARD Thirty-second floor...You can't miss ‘em, they're the only ones left in the place. INT. ELEVATOR - NIGHT 14 McClane riding the elevator. He rotates his head. Getting the cricks out. As he approaches the 32nd floor we hear a tremendous THUMPING, THROBBING NOISE. McClane stops and listens before he realizes -~ it's the party. As the doors open the noise attacks us. 32ND FLOOR - SAME 15 McClane moves around the edge of the party and stops a dancing woman who points to Holly's “office.10 16 HOLLY'S OFFICE - SAME : 16 McClane pauses at the door and notes the name, then knocks. It is opened by Takagi. Ellis sits behind Holly's secretary's desk and nervously taps a tightly-rolled dollar bill. MCCLANE Sorry, I was looking for -- ‘TAKAGI Holly Gennaro? MCCLANE Yeah... ‘TAKAGI Then you must be John McClane. (introducing himsel£) Joe Takagi, John. How was your ride in? Ellis subtly runs a checking finger under his nose then stands to shake hands with McClane. McClane takes it all in. MCCLANE Nice. Do I have you to thank for that? TAKAGI Or blame for it. She was going to meet you herself, but I threw some things at her at the last minutes. (motions to Ellis) John, this is Harry Ellis one of our shining stars in international sales. (to Ellis) John is a New York policeman. ELLIS (shaking hands) Pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from your ex-... (correcting himself) .+-your wife. We can tell by McClane's look that he doesn't think much of Ellis. McClane holds Ellis' look and runs his finger subtly under his nose. a MCCLANE (low, to Ellis) You missed some. (CONTINUED) age16 age 1 CONTINUED: 16 MCCLANE (Cont.) (to Takagi) Well, you fellas throw quite a Christmas party. Ellis automatically puts his hand to his face before realizing his face is clean. ‘TAKAGI Well, actually it's also a little celebration for a deal we closed this afternoon. A $150,000,000 deal. A deal we have Holly to thank a lot for -- Holly enters. Seeing McClane momentarily stops her. HOLLY (surprised) John...Oh...Did you meet everyone? TAKAGI No, we've been sticking spears in him...0f course he has. McClane and Holly look at each other for a moment awkwardly then she kisses him on the cheek. The awkwardness pleases Ellis. TAKAGI (to McClane) She's made for this business. Tough as nails. ELLIS Show him the watch. He points to a new gold Rolex on Holly's wrist. HOLLY (giving him a look) I will later. ELLIS Abh...Show him. Don't be embarrassed. (to McClane) A little something to show how much we appreciate her good work. (CONTINUED)16 7 18 19 20 21 A98 12 CONTINUED: (2) 16 Holly fixes Ellis with a lethal look. MCCLANE I'm sure I'11 see it later. Right now I could use a place to wash up. EXT. NAKATOMI - NIGHT 17 A UPS truck turns off Olympic into the underground parking garage of Nakatomi. INT. PARKING GARAGE 18 It goes down the ramp and passes William's black limo, William is not visible in the front. The back windows are tinted. INT. LIMO - SAME 19 William sits in the backseat. He is making a drink from the bar with the TV on and his rap music blasting from the cassette player, oblivious to the truck passing behind him. INT. PARKING GARAGE - SAME 20 The UPS truck stops in front of the service elevator on the next level down. As the truck idles, the uniformed driver makes a note on his clipboard. INT. ELLIS' OFFICE - WASHROOM - NIGHT 2. Holly sits in Ellis' office -- a Sharper Image kind of place. Through a door to the private washroom, she watches McClane in his T-shirt finish washing his face. HOLLY Sorry about Ellis. He has a hard time this time of year... MCCLANE Hey, I know the type. He thought he was God's greatest gift. They both smile, a ieminder of something past. HOLLY Sa, where are you staying? This all happened so fast I didn't even ask you on the phone. (CONTINUED)a98 13 CONTINUED: 21 McClane finishes drying his face and steps to the doorway. MCCLANE Well, Cappy Roberts retired out here a couple years ago. He said I could bunk with him. HOLLY Oh...Where does he live? MCCLANE, Pomona. HOLLY Pomona! You'll be in the car the whole time...Look, let's make this easy. I have a spare bedroom. It's not huge, but the kids would love to have you at the house. McClane fixes her with a look. MCCLANE How about you? HOLLY (beat, honest) I would too. MCCLANE I feel kinda stupid asking how things are going, that seems pretty obvious. He nods at her new watch. She rubs her watchband self-consciously and when she looks up McClane is staring at her. MCCLANE God, you look good. HOLLY (pleased, smiles) You don't look half-bad yourself. They lock eyes for a moment, but it's an intense moment that says a lot about how they still feel about each other. Just then a man and a woman, both a little tipsy, open the door to the office, see that its occupied and beat a hasty retreat. The interruption temporarily dents the mood. Holly tries to smile. : (CONTINUED)21° 22 23 24 ag8 14 CONTINUED: (2) 21 HOLLY Welcome to L.A...I've missed you. She leaves and McClane smiles to himself -- it's a start. He looks at all the lavishness around him and picks up a phone on the wall by the toilet. He opens his wallet and takes out the phone number William gave him. A photo of his children stops him, INSERT ~ THE PHOTO 22 Holly and the two children we saw at Holly's house. He flips it over. On the back in crude but painstaking hand of a five-year-old it says: WE MISS YOU, DADDY. LOVE JOHN (and in more primative letters) LUCY. MCCLANE 23 returns the photo to his wallet, dials the number and begins to unlace his shoes. INT, BUILDING LOBBY - SAME 24 The Guard at the front desk notices the UPS truck on his monitor. The Guard continues to watch the UPS truck and only half notices as a BMW pulls up in front of the building and two extremely well-dressed, BUSINESSMEN (late twenties) climb out and start up the stairs for the door. As they cross the lobby to the Guard's table to sign-in, we hear their conversation. MAN #1 (THEO) (animatedly) So, Kareem rebounds -- listen, this is a great play -- feeds Worthy on the break, over to A.C., to Magic, back to Worthy in the lane and -- Suddenly the other man pulls out a Walther pistol with a silencer and aims it at the Guard's forehead. Before the Guard can react he pulls the trigger. MAN #1 (THEO) (dryly) Boom...two points. (The speed with which the murder takes place sets the tone for the rest of the action.) The killer moves behind the desk, stepping over a small pool of blood from the Guard. His name is KARL, big, with long blond hair like a rock drummer. Karl takes off the silencer and looks at the (CONTINUED)a98 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 15 CONTINUED: 24 video monitor of the UPS truck. The first man, THEO, opens his briefcase and takes out a portable CB radio. THEO (on CB) We're in. ON THE SCREEN 25 the driver nods at the security camera as several men climb out the rear of the van and begin unloading wooden crates: by the service elevator. INT. BUILDING OPERATIONS CONTROL ROOM 26 Theo enters the small control room and comfortably sits behind a maintenance keyboard. With a few typed-in commands he locks down the passenger elevators up to the 32nd floor. Then with several more computer commands, systematically causes: THE HEAVY STEEL GATES TO THE PARKING GARAGE CLOSE 27 THE ESCALATORS TO THE GARAGE COME TO A STOP 28 THE POWERFUL BLOWERS IN THE AIR CONDITIONING TOWER 29 ON THE ROOF SUDDENLY STOP AND WE HEAR JUST THE TRICKLE OF WATER IN THE ‘COOLING TOWER CONTROL ROOM - SAME 30 Theo finishes typing and disconnects the keyboard and pulls out the wires from beneath the panel. INT. LOBBY ~ SAME 31 The doors to a service elevator open TO REVEAL HANS GRUBER, impeccably dressed, lean and handsome, he steps out into the lobby like he owns the building -- and in a way he does. Theo steps to the door of the control room and tosses Hans the Guard's master keys. Hans goes to the front door and locks it. He looks out at the street -- not a creature is stirring -- Century City is quiet. KARL 32 waits beside an elevator which opens REVEALING NINE MEN dressed in fatigues, all armed with Kalashnikov machine guns and carrying canvas kit bags. One of them, HEINZ, in his twenties, goes to the dead guard and immediately begins changing into the dead man's clothes.a9 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 16 KARL 33 takes a tool case from the elevator and heads silently for the basement stairwell. THEO 34 leaves the control room and nods to Hans. HEINZ 35 half-dressed in his uniform, takes his position behind the front desk. HANS 36 looks at his watch and seems pleased. He steps into the service elevator with the others and presses the button for the 32nd floor. The entire sequence has taken maybe sixty seconds. INT. ELLIS' BATHROOM - 32ND FLOOR - SAME 37 McClane, barefoot, his pant legs rolled up above his ankles. He finishes dialing and waits for the party to answer. INT. BUILDING BASEMENT - PHONE ROOM 38 A large sign says: PACIFIC BELL EMPLOYEES ONLY. Inside Karl stands in front of an intimidating matrix of phone lines ~- but what he has in mind won't require a doctorate in Electrical Engineering. He focuses on four CPV plastic conduits which run out of the main panel over his head and opens his case REVEALING a compact electric chain saw. INT. ELLIS' BATHROOM - SAME 39 McClane on the phone. MCCLANE (on phone) William?... INT. LIMO 40 William is reclining on the seat. The music is on so loud that it is nearly impossible to hear. WILLIAM So, man, what's the story? INT. PHONE ROOM - SAME 41 Karl cuts through the four tubes one at a time.42 43 44 45 46 47 438 A98 17 INT. ELLIS' BATHROOM - SAME 42 McClane on the phone. MCCLANE I'm just calling to -- He stops and gently taps the phone cradle. No dial tone. INT. LIMO 43 William looks at the phone. WILLIAM What?...Mr. Mac, you there? He turns down the music but there is no one on the line. WILLIAM (to himself) Well, call me back, John. You got the number. He hangs up and turns the volume back up. ELLIS' OFFICE 44 He hangs up the phone and goes into Ellis' office and picks up the phone on the desk. It too is dead. INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR 45 Hans and the others approaching the 32nd floor. As they grow closer we hear the noise of the speakers growing louder and louder. The men cock their weapons and brace themselves as the car stops and the elevator doors open. ON THE SOUND OF GUNSHOTS AND SCREAMS WE: cur To: INT. ELLIS' OFFICE 46 McClane grabs his shoulder harness off the back of the chair and moves quickly to the doorway. He looks down the hall. HIS P.O.V. 47 Two terrorists, FRANCO and TONY, armed with M-5 machine guns searching the offices on the hall one by one. They open a door, look in from the hallway, and move on quickly to the next. They are four offices away and moving fast. McClane looks across the corridor and sees the stairwell door -- too far to reach without being seen. MCCLANE. 5 : 48 steps back, throws off the safety on his Beretta and braces himself.49 co 50 ! 51 ’ oO ) ’ \ 52 A98 18 HALLWAY - FRANCO AND TONY 49 reach the office just before Ellis' and throw open the door REVEALING the man and woman who interrupted Holly and McClane a few minutes before, now in the throes of passionate lovemaking on the desk. The two terrorists smile at each other then enter the office. A moment later the man, trying desperately to pull up his pants and woman buttoning her blouse, are pushed out into the hall and toward the party, by Tony, The other terrorist, Franco, goes to Ellis' office and opens the door. It is empty. Only McClane's shoes and coat remain. INT, STAIRWELL - SAME 50 CLOSE ON McClane's bare feet padding quickly up the concrete stairs, two at a time. We FOLLOW him up two flights, then out onto the: 34TH FLOOR 51 Unlike the 32nd it has no surrounding offices, just one large secretarial pool with hundreds of desks, hundreds of phones, dark and deserted. McClane moves quickly to a desk and picks up a phone. It's out. McCLANE Shit... Out the windows a high-rise apartment building a half-block away sparkles with lights. McClane stares at a woman in her kitchen. We SEE her wipe her hands on an apron and turn to answer a telephone. It seems so easy. McCLANE Think... . INT, 32ND FLOOR (HOSTAGE FLOOR) - SAME 52 The employees have been herded to the center of the room where the desks have been pulled tack. Many people are whimpering. Holly looks around the room for McClane; she sees Ellis. Takagi, stubbornly refusing to cooperate is pushed toward the group. Hans steps up on top of a desk and looks over the group. HANS (soothing, in control) Ladies and gentlemen, due to Nakatomi's legacy of greed in Third World countries, it is about to be made an example. You, unfortunately, are part of the recompense. (conTIwUED)52 53 54 55 a9 19 CONTINUED: 52 HANS (Cont.) We are going to collect identification. This is not a pillage -- we do not want your wallets or money. A driver's license or ID with a photo will do nicely. Several of the terrorists begin collecting IDs as people hunt for ID. HANS At present we have no intentions of hurting anyone. If our demands are not met, however -- expect that to change. (beat, smiles) Your cooperation is appreciated. He steps down from the desk and goes into: HOLLY'S OFFICE 53 where a terrorist with glasses, FRITZ, has begun to set up operations. A large CB unit is placed on her desk and a TV monitor is put on the credenza. While he works, Hans picks up an 8x10 photo on the credenza. CLOSE - THE PHOTO 54 The same one that we saw in McClane's wallet of Holly and the children. HANS : 55 He puts the photo back. Franco (who checked Ellis' office) brings McClane's coat, socks and shoes. Hans examines the clothes and looks at the man who brought them. HANS Is this all? FRANCO (nods) Do you want us to search for him? HANS No. He can't signal for help and he cannot get out. Hans feels the fabric of McClane's topcoat as Franco leaves and Takagi is brought to the office. Hans smiles. (CONTINUED)20 55 CONTINUED: 55 HANS _ (pleasantly) Mr, Takagi, my name is Hans Gruber. Would you come with me, please? 56 INT. STAIRWELL - 38TH FLOOR - SAME 56 McClane pauses outside the stairwell door to the 38th floor, he presses the handle and cracks the door open TO REVEAL a computer floor. The:computer machinery drones on under the lights behind plate glass windows. McClane quietly closes the door and makes a note on a piece of paper. 57 CLOSE - THE PAPER 57 It is a listing of the floors and says: i 32---Hostages / 33---2 34---Open Floor 35---Open Floor ‘Cubicles Cubicles and inside offices (Tv sets in inside office) 38---Computers 58 9 MCCLANE 58 moves up the stairs to the next landing, the 39th floor, and tries to open the door. It is locked. He keeps going up. 59 INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR - NIGHT 59 Hans, Takagi, Karl and Tony. Riding silently. Hans alone seems relaxed. He whistles. We recognize it as “Whistle While You Work.". He looks at Takagi's suit. HANS Nice suit. John Philips...London? ‘TAKAGI (surprised) How the hell would you know? HANS: (smiles) I have two myself... He continues whistling and enjoys Takagi's surprise. HANS You are surprised a ‘terrorist’ would know fine tailors? (CONTINUED) ageagg 59 60 61 62 63 21 CONTINUED: 59 The answer is obvious. Hans smiles and lowers his voice as if sharing an inside secret. HANS Rumor has it Arafat buys his there. INT, STATRWELL 60 McClane starts to open the stairwell door to the 40th Floor when a NOISE above him gets his attention. He moves silently [Link] flight to the roof. Quietly, he cracks the door and looks out onto a Machine floor on the lower level of the roof. HIS P.O.V. 61 Three terrorists, JAMES, ULI and HEINRICH, unload the wooden crates we saw in the garage from the service elevator. One of them looks his way an MCCLANE 62 closes the door and slips back down the stairs, opening the door to the next floor. Like the others, it is dark but we instantly know from the paneling that he has reached an executive floor. VOICES and a light at the end of the hallway @raw him in that direction. INT, CONFERENCE ROOM - 40TH FLOOR - NIGHT 63 CLOSE ON a scale model of a bridge. Constructed to exacting detail. Hans admires it. Behind him are photographs of the gorge where the bridge will be constructed and maps of Central america. Karl, Tony and a wiry terrorist, MARCO, listen. Takagi watches. HANS It's beautiful. I always enjoyed models as a boy. The exactness, the attention to detail. Beautiful... ‘TAKAGI (defensively) Contrary to what you people think, that bridge and its construction will open up that entire region to growth. Hans straightens, looks hard at Takagi. HANS I believe you. Takagi looks confused. Hans puts a friendly arm around Takagi's shoulders and guides him into the adjacent boardroom where Theo types in commands onto a built-in computer console. (CONTINUED)63 64 65 agg 22 CONTINUED: 63 HANS Mr. Takagi, I'm sure you've realized that I didn't bring you up here to look at models or debate your business ethics. Theo types at the console. INSERT: SCREEN 64 It says: NAKATOMI INVESTMENT PENSION PLAN and a list of Serial and CUSIP numbers. In one stroke they are deleted from the screen. Then the next message comes up: ENTER ACCESS NUMBER. TAKAGI 65 He stops as Theo turns and faces him. He knows suddenly what it's all about. Hans smiles at Takagi. HANS You can make our lives very easy, Mr. Takagi. TAKAGI I don't know the code. Hans slowly takes out his Walther and his silencer. He feels his silencer a moment, as if making a decision, then slips it back into his coat pocket. Takagi sees the gun. TAKAGI (more seriously) only three people know it, the CEO, the Chief financial officer and the Chairman. I'm not privy to such information. Hans presses the gun against Takagi's lapel. HANS (calmly) You wouldn't lie to me, would you? ‘TAKAGI (holding Hans' look) No. He gulps. Theo looks hard at Karl, who reluctantly meets his look. ‘THEO (to Karl) I told you he wouldn't know. (CONTINUED)XY a98 65 66 67 68 23 CONTINUED: 65 Karl gives Theo five dollars -- a private bet. Takagi takes heart, but Hans doesn't put up his gun. ‘TAKAGI I told you the truth, HANS And I believe you, Mr. Takagi...Now, believe me. We didn't need the code... and I'm going to kill you anyway. He cocks the gun then hesitates, moves the barrel upward off his suit. HANS Too nice a suit to ruin... He moves the barrel up Takagi's neck, seemingly searching for just the right spot. He pauses below Takagi's jaw, next to his jugular and snuggles the barrel gently into the niche. @akagi looks around the room. The others watch stoically. Hans moves the barrel from the jugular to a point directly over Takagi's adam's apple and Finally seems satisfied. The Exec locks eyes with Hans. TAKAGI I'm not scared of you. HANS I know...but you probably should be. HALLWAY - ON MCCLANE - SAME 66 He presses his eye to the crack in the door just in time to see Hans pull the trigger. In the tiny room it sounds like Hiroshima. The blast knocks Takagi backwards onto his butt, a gaping hole in his throat. He remains seated upright for an instant, stunned, before Hans steps up and puts another bullet in his chest. CLOSE ON MCCLANE 67 He is stunned and moves back from the door holding his breath. His gun bumps against the paneling. ON HANS - TAKAGI'S OFFICE 68 He looks up at the sound. HANS : What's that? (CONTINUED)age 68 69 70 71 72 73 24 CONTINUED: 68 Marco turns to the door to the hallway where McClane was and throws open the door. The long, darkened hallway is deserted. He steps into the: HALLWAY 69 . and stops in front of the only door near the conference room =- a Supply Closet -- and tries the door -- it is locked. ‘MARCO (to Hans) Nothing. CONFERENCE ROOM 70 Karl stares at the body of Takagi then looks up at Hans as Marco returns to the room. HANS (to Karl) Go supervise the work on the roof. INT. SUPPLY CLOSET n In the darkness of the closet we MAKE OUT McClane, pressed against the wall. He listens to the footsteps moving away and lets out a breath. MCCLANE (whispers) Jesus, Williams, what're you doing down there? CUT TO: INT. LIMO - PARKING GARAGE ers William is on the car phone. The music is playing. WILLIAM I'm working, honey. Working hard. "course I'll be by later to pick you up, have I ever lied to you? My boss? He thinks I'm cruising down to San Diego... SAFE ROOM - 39TH FLOOR 73 Hans and Theo enter the safe room. The huge corporate safe looms in front of them. Theo places three kit bags onto a table and rolls up his sleeves. HANS How long? . ‘THEO (eyeing the safe) Ask me in an hour.age 4 75 76 7 78 25 37TH FLOOR 74 McClane moves out onto the 37th floor, angry at himself. MCCLANE Why the fuck didn't you stop him? (beat) Because, you ignorant sonofabitch, you'd be dead, too. Think...think, : goddamnit! Suddenly he looks up at the ceiling and sees a sprinkler head. His look drops to the wall and focuses on a small red fire alarm switch by the door. INT. MAIN FLOOR ~ L.A. FIRE STATION - NIGHT 75 An alarm sounds. Quickly firemen move to their machines as a voice of a 911 Dispatcher drones. 911 DISPATCHER Main Wilshire units. Two alarm fire at Nakatomi -- The voice continues as the station doors open and we: cur To: INT. NAKATOMI - GROUND FLOOR OPERATIONS ROOM - SAME 76 A fire alarm indicator light showing which floor has sounded the fire alarm -- suddenly begins flashing, emitting short, loud beeps. Heinz, the terrorist in the guard's uniform and manning the station, immediately picks up his CB. 37TH FLOOR - SAME 7 McClane stands at windows looking Northward for fire trucks. Suddenly we SEE the flashing red lights of two trucks in traffic two miles away. MCCLANE C'mon, baby...c'mon. INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR - ON HANS - SAME 78 He rides the elevator back to 32nd floor with Tony. HANS (calmly, to Heinz on CB) Use the portable phone. Call 911, give them your badge number and cancel the alarm..,then disable the system. He ponders the problem of McClane, looks across at Tony, and presses the talk button again. (CONTINUED)A98 78 79 80 a1 82 26 CONTINUED: 78 HANS Heinz? What floor did the alarm go off? 37TH FLOOR - SAME 79 McClane stands silhouetted against the window. In the distance he can see another fire truck swing off Santa Monica onto Avenue of the Stars. Suddenly the red light on the first truck goes out, then on the second. McClane watches in disbelief. The trucks slow and turn down separate side streets, heading for home. MCCLANE (realizing) No... Just then the elevator bell rings and we HEAR the ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN. A figure (Tony) slips into the shadows -- his machine gun drawn, We MOVE WITH HIM from the elevator area until he reaches the light switch and throws it illuminating the entire floor. McClane is gone. TONY (calling out) Okay, you! I know you're here. I don't want to hurt you. ON MCCLANE 80 under a desk. He takes in his options. HIS P.O.V. 81 the feet of Tony. They move slowly in his direction. McClane looks down the aisle next to the windows. It leads to a series of office cubicles at the other end of the floor and is a clear path if he can make it past Tony. TONY a2 He moves steadily toward the area where we saw McClane. TONY Your signal was cancelled. No one is coming to help you. So come out and join the others. He fingers the trigger of his machine gun. ‘TONY, I promise I won't hurt you. (CONTINUED)agg 82 83 84 27 CONTINUED: 82 Moving more confidently, he steps up to McClane's desk, then around it and fires a blast into the space. It is empty. As the SOUND OF THE MACHINE GUN FADES he listens and hears another SOUND -- a low HUMMING NOISE coming from the other end of the room near the cubicles. Tony heads toward the noise. Sensing a trap, he moves past each cubicle carefully, checking each office until he reaches the doorway of the last one. The sound is just around the partition. He tenses, then spins into the cubicle. TONY'S P.O.V. 83 an electric typewriter left on. TONY 84 grins at his nervousness, He turns it off as McClane steps INTO FRAME behind him, his gun aimed at Tony. MCCLANE Save that energy. Tony slowly turns around and sees McClane's detective badge pinned to his shirt. MCCLANE Put down your gun. Tony doesn't. McClane cocks his Beretta. Tony watches him calmly. TONY You won't do it. MCCLANE Why not? TONY Because you are a policeman. MCCLANE Try me. Tony spins to the side and McClane fires, hitting him in the arm, but the big man's momentum slams McClane into a filing cabinet and sends his pistol into the hall. ‘Tony reaches for his machine gun, but McClane kicks him into the desk. He locks his arms around the big man's neck in a hold that sends Tony reeling into the hall. McClane holds on as they slam into the glass door of a fire hose cabinet shattering the glass. ‘They careen across the hall into the stairwell door, opening it, and crash into:A98 85 86 87 28 STAIRWELL LANDING 85 then down the concrete steps into the wall on the landing below. For a moment, both men lie still, then McClane moves and we SEE the concrete becomes wet under the big man as Tony's bladder opens. McClane, still holding onto Tony's neck, releases it and the man's head flops sickeningly to the side. For a moment McClane just looks at the dead man, stunned, then a HISSING SOUND coming from Tony's kit bag gets his attention. He opens it and finds the terrorist's CB. TIME CUT TO: INT. 34TH FLOOR ELEVATOR CAR - NIGHT 86 Tony's body sits slumped in a secretary's chair -- a note attached to his chest. McClane sits on the floor in front of him hurriedly lacing up the dead terrorist's boots on his own feet. He ties the last lace and tries to take a couple of steps. He nearly falls flat. Quickly he starts taking the boots off. MCCLANE A zillion terrorists in the building and I kill the one with feet smaller than my sister. He yanks off the boots and tosses them on Tony's lap, then pushes buttons for the 33rd and 32nd floors. He slings Tony's kit bag over his shoulder along with the dead man's machine gun. A wooden desk ruler protrudes from McClane's back pocket. The elevator doors close and the car starts down. After it's dropped only half a floor, McClane forces the doors open with his fingers -- stopping the car between floors. Using the ruler he blocks open the inside doors, then opens the outside doors of the floor above (34th) with his fingers and pulls himself up onto the carpeted floor, then up onto the roof of the car. Once on the roof of the car he reaches over the edge and removes the ruler, closing the inside doors and setting the car in motion again. 32ND FLOOR (HOSTAGE FLOOR) - NIGHT 87 The elevator bell rings and Fritz, guarding the area, sees Tony's body in the chair, Hans comes to the elevator with Franco, lifts Tony's chin and sees that his neck has been snapped. He removes the note and reads it aloud. HANS ‘Now I have a machine gun,' FRITZ Maybe a security guard we overlooked. (CONTINUED)agg 87 a8 89 90 91 29 CONTINUED: 87 Hans lifts Tony's chin again, lets the head flop over. HANS Would you do this to someone if you had a gun? FRITZ (slightly spooked) We have to do something, Hans. Hans sighs and looks at the dead man. HANS Yes...we have to tell Karl his brother is dead. Tell him to come down. As Fritz calls Karl on his CB, Hans looks at Franco. HANS Franco, take the body upstairs out of sight. I want these people kept calm for as long as possible. Come back down the stairs and check each floor...I want to see the person who did this. INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT - CAR ROOF - ON MCCLANE - SAME = 88 on top of the car, listening to the conversation below. Franco and Fritz step into the car and the doors on the elevator close. The car accelerates upward and McClane grabs onto the heavy, grease-coated cables to keep his balance. Already his clothes are soiled; his face and feet, arms and hair are dark from the dirt and sweat. The car speeds up the shaft -- passing the car bringing Karl down to the hostage floor -- and stops at the 40th floor. The doors open and McClane hears them roll the chair with the body off the car. McClane looks up. MCCLANE'S P.0.V. 89 A metal catwalk runs around the inside of the elevator shaft. MCCLANE 90 pulls himself up onto it. As he moves along the catwalk looking for a way out, he passes an unmarked metal door, 2'x3'. McClane pushes it open and looks in. MCCLANE'S P.O.V. 91 Total darkness.92 93 94 95 96 97 age 30 MCCLANE 92 takes out a rifle cartridge from Tony's kit bag and lobs it into the void. It is a full four seconds until we hear its nonexplosive chatter on the ground below. You don't have to be a mathematics whiz to know it's a long drop. MCCLANE Jesus... He moves cautiously around a corner and we SEE a metal ladder leading up to a door marked PUMP ROOM. Opening the door McClane enters a darkened: PUMP ROOM 93 damp and full of pipes and goes to another door. He cracks the door and looks out. MCCLANE'S P.0.V. 94 The lower level of the roof. Open and deserted. Only a heliport above him is higher. 32ND FLOOR (HOSTAGE FLOOR) - HOLLY'S OFFICE - SAME 95 CLOSE ON A PAIR OF LARGE HANDS as they squeeze into fists so tight it drains all color from the fingers. Controlled rage. We PULL BACK TO REVEAL the hands belong to Karl, who stands in Hans' office. KARL Now. HANS (firmly) No. Theo has not finished. He must be done before the police arrive. EXT. ROOF - NIGHT 96 McClane climbs to the heliport and leans against the leeward side of a wall surrounding it. Shielded from wind, he pulls out the CB, turns to channel nine, and starts broadcasting. MCCLANE Mayday, Mayday, tell police terrorists have seized the Nakatomi building -- INT. OFFICE - KCBS-TV - SAME 97 DICK THORNBURG, local TV news reporter, talking on the phone to his girlfriend also hears the distress call. He stops listening to her for a moment, and turns up his scanner. MCCLANE'S VOICE -- I repeat...unknown number of foreign nationals armed with automatic weapons (CONTINUED)A98 97 98 99 100 101 1) CONTINUED: 97 MCCLANE'S VOICE (Cont.) are holding at least thirty people hostage at Nakatomi, Century City... Somebody answer me, goddamnit! INT. HANS' OFFICE - SAME 98 Hans’ and Karl also hear the clear signal over Hans' CB. HANS The roof. INT. LOS ANGELES EMERGENCY DISPATCH CENTER - SAME 99 SUPERVISOR weaves her way back from the break room toward a DISPATCHER who is monitoring the call. DISPATCHER It's the same address we got a crank fire call at earlier tonight... SUPERVISOR I'll handle it. She plugs in her headset. SUPERVISOR (to McClane) Attention. This is an authorized police frequency -- MCCLANE'S VOICE Listen to me, this is an emergency. I need police backup, now. Tell police, terrorists have killed one hostage already -- INT. KCBS - ON THORNBURG - SAME 100 listening more closely, On a hunch he reaches over and starts recording the conversation. MCCLANE'S VOICE {o.8.) -- and have the building heavily fortified. INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR - ON KARL - SAME 101 with Franco and Fritz. KARL No one kills him but me. It's an order and the look he gives the other two backs it up. He fite a fresh magazine into his rifle as the elevator opens to the roof.A98 102 103 104 105 106 32 EXT. UPPER ROOF - ON MCCLANE - SAME 102 He is almost breathless as he finishes his call. MCCLANE ...and they have cut all the phone and emergency communication lines. That's all the information I have, now, Over. He releases the talk button. There is a pause and then his radio crackles to life again with the Supervisor's voice. SUPERVISOR'S VOICE (o.8.) I repeat. This is an authorized police frequency. Any unauthorized use will be investigated by police -- MCCLANE (to the radio) Then send them, goddamnit! what the hell ‘you people want -- a fucking engraved invitation!? suddenly machine gun shells rip into the concrete wall in front of him. The noise is deafening as we: cur TO: INT, DISPATCHER OFFICE - SAME 103 Both Supervisor and Dispatcher reach for their headsets in pain from the INTENSE SOUND and: INT. KCBS (THORNBURG'S OFFICE) - SAME 104 Thornburg immediately hangs up on his girlfriend and yells over his shoulder to his assistant in the next room. ‘THORNBURG Mary! Call Sam. Tell him I need a crew, now! EXT. ROOF - ON MCCLANE - SAME 105 Running. Tracer bullets rip into the wall behind him. He reaches the corner and sees the two other terrorists moving toward him. Before they see him, he leaps down to the next level out of range of Karl. INT. EMERGENCY DISPATCH - SAME 106 The Supervisor and Dispatcher listen in stunned silence, The shots sounded real enough... SUPERVISOR (to Dispatcher) Have a Black and White do a drive-by.A98 107 108 109 33 INT, 7-11 - ON POWELL 107 He puts two packs of pink Hostess "Twinkies" and his police radio down on the counter in front of a young male CLERK, who stifles a smile. Another teenage employee behind the counter also smothers a laugh. CLERK Is that...all, Sir? He tries not to look at Powell for fear of breaking up altogether. POWELL They're for my wife. She's pregnant. The clerk nods and puts them in a bag. Suddenly Powell's Police Radio crackles to life. DISPATCHER'S VOICE/RADIO 6421 to One Adam Ten, over. Powell picks up the radio. POWELL One Adam Ten, go ahead. DISPATCHER'S VOICE/RADIO Investigate a code two at 15433 Avenue of the Stars. Powell grabs the bag and immediatley heads for the door as the two employees break into laughter. CLERK Wonder what a ‘Code Two! is...cupcake alert? EXT. ROOF - ON MCCLANE - NIGHT 108 running for his life, from Fritz and Franco, doesn't realize he is being herded around the building toward Karl. Suddenly McClane turns a corner and sees Karl. The big man fires a burst and McClane ducks back stopping at the exterior door to the pump room he used before, It is locked from the inside. He blows the lock off with a burst from his machine gun and slips into the darkness of the: PUMP ROOM - SAME 109 Moving quickly through the pump room, McClane picks his way over the same ground as a few minutes before and opens the door to the elevator shaft. The dimly lit shaft yawns before him. He starts down the ladder back to the catwalk.110 ii 112 113 114 34 EXT. THE ROOF - SAME 110 Franco and Fritz reach the pump room door and wait for Karl, who leads the way into the darkness of the pump room. ELEVATOR SHAFT - ON MCCLANE - SAME 11 on the far stretch of catwalk. He turns the corner, out of view of the pump room door, moves down the back side of the catwalk past the small air shaft door, and stops -- he's reached a dead end -- the catwalk ends, the elevator is gone. INT. PUMP ROOM - ON KARL - SAME 112 His flashlight beam dances around the interior of the room, He starts to open the door to the elevator shaft when suddenly their radio crackles with Hans' voice. HANS' VOICE Karl? Franco? Where is he? FRANCO In the elevator shaft. HANS' VOICE The elevators are down here, Lock him in. Karl doesn't answer. HANS' VOICE (more firmly) Lock him in, That's an or -- Karl turns off his radio. In the light of their flashlights, the two other terrorists look at Karl in stunned disbelief. He opens the door to the elevator shaft. INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT - ON MCCLANE - SAME 113 He backtracks to the air shaft door, strikes the lighter from Tony's kit bag and looks in. MCCLANE'S P.O.V. 114 The air shaft. The lighter dimly illuminates four walls of smooth aluminum disappearing into darkness. Moving the light in further, he sees something else -- the dark outline of a horizontal air conditioning duct -- nine feet down the side and leading into the guts of the building.Ag8. 15 116 a7 is 19 120 121 122 123 124 35 MCCLANE 11s extinguishes his light, looks at the strap on his kit bag. INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (OPPOSITE SIDE) - SAME 7 116 Karl steps off the ladder to the catwalk and unslings his machine gun. CLOSE - BRASS CLIPS 117 from McClane's kit bag. One has been clipped to each end of his machine gun making a long sling. MCCLANE. 118 braces the gun across the outside opening of the air shaft door and lowers himself into the: AIR SHAFT ng holding onto the canvas sling with his elbows bent, like doing a chin-up. His feet slowly move down the smooth aluminum walls until they reach the top of the air duct, then dangle in the open space. He straightens his arms to give him length enough to touch the bottom edge of the duct. Suddenly he feels something give way above him and looks up. CLOSE ON THE CLIPS 120 Slowly the brass clips start bending under McClane's weight. ON KARL 121 He moves steadily toward the corner. CLOSE - MCCLANE'S TOES 122 now only inches from the bottom edge. McClane's arms are fully extended now. He hears Karl on the metal catwalk. His muscles strain and quiver. THE CLIPS 123 They are opening wider until one side bends all the way back -- and snaps. ON MCCLANE 124 falling. He grabs the ledge of the air duct as he falls and his body slams into the aluminum wall with.a echoing BOOM. Above him on the catwalk the rifle rattles on the metal outside the door.A98 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 36 ON KARL 125 Around the corner Karl freezes, unsure of the sound, then starts slowly for the corner. ON MCCLANE 126 holding onto the ledge by his hands. With every ounce of strength he tries to pull himself up into the horizontal duct, clawing for a hold. ON KARL 127 He rounds the corner and sees McClane's rifle lying beneath the doorway. He moves to the small door, shines his light and aims his rifle down into the air shaft ready to fire. HIS P.O.V. 128 The shaft is deserted. Moving his light around he sees the air duck. Without hesitation he turns and backtracks to the pump room door. INT. AIR CONDITIONING DUCT - ON MCCLANE ~ SAME oe He lies exhausted and motionless in the narrow crawl space. He awkwardly fishes out the lighter from his shirt pocket and flicks it on. HIS P.O.V. 130 Not for claustrophobics There's no light at the end. a long, dark and narrow corridor. MCCLANE (aryly) Whew...for a moment there I was worried. He turns out his lighter and starts crawling. INT. PUMP ROOM 131 Karl climbs the ladder to the pump room door where Franco and Fritz wait. KARL Quickly...Follow me. He moves through the pump room and goes outside. INT. AIR DUCT - SAME 132 McClane crawls to a’junction. To his right he sees a vent twenty feet away. The light looks wonderful to him and he moves towards it. cur To:a98 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 37 INT. LOWER ROOF - MACHINE FLOOR - SAME 133, Karl opens the door from the roof Franco and Fritz behind him. He points to a series of rooms near the elevator shaft and the three men split up, each going to a separate room. Karl opens the door to the: MACHINE ROOM 134 and looks up. The ceiling is crisscrossed with air ducts, He fires a burst into the ducts. INT, AIR DUCT - SAME 135 McClane remains motionless in the air duct. Three quarter-sized holes inches from his face show how close Karl came to nailing him. Sweat covers his face, drips silently onto the aluminum. MACHINE ROOM 136 Karl listens patiently for sound. Just then the two other terrorists return. FRANCO Nothing. Karl hesitates a moment, fighting his instincts before finally turning to go. Suddenly the duct McClane is in groans slightly under his weight. Karl stops and looks up at the matrix of aluminum duct work, trying to single out the source of the sound, He steps back into the room and raises his rifle. Holding it upright he presses the barrel up into the belly of McClane's air duct, feeling for weight -- the weight of a body. INSIDE THE AIR DUCT 137 McClane sees the indention of the barrel pressing into the aluminum fifteen feet away. There is a pause and another indention three feet closer. He can hear Karl's footsteps on the concrete -~ moving slowly below the duct. ON KARL 138 His eyes are fixed above him on the air duct. He presses the barrel up again. Still nothing. ON MCCLANE 139 Silently he moves his hand to his breast and slowly draws his Beretta. The next indention presses up six feet away. McClane points his gun downward and waits. KARL : 140 stops directly below him. The barrel starts up and just touches the duct under McClane when Franco returns to the door and calls. (CONTINUED)140 141 142 A98 38 CONTINUED: 140 FRANCO Karl! Police! Come now. Karl hesitates then lowers his gun and leaves. CLOSE - MCCLANE 141 He hears the door close and lowers his head. INT. KCBS - CONTROL BOOTH - NIGHT 142 Dick Thornburg and his news editor, SAM, in the control booth where we're in the countdown to the 11 o'clock news. THORNBURG What do you mean you can't cut me a crew? SAM I mean people want to go home for christsake...it's Christmas Eve. THORNBURG Sam, I heard shots five minutes ago. We've got to move on it. SAM I've got Simon swinging by from the Santa Sing on Melrose. If it's anything we'll cut to him... From behind the news desk pretty-boy anchorman, HARVEY JOHNSON, looks up at the booth, calls to Sam over his mike. HARVEY (panicked) Sam, I don't have the Gladden report! SAM (over the booth mike, to Harvey) Keep your pants on Harvey, (to the A.D.) What've we got? ASST. DIRECTOR Fifteen seconds. Sam finds the news report in his stack of papers and starts out of the booth with Thornburg on his heels. We FOLLOW. (CONTINUED)39 142 CONTINUED: . 142 ‘THORNBURG (angrily) I'm not sitting on this for Simon, I'm going out there! And if you don't cut me a goddamn truck, I'm going to the parking lot and steal one! Both news anchors, Sam and all the floor personnel look up. They're in their final seconds. The FLOOR MANAGER worriedly counts off, "9...8...7..." Harvey looks angrily at Thornburg. HARVEY Give us a break how ‘bout it, Thornburg. FLOOR MANAGER -+-Four, Three -- ‘THORNBURG Eat a big one, Harve. FLOOR MANAGER +++One. He points at Harvey who automatically smiles as the red light goes on, but it's obvious Thornburg has wrecked his concentration HARVEY (beat) Uhh...Good evening, this is... Harvey...Johnson. WOMAN And I'm Gail Wallens, and this is Nightline News at Eleven. The program rolls its intro tape and Harvey shoots Thornburg a look that could kill. ‘Thornburg smiles at his handiwork. SAM (sharply, to Thornburg) Take Roberts and number four and get the hell out of here. 143 EXT. CENTURY CITY - AVENUE OF THE STARS - NIGHT 143 The street is empty, quiet. A lone police black-and-white pulls out of the shadows of a side street and begins a slow cruise toward the Nakatomi building. a98a98 144 145 146 147 148 149 40 ON POWELL 144 Driving, alone. He stares up at the dark tower. It seems calm. Lights on the 32nd and 40th floors. Powell slows to a stop and scans the premises. In the lobby we SEE Heinz, sitting behind the desk. Powell reports to his radio. POWELL Guard inside. No signs of disturbancé...I'm going up for a closer look. He pulls in and parks in the front. INT. MACHINE ROOM - SAME 145 McClane punches out a ceiling vent and drops down into the machine room. For a moment he stands, listening for sounds of movement. The floor is quiet. He goes to the stairwell. EXT. ROOF - SAME 146 The edge of the roof. suddenly a tall terrorist, HEINRICH, moves along the wall and looks over at Powell's car. INT. 3RD FLOOR - SAME uaz The elevator doors open and Karl, Franco and Fritz step out onto the darkened floor. We SEE large number "3" painted on the doors of this floor. They move quickly toward the windows on the Avenue of the Stars side where a terrorist, ALEXANDER, with a BAR rifle has set up a machine gun nest. Directly below him we SBE Powell's car. 32ND FLOOR (HANS'OFFICE) - SAME 148 Hans watches from above. He raises his CB. HANS (his usual calm) Heinz? INT. LOBBY - SAME 149 Heinz picks up his CB. He watches Powell coming up the stairs toward the door. HEINZ (to CB) Yes? HANS' VOICE Let him in.age 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 41 EXT. FRONT DOOR OF NAKATOMI - SAME 150 Powell tries the front doors. Locked. Heinz comes hustling across and unlocks the door. HEINZ Something wrong officer? Powell steps in and looks around. POWELL We got an emergency call that there was a problem here. INT. 40TH FLOOR - BOARD ROOM - SAME 151 McClane makes his way to the Avenue of the Stars side of the building, enters the board room where Rivers was shot. McClane goes to the windows and looks down at the street. HIS P.O.V. 1s2 Powell's car. MCCLANE. It's about time. He lifts one of the big chairs and swings it at the window. The tempered glass whitens on the first blow. EXT. ROOF - SAME 153 HEINRICH, the terrorist on the roof hears a SOUND and looks down and sees the board room window crack from McClane's blow. He lifts his cB. INT. LOBBY 154 Heinz watches confidently as Powell moves through the lobby looking for signs of trouble. Suddenly, Heinz notices a pool of blood from the shooting of the desk guard next to sign-in table. He looks up just as Powell starts toward him. BOARD ROOM - 40TH FLOOR 155 McClane draws the chair back for the final hit when a terrorist (MARCO) appears at the door. Both men react, but Marco already has his gun up. He fires a round at McClane. The bullets rip into the table top and the chair, and McClane goes down behind the table. INT. 39TH FLOOR - SAFE ROOM 156 Theo, now in goggles, uses a huge machiné to bore quarter-size holes into the safe. He turns it off hears the gunshots on the floor above. He moves into the outside room to listen better, then looks back [Link] kit bags of equipment as if making a decision.Ag8 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 42 INT. 40TH FLOOR - BOARD ROOM 1is7 Marco smiles and moves around to the other side of the table, but finds no body. He looks around frantically then squats beneath the table and sees: MCCLANE 158 lying prone, his pistol trained on him. MCCLANE Drop it. BOARD ROOM DOORWAY fone Just then Heinrich, the terrorist on the roof, steps into the doorway. He sees McClane and starts to fire, but McClane fires twice and kills him. Marco springs on top of the huge table. McClane rolls on his back so he can cover either angle but it is clear that Marco is in the more enviable position. ON MARCO 160 on the tabletop slams in a fresh magazine and smiles. MARCO You should have killed me when you had the chance... He leans his machine gun over the edge. MCCLANE 161 aims directly above him and fires twice into the underside of the table. The bullets rip through the table and Marco. SAFE ROOM - ON THEO 162 On the SOUND OF THE GUNSHOTS, he stops, listens. INT. LOBBY - SAME 163 Powell comes back to Heinz -- moving steadily toward the table and the pool of blood. He pauses next to the table, his shoe just touching the blood, but he doesn't see it. HEINZ What exactly are you looking for? POWELL Well, we got a report of a terrorist takeover. HEINZ (grins slowly, looks around) Ain't no Arabs in here. (CONTINUED)43 163 CONTINUED: 163 POWELL No, I guess not...Well, I got a pregnant wife at home wondering what the hell's keeping her Twinkies... (a slip, sees Heinz's puzzled look) Forget it. Merry Christmas. HEINZ Merry Christmas. Powell starts toward the door. Heinz watches him and sees the cop's first three steps leave bloody footprints, but Powell doesn't see. 164 INT. 40TH PLOOR BOARD ROOM - SAME 164 McClane rolls out from under the table, goes to the windows, and looks down in time to see Powell close his car door. MCCLANE Oh, man, don't even think about it. He looks over his shoulder at the body of Marco. 165 INT. POWELL'S POLICE CAR - SAME 165 Powell checks-in on his radio. POWELL One Adam-nine to 6421. Code four on that 436. Requesting code eight. over. He releases the talk button and loosens his tie as he waits for confirmation. POWELL (singing softly) Ohhhh, you better watch out, you better not cry -- DISPATCHER'S VOICE/RADIO Roger, One Adam-nine. Clear to code eight. Powell hangs up the radio and puts the car into reverse. POWELL (to himself) Thank you, Sir... (CONTINUED) A98age 165 166 167 168 44 CONTINUED: 165 POWELL (Cont.) (singing again louder) ++syou better not pout I'm telling you why...Santa Claus is coming to -- Suddenly Marco's body crashes onto the hood of his car. POWELL (terrified) shit! (grabbing for his radio) 6421, this is One Adam-nine -- Suddenly a barrage of machine gun fire from the 3rd floor drowns out his call. Powell ducks and flattens against the seat as bullets blow out the front window, covering him in glass. His radio comes back, calmly. DISPATCHER'S VOICE/RADIO Roger, One Adam-nine, please repeat. But Powell accelerates in reverse away from the building, keeping his head low and praying he dogsn't hit’ anything as the bullets follow him digging into asphalt. A half block away his car runs up onto the sidewalk and crashes into a store front Powell sits up and clutches the mike. POWELL One Adam-nine, under automatic rifle fire at Nakatomi! Requesting immediate backup and SWAT assistance... INT. 40TH FLOOR - BOARD ROOM 166 McClane looks down at Powell and grins. MCCLANE Welcome to the party, boys. We've been missing you. EXT. KCBS NEWS TRUCK - CENTURY CITY - NIGHT 167 Sirens wail as police cars arrive and barricades go up. The KCBS news truck pulls up to a prime location. INT. HOSTAGE WING - ON ELLIS - SAME 168 He leans back and closes his eyes, luxuriating in the sound of WAILING POLICE SIRENS. ELLIS I never thought I'd love to hear that sound.169 Ee 170 t iG 171 o aos 45 HANS' OFFICE 169 Stands by the window looking out at the arriving police cars when suddenly his CB crackles to life. MCCLANE'S VOICE (o.8.) Hey, Hans? Hope you got a good view of this? HANS (to CB) Congratulations, Mr. Barefoot man on bringing reinforcements even if they can't help you. INT. 40TH FLOOR - ON MCCLANE - SAME 170 Moving down the corridor. Now armed with Marco's machine gun and carrying his kit bag, he seems more lethal. MCCLANE (to Hans, CB) We'll see about that, buddy: He turns off his radio and turns a corner when a door in front of him suddenly swings open and Theo stands unarmed in the doorway. McClane seems only a hairbreadth from firing but the sight of the clean-cut man, not unlike a junior executive, causes him to suddenly lower his gun. MCCLANE Jesus...You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack. Theo, realizing McClane doesn't suspect him of being one of the group, suddenly grins. THEO (seeing McClane's badge) Thank God, you're here... MCCLANE Hey, I ain't the cavalry, fella. C'mon we've got to keep moving. He pushes Theo ahead of him and they move down the hall. INT. 32ND FLOOR - SAME a7. Karl steps off the elevator and goes through the crowd of hostages to report to Hans. (CONTINUED)A98 im 172 173 46 CONTINUED: am KARL He killed Marco and threw his body out the window. Heinrich and Theo don't answer their calls. Suddenly they hear Powell's voice over the CB. POWELL'S VOICE This is Sergeant Al Powell of the Los Angeles Police Department. If the person who radioed for help can hear me, acknowledge this transmission...I repeat... INT. 40TH FLOOR - ON MCCLANE - NIGHT 172 and Theo moving down the corridor, they hear the transmission also, McClane stops Theo and grabs his CB. MCCLANE (to CB) That's okay, you got him. You the guy in the car? INTERCUT: EXT. POLICE OPERATIONS TRAILER 173 Powell stands in front of his destroyed cruiser and looks up at the building. Behind him technicians, City Power and Light personnel, SWAT officers in protective gear, move in all directions. A trailer is being backed into a side street, which will become the police center of operations. It is like watching a small town being constructed right before your eyes. POWELL (to CB) What's left of him. I left my stomach over there. Can you identify yourself? MCCLANE Not now. Let me tell you what I can quickly, because I might have to get out of here fast. These guys mean business. Besides the Peashooters they went after you with they've also got anti-tank weapons and surface to air missles. POWELL How many are there? (CONTINUED)47 173 CONTINUED: 173 MCCLANE Don't know but I've killed three, including the one who fell out of Santa's sleigh. POWELL (aryly) Yeah, let's not forget him. MCCLANE The leader goes by the name, Hans. He's locked down the elevators. Also, I haven't found one of them yet who didn't carry a radio so you can bet they're monitoring this call. Channel twenty-six seems to be their inter-office number but they move it around and it's in German, so get someone who speaks it to give you a play by play. POWELL Sounds like you know this bunch pretty well. MCCLANE We've gotten pretty intimate waiting on you guys to get here. POWELL I hear you...Well, we're here now, partner...What do I call you? MCCLANE ‘partner’ suits me fine. POWELL You got it. Now, listen to me, if you think of anything else you let me know. In the meantime I want you to find a safe place and hole-up and let us do our job. Understand? MCCLANE, (to CB) They're all yours, Al. Good luck. McClane turns off his CB and sits against the wall. Theo slumps against the wall opposite McClane, beneath a roster of offices and names for the floor. THEO Why wouldn't you tell them your name? (CONTINUED) Ags173 o (ce 174 175 ~ 176 Ags 48 CONTINUED: (2) 173 McClane pulls out a candy bar from the kit bag and offers Theo one. Theo shakes his head and McClane unwraps it. MCCLANE Just something I don't want broadcast everywhere. THEO You got a friend or something downstairs? MCCLANE (beat) You're a smart guy. Theo grins, and ties his shoe. MCCLANE It's McClane...John McClane. Theo extends a hand across the corridor. THEO (shaking hands with McClane) Bill Clay. MCCLANE This usual for you to be working on Christmas Eve? THEO Getting ready to go to Mexico next week. Trying to finish up some work. McClane pulls out another candy bar and offers it to Theo. This time the terrorist takes it. McClane looks around the darkened hallways. He clearly doesn't like it. Casually McClane's glance goes over Theo's head. HIS P.O.V. 74 The roster of names of employees. CLOSER 175 We MOVE DOWN the row of names beginning with C on the roster -- passing CAMPBELL, S.; CLAY, Wm.; CRAWFORD, L. and suddenly we're in the D's. ON MCCLANE . 176 His glance drops subtly from the roster and he takes another bite of his candy bar. (CONTINUED)176 177 178 A98 49 CONTINUED: 176 MCCLANE You know how to use a handgun, Bill? THEO No. McClane pulls out his Beretta pops out the magazine, jams in a fresh one, and hands it to him. MCCLANE Time to learn. EXT. POLICE OPERATIONS - WILSHIRE - SAME 17 An unmarked police car pulls up across the street from Nakatomi building and a MAN in a sportcoat climbs out. Stocky, his hair a little too perfect, the very fact that he is the Deputy Chief of Police Operations on a Christmas Eve gives some evidence to his position in the pecking order. His name is DWAYNE T. ROBINSON and he moves brusquely past police technicians into: THE MOBILE POLICE UNIT 178 and goes to a uniformed officer. ROBINSON Who's talking to them? Powell turns around. POWELL I am, Sir...Sergeant Al Powell. ROBINSON Dwayne Robinson. What's the story, Sergeant? POWELL We've got a lone man in there who says terrorists took over the building and have killed at least one of their hostages. He claims to have killed three of them. ROBINSON How're we talking to them? POWELL CB, they've cut phone lines inside. Powell hands him a headset. (CONTINUED)A98 178 179 180 ial 182 183 184 50 CONTINUED: 178 ROBINSON (slipping on the headset) What about the terrorists? Have you talked to them? POWELL They don't answer us. ROBINSON (sarcastically) Great... We CAN SEE Robinson already hates the complications. Here's a man more adept at handling two punks in an empty Safeway. He is clearly not ready to deal with a situation where the terrorists won't talk. Just then, two plainclothes MEN enter the trailer and show their I.D. to the guard. Their presence further upsets Robinson. INT. STAIRWELL - SAME 179 McClane and Theo come down the stairwell from the 40th floor. McClane tries the door to the 39th floor -- the handle moves in his hand. McClane looks up and re-checks the floor number by ‘the door frame, then opens the door. Both men move out onto: THE 39TH FLOOR 180 and down a corridor. As they move McClane notices something along the floor jam. HIS P.O.V. 181 A plastic explosive charge. MCCLANE 182 moves carefully past it and another, drawn toward a lighted office at the end of the hallway. INT. OFFICE 183 McClane moves into the office, which we RECOGNIZE as the anteroom to the safe room. The door connecting the safe room has been closed, hiding the safe and drill press. Theo's three bags, however sit on the table and McClane goes straight for them. Theo steps into the room behind him. He spies something else on the table. HIS P.O.V. 184 the Walther.A98 185 186 187 51 THEO 185 Looks up and watches McClane open the first bag containing the plastic explosives. ‘THEO What...what is it? MCCLANE Plastic explosives. Like those in the hall. THEO (suddenly) They were going to blow the building. MCCLANE (aryly) That's sharp thinking, Bill. He places a couple of packets next to the Walther and hurriedly opens the second bag. INSERT 186 The contents: Detonators. MCCLANE 187 throws the second bag over his shoulder. Theo watches him. ‘THEO Why are we taking them? MCCLANE Leverage. C'mon let's get out of here. He starts for the door. Theo watches him for a moment then brings up the Beretta aiming it right at McClane's face and cocks it. THEO Put them down and drop your machine gun on the floor. McClane just looks at him. MCCLANE Why wire the top floors, Bill? (CONTINUED)187 188 189 190 Ags 52 CONTINUED: : 187 7 ‘THEO Don't worry about it. Drop your gun. Instead, McClane slowly raises his machine gun and aims it at Theo. Theo pulls the trigger -- the gun clicks empty. Theo's eyes go to the Walther on the table. McClane follows his glance. MCCLANE Don't try it. Theo looks back challengingly, McClane recognizes the look. MCCLANE And don't tell me I won't do it. But Theo breaks for the pistol and McClane levels him with a burst from the machine gun. For a moment he just looks at the dead terrorist, then retrieves his Browning and exchanges magazines. INT. 39TH FLOOR - OFFICE 188 Dark. A light comes on and McClane quickly moves to the desk. He takes out a handful of detonators and puts them in his other kit bag, then puts the main bag of detonators in the trash can under the desk covering it with the trash, and sliding it back under the desk again. INT. POLICE TRAILER - SAME 189 Robinson and Powell when McClane calls them on the CB. MCCLANE'S VOICE/RADIO Hey, Al...are you there? POWELL Yeah, partner, what's up? INTERCUT: MCCLANE 190 He sits on the floor below a bank of windows. (CONTINUED)A98 190 jig. 192 193 53 CONTINUED: 190 MCCLANE There's a new development. They've got high explosives up here. Plastics. POWELL Hey, man, I work a desk. You're going to have to spell these things out for me. MCCLANE Think of it like this then, they've got enough stuff up here to turn this place into Century Canyon... ON ROBINSON 191 Listening with everyone else. ROBINSON (to himself) Great. ON MCCLANE 192 MCCLANE On the other hand I've got the detonators. INTERCUT: POWELL 193 In the police trailer. POWELL Listen, partner...throw them out. The first thing we need to do is reduce the chance of disaster. MCCLANE I have...until they catch me. Also, chalk up another one dead. POWELL Jesus... HANS' VOICE/RADIO (o.8.; cutting in) Mr. Barefoot man? Can you hear me?194 o 195 ' j 1 t , 196 ee , ) o ag 54 ROBINSON 194 looks at a technician. ROBINSON (to technician) You got that recorder hooked up? I want it running. INT. HANS' OFFICE - SAME 195 Hans talking on CB to McClane, Karl stands to the side. MCLANE/RADIO (o.s8.) Yeah, I hear you. HANS I'm calling to offer you a truce. Put the detonators on an elevator and retreat to a safe place and we won't bother you anymore. I give you my word. MCCLANE ‘196 MCCLANE Let's see, is that the same word you gave Rivers before you shot him? HANS' VOICE (o.s.) Believe me when I tell you that there are those among us who would like nothing more than to hunt you down and kill you. MCCLANE Who...you mean, Karl? Hey, Karl, come on up and I'll tell you just how it felt to break his brother's neck. He hears Karl let out a yell and Hans' radio goes dead. McClane lets out a breath and leans back. The tough guy act is difficult. He waits and his radio comes back with Hans. HANS' VOICE/RADIO (o.s.) It's more than idle curiosity how you know some of our names. I feel at a slight disadvantage not knowing. yours. (CONTINUED)a98 196 197 198 199 55 CONTINUED: 196 HANS MCCLANE You'll get over it. HANS' VOICE/RADIO {o.s.) You have a very cavalier attitude for someone who probably has a loved one on this very floor. MCCLANE You got the wrong guy, fella. Iwas just up here fixing the cigarette machines when you came barging in. INTERCUT: 197 HANS A vending machine repairman who breaks people's necks? MCCLANE It's a tough business. HANS And it will get tougher. I promise. MCCLANE Well, it's a big building, Hans. Lotsa luck, fella. POLICE TRAILER - SAME 198 Robinson turns quickly to his radio operator. HANS ROBINSON Quick, patch me in there. (to Hans) Hans? Is that your name? This is Captain Dwayne Robinson. LAPD. Is anyone hurt in there or need medical help? INTERCUT: 199 HANS Everyone is fine, Mr. Robinson. ROBINSON What do you want? Let's talk. (CONTINUED)56 199 CONTINUED: 199 HANS (chuckles) You are eager, aren't you? Please sit back and relax, we will contact you when we are ready. Hans turns off his radio. 200 POLICE TRAILER - ON ROBINSON 200 ROBINSON Wait, wait.. (realizing he's been cut off) Shit... The two well-dressed men chuckle at. Robinson's frustration. The big man lights a cigarette for the smaller one. Robinson turns on ‘them angrily. ROBINSON Who are you guys with? They each pull out their I.D. and flash it at him. LITTLE JOHNSON Special Agents Johnson and Johnson, FBI. BIG JOHNSON Sounds like you're in for a fun Christmas Eve, Chief. ROBINSON You want to crack jokes, go up to Sunset. This isn't your operation anyway. BIG JOHNSON Hey, we're just here to observe or if you want to bounce ideas off of us or... LITTLE JOHNSON {more seriously) ...0r, if it should suddenly become our operation. He lets the implication of a possible changeover hang for amoment. It isn't lost on Robinson. ROBINSON Just stay the hell out of my way. (turning back) Johnson and Johnson...Jesus?... (CONTINUED) A9857 200 CONTINUED 200 Big Johnson grins and stops a uniformed cop going out the door of the trailer. BIG JOHNSON Where's the coffee around here? 201 INT. HOSTAGE FLOOR - NIGHT 201 Hans and Karl. Karl preps his weapon with a hunter's obsession for detail. HANS Find him and the detonators... Karl leaves and Hans watches from the doorway. Suddenly he notices Holly staring at him from her place on the floor. She holds his look boldly. j HOLLY / Why don't you want to talk to them? HANS The police? Why should I? HOLLY You want to get away, don't you? You can negotiate that. HANS I have many worries...but ‘getting away’ is not one of them. HOLLY - But if you don't talk to them... sooner or later they'll attack. Hans stares at Holly, this makes Ellis even more uncomfortable and he tries to quiet her. But she holds Hans' look. HANS (to Holly, beat) You seem to know a good deal about what the police might do. HOLLY (flatly) Common sense. HANS Do you have children? Holly doens't answer, but Hans knows by her reaction, the answer is "yes". (CONTINUED) A98201 202 /203 204 205 206 207 A98 58 CONTINUED: 201 HANS Then you know you want them to respect what you say, when you say it. But sometimes, no matter how many times you tell them something is dangerous -- like a hot burner on a stove ~~ it is not until they touch it, that they understand it is truly dangerous...Police are like children...words are often not enough. He turns and goes back int HOLLY'S OFFICE 202 He closes the door. Going to the desk he shifts through the I.D.'s and finds Holly's INSERT - HOLLY'S I.D. 203 It shows Holly's picture and the name: GENNARO. CLOSE ON A TELEVISION SCREEN - NIGHT 204 We SEE a news report interrupts the regular scheduled program. Dick Thornburg talks to the camera. As he talks We PULL BACK TO SEE-William in the backseat of the limo, He reacts excitedly to the report. WILLIAM Terrorist, oh, man...Where is this? ON SCREEN 205 the CAMERA PULLS BACK and we SEE the Nakatomi Building rise up in the b.g. behind Thornburg. CLOSE - WILLIAM 206 as he recognizes the place on TV. WILLIAM (stunned) Holy shit... CLOSE - TELEVISION 207 The CAMERA PANS to Police Trailer and we SEE the massive build-up of police personnel and equipment. ‘THORNBURG As you can see, the police have brought up their armored car unit (CONTINUED)207 208 agg 59 CONTINUED: 207 He grabs THORNBURG (Cont .) and dispatched SWAT personnel around the building though they are adamantly denying that any sort of assault is in the works... WILLIAM {more stunned) Holy shit... the car phone and madly punches 911. : WILLIAM (to himself) 911... (he misdials) Fuck! (more carefully) 9-1-1... He gets it right and leans back, still panicked as someone answers. ‘The word on him. He looks WILLIAM (to phone) Police?!...Well, I need ‘em! Your damn straight this is an emergency! You know that building in Century City that's full of terrorists?...Yeah, that's the one...Well, I'm sitting right this very second un -- freezes in his mouth as something suddenly dawns William cancels his call. WILLIAM {to himself) Shit, William, you fool...If the police could save your sorry ass don't you think they'd be down here doin’ it back at the TV. THORNBURG Since telephone lines in the building have been cut all communications have been by CB radios which the terriorists took into the building with them... INT. 37TH FLOOR 208 A stairwell door opens and McClane carefully moves out ontc the 37th floor. Seeing that it is deserted he begins overturning desks, making a small fortress.209 210 2u 212 213 214 Ags 60 LIMO - CLOSE ON TRUNK - NIGHT 209 ‘The trunk to the big limo opens and William's hand reaches under a tool kit TO REVEAL a portable CB unit. INT, LIMO - BACKSEAT - NIGHT 210 William plugs the CB power cord into the rear cigarette lighter and turns it on. The STATIC HISSES as he goes through the channels. Suddenly he stops and WE HEAR KARL'S VOICE over the CB. KARL'S VOICE (o.s., on CB) Heinrich is dead... INT. 39TH FLOOR - ANTEROOM TO SAFE ROOM - SAME 211 Karl stands over the body of Theo. KARL (to CB) Theo and Heinrich are dead. We're going down. INT, 37TH FLOOR - NIGHT 212 McClane at STAIRWELL DOOR. He lays a plastic chair protector sheet in front of the stairwell door. Then he leans an axe against the door -- a very primitive early warning device. TIME CUT TO: INT. 37TH FLOOR - NIGHT 213 McClane fastens a small pad of plastic explosives to the light switch by the doorway; then presses a half dozen detonators into the material. He's not sure how many he'll need and adds another for good measure and puts the rest in his pocket. INT. 38TH FLOOR - SAME 214 Fritz and Franco move onto the 38th floor and spread out. The operation looks like an African hunt with beaters moving out in front -- rattling chairs, knocking over phones, lamps etc. -- moving toward Karl, who waits at the other end of the room by the stairwell door. When they reach him he opens the stairwell door and silently waves them down the stairs. He looks over the floor one last time, then he notices a flickering fluorescent light above him in the stairwell. His glance goes to another fluorescent fixture. KARL (to the terrorist below him) Stop.Ag8 215 61 INT. POLICE TRAILER - SAME 215 A new group of men enter the trailer -- the SWAT team personnel. One in particular CAPTAIN MITCHELL eyes a pretty policewoman on the way in. Following Mitchell is a small man with pencils in his shirt pocket and a hard hat, GEORGE HENRY, City Engineer's office.- ‘The last man enters in a tuxedo, pulled away from a party. His name is RALPH BAILEY, late thirties; mayor's office iiasion. Johnson and Johnson view the assembly with detached amusement. Robinson does the introductions quickly. ROBINSON George Henry, City Engineer's office, this is Captain Mitchell... Special Agents Johnson and Johnson. The engineer nods to the men.’ Mitchell eyes the Feds, wary of his competition. ROBINSON (pointing to Bailey) and this is Ralph Bailey, mayor's office. Bailey takes an offered cup of coffee. He looks like he needs it. Henry unrolls building plans while Robinson talks. ROBINSON To bring everyone up to date, we've got a hostage situation in which thirty-five civilians are being held by an undetermined number of terrorists with no expressed intent to negotiate. Now, we've got six hours before the East Coast wakes up and turns on their TV's and frankly I'd like not to be here when they do, so let's hear what you gentlemen have got to say. LITTLE JOHNSON Excuse me, but it seems you've left something out. Robinson looks up at the Agent. ROBINSON (to the others) There's an unidentified gunman in the building who claims to have killed four of the terrorists, have plastic explosives and detonators: These claims ‘are unconfirmed. (CONTINUED)