Yippee-ki-yay! It’s the original Die Hard quiz!

By: Olivia Cantor
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
Yippee-ki-yay! It’s the original Die Hard quiz!
Image: tmdb

About This Quiz

There are times when a specific film becomes a template of storytelling in world cinema. Such is the case for "Die Hard," the quintessential action film to come out of the 1980s, as this Hollywood fare started a specific trend in action-adventure films. Think you know enough about this original? Take this quiz and find out!
Which comedic action star headlined "Die Hard"?
Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis actually became popular on TV playing comedic roles, specifically in "Moonlighting." He popularized the “realistic and funny guy” version of an action hero in "Die Hard."
Benedict Cumberbatch
Zachary Quinto
Richard Dean Anderson

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Bruce Willis played which now iconic "heroic underdog" character?
Detective Marcus Aurelius
Detective Mario Lopez
Detective John McClane
John McClane is depicted as the typical American guy by Bruce Willis. However, he also works as a police officer in the story.
Detective Indiana Jones

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Detective John McClane is a member of the police department in which city?
New Orleans
New York
Detective John McClane is a member of the New York Police Department, so he lives on the east coast. The department is often abbreviated as NYPD.
New Jersey
New England

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But where does the "Die Hard" story mainly take place?
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
The "Die Hard" story takes place on the west coast, specifically in California. John McClane visits Los Angeles, and this is where the action begins.
Atlantic City

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Who is NYPD Detective John McClane visiting in Los Angeles?
his wife
John McClane and his wife have been estranged. This visit to L.A. will hopefully change all that.
his sister
his mother
his priest

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John McClane arrived in Los Angeles on what special day of the year?
Black Friday
Fourth of July
Halloween
Christmas Eve
McClane finds himself visiting L.A. on Christmas Eve, hoping that his wife will be more relaxed during this holiday season. But there’s another tension brewing.

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What is the name of John McClane’s wife?
Shirley
Holly
Holly Gennaro-McClane is John’s estranged wife. She’s in L.A. to attend the Christmas party of her employer.
Carla
Romina

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Holly's company Christmas party takes place in what building?
MGM Plaza
Nakatomi Plaza
Holly’s company threw a Christmas Eve party at their corporation’s headquarters. It’s named Nakatomi Plaza, located in downtown Los Angeles.
Trump Plaza
Christos Plaza

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John is fetched at the airport and dropped at Nakatomi Plaza by a funny driver in what type of vehicle?
shuttle bus
service van
limousine
A happy-go-lucky limousine driver, Argyle, picks John up at the airport and drops him off at Nakatomi Plaza. But he stays there in the basement parking area to wait for John after the party, too.
MINI Cooper

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The Nakatomi Corporation party is disrupted by what type of group?
electricians
cleaning services
immigration service agents
terrorist group
The Nakatomi party gets some unwanted guests, when a foreign-looking terrorist group suddenly arrives.

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Who portrayed Holly McClane?
Criselda Bedelia
Aileen Bedelia
Laverne Bedelia
Bonnie Bedelia
Bonnie Bedelia was a longtime TV actress, prior to getting work on films. In the 2010s, though, she focused on TV work again, appearing in the series "Parenthood."

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Based on their physique, clothing and accents, the terrorist group was assumed to be European. But which country in Europe did they specifically come from?
Italy
Germany
The Europeans have a distinct taste in clothing and cigarettes. McClane notices this at first, before concluding that they are from Germany, due to their accents and their names.
Spain
France

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Who is the head of the German terrorist group?
Iñigo Montoya
Alain Delon
Ian McEwan
Hans Gruber
Hans Gruber is the smart and dapper-looking leader of this European terrorist group. He could also be calculating and ruthless, but with finesse.

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How does Hans Gruber use the Nakatomi Corporation employees?
as entertainment
as bait
as hostages
Hans held all of the Nakatomi employees and guests as hostages. But he forgot one visitor!
as examples

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As Hans rounds up the Nakatomi employees as hostages, McClane is able to “escape” this roundup because he is in what area?
balcony
rooftop
bathroom
The party was already underway when John arrived. Holly took him first to her private office where John could wash up and join the party later — a good delaying tactic for our hero!
elevator

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The aim of the terrorist group is to get codes to access what?
rooftop
secret compartment
the next building
vault
The terrorist group works to open the building’s vault the hard way. But first, Hans Gruber tries to “ask” for the access codes from the Nakatomi boss, to no avail.

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Which villainous-looking actor portrayed Hans Gruber?
Gary Oldman
Benedict Cumberbatch
Jim Carrey
Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman was a distinguished British actor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He also made memorable film roles in his colorful Hollywood career.

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It turns out that Hans’ mission is not a terrorist attack, but he wants to get $640 million worth of what, hidden in the Nakatomi vault?
gold bullion
bearer bonds
The Nakatomi Plaza’s vault apparently stores 640 million dollars’ worth of bearer bonds. For Hans, this is easier to “move around” than actual cash.
pennies
dollar bills

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John McClane slowly gets in the way of Hans’ robbery attempt by stopping Hans’ men one by one. In one scene, he sends one of the men he killed back to Hans in what "mode of transport"?
train
elevator
McClane sat the dead terrorist’s body onto a chair. He then put the chair inside the elevator, and sent it back to the floor where Hans was.
escalator
walkway

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The dead terrorist in the elevator had a message printed on his shirt. It said: “Now I have a ________.”
bomb
machine gun
John wrote the message using blood. It said, “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho."
detonator
sword

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John is able to get what precious materials from one of Hans’ men?
TNT
smart bombs
wick
detonators
The terror group brought with them some explosive devices. Along with that, they brought detonators.

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As soon as John is able to access a walkie-talkie from one of the terrorists, who does he try to radio for help?
Department of Homeland Security
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department maintains a specific frequency for emergencies and distress calls. McClane is able to access one of these channels and ask for help.
U.S. State Department
Department of Defense

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Which police officer is sent to Nakatomi Plaza by the LAPD to check out the situation?
Sgt. Mark McClure
Sgt. Chris Farley
Sgt. Al Powell
Sgt. Al Powell is on night duty by himself when he gets the order to check out McClane’s distress call. But he soon finds more than he was expecting.
Sgt. John Rambo

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When Sgt. Al Powell of the LAPD doesn’t see anything suspicious at Nakatomi, he starts to leave, until John does what to get his undivided attention?
spits at his face from the 32nd floor
throws a dead body onto the patrol car
As John is on an upper floor, he needs a quick way to get Sgt. Al’s attention. Throwing down the dead body of Hans’ man, and having it land on the patrol car, sure does the trick!
shouts at him at the top of his lungs
throws a message rolled inside a bottle

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Which friendly-looking actor plays Sgt. Al Powell?
Denzel Washington
Chris Rock
Reginald VelJohnson
Reginald VelJohnson’s Sgt. Al Powell character wasn’t his first role as a police officer. He also played one in the long-running sitcom, "Family Matters."
Cuba Gooding Jr.

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Which adventure filmmaker directed "Die Hard"?
Michael Bay
M. Night Shyamalan
Alfonso Cuaron
John McTiernan
John McTiernan is an active director of many of Hollywood’s action films. Aside from "Die Hard," he also directed "Predator" and "The Hunt for Red October."

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When Hans finally talks to John over the walkie-talkie system, he refers to him as what, stating that John is probably a typical American who has seen too many John Wayne movies?
Mr. Rambo
Mr. Smith
Mr. Cowboy
Hans is trying to get John to reveal himself. In reference to being a hero of Western or war movies, he refers to John as Mr. Cowboy, trying to save the day.
Mr. Boxer

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Hans dubs John as Mr. Cowboy because the NYPD detective mentions that he liked which TV cowboy character, growing up?
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers was an iconic Western genre actor and singer. He had a slew of Western movies under his belt, aside from having a hit TV show called the "Roy Rogers Show."
Kenny Rogers
Mister Ed
Kris Kristofferson

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Before taking matters into his own hands, John first tries to do what, to call the attention of the outside world?
shout for help
fire a rocket from the rooftop
trigger a fire alarm
As John climbs up a few floors from where Hans and the hostages are located, he tries to trigger a fire alarm located in one higher floor. He is hoping to get the attention of firefighters, but the terror group immediately disarms the alarm.
crawl outside the windows

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Fed up with his own men getting killed, Hans tries to hunt down John himself. When they encounter each other for the first time, who does Hans pretends to be?
one of the hostages
As an escaped hostage, Hans fakes an American accent so John won’t recognize him. He is able to share a cigarette with John and talk to him briefly.
the company boss
a lost tourist
a security guard

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After being called Mr. Cowboy by Hans, John McClane utters what now-famous catchphrase?
Hi-ho silver, away!
I'll be back.
Yippee-ki-yay, m*thrf*ck*r!
John McClane’s signature catchphrase of "Yippee-ki-yay, m*thrf*ck*r!” became one of the most famous lines in movie history. He also uttered this line in the subsequent "Die Hard" sequel films.
Well, shiver me timbers!

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While talking to John, Hans noticed that McClane was missing what, which he used later on to fight him?
shirt
pants
eyeglasses
shoes
McClane was trying to relax his feet in Holly’s private office when he arrived, so he took his shoes and socks off. But when the terrorists arrived, he didn’t have them anymore, and he took off to hide.

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Hans Gruber uttered what iconic line, to order his men to maim McClane’s bare feet?
Dare to use my own spell on me?
Rock and roll, suckers!
Shoot the glass!
Hans remembers that John is barefoot, so he orders his men to shoot the glass walls and doors instead of shooting McClane directly. John ends up stepping on shards of glass, which is painful and terrifying!
Tora tora tora!

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When news of the Nakatomi Plaza hostage incident goes public, Hans realizes that John is related to Holly, so he uses her as bait. Where does Hans see this connection?
in the newspaper
on TV
An arrogant TV reporter ends up at Holly’s house, where he reveals that Holly is a hostage and is actually married to John. This stupid detail helps the enemy further, to John and Holly’s dismay.
in a flyer
he just felt it

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At the end of the day — or night — the good guy wins and the bad guy loses. How does Hans Gruber die?
he commits suicide
he falls off the building
Gruber is struggling with Holly as his hostage when he accidentally crashes through a glass window. Since he is still holding Holly’s hand and wristwatch, John releases the watch and watches Hans slip and fall down the building.
he is gunned down
he is electrocuted

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