#DieHard30th
It's the 30th anniversary of the action classic Die Hard--which is the greatest Christmas movie of all time, no matter what Bruce Willis says--and to celebrate, Fox took journalists on a tour of the real life Nakatomi Plaza, AKA Fox Plaza. The building, located near the Fox Lot in Century City, California, was under construction during filming of Die Hard, and today it remains largely unchanged--which is super awesome for massive Die Hard fans like us.
Did you know that the location in which Hans's crew plants the bombs to blow the roof is actually a building exterior? How about the fact that the staircase that goes up to the roof in the film is actually the property's lowest point, underground, and practically across the street in terms of its actual relation to the tower itself? And what about that handrail the police's armored car took out during their assault on the plaza? It turns out it was never replaced, believe it or not.
Die Hard isn't just a great Christmas movie. It's also one of the best action movies ever made. The building itself is a large part of that--it feels like a realistic location, because it is one. Having a sense of geography and place is important in action movies, and being able to track where John McClane and Hans's goons are in relation to one another at any given point in the movie is crucial to why Die Hard is so enjoyable. Seeing the real interiors--and the exteriors on the roof--where it was shot enhances that enjoyment even further.
Fox capped the tour off with a special screening of the Die Hard 30th Anniversary Edition outside the building, complete with photo ops to take pictures of Sergeant Powell's cop car and Argyle's limo. The Die Hard 30th Anniversary Edition is available now on Blu-ray, 4K, and digitally.
They set up a Nakatomi sign outside the building.
These elevators look familiar.
Nakatomi Corp. is still listed in the building's directory, along with characters like "John McClane (guest)."
This small counter is a great place to grab a Crunch bar and have a shoot-out with the LAPD.
In the film there are five rails here; the police armored car takes out the middle one, and after filming it was never replaced, according to the tour guide.
Not the exact same truck as in the movie, but it'll do for hiding an ambulance in.
Argyle was waiting in the garage.
The ramp the thieves' truck descends into the garage.
This is the scene of the fight between John and Karl, in which Karl gets hanged from a chain.
In the movie this staircase leads shortly to the roof, but it's actually the lowest point in the whole property, underground.
Karl slides down this stairwell early in the movie.
These footprints have been here for 30 years--what's the cleaning crew been up to?
"Girls."
Don't worry, he was fine.
Hopefully there was no C4 strapped in between.
Someone was doing their homework.
How'd we do recreating it?
Who doesn't love Twinkies?
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