Posted in : Movies| chase after : christmas , die heavily
Die Hard fan have long pondered the law of similarity between the name of Silent Night composer Franz Gruber and the name of Die gruelling antagonist Hans Gruber .
While it ’s universally agree that the originalDie Hardis one of the okay Christmas movies ever made , there ’s a part of theDie HardChristmas legend that ’s far lesser known : for 30 year now , Die Hardfans have ponder the law of similarity between the name ofSilent NightcomposerFranz Gruberand the name ofDie Hardantagonist Hans Gruber . Hans and Franz . Two Christmas Eve custom that were signify to go together , surely ? Can that possibly be a coincidence ?
Interestingly enough , in the originalRoderick ThorpnovelNothing Lasts forever and a day , the book upon whichDie Hardis ground , the theatrical role is named Anton Gruber , not Hans Gruber .
However , here ’s where it takes an interesting turning . The bookDie Hard : An unwritten History , containsExhibit A :
They went to Arnold [ Schwarzenegger ] . They went to Sly , who turned it down . They go to Richard Gere — turned it down . They went to James Caan — turned it down . They went to Burt Reynolds , and all of these people rule out it because , think of , this is 1987 . You had all these Rambo movies . We ’ve had Commando , Predator , and in the wake of all of these , the paladin , they pronounce , was like a pussy . The reaction ? " This hombre ’s no hero . " Right ? In despair , they go to Bruce Willis .
showing B is the notion that Hans and Franz began as a spoof onArnold Schwarzenegger , foran SNL sketch , also in 1987 :
This survey was one of the most popular on SNL , and the role and their catchphrase entered American soda culture . When Schwarzenegger entered political sympathies , he referred to the survey himself , using the phrases " girlie men " and " pump you up . " He even used the " girlie men " term during the 1988 Presidential election . company then Vice President George H.W. Bush , he attacked Bush ’s Democratic opponents by saying to the crowd : " They all appear like a gang of girlie military personnel , right ? " He used the idiom again to attack California state legislator in speeches during his election campaign for governor of California .
showing degree centigrade isDie HardscreenwriterSteven E. de Souza’srather flashy list of credit entry , which bear any telephone number of classics we all quote from all the prison term without mean about it , and also includes classical Schwarzenegger vehiclesCommandoandRunning Man . I can really , really see de Souza making this historic link while working up this playscript with Schwarzenegger in mind , and then change Anton Gruber to Hans Gruber so that Arnold could put down a Hans and Franz one - liner in the film . I can almost hear Arnold read it now .
Still , I had some lingering doubts . Hans Gruberis a Beethoven sports fan himself , after all . So , to get down to the true meaning ofDie firmly — at least as far as Hans Gruber is concerned — I asked de Souza about this matter over the 2017 holiday season :
That ’s a well story than the trueness , which is that the typical pre - production database hunting discovered a real individual named Anton who could claim to be drag through the mud so the studio lawyers send word it be change
— Steven E. de Souza ( @StevenEdeSouza)December 27 , 2017
The veridical villains behind Hans Gruber are the studio lawyer . Not the baddie I await , but perhaps the ones I merit . Yipee Ki - Yay .
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