Die Hard: Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)

I don't think Hans Gruber is one of the greatest villains ever. The only Die Hard villain I feel is worthy of that is his bro Simon Gruber. I just loved that douchebag's constant mind games with McClane and even though they're both nothing short of thieves Hans just robbed a bank. A rich bank but a bank nonetheless. Simon is the guy who thought bigger: Policeman: "What do you want? Fort Knox?" Simon: "Nah." Probably not the true negotiation but he later robs Wall Street remarking, "Fort Knox? I spit at it." That guy robbed Fort Knox, Hans robbed a rich bank. Simon was a way better villain in my book. Also Simon did have some empathy for his fellow man: "You think I would actually blow up a bomb in a children's school? I'm not a monster, even though my brother and some of my employers are."

"The long shot is achieved via a dummy (the SE DVD shows an outtake which clearly shows the trouble with doing this)."

Actually, that WAS a stuntman on a harness, and the DVD showed how it was done. I hope they paid that guy a lot of money...

Or they promised him a lot of money and didn't tie the harness so as to keep a couple million.

They used a stuntman insted of a dummy

Happy trails, Hans...

My memory is hazy but does "gunfight" belong here? I can't remember if Hans gets off a shot. Maybe it doesn't matter. Is this a Mexican standoff? Or does the fact that Hans and his goon don't know McClane is armed prevent it from being such?