McClane heads to Los Angeles to attend his wife Holly's company party on Christmas Eve. Many consider Die Hard to be a Christmas movie, and therefore the best Christmas movie of the 1980s...or even all time.

Willis plays John McClane, a NYPD detective with an uncanny ability for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And, of course, for taking out bad guys.

Holly, played by Bonnie Bedelia, has been using her maiden name - Gennero - in her professional life at Nakatomi Corporation. McClane doesn't discover this until he has to use the building directory to find her floor. Particularly observant Die Hard fans have even noticed a typo in her name, "Gennaro," which briefly appears onscreen.

Following the advice of a fellow plane passenger, while changing into his clothes for the party, McClane has his shoes and socks off to try a relaxation exercise recommended for avoiding jet lag.

Alan Rickman stars as Hans Gruber, who leads a gang of robbers masquerading as terrorists as they take over the building. As always, Rickman is perfect for his role.

Hans Gruber and Co. are German.

The gang of bad guys launches a would-be terrorist attack to disguise their real goal -- stealing $640 million worth of bearer bonds from Nakatomi.

Tony is the first villain to attack McClane, who uses the bad guy to break his fall as they both tumble down the stairs. McClane then uses Tony's radio to call the LAPD and borrows his machine gun, leaving him with a Santa hat and a note to taunt Hans.

Sgt. Al Powell is the first officer on the scene, but he initially doesn't spot a disturbance.

Powell says the Twinkies are for his wife. According to the sign outside, a gallon of gasoline cost 74.9 cents.

To keep Powell from leaving the scene, McClane drops Marco's body onto his cruiser, which successfully alerts the officer that something is wrong.

McClane's just getting started with the quips, while simultaneously raining down a hail of bullets in Sgt Powell's general vicinity to underscore the urgency of the situation.

Hans suggests McClane is "another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he's John Wayne...Rambo...Marshal Dillon." McClane says he was "always partial to Roy Rogers," deadpanning, "I really dug those sequined shirts." Thus the most famous line of Bruce Willis' career was born: "Yipee-ki-ay, m*********."

Later, this comes in handy during one of the film's most iconic scenes, which takes place in a very dark HVAC duct.

One of the hostages is pregnant, is the reason given for the sofa request, while the rest of the hostages are allowed to use the restrooms to keep things from getting "messy."

With no ransom or other demands, SWAT Captain Mitchell says the terrorist plot isn't quite adding up, that the dead body could just be a "stockbroker" who committed suicide, and that the gunfire could have been fired by the "flake" named "Roy" who's been communicating with them over the radio.

Holly's co-worker Harry Ellis is killed as he tries to negotiate with McClane to return the detonators to Gruber.

When Gruber pretends to be a hostage, McClane gives him a gun for protection. Gruber tries to shoot McClane, but fortunately, the gun is unloaded.

Hoping to take the bad guys by surprise, the FBI cuts the power, which leaves the vault holding the bearer bonds completely unprotected.

Gruber demands a helicopter, which the FBI believes he will use to escape -- though Gruber and his gang have other plans.

Argyle becomes much more than a driver when he is trapped during the siege. He ends up taking down Theo and escaping from the garage at the end of the film. "This is my first time driving a limo," he says at the beginning of the movie. "That's okay. This is my first time riding in one," is McClane's response.

As if we needed another reason to dislike the annoying reporter character, Richard Thornburg, he inadvertently reveals to Gruber that Holly, one of the hostages, is also McClane's wife.

McClane hands over his machine gun to save Holly's life but manages to keep a small pistol concealed behind his back during the exchange.

As he's tying the hose around his waist, he swears he'll never go into a tall building again if he lives through the jump.

McClane uses his last two bullets to kill Eddie and shoot Gruber through the shoulder.

Gruber makes a last-ditch effort to survive by holding onto Holly's watch, but McClane removes the watch and Gruber falls to his death.

After finally escaping the building, Holly socks Thornburg when he tries to interview her and McClane.

Sgt. Powell shoots the last-surviving villain, Karl, after he attempts to kill McClane and Holly when they exit the building.

The film, which was directed by John McTiernan, came out in 1988 and has remained a favorite for fans of action flicks.

The second film in the franchise, Die Hard 2, was released in 1990 and takes place at Dulles Airport in Washington DC, also on Christmas Eve. But many fans consider the original and the third film, Die Hard with a Vengeance, to be the best of the series.

Contractual obligations forced the studio to offer the film to an aging Sinatra. When he turned it down, it was offered to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and other action stars before Bruce Willis finally landed the role.

The film was inspired by the 1979 Roderick Thorpe novel "Nothing Lasts Forever." Thorpe's earlier novel "The Detective" was made into an action film in the '60s.