MovieChat Forums > Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) Discussion > Did Something Go Wrong With Climax?

Did Something Go Wrong With Climax?

posted 11 years ago by akingofcomedy
14 replies | jump to latest

Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way, but the helicopter crash that kills Gruber looked chopped together and somewhat devoid of a money shot.

McClane shoots a sign, which snaps a cable, which then falls toward the roters. Gruber tells his blonde sidekick, who is piloting, to get them out of there. She promptly crashes into a light pole.

This was odd to me, since it suggests McClane didn't actually dispatch them so much as her terrible piloting did.

It almost seemed like two shots were missing: the cables impacting the helicopter, and a wider shot of copter going down. Instead we saw a distant shot of an explosion, then a close up shot of something else heliicopter-shaped exploding. Neither appeared to be in flight or falling to my eye in those shots. The shots that do show the chopper in distress seem to barely give you a sense of it, IMO.

Just curious if any one else thought it was abrupt and lacking?

[–] tetrahex 11 years ago

maybe they ran out of money or time, yea the last bit was a bit abrupt.

[–] MovieMaster95 11 years ago

I've always thought this. I've grown to appreciate the ending to the film, especially when the film wraps up by having McClane call up his wife in hopes of getting his family back but the helicopter crash is a bit of a mess. Like you said it seems to be missing a few shots. My only guess is that they couldn't come up with a way to show the cable colliding with the helicopter blades, so they tried to simply let the editing do the work.

Speaking of missing shots though, how about the fight scene between McClane and Targo. Like the ending, the fight has grown on me, but I still find it bitter sweet. It's feels like we're missing half of it. Where are the missing shots of McClane beating Targo with the metal chain? We see Targo crawling next to a container, McClane begins his joke and whips him with the chain. Then the very next shot, Targo is crawling next to a different container, McClane finishes his joke and whips him again. Why such an abrupt edit?

WINGED FREAK...Terrorizes?....Wait till they get a load of me...

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] MovieMaster95 11 years ago

Yeah I heard something like that a while back. Real shame that they cut it out and didn't even release it as a deleted scene or something. I mean it must have been really bad for them to cut it out. The previous film had McClane stabbing an icicle into a badguy's eye and kicking someone into a jet turbine. And like you said, it's not like this film didn't include graphic violence, so the scene must have been real brutal. It's one of the reasons why I've wanted to read the original screenplay for the film but unfortunately, I can't find it.

So I guess unless one of the production team talks or someone finds a rare workprint of the film, we'll never know what we're missing. I mean, Targo had all those nasty cuts and bruises all over his face after the fight, so perhaps it was just McClane, whipping his face into submission. That would explain why he turns Targo onto his back before the cut to Targo being tied up.

WINGED FREAK...Terrorizes?....Wait till they get a load of me...

[–] trekkie313 11 years ago

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed how *beep* the ending is! DH3 is by far the weakest of the series for me.

[–] wittmann73 11 years ago

are you kidding?

the ending in DH4 is even worse.

[–] trekkie313 11 years ago

I'm talking about the overall movie, the constant references to kids and African American sentiments is ridiculous. Plus having it be Grubers brother was cliche, don't get me started on the music.

I haven't seen A Good Day To Die Hard.

[–] I_Guard_Tanelorn 10 years ago

I think the ending definitely ran out of money. Tacked on as it is, the ending shapes up to be really satisfying. We have an army of armed bad guys and a fleet of tractor trailers loaded with gold, hitting the highways for an all out battle with invading law enforcement. Why such a scene is set in Canada and not a NYC shipping yard (to maintain the contained setting of the Die Hard films) is beyond me. And absolutely NOTHING comes of that set up except an aerial shot of a truck gently jack knifing and a throw away line about cockroaches. And then the crappy helicopter duel where they don't even have the effects to pull off the final stunt, which is very suggestive that it was never in the script so they just winged the hell out it. It's a pity they didn't think until later to hurl a police car into a helicopter. That, at the end of this movie, would have been pretty epic.

"I said no camels, that's five camels, can't you count?"

[–] granitodiaz 10 years ago

It's action-packed, yes, but at least it keeps in tone with the rest of the movie.

McClane shoots NOT the wire to the sign, but the connection WITH the sign at the truckstop, making the electrical cables fall towards Simon's chopper, which makes him panic and that stupid dumb woman drives them into a large lamppost of some sort, killing them instantly and leaving them to burn in fiery hell.

Then Zeus laughs a bit and tells McClane he should finish the call he started with Holly. Credits roll.

It's fun, concise, and is in keeping with the rest of the film. Why hate this ending?

[–] akingofcomedy 10 years ago

yeah, this is where all the snobs hang out, in the DH:WAV message board.

Why hate the ending? Didn't say I did ( though I did hate the film ) I just questioned how large chunks of the climax seemed to be missing, and apparently others agreed. It's only a small part of what makes the film itself so bad, but an important part nontheless.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] fxdiamond 10 years ago

simple they should have had a guy flying the chopper haha.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] akingofcomedy 9 years ago

thanks, that was new info for me and at least offers something of an explanation