When theyre all in that van, John McClane was right. he didnt know and didnt care about who Peter Krieg was while the FBI guys were just sitting on their butts looking out windows and playing with their sunglasses while Simon Gruber and his gang were doing who knows what during that time.
Yes, this was an extremely weird scene from a filmmaking perspective. I know they’re building up to the big reveal that Simon was Hans’s brother, but my god, that scene is real stupid. ZERO reason why the FBI would be acting like this towards McClane.
shareI doubt they were the only FBI guys on the case, just some relatively high up agents dealing with intel and, as is often the case, wanting to make sure the govt knows more than you.
shareGiven they were all “top men” it seems surprising they didn’t just come right out and say “This guy is Hans Gruber’s brother so it’s likely this bombing campaign is for revenge, or more likely a smokescreen to steal money, what with this bomb being right here in Wall St. “
Would have ruined the movie though but once again, the hero cop is way smarter than FBI, CIA & NSA combined.
It’s also possible that they wanted to sow mistrust between the FBI and McClane to set up the original ending - where the authorities believe McClane was involved in the heist.
shareI've said it before but that alternate ending is dumb. There is nothing that happens the entire movie that would make them think he's in cahoots with Simon. Simon has him go to Harlem wearing a sign that says I hate beeps! He almost gets killed and is saved by Zeus. He risks his life to save the people on the subway train and is also almost killed there. He kills Simon's men at the bank. The Foreman and Jerry the Dump Truck Driver see him go into that tunnel and Jerry sees him take the dump truck there. The dam gets blown up by Simon and his men and Zeus can testify that he narrowly escapes that. Then there is what happens on the ship. All this is 100% proof that he wasn't in cahoots with Simon and Zeus can testify to his innocence. There is mistrust and then there is stupid to the point of insanity.
shareYep, the original ending was a poor choice for several reasons, not least the ones you’ve outlined. The only explanation I could conjure would be that the FBI were looking for a fall guy and went to absurd lengths to ‘finger’ McClane. The justice system dissolves like sand beneath your feet once the deep state has targeted you for exile (see Assange) or termination (see Epstein).
Anyway, maybe it goes some way to explaining the FBI’s reticence in the van.
You even have to wonder if McTiernan getting thrown in prison for supposedly lying to the FBI was a punishment for his portrayals of the agency in his films… 🤔
If that's the case, he had it coming. That's pretty funny considering him not going through the proper channels to not pay his taxes like what that guy I argued with on the politics board was talking about. And he ended up going to prison for it.
shareWell, McTiernan made the FBI look like fools in both Die Hard films he directed, and the FBI returned the favour by charging him with making a false statement to the FBI about his hiring a private investigator to illegally wiretap someone, and he was sentenced to 12 months in prison (which he actually served) and a $100,000 fine for. So they laughed last, yes.
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