On Christmas Eve, New York City Police Detective John McClane travels to Los Angeles to reunite with his estranged wife, Holly, in an attempt to mend their relationship. Holly is attending a company Christmas party hosted by her employer, the Nakatomi Corporation, at their high-rise headquarters, Nakatomi Plaza. McClane is driven to the building by Argyle, a cheerful limo driver, who offers to wait for McClane in the parking garage in case things don’t go well.
While McClane freshens up in the office restroom, a group of heavily armed men, led by the charismatic and cunning German leader Hans Gruber, seizes control of the building. Posing as terrorists, Gruber and his team, which includes skilled members like Karl, Theo, and Tony, take the partygoers hostage. Their true objective is to steal $640 million in bearer bonds stored in the building’s vault. Gruber kills Nakatomi executive Joseph Takagi when he refuses to provide the vault’s access code, leaving Theo to hack through the remaining security measures.
Unnoticed during the initial takeover, McClane evades capture and slips into the upper floors of the building. Meanwhile, Argyle remains in the garage, oblivious to the unfolding events. McClane watches as Gruber’s team fortifies the building and communicates with each other via radio. Determined to stop them, McClane kills Tony, one of the terrorists, taking his weapon and a two-way radio. Using the radio, McClane contacts the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), but his claims are met with skepticism.
Sergeant Al Powell is dispatched to investigate but initially finds no sign of trouble at Nakatomi Plaza. To get Powell’s attention, McClane drops Tony’s lifeless body onto his patrol car, prompting Powell to call for reinforcements. The LAPD and later the FBI arrive, but their efforts to regain control of the building are hindered by the terrorists’ superior firepower and planning.
Inside the building, McClane continues to disrupt Gruber’s operation, eliminating more terrorists and confiscating their C-4 explosives and detonators. Meanwhile, Holly’s colleague Harry Ellis, hoping to negotiate with Gruber, offers to broker a deal involving McClane. Ellis’s plan backfires, and Gruber executes him when McClane refuses to surrender.
While investigating the explosives on the roof, McClane has a tense encounter with Gruber, who pretends to be a frightened hostage. Gruber’s act briefly deceives McClane, who hands him a gun. However, when Gruber tries to use it, he discovers McClane has given him an unloaded weapon. The situation escalates when Gruber’s team intervenes, forcing McClane to flee. During his escape, McClane sustains injuries from shattered glass and loses the detonators to Gruber.
As the situation intensifies, the FBI takes command of the operation. In an attempt to corner the terrorists, they cut power to the building, unknowingly disabling the final lock on the vault and granting Gruber access to the bearer bonds. Gruber demands a helicopter for his escape, but the FBI plans to ambush him with helicopter gunships.
McClane deduces that Gruber intends to detonate the explosives on the roof, killing the hostages and faking his team’s deaths to cover their escape. Gruber, meanwhile, watches a news report by ambitious reporter Richard Thornburg, who has exposed the identities of McClane’s children. Realizing McClane’s connection to Holly, Gruber takes her hostage as leverage.
As the hostages are escorted to the roof, McClane intervenes, driving them back inside moments before Gruber detonates the explosives. The blast destroys the roof and the FBI helicopters, leaving McClane battered but alive. Meanwhile, in the parking garage, Theo prepares an escape vehicle, but Argyle, now aware of the crisis through the limo’s CB radio, stops him by ramming the vehicle and knocking him unconscious.
McClane tracks Gruber to an upper floor, where he finds Holly being held at gunpoint by Gruber and his remaining henchman. Pretending to surrender, McClane uses a concealed pistol taped to his back to kill the henchman and wound Gruber. In a last-ditch effort, Gruber crashes through a window but grabs onto Holly’s wristwatch to stop his fall. McClane manages to unclasp the watch, sending Gruber plummeting to his death.
Outside the building, Karl, who had survived an earlier confrontation with McClane, ambushes him and Holly. Before Karl can fire, Powell shoots and kills him, redeeming himself for his earlier hesitation in the line of duty. As McClane and Holly reunite, Thornburg attempts to interview them, only to be punched by Holly for exploiting her children.
Argyle, still waiting in the parking garage, crashes through the exit gate in his limo to pick up McClane and Holly. They drive away together, leaving behind the chaos and destruction of Nakatomi Plaza.
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