Die Hard is the ultimate Christmas-film-but-not-really-a-Christmas-film-at-all movie, dividing viewers for decades on whether or not it should be up there with the likes of Elf, Home Alone and It's A Wonderful Life. But now there's another reason to give it a watch over the holidays, as a major plot hole has finally been explained.
As you know, the film revolves around a terrorist attack from some prick called Hans Gruber (played by the magnificent Alan Rickman). Bruce Willis - as a very macho John McClane - then strips down to his wife beater to sort things out.
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In one scene, Gruber pretends to be a hostage when he first comes across McClane - who senses something is up and buggers off. However, it's never specified what exactly spooked McClane.
Well, apparently we're missing a scene about the Gruber and his gang of terrorists and some synchronised watches, which was cut from the final edit of the film.
"Originally, they get off the truck, the camera craned up, you saw them in a circle and Alan Rickman says, 'Synchronise your watches'," Screenwriter Steve E de Souza has explained, according to Slash Film.
"They all put their arms out in a circle with the camera moving down and they all had the same Tag Heuer watch. If you notice, the first guy Bruce kills almost by accident going down the steps, he searches the body, looks at the IDs."
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The longer cut of the scene also includes McClane beginning to notice the terrorists' watches.
"He steals the cigarettes, which is a laugh.
"He looks at the watch which gets another laugh because you're thinking he might steal the watch. As he kills each guy, he notices they all had the same watch.
"When he talks to Dwayne Robinson, he says, 'I think these guys are professionals. Their IDs are too good. There's no labels on their clothes and they all have the same watch'."
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Credit: Die Hard / 20th Century Fox
De Souza added: "[Director] John [McTiernan] says to the editor, 'Get the scissors in there. Cut as soon as you can when they get off the truck so we don't see there's no ambulance'. Now without 'synchronize your watches', all of these moments where Bruce looks at these guys' watches makes no sense.
"When Bruce offers the cigarette to Alan Rickman, Bruce sees the watch. You see his eyes look at the watch. That's how he knows that he is one of the terrorists."
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Whether or not you consider Die Hard a Christmas film, the best thing about this one is that it's at least a good excuse to crack it out over the festive period, so that you can watch it again with all this in mind.
Featured Image Credit: Die Hard / 20th Century FoxTopics: Christmas, Film, Entertainment, Bruce Willis, TV and Film, Die Hard