Return to Nakatomi Plaza: Bruce Willis marks ‘Die Hard’ anniversary

How can it be 34 years since Bruce Willis’ John McClane faced off against Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber?

To mark the anniversary of the July 20, 1988 release of “Die Hard” Willis stood at the top of the Fox Plaza building in Century City, Los Angeles, Huff Post reported.

The Fox Plaza stood in for the fictional Nakatomi Plaza building in the blockbuster, and some say Christmas, movie.

Bruce Willis to step away from acting after aphasia diagnosis

“Die Hard” featured Willis as a cop from New York who goes to the West Coast to visit with his estranged wife for the holidays. Shortly after his arrival at his wife’s workplace Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza, terrorists led by Rickman’s character take over the building and McClain has to save all those taken hostage, People magazine reported.

The film inspired several sequels, but he said the original was his favorite.

“The first one was always my favorite, and I always wanted to go back and make a movie that tried to live up to the first one,” Willis told Entertainment Weekly in a 2007 interview. “To make an old-school “Die Hard” with old-school stunts that had also been brought into the 21st century, and that was able to talk about terrorism in a post-9/11 time and not be afraid to say the word ‘terrorist.’”

He added, “And at the same time, not dishonor the memory of the people who lost their lives on 9/11. In the first three films, we say ‘they’re terrorists!’… but it didn’t hit that inflamed nerve people have when it comes to terrorism now.”

‘Die Hard’ is back, but not how you think

Willis earned $5 million for the role, which at the time was nearly unheard of, according to IMDB.

The film was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry in 2017.

Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, posted a video of the moment he returned to the roof of the building, with clips from the movie on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis)

Willis retired from acting earlier this year after his family announced he was diagnosed with aphasia.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis)

Losing language: What is aphasia?

The condition makes it difficult to understand and communicate. His family said that it was “impacting his cognitive abilities,” People magazine reported.

1 of 35