Come out to the coast and have a few laughs making this DIY Die Hard Christmas ornament. Die Hard had something of a strange evolution before hitting the big screen. It started life as a novel called Nothing Lasts Forever from author Roderick Thorp. The book followed his character Joe Leland from the novel The Detective, which was made into a movie in 1968 starring Frank Sinatra. Nothing Lasts Forever found the retired Joe coming to a skyscraper Christmas party to be with his daughter Stephanie. Terrorists soon take over the building and Joe takes them out one by one.
When producers first decided to adapt Nothing Lasts Forever they had to offer it to Frank Sinatra first out of contractual obligation. The singer promptly turned it down, having retired from movies following a brief cameo in 1984's Cannonball Run II. The movie was renamed Die Hard and it was decided to tone down the darkness of the source material and make the main character younger. After everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) to Burt Reynolds turned it down, Bruce Willis was offered the role of John McClane. The movie would become a classic of the action genre and a Christmas staple for many fans.
Die Hard was acclaimed for its witty script and one-liners, with one of the most famous sequences finding John squeezing his way through narrow vents to escape from the bad guys. This leads to his famous quip “Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs." While calling Die Hard a Christmas movie has become surprisingly controversial in recent years, it's become a tradition for many fans to watch it every year. For those who want to take their love a little further, here's a brief DIY guide to recreating McClane crawling through the vents via Christmas ornament. For a more in-depth breakdown on templates go to this link from Imgur user kiwicupcake, who created this piece.
To make this Die Hard Christmas ornament you will need: Tin foil, glue, scissors and a piece of wire.
Print out a color photo and template of John McClane from the link above
Cut out the John McClane photos and glue them together
Cut out the two template pieces and fold them together
Pierce a hole in the center of the first piece for the wire to slide through later
Wrap the template pieces in foil on both sides, according to the hatched lines
Poke a hole through the foil and slip the wire through, bending it to make a hook
Glue the two template pieces together to form the vent
Insert the photo of McClane and hang to tree
It's quite an easy, fun decoration to make and it doesn't take long to create. Every tree would benefit from a Die Hard Christmas ornament hanging from it and it can be reused every year. There's been something of an upswing in Die Hard Christmas products in recent years, from sweaters to a coloring book
Die Hard 6 is currently in development from director Len Wiseman (Live Free Or Die Hard). The movie is dubbed McClane and will be a split prequel/sequel, where a younger actor will play John McClane prior to the events of the original while Bruce Willis will play modern-day John as a case from his past comes back to haunt him. For those hoping for a fitting end, it might be helpful to hang the Die Hard Christmas ornament to the tree and make a wish.
Source: kiwicupcake Imgur / drBoomBot