Movies - John McClane

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	Movies - John McClane

John McClane is a fictional character and protagonist of the Die Hard
trilogy of films. He is played by Bruce Willis. McClane is loosely based on the fictional character Detective Joe LeLand from Roderick Thorp's novel, Nothing Lasts Forever
. He is depicted as the American Cowboy, a running gag throughout the films, which in addition to McClane's catch phrase "yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker," often has the villain comparing McClane to John Wayne.

History

John McClane is a police officer with the New York City Police Department. In the first film he had been an officer for 11 years. At the beginning of the first Die Hard
, which was set in 1987, he was separated from his wife, Holly Gennero McClane (played by Bonnie Bedelia), who was using her maiden name. They were separated because Holly had gotten a job that had turned into a career when she was promoted. The promotion required her to move to Los Angeles. John didn't think Holly would make it in Los Angeles and that she would come crawling back to him in New York, so John figured that there was no reason to pack his things for the move to Los Angeles. They have two children, John Jr. and Lucy McClane.

On Christmas Eve, John decides to visit his wife at her workplace at the Nakatomi Plaza which goes sour when he picks an argument with her. Unknown to the couple, the master criminal, Hans Gruber, initiates his plan to steal $600 million in bearer bonds and takes the office of the building hostage. McClane escapes detection and through considerable physical effort, eventually defeats the criminals.

With Husband and wife reconciled in that trying night, John moves to the Los Angeles to join that city's police force. However, the next Christmas Eve finds McClane in a similar situation as the previous one (Die Hard 2: Die Harder
) as he discovers mercenaries have seized control of a major Washington D.C airport's communications and threatened to cause deadly plane crashs, including the plane that is carrying his wife, unless their demands are met. McClane manages to foil this scheme and rescue his wife.

However, by the time of their depiction in the film Die Hard: With a Vengeance
, the McClanes have divorced, which makes John's efforts to foil the explosive revenge plot of Hans Gruber's brother and his real primary scheme that much more difficult.

While ultimately a heroic character, McClane has no shortage of personal problems; his marriage is in a constant state of crisis, his vigilantism and disregard for authority have put him in danger of losing his job more than once, and he is a chain-smoker who is described as "two steps away from being a full-fledged alcoholic."

Trivia

John McClane was selected as number 46 in "the 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time" list done by Premiere magazine.

He is often compared to the character Ash Williams
from the Evil Dead movies, in reference to the amount of physical punishment both characters endure. This has led to some fan fiction crossovers, with either Ash helping John fight terrorists or John helping Ash fight zombies.

In video games, McClane is voiced by Jamey Scott.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for John McClane ]

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