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"Will audiences give John McClane&amp;#039;s latest outing a yippee-ki-yay or a yippee-ki-NO? To coincide with the dubiously titled A Good Day to Die Hard blasting its way into cinemas, here&amp;#039;s a rundown of what made the franchise great. Let&amp;#039;s just say the Gruber family, airports, Christmas and a visible hairline played a part - and McClane jumping onto an F-35 fighter jet (and over a metaphorical shark) in the risible Die Hard 4.0 does not... The First Encounter John McClane&amp;#039;s first encounter with a member of the gruesome Gruber family in the sublime Die Hard. Alan Rickman&amp;#039;s compelling turn as Hans inspired countless filmmakers to cast British thesps as creepy Euro-villains afterwards, while Bruce Willis&amp;#039;s sweaty white vest inspired Onslow from Keeping Up Appearances.      Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother\u00E2\u20AC\u00A6 The monumental first outing for McClane&amp;#039;s iconic catchphrase, imparted in the direction of a sneering Hans Gruber. The villain later repeated the phrase back to the vigilante detective, helping to solidify its appeal.      Ho Ho Ho Arguably spawning Alan Rickman&amp;#039;s finest ever line delivery, this festive message from John McClane to Hans Gruber - using a bad guy carcass instead of a Halllmark card - epitomises the sense of humour that endeared Bruce Willis&amp;#039;s hero to millions across the globe.      Hans doesn&amp;#039;t hang around\u00E2\u20AC\u00A6 Director John McTiernan&amp;#039;s visually striking demise for Hans Gruber features a breathtaking use of slow-mo. That&amp;#039;s how it&amp;#039;s done Zack Snyder!      The Ejector Seat Although its over-the-top stunts slightly belie the franchise&amp;#039;s roots, involving an &amp;#039;everyman&amp;#039; in a plausible but extraordinary scenario, Die Hard 2: Die Harder contains plenty of crowd-pleasing feats. In particular, McClane&amp;#039;s miraculous cockpit escape\u00E2\u20AC\u00A6      The Racist Sandwich Board As part of Simon &amp;#039;Brother of Hans&amp;#039; Gruber&amp;#039;s fiendish gameplaying in the immensely enjoyable Die Hard with a Vengeance, he made John McClane roam around Harlem in an extremely racist sandwich board. &amp;#039;Simon Says&amp;#039; was never like this at school...      The Water Jug The third Die Hard movie was bolstered by giving John McClane an affable sidekick in the form of Samuel L Jackson&amp;#039;s Harlem electrician Zeus Carver. Here they show how great they&amp;#039;d have been on The Krypton Factor by cracking that everyday &amp;#039;how to get four gallons of water using three gallon and five gallon jugs&amp;#039; issue.      Attention! Attention! Nils is dead! Poor Simon Gruber. Being lumbered with a tight blue vest and peroxide blond barnet were the least of his worries when a buoyant McClane took out some of his henchmen and gloated over the walkie-talkie. Just imagine the response if Bruce Willis entered metatextual terrain and referenced his Pulp Fiction role by saying &amp;#039;Nils is dead baby. Nils is dead...&amp;quot; instead.      The Barking Dog One of the most amusing sequences filmed for the Die Hard franchise didn&amp;#039;t even make the final cut. This deleted scene takes place in the second movie and involves our white-vested hero telling a barking dog where to go...      An explosive demise... We couldn&amp;#039;t sign off without another clip of John McClane issuing his own form of farewell, this time at the end of Die Hard 2 when lighting a trail of fuel that blows up the plane featuring the bad dudes...      A Good Day to Die Hard opens in cinemas today (February 14). "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a457978/10-classic-die-hard-franchise-moments/>