priority and posterity

...
Suddenly all REACT to a nearby CB transmitter which broadcasts.

						POWELL'S VOICE
			This is Sergeant Al Powell of the
			Los Angeles Police Department.  If
			the person who radioed for help on
			this channel can hear me, acknowledge
			this transmission...I say again...

172	INT. 33RD FLOOR - ON MCCLANE - NIGHT			172	*

						MCCLANE
				(to CB)
			I read you, Powell.  You the guy
			in the car?

										INTERCUT:

173	EXT. POLICE OPERATIONS TRAILER				173

	Powell stands in front of his destroyed cruiser and looks
	up at the building.  Behind him technicians, City Power and
	Light personnel, SWAT officers in protective gear, etc., arrive
	from all directions.  A trailer is being backed into a parking
	lot, which will become the police center of operations.  It
	is like watching a small town being constructed right before
	your eyes.

						POWELL
				(to CB)
			What's left of him.  Can you
			identify yourself?

										INTERCUT:

173-A   HANS AND KARL								173-A

	Listening intently.

						MCCLANE
			Maybe later.  Just listen fast
			because this is a party line and
			the neighbors are trigger happy.
			Now here's the skinny:  There's
			thirty or so hostages on the
			30th floor, with probably 2 or 3
			guards to cover a group that size.
			The leader here is named Hans,
			and besides the pea shooter he
			ventilated your car with,					*
			they got machine guns and					*
			sidearms up the yin yang.  On top
			of that one of 'em had a big enough
			chunck of plastic explosive to
			orbit Kate Smith.							*

	NOTE:  The following dialogue is said OVER McClane's.

						FRANCO
			We have to find him and shut him
			up!  He's telling them everything --

						HANS
				(shaking his head,
				calming)
			The police are irrelevant.  We've				*
			waiting for the FBI.  Until they				*
			arrive, we can't finish out work.
			Meanwhile, let this fool waste time
			for the police.  Fritz, go help Uli			*
			find the bag.

	The CAMERA TIGHTENS ON him

						HANS
			We must find those detonators.

	They leave.

173-B   WITH MCCLANE								173-B

						POWELL'S VOICE
			How many are there?

						MCCLANE
				(thinking about it)
			Figuring there's at least one to
			cover the lobby, a couple with the
			hostages...I'd say they came in
			with about a dozen...but they're
			down to nine now, including the
			skydiver you already met.  These
			guys are mostly Europeans, judging
			by their clothing labels, and they're
			well financed and very slick.

						POWELL
			How do you know?

						MCCLANE
			I've seen enough phoney ID's in
			my time to recognize that the ones
			they've got cost a fortune.  Add all
			that up and I don't know what the
			fuck it means, but these are bad
			ass preps and they're here to stay.

	We notice that everything McClane has said about "clothing"
	and ID's and police jargon, etc., has set off a little buzzer
	in Powell's brain.

						POWELL
			I hear you...
				(on a hunch)
			Partner.  And LA's finest are on it,
			so light 'em if you got 'em.

						MCCLANE
			I'm ahead of you...partner.

						POWELL
			Uh, what do I call you?

	A moment.  McClane smiles.  What the hell?

						MCCLANE
			'Roy'.

						POWELL
			Got it...'Roy'.  Now listen.  If
			you think of anything else you think
			we need to know, don't be shy, okay?
			In the meantime I want you to find
			a safe place and hole-up and let
			us do our job.  Understand?

						MCCLANE
				(to CB)
			They're all yours, Al.  Good luck.

	McClane turns off his CB and sits against the wall.

174-    OUT									OUT   174-
176											176

---

This movie seriously vies for best Christmas movie; just one man’s opinion, but it should probably be taken seriously. It’s hard to pick a scene that carries the movie within it, but this one was as close as I could come.

Yippee-ki-yay M***er f***ers, and god bless us, every one.