Minute 050: Shut Him in and Come Back Down

THIS WEEK’S HOSTS:

Hal Bryan and Jim O’Kane

of The Rocketeer Minute

Karl and Fritz enter the electrical room.

“Where is he now?” asks Hans, on the radio.

“He’s in the elevator shaft,” says Karl. Fritz responds to Hans in German.

“Perfect,” replies Hans. “The elevators are locked off. He can’t escape. Just shut him in and come back down.”

Meanwhile, McClane enters the far elevator shaft through the now-open panel. “Oh f—!” he whispers as he looks down. Sitting on the ledge of the panel opening, he turns around and grabs  his rifle from the floor.

On the walkie-talkie, Hans is trying to get his men to come back downstairs. “Karl,” he says, “the police are probably on their way already. Karl!”

McClane braces his rifle across the open panel and feeds the rifle strap down the shaft behind him.  He grabs the strap and starts to shift his weight from the ledge to the strap, then lowers himself down to the next level. He tries to reach the next level with his feet, but he’s still too far from the next panel.

“I can stall them,” says Hans, “but not if they hear gunshots. If you lock him in, he’ll be neutralized –” Karl reaches over and shuts off the walkie-talkie.

McClane is literally at the end of his tether.

IN THIS MINUTE:

John McClane: Bruce Willis

Hans Gruber: Alan Rickman

Karl: Alexander Godunov

Fritz: Hans Buhringer

Franco: Bruno Doyon