This was the first Die Hard film where the original script was explicitly written as an entry in the Die Hard series.
- The first Die Hard (1988) film was based the novel "Nothing Lasts Forever" by Roderick Thorp.
- Die Hard 2 (1990) was first written as a script based on Walter Wager's novel '58 Minutes'.
- Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) famously took its basic idea from Jonathan Hensleigh's screenplay Simon Says.
- Live Free or Die Hard (2007) was retro-fitted from the original screenplay WW3.com, which was nearly filmed on its own merits before the 9/11 terrorist attacks caused it to be shelved.
John McClane's cellphone ringtone is Ludwig van Beethoven's Ode to Joy from his 9th Symphony; a theme song of the first Die Hard (1988) film. It was also teased in the background theme in the FBI reveal scene in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995).
Filming of the Mi-24 Hind helicopter firing scenes took place at a military shooting range where Major Peter Simon, Air Operations Commander of Szolnok Helicopter Base, Hungarian Air Force (the pilot of the helicopter in all scenes) operated the gunship's Gryazev-Shipunov GS-30-2k (30 mm) auto-cannons and S-8 (80 mm) rockets with live ammunition to make sure the shooting effects will be as realistic as possible. Background and targets were applied in post-production.
The Russian gang had no actual Russian members. The roles were played by Slovakian, Hungarian, Serbian, Mongolian and Ukrainian actors.