Die Hard 4.0

Plot:

The True Story looks at the real lives and true stories behind Hollywood blockbusters and this episode examines the real life inspiration behind Bruce Willis adventure thriller Die Hard 4.0. The much anticipated fourth instalment of the Die Hard franchise sees a slightly aged - but just as capable New York Cop John McClane (Willis) take on the sophisticated cyber-criminal mastermind Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant). Gabriel holds the United States to ransom as he wreaks havoc by shutting down the country remotely via the internet and only McClane can stop him. The True Story examines how likely large scale cyber terrorism actually is and what steps are being taken to stop it. In Die Hard 4.0 the cyber-attack is codenamed ‘Fire Sale’ – a term now actually being used among hacker communities. Are we really living in a world where a teenager can infiltrate and shut down an airport from their bedroom? Or where criminal gangs can rob a nation-wide chain of banks with the click of a mouse? As well as in depth interviews with former FBI agents, journalists, and the crew behind the movie we also delve into the world of hackers, speaking to some of the most notorious in the world to find out if they really are arch criminals or simply bored geeks wanting to cause some trouble – and in the end which is harder to combat. Historian Fabian Hilfrich also heads to the Vietnamese jungle where Stone was posted in 1967 to discover the real conditions the troops faced, the deadly booby traps that lay hidden all around and investigates the Viet Cong’s Deadly network of underground tunnels that feature prominently in one of the movies tensest scenes. We also dissect Platoon’s climatic battle scene where US Troops bomb their own base in a desperate attempt to fend off an ambush. It was textbook Hollywood jeopardy, but it’s based on an actual event. We reunite Stone’s comrades who served alongside him that fearsome night, hearing from the man who ordered that napalm attack for real, and revealing exclusive recordings of the actual airstrike that was so famously mirrored in the movie.