Yes, That Was A 'Die Hard' Reference In 'Neighbors'

This post contains spoilers about the end of "Neighbors."

The part in "Neighbors" that totally felt like an homage to the scene in "Die Hard" where Bruce Willis shouts, "Welcome to the party, pal"? It was intentional.

"I can't even use the word homage," director Nicholas Stoller told HuffPost Entertainment about the sequence, which features Rose Byrne's Kelly shooting fireworks at a cop car as it drives away in an effort to get the officer's attention. "We just ripped off 'Die Hard.'"

Kelly's act of rebellion proves to be the final straw against Teddy (Zac Efron) and his rowdy fraternity brothers, and provides Kelly and her husband, Mac (Seth Rogen), with a final victory against the unruly group. All that's missing from the big climax is Byrne actually making a direct reference to the 1988 action classic.

"We shot her saying, 'Yippee kay-yay, motherfucker,'" Stoller revealed. "But I thought it was cheesy and weird."

Beyond the director's apprehension, there was also a slight issue with Byrne. "She said [the line] like she had no idea what she was saying," Stoller said with a laugh.

Not that Stoller was disappointed with Byrne's work in "Neighbors."

"I think she's literally Meryl Streep," he said of the actress.

If only she were John McClane.