A Good Day to Die Hard

John McClane travels to Russia after finding out that his estranged son is in prison. Things do not go as planned from there. A Good Day to Die Hard, the fifth and (hopefully) final film in the Die Hard series feels kind of like it’s just going through the motions. Every action set piece and every twist and turn in the script feels like it was taken from one of the earlier Die Hard films. Any time there’s a moment between McClane and his son, it’s just, “bicker, bicker, bicker, joke, joke, joke and on to the next plot point.” There’s one decent car chase sequence in the film but, for the most part, it just feels like John McClane and his son have been shoehorned into a movie that’s completely unrelated to the Die Hard franchise.

Rating: 62%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Live Free or Die Hard

As a favor to the FBI, John McClane is tasked with escorting a hacker to Washington, D.C. Things quickly start to go sideways after a group of hitmen try to kill the hacker before McClane can bring him in. With assassins following their every move, McClane and the hacker attempt to stop a group of terrorists who are attempting to bring down America through a coordinated cyber attack. As far as Die Hard movies go, Live Free or Die Hard probably ranks second to last for most people. What saves it from being dead last, for me at least, is the presence of Justin Long as the hacker. Long has an endless supply of charisma and his back and forth with Bruce Willis, while being somewhat derivative of the odd couple dynamic in Die Hard with a Vengeance, elevates the movie overall. Timothy Olyphant is good as the leader of the terrorists, but lacks the intimidating gravitas of previous villains in the series. And Kevin Smith is unnecessarily shoehorned into the movie as another hacker.

Rating: 68%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Die Hard with a Vengeance

John McClane, the hero of Nakatomi Plaza and the Dulles Airport, is at an all time low in Die Hard with a Vengeance. Estranged from his wife, suspended from the force, and in the midst of an epic hangover, John becomes a terrorist's plaything. McClane and a reluctant good samaritan (played to perfection by Samuel L. Jackson) are sent on a series of missions, with an epic explosion awaiting them should they fail. Die Hard with a Vengeance probably has more jokes per minute than any of the other Die Hard movies, but I'm not complaining. Willis and Jackson play off of each other so well, it's a shame Jackson's character never returned in any of the other sequels.

Rating: 79%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: Colleen Camp, who played Kowalski, also played a cop, Corporal Kirkland, in Police Academy 2 and 4.

Die Hard 2

Every year more and more people think they're being clever when they tell you that the original Die Hard is their favorite Christmas movie. Don't get me wrong, the first Die Hard is a fantastic movie and, yes, it is set at Christmas time but, for my money, Die Hard 2 is the better Christmas movie. I can watch Die Hard at any point of the year but when the Christmas season is upon us I tend to reach for Die Hard 2. I think it has the distinct advantage when it comes to the setting. Die Hard takes place in California while Die Hard 2 takes place in Virginia during bad weather. It has snow and snowmobiles and pointy icicles that you can jam into a terrorist's eye. I'm just saying John McClane never killed anyone with a palm tree. And sure, Reginald VelJohnson is criminally underused in Die Hard 2, but the movie almost makes up for it with the rest of the cast. You got Dennis Franz, William Sadler, Franco Nero, John Amos, Fred Thompson, Robert Patrick and Colm Meaney. That's a murderers' row of character actors. So next year when some smug douche or some snarky listicle tries to convince you to rewatch Die Hard for Christmas, consider Die Hard 2, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Rating: 75%

(Image from IMDB)

Die Hard

#60 on Glenn's Top 100 Movie Lits

Whenever anybody is asking for a list of great Christmas movies, I always say this is one of the best. It's either this or Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. Anyway, this is also one of the best action movies ever made, and it really holds up in this age of constant computer effects. In this one, John McLean is just an average cop who gets caught in this crazy scenario. In the later Die Hards, he becomes some ridiculous superhero, but here it is very realistic the way he defeats a skyscraper full of terrorists in his bare feet. Also, Alan Rickman.

RATING: 89%