Yippee-ki-Yay!

Bruce Willis stars as New York City Detective John McClane, newly arrived in Los Angeles to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia). But as McClane waits for his wife's office party to break up, the partygoers are taken hostage by a group of terrorists headed by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). Disregarding the orders of the authorities surrounding the building, McClane takes on the villains, armed with only a service revolver and his cunning, McClane launches his own one-man war.

Title: Die Hard
Release: July 13, 1988
Genre: Action
MPAA Rating: R
Based On: Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp

Writer: Jeb Stuart, & Steven E. de Souza
Director: John McTiernan

Music By: Michael Kamen
Produced By: Charles Gordon, Lawrence Gordon, Beau Marks, & Joel Silver
Distributed By: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 114 minutes

By the late 80's the action genre was becoming tired and repetitive then Die Hard came along and raised the bar by blending humor into the action packed thrill. This little film rocketed Bruce Willis permanently into fame, firmly cast Alan Rickman as the ultimate villain, and finally went on to become a popular franchise that has so far spawned three other movies!

I have to admit that until recently I had never seen the Die Hard movies even though I really like Bruce Willis and think Alan Rickman is so much fun to hate. Now that I have seen them all I can say without a doubt, that this is one of the best action-packed series of films I’ve ever seen! Willis’ sarcastic and foul-mouthed humor is absolutely hilarious in every film but especially this one.

If I was to pick favorites out of all the Die Hard films, this would have a pretty fair chance at being in the number one slot followed closely behind by Live Free Die Hard (4) simply because it’s mindless “shoot-em-up” fun but still manages to be funny and thrilling almost 20 years since it’s first release.

There is information on Die Hard at Wikipedia and imdb.com as well as a video of Siskel & Ebert’s review in which there are several clips from the film.

Trailer:

What is it about John McClane and the holiday’s?! Here it is, Christmas Eve, and McClane (Bruce Willis, returning to his iconic film role) is off-duty in the nation’s capital. But a team of terrorists, in town to rescue a drug lord from justice, has taken over a major international airport, holding thousands of travelers hostage. Amidst a blinding blizzard, McClane must race against time to defeat the terrorists and their murderous leader (William Sadler). And if that’s not a big enough lump of coal in his stocking, he’s also contending with an inept airport police chief (Dennis Franz), the stubborn head of the army’s anti-terrorist squad, and the knowledge that his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) is trapped in a plane desperately low on fuel, circling overhead!

Title: Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Release: July 4, 1990
Genre: Action
MPAA Rating: R

Based On: 58 Minutes by Walter Wager
Writer: Steven E. de Souza, & Doug Richardson
Director: Renny Harlin

Music By: Michael Kamen
Produced By: Charles Gordon, Lawrence Gordon, & Joel Silver
Distributed By: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 124 minutes

Die Hard 2: Die Harder is pretty much the same as the original Die Hard but with a different setting, more daring stunts, more gruesome deaths, and mainly TV actors in all the supporting roles (there are a few reprises of roles from the first film though) . Essentially it’s a cheap knock-off of the original and like McClane said, “How can the same sh** happen to the same guy twice?!”

I think the main problem I had with Die Harder was the gory death scenes in which McClane uses whatever is handy to help kill the bad guys and the main terrorist wasn’t a very interesting character either. I did think it was neat to see what airports were like back then although I doubt very seriously that the security was that incredibly lax, especially so close to the White House.

I did however like the special effects and of course Willis’ witty, sarcastic comments. I just felt like it could have been better. It does manage to be good enough to not earn the title of “just another sequel” but I liked it the least out of the Die Hard movies.

There is information available on Wikipedia and imdb.com on Die Hard 2. Plus here is a video of Siskel & Ebert’s review in which there are several clips from the film and Fox has up a page for this film on which you can watch behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast.

Trailer:

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) just can’t seem to relax. Now he’s the personal target of the mysterious Simon (Jeremy Irons), a terrorist determined to blow up the entire city if he doesn’t get what he wants. Accompanied by an unwilling civilian (Samuel L. Jackson), McClane careens wildly from one end of town to the other as he struggles to keep up with Simon’s deadly game. It’s a battle of wits between a psychopathic genius and a heroic cop in this third chapter of the hugely successful Die Hard series.

Title: Die Hard: With a Vengeance
Release: May 19, 1995
Genre: Action
MPAA Rating: R

Based On: Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp (characters)
Writer: Jonathan Hensleigh
Director: John McTiernan

Music By: Michael Kamen
Produced By: John McTiernan & Michael Tandross
Distributed By: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 131 minutes

Die Hard: With a Vengeance may be the funniest film in the Die Hard series but sadly the plot is kind of weak so the movie was left entirely up to the fabulous talents of Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, and Jeremy Irons who plays the brother of Hans Gruber (the main villian from the first Die Hard).

I was very pleased with this Die Hard and not only because it had incredibly cool stunts (lot’s of stuff gets blown up this time) or the fact that it was utterly hilarious either. I loved Die Hard: With a Vengeance because someone acknowledged that Alan Rickman (who played Hans Gruber) was the ultimate villain and that only one man could possibly be believable as Gruber’s brother... the smooth, calculating Jeremy Irons of course! And what a great bad guy he makes too!

If it wasn’t for these fabulous actors and their many talents, Die Hard: With a Vengeance I probably wouldn’t have made it more than 15 minutes into the film before falling asleep. As it stands I loved it and I can’t wait to see it again soon!

There is information available on Wikipedia and imdb.com on Die Hard 3. Plus here is a video of Siskel & Ebert’s review in which there are several clips from the film.

Trailer:

An old-fashioned cop emerges to foil a high-tech attack on the country's computer infrastructure as Bruce Willis brings back one of the biggest action franchises in screen history. It's been over a decade since audiences last saw New York cop John McClane (Willis), but now, as the world's greatest criminal mastermind (Timothy Olyphant) attempts to cripple the entire country with an innovative act of technological terrorism, only one cop can insure that the integrity of the system stays intact.

Title: Live Free or Die Hard
Release: June 27, 2007
Genre: Action
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Based On: Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp (certain characters)
Writer: Mark Bomback & David Marconi
Director: Len Wiseman

Music By: Marco Beltrami
Produced By: John McTiernan, Bruce Willis, Arnold Rifkin, & Michael Fottrell
Distributed By: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 129 minutes
Official Site

The very latest in the Die Hard series which has spanned over almost 20 years is Live Free or Die Hard in which McClane goes up against virtual terrorists with his classic one-man-army technique. Unfortunately McClane’s use of humor that made the Die Hard films what they are is few and far between. Instead the hacker-kid Matthew (played by Justin Long) gets most of the good lines and poor McClane somehow manages to look like he’s giving up his coveted “King of the Die Hard Series” seat.

I’m not by no means saying that this wasn’t a good film because it was! Actually besides the first one it was my favorite out of the whole Die Hard series. Justin Long is a great actor but other than Bruce Willis of course, the person that made Live Free or Die Hard such an enjoyable experience was Timothy Olyphant playing the nasty villain (as usual!) Gabriel. He’s no Alan Rickman but he’s definitely perfect for the job!

I watched all four of the Die Hard movies in one sitting (hence the fact that I made this one long post) so everything was really fresh in my mind. I was amazed at how Willis was able to slip right back into the role of McClane except for the fact that he seems to have majorly cleaned up his language (which is why this is only film in the Die Hard series that isn’t rated R). At least there is still quite a few great stunts and special effects!

There is information available on Wikipedia and imdb.com as well as an interview with Bruce Willis and other interviews with the cast at the premiere. Yahoo has a page featuring this movie too with clips and other stuff on it.

Trailer:


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