DIE HARD (1988), DIE HARD 2 (1990), and DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE (1995) constitute one of my favorite trilogies like the GODFATHER series. For the sake of brevity, in this collective review I'll refer to them as DH1, DH2, and DH3. The main thread that runs all throughout the three Die Hards is the loose cannon of a New York City cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) who finds himself pitted against world-class villains Hans Gruber (DH1), Col. Stuart (DH2) and Simon Gruber (DH3, brother of Hans Gruber). That conflict between good and bad is the central classic plot in all three DHs and it works much better in DH1 and DH3 than in DH2 for reasons I'll explain later. McClane's wife Holly Gennero McClane (played by lovely Bonnie Bedelia) who found herself a new career in Los Angeles is the "love interest" subplot that threads through all three DHs despite her physical absence in DH3. Police Sergeant Al Powell (played by Reginald Vel Johnson) has a prominent role in DH1 and a minor one in DH2 as a narrative device to knit links between these separate films. There are specific references to DH1 by the characters in DH2 and DH3, as for example when they greet McClane as that guy who was at the Nakatomi Towers when that thing had happened. There are also visual clues that establish cross-references like the liberal amount of glass shattered and sprayed all the over the place in DH2 which pays clear homage to that unforgettable naked-feet-on-glass scene in DH1. The self-important TV reporter Richard-Did You Get That?-Thornburg (played by William Atherton) is another link between DH1 and DH2. That's why you must watch this trilogy by starting with DH1; otherwise certain scenes in DH2 and DH3 do not make any sense. Stories in a nutshell: DH1: McClane takes on a group of hi-tech terrorists who have taken his wife and others hostage at Nakatomi Towers in Los Angeles. Their idea is to steal the $600 million in the corporation's vaults in a precision-timed operation but McClane interrupts rudely with the manic energy of a cop-cowboy on steroids. DH2: A band of mercenaries take over and shut down the Washington Dulles Airport to kidnap a drug baron extradited from Latin America. They threaten to kill anyone if their plan is resisted and illustrate what they can do. But McClane's wife Holly is a passenger in one of the 18 passenger aircrafts circling over Dulles at night and running out of fuel. McClane has no option but kick some serious ass. DH3: The brother of the terrorist whom McClane killed at the Nakatomi Towers in DH1 is back with a vengeance, blowing department stores in Manhattan, threatening to blow away schools, while robbing New York Federal Reserve Bank with his German mercenaries. This time McClane is a personal target but he pays them back in spades and saves the NYC. In all three DHs Bruce Willis's hormone-pumped delivery of a cop who almost is amused by his own frequent brushes with death and destruction is central to the success of this franchise. His wide-eyed hyperventilating chase scenes and his signature yippee kay yee mother f****r! victory hoop is already a part of the action-thriller movie lore against which the success of many characters of the same genre will be measured. Mel Gibson of the LETHAL WEAPON franchise is a name that measures up to Willis's portrayal of McClane. But there still aren't too many actors and characters out there to match that perfect fusion between Willis and his character McClane. What differentiates these three DHs, though, is not the way Willis plays McClane but the VILLAINS he faces. That's why I think the DH1 and DH3 succeed where DH2 fails us. Hans and Simon Gruber (played by the gravel-voiced aristocrat Jeremy Irons) are truly scary characters unlike anything we encounter in real life. Col. Stuart of DH2, on the other hand, starts out as a true psycho but ends up just another terrorist with an above-usual ease with hi-tech gadgets. When Hans Gruber spirals down to his demise from the Nakatomi Tower in DH1 we are almost sorry for his destruction the way we might feel sorry for the death of the world's largest white shark. When Col. Stuart dies, however, we are happy that the world is rid of a common pest. There is nothing mythical about him. DH1 is special because, with perhaps the exception of the TOWERING INFERNO, we have not seen anything like it before. It is original and fresh and keeps us at the edge of our seats until the end. DH3, on the other hand, is equally fascinating for two additional reasons. The great Samuel Jackson, who plays a pawnshop owner in Harlem who inadvertently gets sucked into the whole mess with Willis, does justice to the racial-tension subplot that adds another dimension to the story. But another reason why I've watched DH3 with mixed feelings in my heart is because the movie was shot in 1995 and in some scenes you can clearly see the World Trade Center towers in the background. It's such a burden as a movie fan to know what really happened in the Big Apple in 2001. We are certainly living in a different world now and probably it's going to be very hard in the future to shoot another action-terror movie with big explosions in the heart of Manhattan. Suddenly certain scenes are not just for entertainment anymore. Suddenly our hearts no more tolerate that kind of dramatic license with reality. DH1 and DH3 both rate an 8 out 10 in my book. I'm pegging DH2 a bit lower at 6 out of 10. And if there's going to be a DH4, dear producers, would you pretty please bring Bonnie Bedelia back. Thank you. ------------------------------------------- |
