How do you gage success with a movie franchise, with the amount of money that each films brings in or by how much the story and characters become a part of the pop culture. This series of films started in 1988 and has held a place in the hearts of action film fans for almost two decades. With only four films the character of John McClane has become an icon in the annals of action films, and with action sequences and tag lines of dialog that just seem to be made of gold we have been entertained for years by a character that just doesn't seem to get old. With the release of this latest film, 12 years after the last one, we are given a natural aging McClane who is not trying to hide the facts that his life has in some ways hit rock bottom. And isn't this one of the reasons that we love this character, even though he can do amazing things when put under pressure, he is still a regular human being trying to get through life. Die Hard - A terrorist group takes over a Los Angeles skyscraper and Officer John McClane must do what ever he can to save his wife and stop the leader's plans. This movie burst onto the screen in 1988 and truly never looked back, this movie alone set the stage for all other action films to come. The special effects are at times breathtaking as well as powerful; the speed that they all come at you is so fast that there are moments that you're still catching your breath when the next sequence is upon you. After seeing this film there is no question in any ones mind that Willis is was bankable action star and would have a long career in this genre.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder - While waiting for his wife at the Dulles airport Officer John McClane is thrown into a life and death situation with a group of terrorists trying to free an extradited military leader who is also one of the biggest drug lord. Here the use of models for the planes when they're destroyed does not hamper the action in any way, the editing that is done is at times so good that you can't tell where the models are used and where it's a real plane. Adding a secondary set of problems for McClane, in the guise of the bureaucrats at the airport, just enhances the tension that runs at a high level from the beginning of the movie.
Die Hard with a Vengeance - A bomber has taken New York City hostage and if Officer John McClane can survive a sick city wide game of Simon Says, he might just save a public school from becoming the next casualty. Shooting almost the entire film in New York City lends to the realism of the film and that what you're watching is at times believable. From the blast at the department store in the beginning to the helicopter explosion at the end, the level of action and emotions of the characters are at such a high that is amazing that the filmmakers were able to keep it at that kind of level. Jeremy Irons as the villain makes a great addition to the cast, and does a believable job as the brother of the villain from the original film.
Live Free or Die Hard - After years of living under the radar, officer John McClane is thrust back into the spotlight when a cyber terrorist puts the nation is in danger, and then to prove a point kidnaps John's daughter, big mistake. After waiting 12 long years a very workable script was developed and we are give a movie that is just as fun, and sometimes more fun, as the original film. The laughable one liner jokes are in abundance here, but there aren't to many of them that it interferes with the story. Even though this storyline is geared up with enough techno babble to choke a horse, it's still at a level that the fans, and casual viewers, wont get lost in the story.
All four films are very fast paced and in each case when you've reached the end of the story your amazed at how quick the time went by. As much as the first film was done to break Willis out of the nice guy image that he had created on the show Moonlighting, this last movie shows that he is still a bankable star in action films. He has aged remarkably well within this character and after all these years it is still enjoyable to watch him get into situations that any normal person would have trouble getting out of. But that is the idea of films like this; to see a lovable character deal with problems that most of us would shrink away from. So grab some popcorn and sit back for some of the best stunts and action sequences on film to date, and in the immortal words of John McClane, "Yippee-kai-yay, motherfucker."
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