Die-Hard-a-Thon, Part 2 - Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)

Director: Renny Harlin

Cast: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, Franco Nero, William Sadler, Art Evans 

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 124 minutes

One of my fellow critics, Brennan Klein of Popcorn Culture, recently reviewed A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and loved it. I'm stoked for Brennan that the film's director was able to jump into the middle of a franchise and deliver an excellent and solid entry. That director's name was Renny Harlin and his Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was released the same year that John McTiernan's Die Hard premiered. Who would have guessed that Renny Harlin would find himself in the director's chair of the Die Hard franchise a mere two years later. I wish that Renny had brought his mid-franchise charm to the Die Hard franchise the way that he graced the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. I'm sorry to say it people but I did not love his take on a Die Hard movie all that much.

"Get me out of this movie!"

I have heard several opinions about Die Hard 2: Die Harder over the years. One of my friends, Chris Gutierrez, has always told me that it is the worst film in the franchise. However, the guys over at AOBG.com rank it as one of the top 100 action films of all time and Vern of Aintitcoolnews.com thinks it's a solid sequel. Even the late Roger Ebert considers the film to be superior to Die Hard 1! I think that my opinion falls somewhere in the middle of all these other opinions. I agree with my friend Chris that the film suffers from forced humor, annoying characters, and an all around lack of excitement. However, I also agree with Vern and AOBG that the film contains spot on action, entertaining villains, and a fun but ridiculous plot. I guess I have a sweet spot for the action blockbusters of the 1990's, sue me.

And come on guys, "Die Harder"? I just can't get behind that subtitle. Am I an audience of one on this?

Die Hard 2 is Die Hard all over again but bigger, louder, and dumber. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is waiting at the airport for his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) to arrive from her flight. Unfortunately for the McClanes, a group of terrorists have chosen to take over the airport that very night. Fronted by the insane Colonel Stuart (William Sadler), the men shut down all of the lights on the runway and take over the communications board of the watch tower. The terrorist group demand for the safe landing of General Esperanza (Franco Nero), a man who will be tried for drug trafficking once he lands on U.S. soil. McClane is roped into the situation because his wife is up in the sky in a plane that will eventually crash once it runs out of fuel. In the words of McClane, "How can the same s*** happen to the same guy twice!"

Paul Blart: Airport Cop

Die Hard 2 is a decent sequel. It retains many things from the original film: bloody action, a limited location, the Christmas theme, evil terrorists, John's wife in danger, and characters from the previous installment return too. Much like The Matrix Reloaded, Rambo: First Blood Part 2, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Road Warrior, Die Hard 2 is a bigger sequel on a larger playing field in contrast to its small scale predecessor.

However, bigger is not always better. Unlike the first Die Hard, Die Hard 2 is not as exciting or as suspenseful. While I was literally on the edge of my seat during McTiernan's Die Hard, I was laid back and relaxed during Harlin's Die Hard 2. The film lacks the sense of realism and excitement that the original has. I guess this is where the line of the lovers and haters of this film is drawn. If you are okay with Die Hard turning into a more typical action blockbuster, than Die Hard 2 is for you. However, if you want a truly exciting and suspenseful film along the lines of the first film, skip this movie and check out Die Hard With a Vengeance.

It also doesn't help that Renny Harlin does to the Die Hard series what Richard Lester did to Superman II and Superman III. He adds a ton of forced humor, annoying characters, and lousy jokes that literally begin in the first frame of the film and continue into the final frame. I kid you not, the film opens on a joke and ends on a joke. There is no natural humor here at all. Everything is a one liner from an annoying character or a set up joke that "pays off" later. It's a shame the film is like this because the humor in the first film is so natural and believable in contrast to the forced laughs found here. Harlin and Lester would get along great with their terrible senses of humor and ability to crap all over a sequel.

Low on fuel, huh?

There are a ton of flaws that I could write about. However, I want to keep this short. My least favorite thing about the entire film is that it moves too quickly. We the audience and John himself meet the main villain in the first five minutes! There is absolutely no build up or subtlety in this film. It feels like as soon as we meet John that he is already in a shootout with some bad guys! I'm all for an action scene in the first ten minutes of a movie. But Die Hard is too smart to be that lazy.

The supporting characters in this film are your worst nightmare. Not only is almost every character against McClane or not on his side, but they all get loads of screen time! I think every character besides John McClane literally get the same amount of screen time. Therefore, the film felt like a constant bombardment of annoying characters telling John what he can and cannot do. 

The film is also pretty darn boring. After the terrorists reveal their plot to the airport security and John, the film really slows down. There is too much time in between action sequences and simply too much talk amongst characters. The film also suffers from some HUGE logical plot errors. For example, the terrorists apparently have plastic glocks that cannot be detected in a metal detector, the terrorists throw numerous grenades into a cockpit that don't explode for a whopping thirty-forty seconds, the airport watch tower never thinks about sending the airplanes in the sky to other airports, and a fuel-less plane explodes as if it were full of fuel. The CinemaSins YouTube channel need to count the sins in this movie because they would have quite a heyday.

Robert "T-1000" Patrick

However, I don't despise this film. I'm too much of a positive person to rip even a film like Die Hard 2 to shreds. When the film was released in 1990, it made a whopping $240 million worldwide off of a $70 million budget. Audiences clearly enjoyed this film and were desperate for some more John McClane. Even with all of its flaws, Die Hard 2 has the benefits of a 90's blockbuster with all of its explosions, shootouts, and ridiculous villains.

I am a huge fan of Christmas themed action films. It's quite probably the greatest sub-genre of action cinema in existence (The Long Kiss Goodnight, First Blood, Die Hard, etc). Die Hard 2 is filled with Christmas decorations, Christmas music, and snow. I'm a Christian and respect Christmas as the time that Jesus Christ was born into this world. However, I also love the heck out of a movie taking all of the love and charm out of a Christmas themed movie and filling it with bloody gun fire, exploding planes, and insane villains. I'd love to see somebody write a book or analyze all of the Christmas themed action films. There is just something about an action packed Christmas themed film that energizes me.

I also loved how entertaining the villains were in this film. While the terrorists are nowhere near as awesome as Hans and his group of German baddies (plus Al Leong), they are led by two great actors. Colonel Stuart (Hard to Kill's William Sadler) is as over the top as an action movie villain can get. He is introduced to us as he practices karate in his hotel room completely naked. He grabs his remote control and whips around to turn the television off as if he were going to shoot it. What the heck? I love this guy!

"My name is Django."

Franco Nero also graces us with his amazing presence as the General that the terrorists are trying to save at the airport. Nero is most well known for his many Euro Westerns (Django, Companeros, Texas Adios). We even get blessed with a small scene between Willis and Nero, two of the greatest action icons in cinema history. I like Nero as a villain and hope that he continues to play antagonizing roles (his cruel cameo in Django Unchained is also great). Robert Patrick even has a small role as one of Stuart's henchmen.

These villains are even more hard core than Hans was in Die Hard. When the men realize that McClane has interfered with their plans, they misdirect one of the planes in the sky down to the ground and cause it to explode into smithereens. Poor McClane tries to warn the plane while on the ground but he just can't. I love how McClane cries when the plane explodes. It shows that McClane really cares about people and that he will do anything to save innocent civilians from crazed mad men. This is a great character trait and I loved that Harlin carried this over from the first film.

The final thing that I have to talk about is the film's excellent action scenes. AOBG.com point out that Die Hard 2 "Dies Harder" because there is so much more action and violent dispatches seen throughout the film. There is no denying it, all of the action scenes in this film are pretty awesome. There is an excellent shootout around minute forty inside of an under construction airport terminal. John has to combat three terrorists as he rolls around and fires his gun numerous times. McClane even gets to take out a terrorist with an icicle to the face! I guess Die Hard 2 really does "Die Harder."

McClane ducks and rolls in an excellent gun fight.

So Die Hard 2. I want to like this movie but I just can't bring myself too. The film has some excellent gun fights, huge explosions, and truly feels like dumb popcorn entertainment. However, the film suffers from a horrible sense of humor, lousy characters, and just a load of unnecessary sub plots (I didn't even bother to mention that Fred Thompson returns as the annoying anchorman Trudeau and ends up on the same flight as Mrs. McClane. I'd rather forget that "humorous" subplot isn't even in the film). But alas, Die Hard 2 made money and a lot of action fans and critics out there loved it. You may read my review and completely disagree with me. Die Hard 2 doesn't have the same sequel hate that Ghostbusters 2 and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom have. Therefore, I am going to recommend Die Hard 2 ONLY to "die hard" action fans who just have to see Bruce Willis gun down some terrorists and blow up some planes. Tune in next time for the return of John McTiernan and the white tank top in...Die Hard With a Vengeance!

Rating: 6/10 - Forced humor, logical errors, and annoying characters make the action packed Die Hard 2 plane come crashing down in a firey explosion. Get it? Like what I did there...

Franchise: Die Hard

Die Hard (dir. John McTiernan, 1988)

Die Hard 2: Die Harder (dir. Renny Harlin, 1990)

Die Hard With a Vengeance (dir. John McTiernan, 1995)

Live Free or Die Hard (dir. Len Wiseman, 2007)

A Good Day to Die Hard (dir. John Moore, 2013)