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Die Hard 2
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by 20th Century Fox
Sales Rank: 22844
Price: $12.98
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Director Renny Harlin (<I>Cutthroat Island</I>) took the reins of this 1990 sequel, which places Bruce Willis's New York City cop character in harm's way again with a gaggle of terrorists. This time, Willis awaits his wife's arrival at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., when he gets wind of a plot to blow up the facility. Noisy, overbearing, and forgettable, the film has none of the purity of its predecessor's simple story; and it makes a huge miscalculation in allowing a terrible tragedy to occur rather than stretch out the tension. Where <I>Die Hard</I> set new precedents in action movies, <I>Die Hard 2</I> is just an anything-goes spectacle. <I>--Tom Keogh</I>
Viewer Reviews
Die Hard is a classic. A movie so well executed, the sequels and imitators will always be just that. A hard act to follow for sure.
Die Hard 2 doesn't mess with the basic framework of the first and is, largely, very well made action fare. Renny Harlin does a good job tying elements of the first film's style into this one. And his commentary track is probably one of the best to find on the entire DVD set.
Cinematographer Oliver Wood does a great job of keeping the film's imagery in line with Jan de Bont's lighting from part 1. Willis is good, if not as believable. The ejection scene is probably my favorite part. The gunplay is furious, but not as focused. Fred Thompson adds a good deal of credibility, as he always seems to do, whether its a jack Ryan film, or Law and Order.
I think the weaknesses are many here. First, the movie is a bit too conscious of itself. De Souza's script is chock full of tounge-in-cheek corny dialog, not to mention a seemingly endless flurry of F-Bombs. But my main gripe is I just don't get the same rush of excitement or sense of danger as the first movie.
John McClaine now seems to be less a regular guy having a bad day, than SUPERCOP! Dennis Franz doing his best Sipowicz before Sipowicz, replaces Paul Gleason from the first movie as the new A-Hole cop at odds with John. Frankly he is a little too annoying - probably one of the most annoying movie characters I have ever seen.
And the vililans? No Hans here folks, but they serve their purpose.
Initially, I felt Die Hard with a Vengeance was an improvement over Die Harder. However, on reflection years later, though that film has much better acting and writing, I think it Vengeance has such a gimmicky plot and too many dead spots, it just doesn't have the pure entertainment value of Die Harder.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder is a by-the-numbers Joel Silver style sequel from the early 1990. Which means lots of gun muzzle flashes and cussing. But this is still an above average action film, made credible mostly by Bruce Willis and Renny Harlin. If anything, this is a great popcorn and hot dog flick you can sit around and enjoy with friends by picking apart the crappy one liners, and still having a good time.
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Die Hard 2
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