DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE 1995
52%
Directed by John McTiernan
Written by Jonathan Hensleigh
Starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, Graham Greene, Colleen Camp
Synopsis
John McClane has been laid off the force for alcoholism and split from his wife. A psychopathic bomber begins taunting him, threatening to destroy New York City if John doesn’t complete his tasks and collect his clues.
Why We Love It
Though Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson both had roles in National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon (1991) and Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994), they’d never shared a scene together. Die Hard: With a Vengeance marked the beginning of their memorable cinematic partnership, leading to both Unbreakable (2000) and Glass (2019). Their comic timing and constant ribbing of one another brings to mind other classic duos, but specifically Mel Gibson with Danny Glover, and Richard Pryor with Gene Wilder, whose paired erratic deliveries dynamically played off one another. The magical element between Willis and Jackson, however, was their shared grumpiness. They are brother curmudgeons from another mother.
Just watch the scene in which McClane meets Jackson’s Zeus Carver: McClane’s hungover and (on the bomber’s orders) standing in the middle of Harlem wearing a sandwich board with a racist message. Zeus approaches not with anger but exasperation and is surprised when McClane mirrors that right back to him. “You are about to have a very bad day,” Zeus says. “Tell me about it,” McClane replies with a resigned sigh.
The second installment of the franchise had already set up the premise that McClane could gain a helpful sidekick along the way, with janitor Marvin (Tom Bower) filling that small role. McTiernan predicted an audience might grow tired of McClane alone against the bad guys and, to ward off any franchise fatigue, writer Jonathan Hensleigh expanded the sidekick bit to become a fully fleshed-out character.
Some critics just weren’t fond of a buddy for McClane. Rita Kempley, writing for the Washington Post, pointed out, “Die Hard movies are supposed to be one-man-against-impossible-odds, not the hero’s chance to practice his social skills.” But the setting of New York City actually lends itself well to a more communal approach to stopping a mad terrorist, where your friends and neighbors can begrudgingly band together to do what’s right. Either way, it’s rare that a franchise can completely reinvent itself, but with the addition of Jackson and a city setting that grounds the action in the real world with real people, McTiernan successfully reformed the series and gifted it and McClane new life.
Hensleigh would go on to rack up eight more Rotten scores for such beloved movies as Jumanji (1995), Con Air (1997), and Armageddon (1998).