Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)
Director: John McTiernan
Cast: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, and Graham Greene
Rated: R
Runtime: 118 min.
by Brian Eggert
Reviewed:
6/25/2007
Original Release Date:
5/19/1995
Where sequels are concerned, formula should debatably be avoided, yet shyly self-referential. Just enough to remind us how great a previous entry or entries were, while simultaneously creating something new. Derived, but not derivative.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder completely failed in that respect, not only off-shooting its own parent, but not even accurately plagiarizing. Style and tone were off, whereas in Die Hard With a Vengence, they’re near smack on. Die Hard 2 made John McClane into your average invincible superhero, common in action flicks, while With a Vengeance returns McClane to his disgruntled, unhappy self.
Holly, John’s wife (normally played by Bonnie Bedelia) doesn’t appear; their marriage back to being on the rocks, McClane is near alcoholism and he’s been suspended from the NYPD. When we first see McClane, he’s in the back of a police truck, sitting on the floor, recovering from a nasty hangover. We already know a bomb exploded in downtown New York, which is certainly more affecting now than it ever could have been back in 1995. Watchful eyes will notice an “Atlantic Courier” truck parked outside the bombed department store; “Pacific Courier” was Hans Gruber’s delivery truck of choice in the original film.
A German-sounding man calls police precinct and demands that John McClane do what he say, otherwise another bomb goes off in a public place. So McClane, returning from suspension for doing who-knows-what to characteristically break rules, now must run through hoops for this voice who calls himself Simon. Playing the most dangerous game next to man-hunting, McClane is sent to perform various tasks around New York.
The first mission finds McClane in Harlem wearing nothing but boxers and a sandwich board that reads “I hate niggers”. The film problematically makes this moment seem more dangerous than McClane’s numerous face-offs against the cadre of expressionless terrorists from Die Hard 2. It nonetheless provides a unique opening. He’s immediately spotted by some kids, who then point out the crazy white man to their uncle, Zeus Carver, played with Samuel L. Jackson’s expected energy. Luckily, Carver believes McClane when he's told it’s a police matter, taking a knife to the arm while defending McClane from an angered group that’s understandably displeased about the sign.
You might begin to wonder why McClane always has an African-American pseudo-sidekick. It’s a curious phenomenon, worthy of analysis, but for me seems merely coincidental. Reginald VelJohnson kept McClane’s morale up in Die Hard as Sgt. Powell. And though Powell briefly returns in Die Hard 2, Leslie Barnes (actor Art Evans) follows McClane around Dulles, attempting to fix airport communication. Finally, Samuel L. Jackson’s Zeus Carver is McClane’s very own Harlem-born shoulder, but proves more superficial than Powell or Barnes. There primarily for comic relief and someone for McClane to talk to while running Simon’s errands, Zeus skews tradition man-alone Die Hard formula, except oddly works as the perfect supplementary character to McClane. Jackson’s character holds a machine gun, interacts with Simon in a few funny moments, though primarily plays a human sidekick to Willis’ fallible hero.
Not until about forty-five minutes in do we discover Simon is actually Simon Gruber, Hans Gruber’s brother, played wonderfully by Jeremy Irons (an actor of incomparable class). We’re given familiar moments where a supposed terrorist plot is misread, later proving to be an elaborate heist. Irons’ voice alone sustains Simon Gruber’s presence through the first section of the film; when he’s onscreen in physical form, he becomes almost as lovably villainesque as his brother.
McClane represented the NYPD in Die Hard, LAPD in Die Hard 2, and for some reason (which is never explained) he’s back in the NYPD in With a Vengeance. Perhaps America’s affection for New York City makes the first and third films better; we sympathize with McClane more in those two because he’s from a place we’ve all grown to respect as an American city. While Los Angeles is generally expected to fall into the Pacific, unmissed.
Originally a screenplay entitled “Simon Says” by Jonathan Hensleigh, the script offers New York as a primary character. We’re taken everywhere: Central Park, Wall Street, Yankee Stadium, and beneath the city for an awe-inspiring subway explosion—all the film needed was a battle atop the Statue of Liberty for the whole NYC experience. Hensleigh places racism just under the surface in all of McClane and Zeus’ exchanges, adding a dash of Spike Lee to action movie yarn. The script was purchased by Twentieth Century Fox with the intention of adapting the story for their next Die Hard feature. Hensleigh reportedly kept much of his original content the same, changing the name of his protagonist to John McClane, his villain to Simon Gruber, and inserting a tidbit about John and Holly’s marriage or Simon’s family past here-and-there. Amazingly, the result feels like the first Die Hard, though it is anything but.
John McTiernan returns as director after his intelligent hiatus from Die Hard 2. Impressive camerawork and a craftsman’s skill with conceiving elaborate action make his name synonymous with this franchise. His absence from Live Free or Die Hard is a shame.
Gradually over these first three Die Hard pictures, McClane’s environment for butt-kicking has grown. From a claustrophobic building, to an entire airport, finally to all of New York City (and eventually Nova Scotia in the finale of the third film), the series has expanded. Some would say further away from what made the first film so great. I believe Die Hard With a Vengeance loses the clichéd idea of “Die Hard on a blank” and concentrates on McClane; Die Hard 2’s failure to develop, or at least maintain character traits from the first, was its greatest downfall. Here, aside from the rushed, end note-like climax, this third entry embodies the series’ actionized spirit born in 1988.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder completely failed in that respect, not only off-shooting its own parent, but not even accurately plagiarizing. Style and tone were off, whereas in Die Hard With a Vengence, they’re near smack on. Die Hard 2 made John McClane into your average invincible superhero, common in action flicks, while With a Vengeance returns McClane to his disgruntled, unhappy self.
Holly, John’s wife (normally played by Bonnie Bedelia) doesn’t appear; their marriage back to being on the rocks, McClane is near alcoholism and he’s been suspended from the NYPD. When we first see McClane, he’s in the back of a police truck, sitting on the floor, recovering from a nasty hangover. We already know a bomb exploded in downtown New York, which is certainly more affecting now than it ever could have been back in 1995. Watchful eyes will notice an “Atlantic Courier” truck parked outside the bombed department store; “Pacific Courier” was Hans Gruber’s delivery truck of choice in the original film.
A German-sounding man calls police precinct and demands that John McClane do what he say, otherwise another bomb goes off in a public place. So McClane, returning from suspension for doing who-knows-what to characteristically break rules, now must run through hoops for this voice who calls himself Simon. Playing the most dangerous game next to man-hunting, McClane is sent to perform various tasks around New York.
The first mission finds McClane in Harlem wearing nothing but boxers and a sandwich board that reads “I hate niggers”. The film problematically makes this moment seem more dangerous than McClane’s numerous face-offs against the cadre of expressionless terrorists from Die Hard 2. It nonetheless provides a unique opening. He’s immediately spotted by some kids, who then point out the crazy white man to their uncle, Zeus Carver, played with Samuel L. Jackson’s expected energy. Luckily, Carver believes McClane when he's told it’s a police matter, taking a knife to the arm while defending McClane from an angered group that’s understandably displeased about the sign.
You might begin to wonder why McClane always has an African-American pseudo-sidekick. It’s a curious phenomenon, worthy of analysis, but for me seems merely coincidental. Reginald VelJohnson kept McClane’s morale up in Die Hard as Sgt. Powell. And though Powell briefly returns in Die Hard 2, Leslie Barnes (actor Art Evans) follows McClane around Dulles, attempting to fix airport communication. Finally, Samuel L. Jackson’s Zeus Carver is McClane’s very own Harlem-born shoulder, but proves more superficial than Powell or Barnes. There primarily for comic relief and someone for McClane to talk to while running Simon’s errands, Zeus skews tradition man-alone Die Hard formula, except oddly works as the perfect supplementary character to McClane. Jackson’s character holds a machine gun, interacts with Simon in a few funny moments, though primarily plays a human sidekick to Willis’ fallible hero.Not until about forty-five minutes in do we discover Simon is actually Simon Gruber, Hans Gruber’s brother, played wonderfully by Jeremy Irons (an actor of incomparable class). We’re given familiar moments where a supposed terrorist plot is misread, later proving to be an elaborate heist. Irons’ voice alone sustains Simon Gruber’s presence through the first section of the film; when he’s onscreen in physical form, he becomes almost as lovably villainesque as his brother.
McClane represented the NYPD in Die Hard, LAPD in Die Hard 2, and for some reason (which is never explained) he’s back in the NYPD in With a Vengeance. Perhaps America’s affection for New York City makes the first and third films better; we sympathize with McClane more in those two because he’s from a place we’ve all grown to respect as an American city. While Los Angeles is generally expected to fall into the Pacific, unmissed.
Originally a screenplay entitled “Simon Says” by Jonathan Hensleigh, the script offers New York as a primary character. We’re taken everywhere: Central Park, Wall Street, Yankee Stadium, and beneath the city for an awe-inspiring subway explosion—all the film needed was a battle atop the Statue of Liberty for the whole NYC experience. Hensleigh places racism just under the surface in all of McClane and Zeus’ exchanges, adding a dash of Spike Lee to action movie yarn. The script was purchased by Twentieth Century Fox with the intention of adapting the story for their next Die Hard feature. Hensleigh reportedly kept much of his original content the same, changing the name of his protagonist to John McClane, his villain to Simon Gruber, and inserting a tidbit about John and Holly’s marriage or Simon’s family past here-and-there. Amazingly, the result feels like the first Die Hard, though it is anything but.
John McTiernan returns as director after his intelligent hiatus from Die Hard 2. Impressive camerawork and a craftsman’s skill with conceiving elaborate action make his name synonymous with this franchise. His absence from Live Free or Die Hard is a shame.
Gradually over these first three Die Hard pictures, McClane’s environment for butt-kicking has grown. From a claustrophobic building, to an entire airport, finally to all of New York City (and eventually Nova Scotia in the finale of the third film), the series has expanded. Some would say further away from what made the first film so great. I believe Die Hard With a Vengeance loses the clichéd idea of “Die Hard on a blank” and concentrates on McClane; Die Hard 2’s failure to develop, or at least maintain character traits from the first, was its greatest downfall. Here, aside from the rushed, end note-like climax, this third entry embodies the series’ actionized spirit born in 1988.
