| Die Hard | |
|---|---|
 Official film series logo | |
| Created by | Roderick Thorp |
| Original work | Nothing Lasts Forever (1979) |
| Owner | 20th Century Studios |
| Years | from 1988 |
| Print publications | |
| Novel(s) | The Detective (1966) Nothing Lasts Forever (1979) 58 Minutes (1987) |
| Comics | Die Hard: Year One[1] A Die Hard Christmas A Million Ways to Die Hard[2] |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) |
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| Short film(s) | DieHard is Back (2020 commercial) |
| Games | |
| Video game(s) |
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| Audio | |
| Soundtrack(s) | |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Articles | A Farewell to Arms |
Die Hard is an Americanactionfilm series andmedia franchise that originated withRoderick Thorp's 1979 novelNothing Lasts Forever. All five films revolve around the main character ofJohn McClane (Joe Leland in the original novel), a police detective who continually finds himself in the middle of a crisis where he is both the only hope against disaster and the culprit's target.[3]
Per the franchise's name, McClane confounds repeated attempts to kill him, driving his enemies to distraction, by adding up and exploiting dumb luck. The films have grossed a combined $1.4 billion worldwide, withBruce Willis as the only actor to appear in all five films.
| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Screenwriter(s) | Story by | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Die Hard | July 15, 1988 (1988-07-15) | John McTiernan | Jeb Stuart andSteven E. de Souza | Lawrence Gordon andJoel Silver | |
| Die Hard 2 | July 4, 1990 (1990-07-04) | Renny Harlin | Steven E. de Souza andDoug Richardson | Charles Gordon, Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver | |
| Die Hard with a Vengeance | May 19, 1995 (1995-05-19) | John McTiernan | Jonathan Hensleigh | John McTiernan and Michael Tadross | |
| Live Free or Die Hard | June 27, 2007 (2007-06-27) | Len Wiseman | Mark Bomback | Mark Bomback andDavid Marconi | Michael Fottrell |
| A Good Day to Die Hard | February 14, 2013 (2013-02-14) | John Moore | Skip Woods | Alex Young andWyck Godfrey | |
The first film takes place inLos Angeles at the fictional Nakatomi Plaza (portrayed byFox Plaza). It begins onChristmas Eve when McClane (Bruce Willis) comes to reunite with separated wifeHolly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Los Angeles at her company's Christmas party. Holly, who now has her own career, lives with their two children and uses her maiden name.
At Nakatomi Plaza,West Germanterrorists break in and take the celebrants hostage. McClane escapes detection and hides throughout the building. He kills off the gang and learns their real plan, to steal $640 million inbearer bonds from the building's vault. In the finale, McClane shoots the terrorist leader,Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), out of the window to fall thirty stories.
It was released on July 15, 1988, to positive reviews and grossed $140.8 million worldwide.
The second film takes place two years after the first, again on Christmas Eve of 1990. InWashington, D.C., McClane waits for his wife atWashington Dulles International Airport. Mercenaries led by former U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Stuart (William Sadler) take over the airport communication systems, stranding planes in the air, including the one with McClane's wife. Colonel Stuart wants to free a captured Latin American dictator (Franco Nero) en route to the airport. McClane discovers the plan, including a conspiracy between Stuart and an Army counter-terrorist unit sent to stop him. He foils their plans and provides a visual landing signal for the circling aircraft by exploding the villains' getaway plane.
It was released on July 4, 1990, to positive reviews and grossed $240 million worldwide.
In the third film, McClane, now a police lieutenant, is back in New York City, separated from his wife, suspended from the police force, and a borderline alcoholic. A terrorist known only as "Simon" (Jeremy Irons) threatens to blow up various locations in the city unless McClane will play his twisted version ofSimon Says, riddles and challenges.
Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson), a shopkeeper fromHarlem, saves McClane after the first challenge, and reluctantly continues to help. The FBI reveals that Simon is the brother of Hans Gruber, killed in the first film. McClane learns revenge is a cover story for robbing theNew York Federal Reserve. McClane tracks Simon to the Canada–US border. McClane kills Simon by shooting at a power line above Simon's helicopter.
It was released on May 19, 1995, to mixed reviews and grossed $366.1 million worldwide.
The fourth film, which was released asDie Hard 4.0 outside North America, takes place onIndependence Day, over a decade afterDie Hard with a Vengeance. McClane is well-known, divorced, and estranged from his daughterLucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Cyber-terrorists hack into computers at the FBI, who had sent McClane to bring incomputer hacker Matthew "Matt" Farrell (Justin Long) for questioning. Assassins hired by terrorist mastermind Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) attempt to kill McClane and Farrell. Farrell tells McClane that the terrorists are actually in the middle of a "fire sale" — a crippling cyber-warfare attack on the national infrastructure: power, public utilities, traffic, and other computer-controlled systems. Although the terrorists capture Lucy and Farrell, McClane foils the criminals and saves the hostages.
It was released June 27, 2007, to positive reviews and grossed $383.5 million worldwide.
The fifth film is set a few years later, mostly inMoscow, Russia and theChernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine. McClane finds out that his estranged son John "Jack" McClane, Jr. (Jai Courtney) was arrested in Moscow for murder. When he arrives at the Moscow courthouse for Jack, Russian terrorists bomb the building and Jack escapes with imprisoned ex-billionaire Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch). In an intense car chase, McClane pursues and saves the pair. Jack, unhappy at the unexpected arrival, reluctantly picks up his father. When they stop at a CIA safe house in Moscow, McClane learns Jack is a deep-cover CIA operative trying to get close to Komarov for his file that incriminates corrupt, high-ranking Russian official Viktor Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov). Chagarin's henchmen, led by his main enforcer Alik (Radivoje Bukvic), attack the safe house. McClane holds them off, and escapes with Jack and Komarov. They retrieve a key for the file in Chernobyl, and meet Komarov's daughter Irina (Yuliya Snigir). Irina betrays them to Alik. The McClanes escape, without Komarov. Irina, always on the side of her father Komarov, tries to save him. McClane goes after Irina, while Jack chases her father. Jack throws Komarovoff of the roof, and he falls on the rotors of the helicopter and is eviscerated.
It was released on February 14, 2013, to negative reviews and grossed $304.7 million worldwide.
When the production was formally announced for the fifth film in the series, Bruce Willis expressed his desire to retire the John McClane character in a sixth and final film, explicitly calling for a 'fleshed out' conclusion.[4][5][6][7][8]
In 2013, Fox Studios began looking into developing the next installment. The studio took story pitches for a so-called "Die Hardest",[9][10] including those from the public,[11][12] at least one of which would have brought the action to Japan.[13][14] A crossover with popular television program,24, withDie Hard characters had been previously considered, but contract negotiations withKiefer Sutherland soured[15] and no pilot was made.[16][17][18][19] Instead,Die Hard was re-formulated as a gaiden (side story) featuringJack Bauer called "Die Hard 24/7".[20] It was optioned and becameA Good Day to Die Hard. The studio then chose to reincarnate24 in limited edition as24: Live Another Day (a homage toLive Free or Die Hard), which premiered in May 2014 and ended that July. By 2015,Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman's self-penned prequel/sequelorigin story idea calledJohn McClane gained traction.[21][22][23][24]
WriterEvan Katz pitched a follow-up toLive Another Day called24: Legacy that was greenlit in 2015. The show aired from February through April 2017 and was soon cancelled (not renewed) in June.[25] Following this model, a deal had been made withLorenzo di Bonaventura to produce another, similar television programme that revolved around the concept ofreal-time narration, but for twelve hours instead of twenty-four sinceDie Hard stories happen over that time frame, saying: "We want you to get invested in John McClane more than ever before".[26] That summer, Wiseman was in negotiations to direct a standalone mini-series (12 episodes) tentatively titled, "DIE HARD: Year One", based around theBOOM! Studios graphic novel of thesame name. Its plot - rumored to borrow heavily from said comic book issues - follows John McClane as a beat cop in New York City early in his career as narrated by Bruce Willis in the present-day.[27] Wiseman publicly floated that he was casting for a young version of John McClane in September.[28][29] Six months later, the studio enlisted duoChad Hayes andCarey W. Hayes to re-write the screenplay after Bruce Willis refused to endorse the previous edition and its actor.[30][31][32]
In July 2018, di Bonaventura submitted an updatedtreatment titledMcClane, further confirming that the storyline was similar in stature toThe Godfather Part 2: featuring elements of McClane's and Holly's characters in the 1970s, intermixed with their present-day counterparts.[33][34] The following month, Wiseman said that pre-production on the new film should start "...fairly soon, no dates" once the script has been completed.[35]Tobey Maguire (son in-law of then-NBCUniversal ChairmanRonald Meyer) joined the production team in late Summer.[36] By December, di Bonaventura handed in yet another draft, this time without input from Willis.[37] Production designer Carol Uraneck, who was hired that September, later left the project by the close of the year.[38] Between February and April 2019, the production team made revisions to the writing, but insinuated that the project, though supposedly moving forward, was on the studio's backburner.[39][40][41] It has been hinted thatSamuel L. Jackson could reprise his role as Zeus.[42][43] ActressMary Elizabeth Winstead said that she was interested in returning as Lucy Gennero-McClane, but later intimated doubt that, due to scheduling,[44] the film wouldever get made.[45][46][47]
Theacquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney resulted in a production hiatus in August 2019.[48][49] Wiseman was then dealt to Lionsgate to direct pictures in theJohn Wick franchise.[50][51][52] di Bonaventura stated in a July 2021 interview that theMcClane project is "not happening" as a further consequence.[53]Die Hard was removed from the Fox imprint indefinitely.[54][55][56] In lieu of companies-wide reorganization, the media giants (Disney,Comcast) are said to be rebooting the property for streaming onHulu orNetflix.[57][58][59][60]
Willis had taken roles that featured the "Die Hard scenario" or implied its namefellow in a number of direct-to-video films since the release ofA Good Day to Die Hard. After confirmation of the potential sixthDie Hard film's cancellation and the wrap of production on the filmDetective Knight: Rogue, Willis' family announced that he had been diagnosed with aphasia and paused his career.[61][62] In July 2022, he wasvideographed on the lot at Fox headquarters, the very same location of the set ofDie Hard, to mark the film's anniversary.[63] This footage was shared by his wifeEmma Heming Willis on social media.[64] By February 2023, Willis was diagnosed withfrontotemporal dementia and his family announced his retirement from acting, ruling out any future return as McClane.[65]
This section includes characters who have appeared in three or more films in the series.
| Crew/detail | Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Die Hard | Die Hard 2 | Die Hard with a Vengeance | Live Free or Die Hard | A Good Day to Die Hard | |
| Director | John McTiernan | Renny Harlin | John McTiernan | Len Wiseman | John Moore |
| Composer | Michael Kamen | Marco Beltrami | |||
| Cinematographer | Jan de Bont | Oliver Wood | Peter Menzies, Jr. | Simon Duggan | Jonathan Sela |
| Editor(s) | Frank J. Urioste John F. Link | Robert A. Ferretti Stuart Baird | John Wright | Nicholas Del Toh | Dan Zimmerman |
| Production Companies | Silver Pictures Gordon Company | Cinergi Pictures | Dune Entertainment Cheyenne Enterprises Ingenious Film Partners | Giant Pictures | |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox | ||||
| Release date | July 15, 1988 | July 4, 1990 | May 19, 1995 | June 27, 2007 | February 14, 2013 |
| Running time | 132 minutes | 124 minutes | 128 minutes | 129 minutes | 97 minutes[66] |
Die Hard is adapted from the 1979 novelNothing Lasts Forever byRoderick Thorp.
Die Hard 2 was adapted from the 1987 novel58 Minutes byWalter Wager.
Die Hard with a Vengeance was adapted from a script calledSimon Says byJonathan Hensleigh, which was also briefly considered to become the script forLethal Weapon 4.[67][68] The hook in Hensleigh's screenplay that captured the attention of directorJohn McTiernan was the idea of a man being targeted for revenge by someone whose life he had unwittingly destroyed. Once the Simon character became the brother ofHans Gruber and the backstory was established, the project fully came together. It was novelized by Deborah Chiel.
Live Free or Die Hard was based on the 1997 article "A Farewell to Arms" written forWired magazine byJohn Carlin.[69] It also drew on a script 20th Century Fox owned called "WW3.com", which dealt with a massive cyberterrorism attack against the U.S. and which was nearly put into production in 2001 but ultimately abandoned because several elements in the story too closely resembled theSeptember 11 attacks.
A Good Day to Die Hard was the only film in the series to come from an original screenplay, and not be based upon any prior works. The original screenplay was penned bySkip Woods.
| Film | Release date | Box office gross | Box office ranking | Budget | Ref(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All time North America | All time worldwide | ||||
| Die Hard | July 15, 1988 | $83,844,093 | $57,759,104 | $141,603,197 | #734 | N/a | $28,000,000 | [70] |
| Die Hard 2 | July 4, 1990 | $117,540,947 | $122,490,347 | $240,031,274 | #446 | #445 | $62–70,000,000 | [71][72][73] |
| Die Hard with a Vengeance | May 19, 1995 | $100,012,499 | $266,089,167 | $366,101,666 | #596 | #223 | $90,000,000 | [74] |
| Live Free or Die Hard | June 27, 2007 | $134,529,403 | $253,626,608 | $388,156,011 | #336 | #201 | $110,000,000 | [75] |
| A Good Day to Die Hard | February 14, 2013 | $67,349,198 | $237,304,984 | $304,654,182 | #977 | #314 | $92,000,000 | [76] |
| Total | $503,276,140 | $937,270,210 | $1,440,546,330 | $382,000,000–390,000,000 | ||||
Although the firstDie Hard has been credited as one of the greatest action movies of all time,[77] critical reaction to its sequels has varied.
The originalDie Hard received substantial praise. Pete Croatto of FilmCritic.com called the film "a perfect action movie in every detail, the kind of movie that makes your summer memorable".[78]James Berardinelli wrote that the film "represents the class of modern action pictures and the standard by which they must be judged".[79] CriticDesson Howe wrote that "Willis has found the perfect vehicle to careen wildly onto the crowded L.A. freeway ofLethal Weapons andBeverly Hills Cops".[80] Willis was also called "perfect as the wisecrackingJohn McClane"[79] and "an excellent casting choice as a sardonic action hero".[81]Alan Rickman's portrayal of villain Hans Gruber was described as "marvelous"[82] and "a career-making performance".[83] Gruber also ranked 46 on the villain side ofAFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains. In 2007,Entertainment Weekly rankedDie Hard the greatest action film of all time.[84]
The first sequel,Die Hard 2, received positive reviews, although not as many as the original. Despite only giving the original film two stars, criticRoger Ebert gave this film three and a half stars and called it "terrific entertainment".[85]James Berardinelli called the film "somewhat-muddled but still entertaining".[86]Peter Travers wrote that "however impressively made,Die Hard 2 begins to wear thin".[87]
The third film,Die Hard with a Vengeance, initially received mixed reviews.Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly stated that while "McTiernan stages individual sequences with great finesse... they don't add up to a taut, dread-ridden whole".[88] James Berardinelli thought that the explosions and fights were "filmed with consummate skill, and were thrilling in their own right".[89]Samuel L. Jackson also received praise for his role in the film.Desson Howe ofThe Washington Post thought that "the best thing about the movie was the relationship between McClane and Zeus", saying that Jackson was "almost as good as he was inPulp Fiction".[90][91] Retrospective reviews have been more positive, with many considering it the best sequel in the franchise.[a]Empire considered it to be one of the 50 greatest film sequels in 2009.[96] Ben Sherlock ofScreen Rant regarded it as the best sequel of the franchise.[97] Johnny Hoffman fromMovieWeb considered it a step up from the previous film and praised Willis and Jackson's chemistry and the action scenes.[95]
The fourth film,Live Free or Die Hard, received mostly positive reviews.Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle claimed that the film "is the best in the series, an invigorating return to the style of blockbuster that dominated summers back in the early 1990s".[98]USA Today film critic Claudia Puig said that the film "delivers when it comes to kick-butt, action-packed mayhem", but "as a convincing techno-thriller, it doesn't really work".[99]
The fifth film,A Good Day to Die Hard, received mostly negative reviews from critics. Critics lambasted the installment for "[entering] generic action movie territory", as written by reviewer James Bernardinelli,[100] with a "cliched [and] uninspired script". Peter Rainer of theChristian Science Monitor wrote that "John's appeal was always his ordinariness, but director John Moore has him surviving more explosions than Wile E. Coyote, and with hardly a scratch".[101] A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times also commented that the series has taken a downfall with the film: "Everything that made the first "Die Hard" memorable—the nuances of character, the political subtext, the cowboy wit—has been dumbed down or scrubbed away entirely".[102] Willis has however, been cited as the film's redeeming quality, with Chris Vognar of theDallas Morning News saying that "Willis' presence at least provides undercurrents of easy jocularity".
InCinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, movie audiences gave the series the grades listed below on an A+ to F scale.
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore[103] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Die Hard | 94% (89 reviews)[104] | 72 (14 reviews)[105] | A+ |
| Die Hard 2 | 69% (68 reviews)[106] | 67 (17 reviews)[107] | A |
| Die Hard with a Vengeance | 60% (80 reviews)[108] | 58 (19 reviews)[109] | A− |
| Live Free or Die Hard | 82% (210 reviews)[110] | 69 (34 reviews)[111] | A− |
| A Good Day to Die Hard | 15% (231 reviews)[112] | 28 (41 reviews)[113] | B+ |
BOOM! Studios published an ongoingDie Hard comic series that serves as a prequel to the first film, titledDie Hard: Year One. Its story is set in 1976 and follows John McClane as a rookie cop in the NYPD,[1][114][115] and is scripted byHoward Chaykin.[116] The first issue ofDie Hard: Year One was released on September 30, 2009. Eight issues have been released, with the eighth released on April 12, 2010.
The official description read:
Every great action hero got started somewhere.Batman Begins.Bond had hisCasino Royale. And forJohn McClane, more than a decade before the firstDie Hard movie, he's just another rookie cop, an East Coast guy working on earning his badge in New York City during 1976sBicentennial celebration... and theSummer of Sam. Too bad for John McClane, nothing's ever that easy.[114][117]
The official description read:
A delightful Christmas storybook for adults based on the action-packedDie Hard movie.
AllJohn McClane wants forChristmas is to reunite with his estranged family. But when his wife's office holiday party turns into a deadly hostage situation, he has to save her life before he can get home in time for Christmas!
The unconventional fan-favorite movieDie Hard is now an illustrated storybook—complete with machine guns, European terrorists, and a cop who's forced to rely on all his cunning and skills (and the help of a fellow officer) to save the day. Based on the classicNight Before Christmas poem and filled with whimsical illustrations, this cleverly reimagined homage is destined to become a holiday classic.
- Contains adult material including violence and strong language. Reader discretion is advised. Ho-ho-ho.[118]
In 2018, Insight Comics released the graphic novelA Million Ways to Die Hard. It was scripted by writer Frank Tieri and artist Mark Texeira.
The official description read:
Thirty years after the release ofDie Hard, a retired John McClane is being pulled back into the game by a dangerous foe he never thought he'd face again—a psychotic serial killer with a theatrical taste for casting his victims in reproductions of Hollywood's greatest and deadliest films! Faced with impossible choices and unimaginable odds,A Million Ways To Die Hard just may be the last case John McClane ever has.[119]
A number ofvideo games based on the successful movie franchiseDie Hard have been released over the years, ranging frombeat 'em ups tofirst-person shooters. While some of the games are based directly on the films, a few detail the further adventures ofJohn McClane:
In October 2020,Advance Auto Parts released the two-minute commercialshort filmDieHard is Back for the company'sDieHard car-battery brand, withBruce Willis,De'voreaux White andClarence Gilyard Jr. reprising their roles as John McClane, Argyle, and Theo, respectively, from the first film.[120][121][122] The narrative follows Theo, a former tech specialist ofHans Gruber, and others seeking to kill McClane as he tries to get a new car battery and replace the dead one in his car, with limousine-driver Argyle helping him along the way.[123]
...What did they spend that reported $62 million on making "Die Hard 2"?
...'Die Hard 2' (1990), which also ran over budget and wound up costing a reported $70 million.
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