You may or may not know this, but Die Hard is my favorite action movie. The formula has been ripped off even more than Indiana Jones, John McClane is the ****ing MAN, Hans Gruber is one of the best villains in movie history, the chemistry between John and Al was real, it has lots of kickass action scenes and special effects, and theres a reason why film school use this movie as a subject for effective screenwriting(I wouldn't edit a single frame of this film).
Die Hard 2 was a rehash of Die Hard all the way down to the Christmas setting, but worse plot, villains, and pacing. Also, I hate that annoying black guy in the film. He reads all his lines with no emotion. A rehash of Die Hard is still quality, just nowhere near the original. Also the title, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, has got to be one of the worse mainstream Hollywood titles I've ever seen.
Die Hard with a Vengeance wasn't a rehash, instead giving McClane New York as his entire playground. Samuel L. Jackson was a fantastic addition to the series, and he has a chemistry with Bruce Willis that rivals Indy/Henry Sr. in Last Crusade and Riggs/Mertaugh in the Lethal Weapon series. The villain was much better than Die Hard 2, and had a bit of his brother Hans Gruber's cold calculating personality. "Simon" has McClane and Zeus running around New York doing some pretty crazy and hilarious scenes, and the action really doesn't stop. Yeah, the probability of McClane surfing a truck out of a flood isn't very likely, but who cares? This is a popcorn movie, and a fine one at that. The pacing never lets up, and its a rare group of films where I couldn't believe two hours had already passed. The original was too damn good, but Die Hard 3 sure comes close.
Live Free or Die Hard suffers from a weak villain(still better than Die Hard 2), and a PG-13 rating(although John still curses and there is a lot of action). The thing that kind of bugged me was that McClane, while still a badass cop in the original, was still an ordinary guy dong some crazy stuff. Here, McClane is jumping on and off of fighter jets onto highways, and gets up like nothing happen. A "nuked the fridge" scene if they ever was on. The movie isn't confined in one place like the first two, but it avoids being
another rehash. Justing Long, while no Sam Jackson, still managed to keep things humorous. McClane was definitely in a new world, but when technology fell down across the nation, his ol' school ways were still able to prevail. Lots of great action scenes, and even though some are a bit ridiculous, its always entertaining. And now, with the un-rated DVD, I can get all the "Yippie-Ki-yay, mother****ers!" I want
Live Free or Die Hard is really similar to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Old action hero comes back after over a decade, tones down the violence a bit, makes some action set-pieces a bit too silly but still fun, has him teaming up with an popular young actor, has a weaker villain than two of the previous three movies, and it not as good as the first or third, but its better than the second one.
Oh, and I would definitely see a fifth Die Hard
