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Why is it that Die Hard 2 is the best in the series?
- Thread starter ScandiNavy
- Start date
Cliffhanger fucking ruled. Die Hard, while certainly not the best in the series, is pretty cool too.
Cliffhanger is not a good movie!?
His filmography as a director is fucking weird though.
My favourite die hard movies in order 1. 3 and 2
To be fair there are some really cool moments in Die Hard 2 love the terminal shootout also Robert Patrick (T 1000) has a small cameo in that scene.
Also Bruce Willies fighting the colonel on the wing of the airplane (the stuntment actually fought on a moving 747 wing ) while the closeups with the actors was a mockup.
To be fair there are some really cool moments in Die Hard 2 love the terminal shootout also Robert Patrick (T 1000) has a small cameo in that scene.
Also Bruce Willies fighting the colonel on the wing of the airplane (the stuntment actually fought on a moving 747 wing ) while the closeups with the actors was a mockup.
Hot damn, I forgot there was a 5.
But no... 1-3-4-2-5 is the official standing. Get ready for that Disney reboot staring Joseph Gordon Levitt.
But no... 1-3-4-2-5 is the official standing. Get ready for that Disney reboot staring Joseph Gordon Levitt.
I loves me some Die Harder. Cool bad guy, great setting and infinitely quotable. Die Hard was also better when it was about the love between John and Holly.
I like the one where they just throw fighter jets at Bruce Willis. Or when they use giant vacuum cleaners to clear the air in Chernobyl. Those are my favourite ones.
Troll or drunk thread? I thought there was a general consensus that 1>>3>>>>2 ...and the rest never happened.
Because it has a great generic villain who has no charisma or charm and even does the cliche "kill his own henchman" thing. I need to know my badguys are bad! Gruber was just too darn likeable, I wanted to have a beer with him and talk about men's fashion, not shoot him!
It masterfully contrives even the same supporting cast to return in wonderfully coincidental meetings, like the tv reporter being on the same plane as McClane's wife that just happens to be the one the terrorists take over!
It doesn't waste any time on setting things up that will be paid off down the line in satisfying ways, and gets to the shooting as fast as possible.
Thought McClane jumping off the Nakatomi building was cool? Well try having him use an ejector seat to blast hilariously straight up at the camera!
He says turns yippe kay yay into a hip catchphrase he says to nobody but himself!
It gets rid of all those pesky dynamic moving camera shots and sense of geography that McTiernan was obsessed with and gives us some good old fashioned plain cinematography.
It's just plain better.
Die Hard 3 is pretty great but it's not better than 1. It really starts losing steam in the third act, and ups to the stunts to kind of a silly degree, until it reaches a totally limp conclusion. It's just not as tightly scripted as the first movie, which is a nigh perfect example of setup/payoff and special geography in an action movie. Also, I feel like it's kind of a downer how shitty McClane's life turned out in that one after the first movie was this ultimate feel good Christmas blockbuster.
It masterfully contrives even the same supporting cast to return in wonderfully coincidental meetings, like the tv reporter being on the same plane as McClane's wife that just happens to be the one the terrorists take over!
It doesn't waste any time on setting things up that will be paid off down the line in satisfying ways, and gets to the shooting as fast as possible.
Thought McClane jumping off the Nakatomi building was cool? Well try having him use an ejector seat to blast hilariously straight up at the camera!
He says turns yippe kay yay into a hip catchphrase he says to nobody but himself!
It gets rid of all those pesky dynamic moving camera shots and sense of geography that McTiernan was obsessed with and gives us some good old fashioned plain cinematography.
It's just plain better.
Die Hard 3 is pretty great but it's not better than 1. It really starts losing steam in the third act, and ups to the stunts to kind of a silly degree, until it reaches a totally limp conclusion. It's just not as tightly scripted as the first movie, which is a nigh perfect example of setup/payoff and special geography in an action movie. Also, I feel like it's kind of a downer how shitty McClane's life turned out in that one after the first movie was this ultimate feel good Christmas blockbuster.
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My finely tuned sarcasm-meter tells me that something's up. And it sure isn't my penis.
But I think the yippee kay ye worked better in this movie. It is a much more effective use of it.
I had forgotten that he originally said it in the first one, and for good reason.
Hmmm can't agree. The first movie worked because it was an antidote to the super macho superhero 80's action movies that were coming out at the time, giving us a scrappy every man who got injured just as much as he won. So having him deliver an Arnold style one liner catchphrase is pretty antithetical to the whole idea of Die Hard and a signal to the further degradation of the series. In the first movie he says it as a snarky quip to the terrorist he's fucking with over the walk-talkie, which makes sense for his character and the context it's said in.
And that scene was a reshoot. For a great movie otherwise they just had zero idea how to end it.
I hijack this thread for my own hot take: Rambo 2 is the best Rambo movie. If you want to treat this franchise like some art-house stuff, yeah Rambo 1 is the best, but Rambo 2 made "Rambo" this iconic meme and has one of the best "action-plots" ever.
It's competent but soulless. Like so many action films after the original Die Hard, it simply took the first film's premise and changed the location.
Speed 2 was Die Hard on a boat.
Sudden Death was Die Hard in an arena.
Die Hard 2 was Die Hard at an airport. Not terrible, but nothing special either. It was Hydrox to Die Hard's Oreo.
Also legit surprised by the number of people saying DH3 was better than the first. I'd agree it's better than the second, but the first? Nah.
Speed 2 was Die Hard on a boat.
Sudden Death was Die Hard in an arena.
Die Hard 2 was Die Hard at an airport. Not terrible, but nothing special either. It was Hydrox to Die Hard's Oreo.
Also legit surprised by the number of people saying DH3 was better than the first. I'd agree it's better than the second, but the first? Nah.
Whilst the first film is a classic and the best of the lot I absolutely adore Die Hard 2 and it's one of my favourite sequels. McClane is just as great as the first film and there's a streak of viciousness to the villains that isn't really in any of the other films. Some of the dialogue is brilliant and I think Renny Harlins action direction is extremely underrated. 'With A Vengenance' is a great film too but I thought Jeremy Irons was pretty weak as a villain (until the villain of Die Hard 4.0 came along)
So basically I'd go 1>2>3.
4.0 is shite and watered down shite at that, even the unrated version can't save that turd. 5 is so bad it actually made me appreciate 4 more despite disliking that film. Jai Courtney is such a charisma vacuum and completely awful. I just wish they had quit after 3.
So basically I'd go 1>2>3.
4.0 is shite and watered down shite at that, even the unrated version can't save that turd. 5 is so bad it actually made me appreciate 4 more despite disliking that film. Jai Courtney is such a charisma vacuum and completely awful. I just wish they had quit after 3.
I would have bought 3 as the outlier fan favorite over 1, but 2? Nahhhhh. Not that one, mr. Falcon.
Playing devils advocate though, I'd say the plot is kinda crazy. I just realized cliffhanger kinda steals more than a few story beats from it also.
Playing devils advocate though, I'd say the plot is kinda crazy. I just realized cliffhanger kinda steals more than a few story beats from it also.
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I was prepared for thread backfire, but 4 being above ANY of the prequels was beyond any of my worst fears.
You should feel intense shame, because your taste is raw sewage on a hot summer day.
You should feel intense shame, because your taste is raw sewage on a hot summer day.
I really like Die Hard 2. It felt tense like the first film with John being confined to a small location. That is a huge part of Die Hard to me. DH 3 just felt like a generic action movie set in New York. You can really tell it wasnt originally meant to be a Die Hard movie.
The less said about 4 and probably 5 (not seen it) the better.
The less said about 4 and probably 5 (not seen it) the better.
Die Hard 3 is the better Lethal Weapon 3, I'll give you that. Samuel Jackson saved Die Hard 3 from being absolute ass and the chemistry between the two actually made it a very entertaining movie but nothing special like Die Hard 1 which had a huge impact on action cinema.
As someone said, Die Hard 3 could've been a completely different franchise.
Lol, my faith in you has partially been restored. When you eventually leave that fever dream you'll maybe notice that you just got the numbers wrong ;P Yes, people liking 4 probably have the blure-ray standing right next to Thor 2, and the Taken movies.
I watched 2 over Christmas.
It's bad. I used to think it was "Die Hard at an airport".... but actually, it isn't even that. It's also way too long. And there are like 4-5 cheesy moments were McClane gurns at the camera like "I can't believe this is happenin' again, John" SHUT UP BRUCE.
Maybe worse than 4. Yup, I think I'd take the hard cut of 4 over 2. Parts of 4 are horrible, but at least it has a pace to it.
1 > 3 >>>>>>> 4 > 2 >>>>>> 5
It's bad. I used to think it was "Die Hard at an airport".... but actually, it isn't even that. It's also way too long. And there are like 4-5 cheesy moments were McClane gurns at the camera like "I can't believe this is happenin' again, John" SHUT UP BRUCE.
Maybe worse than 4. Yup, I think I'd take the hard cut of 4 over 2. Parts of 4 are horrible, but at least it has a pace to it.
1 > 3 >>>>>>> 4 > 2 >>>>>> 5
1>3>2/4>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>5
The only outright bad flick in the series is five, four doesn't get enough love.
The only outright bad flick in the series is five, four doesn't get enough love.
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