By the late Eighties the action movie was beginning to die a slow death. The indestructible, mountainous and mechanical Kings of the genre, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, were finding that even they could not defeat the apathy of an audience who had grown weary of monosyllabic monoliths with big guns and bad jokes. The decade of excess was losing its grip and so were its heroes.
Enter John McTiernan, fresh from his success with Predator starring, ironically, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and casting for his new movie Die Hard. Based on the novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorpe, Die Hard was originally intended as a sequel to Schwarzenegger’s Commando, but the Austrian actor turned it down and, thankfully, Die Hard became a very different beast altogether.
With the new The Crow remake coming soon, we take a look back at the 30-year-old cult classic original–and where the stars are now.
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In order of my rating I'd go Die Hard > Die Hard 4 > Die Hard 2 > Die Hard 3.
In general, I like the Die Hard movies, though. These and Lethal Weapon I tend to treat like guilty pleasures.
Thanks for commenting, guys. I'm one of those in the Die Hard 4 camp, for sure. I thought it was the best of all three sequels. Sure as hell kicked Die Hard 2's ass.
But maybe that's because I'm bald felt a certain kinship with the cue-ball McClane. ;-)
Yea I really liked Die Hard 4. Definitely not a bad one at all.
Great read! I friggen love Die Hard. Without exercising any hyperbole, it is my favorite action film of all-time. And that's saying a helluva lot given my enormous exposure to the medium.
No problem homie! Anyone man that is willing to champion the cause of Die Hard earns my respect!