Die Hard - The Ultimate Collection (Die Hard / Die Hard 2 / Die Hard with a Vengeance / Live Free or Die Hard Two-Disc Special Editions)

Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, Die Hard 2 (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), doesn't match the level of the original, but it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action sequences. One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport when he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, including all the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert Patrick as terrorists, and future politician and Law and Order actor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control.

The third film in the series, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), was again directed by John McTiernan and uses a different concept. The villain (played by Jeremy Irons) claims to have planted bombs all over New York City and gives John McClane (Willis), now alchoholic and separated, a series of clues to try to track them down. Along the way, he's aided by, and eventually teams up with, a Harlem shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson). The interplay between Willis and Jackson is engaging, but better suited to the Lethal Weapon franchise it was previously considered for, and not till the end does the movie return to the familiar McClane-vs.-villains-showdown format.

Twelve years after Die Hard with a Vengeance, the third and previous film in the Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any Die Hard fan knows that this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-powered weaponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's stumbled into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once that wreckage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood, and Maggie Q, Mission: Impossible 3) that seems to be operating under the government's noses. Live Free or Die Hard uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of Die Hard with a Vengeance along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most consistently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the Underworld franchise), good humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while barely alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 rating--there might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somewhat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a high body count. Yippee-ki-ay! --David Horiuchi

Product Description
Contains:Die HardDie Hard Bonus DiscDie Hard 2: Die HarderDie Hard 2: Die Harder Bonus DiscDie Hard: With a VengeanceDie Hard: With a Vengeance Bonus DiscDie HardBruce Willis stars as New York City Detective John McClane newly arrived in Los Angeles to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia). As Mclane waits for his wife's office party to break up terrorists take control of the building. While the terrorist leader Hans Gruber (Alexander Godunov) round up hostages McClane slips away unnoticed. Armed with only a service revolver and his cunning McClane launches his own one-man war. A crackling thriller from beginning to end Die Hard explodes with heart-stopping suspense.Die Hard 2: Die HarderBruce Willis returns as the heroic cop who battles not only terrorists but also an incompetent airport police chief (Dennis Franz) the hard-headed commander (John Amos) of the Army's anti-terrorist squad and a deadly winter snowstorm. The runways are littered with death and destruction and McClane is in a race against time. His wife (Bonnie Bedelia) is trapped on one of the planes circling overhead which is desperately low on fuel. It's all-out war a heart-stopping jet-propelled journey filled with excitement and terror. Fasten your seat belts!Die Hard 3: Die Hard With A VengeanceThe third installment of the hugely succesful Die Hard series reteams Bruce Willis and director John McTiernan in a new action/adventure extravaganza of special effects unexpected comedy and non-stop thrills.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/HEROES UPC: 024543494263 Manufacturer No: 2249426