Die Hard: With a Vengeance

Die Hard:With A Vengeance deserves to be ranked in a top ten list of action movies. The first two Die Hard movies were brilliant but this installment just blows the first two out of the water.

Bruce Willis is back as police officer Lt. John McClane and in this movie he teams with Samuel L. Jackson as Zeus Carver to stop the wicked Jeremy Irons who is planning to cause mayhem and destruction around New York.

If you're a fan of non-stop action movies like Speed, then this is the movie with you. It doesn't let up for a second; it's one of those movies where your heart beats as fast as the characters and by the end of the movie, you'll be feeling like you ran round New York chasing a bomber. That is how all good action movies should be.

I don't think it is any exaggeration to say that Die Hard:With A Vengeance deserves to be rated one of the top action movies of the 1990's. All that has to be done now is to make Die Hard 4 which I hope would top this movie...although that would be quite a feat.

This is definitely the grittiest of all the 3 Die Hard films. John Mclane is now a drunk, he's separated from his family, living in New York, and to make matters worse a terrorist calling himself "Simon" is out for revenge on Mclane. Mclane, and everyone else, has absolutely no idea why.

The first 2 films are superior to this one since this has a lot of changes from the mood that made the others so great. First off, it's not set on Christmas. No biggie though. Secondly, there are too many complications and twists to the plot. You almost have to take notes. And thirdly, the biggest change is that it's now turned into a buddy movie to the style of Lethal Weapon, since Samuel L. Jackson as Zeus unwillingly teams up with John Mclane. They're complete opposites, they argue, and they become friends. That sort of stuff.

Die Hard: With A Vengeance still stays true to it's amazing action scenes, though. There's plenty of explosions, there's floods, and overall general destruction. It's a different kind of movie, yes. But it's a good different kind of movie.

My rating: 9/10

Die Hard With A Vengence is a near-perfect summer movie. This franchise effort is a gleeful no-brainer with nonstop action. It gives some additional perverse pleasure, as we get to watch smartypants Bruce Willis get smacked around for 112 minutes. In this third outing with John McClane, we are faced with yet another mad bomber on the loose. Jeremy Irons plays Simon, a nasty piece of Eurotrash who has a score to settle with Detective McClane. Simon's bombing game comes complete with crafty riddles, which must be solved in a specified time or everything goes boom. McClane has no choice but to play. Along the way, he picks up an unlikely accomplice named Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson), a Harlem shopkeeper. Together they tear all over New York trying to head off disaster. Sure, it's all perfectly preposterous, but DIE HARD 3 has been directed with breathless intensity by John McTiernan, who certainly has a way with wrecking things. Was he very destructive as a child? Loved the spectacular subway crash, John. That hair-raising taxi ride through Central Park wasn't bad, either. Don't forget to fasten your seat belts for this ride.

The movie starts off by re-introducing John McClane, and immediately takes off with non-stop action. Samuel L Jackson has great chemistry with Willis, and they really work with each other. Even thought the movie was made almost 20 years ago, due to the dependence on mainly practical effects, it still looks good.

The one major downfall of the movie was the ending. It is too bad, since that is what the viewer will remember. It could have been easily re- mediated if they went with a less typical Hollywood-type ending, and that would also have been in line with everything else in the movie. Also, the water riddle was solved way too easily by John, and the editing of it didn't even show how he randomly arrived at the answer.

Someone's got a thing for John McClane. Bombs are going off around New York and if McClane doesn't do what Simon says, more things will go boom. Along for the ride with the always watchable Bruce Willis is Samuel L. Jackson, a electronics store owner who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. These two are off all over Manhattan figuring out Simon's little riddles. Jeremy Irons is perfectly cast as the intelligent Simon. He's shrewd, charming and knows how to get a job done. Back in the director's chair is John McTiernan, overseeing the mayhem. The action sequences are bigger, louder and wilder than before. Car chases, shoot outs, and a really neat sequence involving a ship, a bridge and a truck highlight this action lovers delight. So, buckle up, turn up the sound and get ready for a hell of a ride. New York is about to go boom!