After terrorists take control of a Washington DC airport, John McClane once again finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time on Christmas Eve.
"How can the same shit happen to the same guy, twice."
In the opening scenes of the movie, we learn that McClane in now living in Los Angeles with his family and works as a Lieutenant for the LAPD. As the film begins, we see that McClane is at Washington Dulles International Airport waiting for his wife's plane to come in from LA. However, before long, all hell breaks loose when political terrorists take the airport hostage.
People often refer to this film as Die Hard on a plane. This isn't strictly accurate. You see, the terrorists don't take over the planes, they take over the airport. So, strictly speaking, Die Hard 2 is actually more along the lines of Die Hard in an airport.
Like its predecessor, Die Hard 2 was released in the middle of July, despite the fact that it's set on Christmas Eve. However, this time around, I think that this probably had something to do with a clever marketing strategy. If a movie is released to cinemas in the summer, it should be available to buy sometime around Christmas; therefore, Die Harder would have boosted its, what would have then been, video sales simply due to the fact that it was set at Christmas. Now, this is just a theory, I have no idea when Die Hard was released to video, and I could be completely off the mark... But, it wouldn't surprise me if I was right.
Die Hard 2 could have very easily seemed completely unrealistic; the unrealistic part being that this could all happen to the same peron twice (As of now, it's actually happened to the same person four, going on five, times). It is unlikely, lets face it. But McClane himself realises this, even stating it several times throughout the film. This also gives the picture a bit of an appreciated (By me, at least) humorous streak.
"I'll be damned if I'm gonna clean up this mess!"
What I love about Die Hard 2 is that it stays very faithful to Die Hard. This can't be said of the series' third installment, and though the fourth is an improvement over the third, it's nothing like the first. Die Hard 2 is another matter. It has the same tone and gives the same feel as the first film did, despite the fact that it takes place in an entirely different location, with a cast that greatly differs from Die Hard. Die Harder is also every bit as exciting as its predecessor, and it still, even today, stands strongly as a worthy sequel to a great film that didn't really need one.
Bruce Willis is back in the role that made his film career, John McClane, and he picks up right where he left off. Willis is fantastic in the role he was born to play. Nobody could play McClane better than he, and I wouldn't want to see anybody try. Bonnie Bedelia and William Atherton also reprise their roles as Holly McClane and Richard Thornburg, with Atherton being particularly good in the film. New additions include William Sadler as lead terrorist Colonel Stuart, and Dennis Franz as Police Chief Lorenzo. Both of them are good in their roles, as is everybody else. There's also a nice cameo from Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt Al Powell, the cop who helped McClane out in the original film. I would have liked to have seen more of him, however, it just wouldn't have been realistic. There's no way that this could have happened to both Powell and McClane twice, which the filmmakers probably realised.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder is an excellent sequel to a film that I really love. It's not as good as Die Hard, but it's not far off the mark. 10/10
Trivia: Like its predecessor, Die Hard (1988), Die Hard 2: Die Harder was adapted from a novel. Die Hard was adapted from the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever, written by Roderick Thorp. Die Hard 2: Die Harder was adapted from the 1987 novel 58 minutes, written by Walter Wagner.
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