Die Hard with a Vengeance
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 The best of the Die Hard sequels!
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Die Hard with a Vengeance (also called Die Hard 3 with a Vengeance or just Die Hard 3) is a 1995 action thriller film directed by John McTiernan (who directed Die Hard) and written by Jonathan Hensleigh. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and stars Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Graham Greene, Colleen Camp, Larry Bryggman, and Sam Phillips.
Plot
Five years after Die Hard 2, Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is now divorced, alcoholic, and jobless after getting fired for his reckless behavior and bad attitude. He is called back into action, however, when a cryptic terrorist (Jeremy Irons) takes New York City hostage in a lethal game of "Simon Says" and refuses to speak with anyone, but McClane. Teaming up with a street-savvy electrician named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson), McClane dashes through the city, trying to stay one step ahead of a murderous plot.
Why It Rocks
- Bruce Willis still gave a great performance as John McClane.
- Even Samuel L. Jackson (who later voiced Officer Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) gave a good performance as Zeus Carver as well.
- Lots of great action scenes, like driving a taxi car and going to the subway train, preventing destroying the Subway train, car chase, etc.
- It's still a decent follow-up to the first two films.
- Jeremy Irons as Simon Gruber is a pretty good villain, he wanted to destroy a lot of buildings, or New York City itself.
- The opening song called "Hot Town Summer in the City", is pretty catchy.
- Yet again, The "Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker!" line still appears like the first two.
- The scene where Zeus tells his kids about racial issues, which it's very important.
- Zeus Carver is a funny and likable supporting character and he's one of the best parts of the film.
- The idea of a film trying to save New York City from its destruction is pretty interesting.
- The acting is still amazing, just like the first two films.
- Amazing visual effects, especially for the explosions, and even the water.
- The final battle with the helicopter and the ending scene is pretty awesome!
The Only Bad Quality
- The infamous scene where John McClane wears the "I hate n*****s" sign, which is very racist, and offensive towards black people.
Reception
Critical repsonse
The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics with a 60% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 75 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Die Hard With a Vengeance gets off to a fast start and benefits from Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson's barbed interplay, but clatters to a bombastic finish in a vain effort to cover for an overall lack of fresh ideas.", Metacritic scores a film a 58/100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". However, the film received very positive reviews from the audience and fans of the series, with an 83% audience score rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8.7/10 user score rating on Metacritic. Many of the fans and the audience claimed that Die Hard with a Vengeance is the "best" Die Hard sequel and the best action film of all time in 1995.
Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, praising the action sequences and the performances of Willis, Jackson, and Irons, concluding: "Die Hard with a Vengeance is basically a wind-up action toy, cleverly made, and delivered with high energy. It delivers just what it advertises, with a vengeance."
Videos
Trivia
- The film was based on an original screenplay entitled Simon Says. It was also considered for Lethal Weapon 4.