Die Hard With A Vengeance Review "You are about to have a very bad day!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, so as this will be my first post of 2021, I will start off by wishing you all a belated Happy New Year.

So, for this post I will be taking a look at the 3rd film in the Die Hard franchise, Die with a Vengeance. Now, I've tried to purchase this film on Amazon and Google but for some reason, its the only film in the series that is not available, which is pretty annoying. However, I know the film well enough to do a review on it and I have already previously reviewed it on this blog, albeit years ago, so figured it was time I gave this one a fresh coat of paint.

So, with that all said, let's take another look at the 3rd entry in Die Hard series and see how it holds up some 26 years on...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!! 

STORY

So, the film begins with a bomb going off in New York Manhattan at the Bonwitt Teller department store during a hot summer morning.  The NYPD receive a call from a mysterious caller that uses the phrase "Simon says" and asks for John McClane (Bruce Willis, or Brucey!), who at this time is on suspension of duty.  The caller insists that John McClane get to Harlem and wear a sandwich board, or else, the caller will set off another bomb.  The major case unit inspector Walter Cobb (Larry Bryggman) of the NYPD goes and talks with McClane and tells them that he must do as "Simon" says, so McClane has no choice but to wear the sandwich board which says "I hate niggers" on it.  

On walking through the streets of Harlem, a local shop owner and electrician Zeus Carver (Samuel L.Jackson) spots McClane and tells him to get out of there, but as McClane explains what he is doing, a local gang spot him and attack him, but Zeus manages to grab McClane's gun and they escape the scene in a taxi, back to the police station.  

Back at the station, the police have found that "Simon" has stolen thousands of gallons of bi-chemical agent explosive.  Simon then calls again and speaks with McClane and insists that he and Zeus go on a series of games of games in order to prevent him from detonating more bombs.  McClane reluctantly manages to get Zeus to go along with him, and their first port of call is trying to prevent a bomb going off in one of the New York subways, which McClane barely gets there in time, finding the bomb in one of the carriages of a subway train, he throws it out the window and it blows up just in time before destroying the train.

Soon after this, McClane and Zeus are taken to meet two FBI agents, who explain that the mysterious caller is in fact the brother of Hans Gruber, the villain from the first Die Hard, and his real name is Simon Peter Gruber (Jeremy Irons).  At this point Simon calls again and tells them he has planted another bomb in one of the schools in the city, and that McClane and Zeus are to solve more puzzles in order to find the location of the bomb.  

After the two men find a bomb in one of the parks, they disarm it and take it away, afterwards McClane spots a kid cycling away from a store, having stolen some food and stops him, where the kid says "Look at this place, there is no one here, the cops are into something, its like Christmas, you could steal City Hall!".  At this point McClane realises something is up and it dawns on him that this is actually been all about a heist, as Simon and his men, are in actual fact there to steal the gold bullion from the Federal Reserve Bank.  

So, Simon and his team, disguised as policeman and construction workers, enter the bank and kill or incapacitate the security guards inside, and break into the bank vault, and use dump trucks to load up the gold.  McClane soon after enters the bank, and meets with Simon's men, posing as cops, he enters a lift with them and notices one of the men wears the police badge from one of the dead NYPD officers, and kills the men in the lift.  McClane thereafter finds one of the remaining bars of gold and with Zeus they go after the trucks and follow them to tanker, which they board, but are captured by Simon and his men.

Meanwhile the NYPD have been distracted by the choas of finding the school and through McClane's help they have found that the school in question is the Chester A. Arthur school, where the police indeed find a big bomb, with two big cylinders of the chemical agent, that the police found earlier.  As the bomb counts down, the police evacuate the school, while their bomb expert Charlie Weiss (Kevin Chamberlin) tries to cut the wires to deactivate the bomb, however as he does, the cylinders simply leak out, what is in actual fact pancake syrup.  

On the tanker, McClane at this point realises the bomb is only a decoy, and Simon finds him and tells him that there was no bomb in the school, but the real bomb is on the tanker.  Simon then cuffs McClane and Zeus sitting on the bomb's cylinders, leaving them to be killed in the explosion, the tanker supposedly filled with the gold will sink.

So, from here McClane and Zeus must find a way to escape from the tanker before it explodes and stop Simon from getting away...

THOUGHTS 

Die Hard with a Vengeance is a very enjoyable entry in the franchise and even though its reception was mixed on release, I still think its one of the best in the series.  The film is also helped along by a very enjoyable and somewhat hammy performance from its villain, Simon Gruber, played by Jeremy Irons, who in a way is the perfect choice for the role, as he is very similar in manner to Alan Rickman.  And his character makes for a refreshing take on the Gruber family, and is a far more entertaining a villain than the very cut and dry Colonel Stuart from the second film, although my one criticism of his performance is he gives the worst ever phoney American accent (in the one scene he uses it!).

The film's two main leads of Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson are also perfect here with their characters McClane and Zeus, despite their initial differences, they develop a friendship and work well together as the film progresses. And its this dynamic that helps the film work very well and adds to the fun and there is even a cheesy reference to Pulp Fiction with Willis quoting a line "Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo" as the two of them work on that film also.

I also felt that in this film that they portrayed the cops much better as they are seen here as being more capable at dealing with situations than in the first two movies where they were just totally inept. However here, director, John McTiernan must have wanted to make up for that here as the cops work well together as a team during the crises rather than just stand around like idiots in Die Hards 1 and 2.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)

As for the performances, the cast are all excellent here.

Starting with Bruce Willis who is great again as John McClane, who has been thrown into another terrorist situation while nursing a horrible hangover and is partnered reluctantly with a Harlem electrician, Zeus Carver.

And Bruce has his share of good scenes, starting with the one where Cobb briefs a hungover McClane in the back of a van in Harlem. So, in the scene Cobb questions McClane over his trouble marriage to Holly and McClane snaps at him "Why don't you mind your fuckin business about Holly, huh?! Between you and Simon, you're fucking up a perfectly good hangover!". 

Then there is the scene where McClane at the police stations goes after Zeus, who is about to leave although Simon insists that they work together. So, McClane runs up to Zeus and says "Yo, partner! Hold up!" and Zeus angrily says to him "Hey, hey, hey, hey, I ain't your partner. I ain't your neighbor, your brother, or your friend. I'm your total stranger!". McClane then says "OK, stranger. Where do you think they found that bomb? Look, this guy don't care about skin colour, even if you do". 

Another good scene is where McClane and Zeus get to a payphone just in time for one of Simon's riddles "Birds of a feather flock together" and McClane says "Nice. Rhymes!". Simon then asks McClane "Who were you calling?" and McClane sarcastically tells him "The psychic hotline!" and Simon warns him "I advise you to take this more seriously" and McClane annoyed says "Hey, this is a public phone! What do you want me to say?" and Simon angrily says "You can simply say there was a fat woman on it and it took you moment to get her off!". 

Then we have the scene where McClane meets with a few FBI agents who are about to tell him that Simon is in fact Hans Gruber's brother (i.e. Hans from the first film). So, in the scene one of the agents asks McClane "Anybody following you at all? Any kind of surveillance, telephone? Anything?" and McClane takes a moment then replies "Well, now that you mention it, I have experienced a, you know, like a burning sensation between my toes. I thought it was just some athlete's foot or something". Then another FBI agent asks McClane "The name Gruber mean anything to you, Lieutenant?" and McClane looks a bit startled and says "It rings a bell yeah".

Another good scene from Willis is when McClane and Zeus argue over how to solve the water jug puzzle in the park. So, as the two men argue McClane angrily says to Zeus "I'm gonna put my up your ass, you dumb mother..." and Zeus shouts at him "SAY IT!" and McClane asks "What?!" and Zeus says "You were gonna call me a nigger, weren't you?" and McClane angrily says to him "No, I wasn't!" and Zeus threatingly asks "Well, what were you gonna call me?" and McClane shouts back "Asshole! I was going to say asshole!". McClane then angrily asks Zeus "I have oppressed you, Zeus?! Have I oppressed your people?! I'll tell you what your problem is, you don't like me because your a racist!" and Zeus surprised asks "What?!" and McClane says "You don't like me because I'm white!" and Zeus spits back "I don't like you because you're gonna get me killed!". 

And then we have the scene where McClane enters the federal reserve bank and goes up to one of the robbers, Karl who is disguised as a cop. So, McClane walks up to him and Karl sees how dirty he looks and asks him "Are you alright?" and McClane says dryly "Yes, its laundry day!". So, Karl then invites McClane along to have a scan of the building and get's into a lift with him and what are in fact Simon's men. However, in the lift, McClane notices that one of the men, Otto, is wearing the badge of a dead cop he knows and McClane twigs they are Simon's men and he then jokingly asks them "What was the lottery number last night? My wife usually plays the same numbers and I keep asking "why do you play the same numbers?" and she tells me "Well, they're my lucky numbers!". I've got the tickets right here!" and he suddenly pulls out his gun and engages in a gunfight he barely survives.

WARNING: BIG SPOILERS IN THE NEXT FEW PARAGRAPHS!

Then there is the scene where McClane makes his way onboard the ship that Simon is on in a desparate scramble to stop the bomb that is going to go off in one of the New York schools. However, McClane soon sees two containers rise with no explosive liquid in them, which dawns on McClane that the school bomb was just a decoy and he sits down hits his head in disbelief. 

So, in the scene, Simon walks up to McClane and introduces himself "Hello, John McClane" and McClane says "There never was any bomb was there?" and Simon tells him "No, I'm solider, not a monster, even though sometimes I work for monsters, No, the real bomb is on this ship". Simon then takes the radio that McClane had as he tried to call the costguard and Simon tries the radio and says "They put you on hold" and McClane says "Yeah, she told me to stay on the line" and Simon laughs and says "God! I love this country!". McClane then firmly tells Simon "You know you're brother was an asshole!" and Simon laughs and says "He WAS an asshole, you got his number". 

And this is followed by the scene where McClane and Zeus and handcufffed together on Simon's tanker and just before Simon leaves McClane taunts him and asks "Hey, fuckhead?! Yeah, you! Fuckhead! You got any aspirins?! I've had a bad fuckin hangover all day!" and Simons laughs and says "Must be your lucky day! Keep the bottle!" and he throws the aspirins at McClane and they land in his lap and McClane laughs to himself.

Then there is the following scene where McClane tells Zeus that they won't die as he plans their escape using a splinter from a cable that impaled into his shoulder. So, in the scene says to Zeus angrily says to McClane "If it hadn't saved your fucking ass, I wouldn't be here $100 billion of fucking gold!" and McClane tells him "Well, you're only gonna blow up with me". Zeus then asks "How do you know?" and McClane says "I know the man, I know the family. The only thing better than blowing up $100 million, is making people think he did!". McClane then tells Zeus they won't die as he has a piece of splintered cable in his shoulder that they can use to pick the handcuffs. 

So, as McClane drops the splinter into Zeus's hands and he starts to pick the lock, Zeus sighs and says "Damn it, McClane, I was just starting to like you" and McClane says "Well, don't, I'm an asshole" and Zeus asks "What are you talking about know?". So, McClane tells him "I lied to you, Zeus" and Zeus asks "About what?" and McClane tells him "You remember, I said that Weiss found that bomb up in Harlem?" and Zeus says "Yeah" and McClane admits "They found it down in Chinatown" and Zeus scornfully says "Oh, that's low! Even for a white motherfucker like you that's low!" and McClane says "Told you I was an asshole". 

And last of all is the scene where McClane finally tracks Simon down after his escape to Canada and Simon boards a chopper and tries to kill McClane with an heavy machine gun. So, McClane backs away and tries to find a target he can use to nail Simon and he says to him "Come on, hotshot! Show me that smiling face!". And as Simon's chopper hovers over by a nearby telephone pole line, with Simon smiling with his gun trained on McClane, McClane points his gun at the line and says "Say hi to your brother!" and shoots the line, which drops right into the line of the rotor blades of the chopper causing it crash and explode and McClane delivers his immortal line "Yippy ki-yay, motherfucker!".    

Samuel L. Jackson next is great in his role as Zeus Carver, a cynical and not so white people friendly electrician, who is forced into helping McClane against Simon.

And Sam has plenty of great scenes in the film that include his first one where Zeus spots McClane out on the streets in Harlem wearing a sign that says "I Hate Niggers" on it. So, Zeus sighs and walks over to McClane and says to him calmly "Morning" and McClane warily replies "Morning". Zeus then asks McClane "You having a nice day, sir? You feeling all right? Not to get too personal, but a white man standing in the middle of Harlem wearing a sign that says "I hate niggers" has either got some serious personal issues, or not all his dogs are barking!". McClane then yawns, seemingly unconcerned but Zeus then approaches him and says "Hey! I'm talking to you! Now, you've got about 10 seconds before those guys over there see you and when they do, they will kill you! You are about to have a very bad day!" and McClane says to him "Tell me about it!". 

And this is the followed by the moment where Zeus and McClane get into a cab and narrowly escaped being lynched by an angry black mob. So, in the scene McClane thinks Zeus is called "Jesus" but Zeus snaps at him and says "He didn't call me Jesus, hey said "Hey, Zeus! My name is Zeus!" and McClane asks "Zeus?" and Zeus angrily tells him "Yeah, Zeus! As in Father of Apollo, Mount Olympus! Don't fuck with me, or I'll shove a lightning bolt up your ass! ZEUS! You got a problem with that?!". 

Then there is the scene where Zeus and McClane are at the police station and Simon calls and tells them that Zeus must go with McClane for the day to help however Zeus is not interested. So, in the scene Zeus says "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm not going anywhere!" but Inspector Cobb tells his firmly "Simon says you got to go!" and Zeus says back  "I'm not jumping through hoops for some psycho. That's a white man with white problems. Call me when he crosses!". So, McClane then asks Zeus "Why'd you save my ass?" and Zeus tells him "I didn't. I stopped a white cop from getting killed in Harlem. One white cop gets killed today, tomorrow we got all of them with itchy trigger fingers, got it?!".

And then there is the funny scene where Zeus and McClane argue over the water jug puzzle Simon has set them in the park. So, as they argue, McClane angrily shouts at Zeus "I'll put my foot up your ass, you dumb mother..." and Zeus angrily says "SAY IT! SAY IT!" and McClane taken aback asks "What?" and Zeus angrily asks "You were gonna call me a nigger, weren't you?!" and McClane says "No, I wasn't!" and Zeus shouts back "Yes you were! What were you gonna call me?!" and McClane tells him "ASSHOLE! How's that, asshole?!". So, McClane annoyed tells Zeus "You know what your problem is, Zeus?! You're a racist! You don't like me because I'm white!" but Zeus tells him "I don't like you because you're gonna get me killed!". 

And later on there is the scene where McClane and Zeus manage to locate Simon's ship and they board and Zeus soon finds him, armed with a machine gun he sneaks in and points it at Simon. So, Zeus tells Simon "Don't fuckin move!" and Simon turns around and says "Oh, the samaritan!" and Zeus says "Give me the goddamn code!" and Simon says "Oh, for the school. Sorry, I can't do that" and Zeus warns him "You call in that code right now, or I'll blow your sick ass into the next world!" and Simon walks right up to him and says "Well, if that's what you gotta do" however as Zeus pulls the trigger, nothing happens. So, Simon takes the machine gun from him and checks it and says "You have to take the safety catch off" and he does and shoots Zeus in the foot, who screams in pain and Simon says "See that works! Now, where's McClane?!". 

Then there is the following scene where McClane tells Zeus that they won't die as he plans their escape using a splinter from a cable that impaled into his shoulder. So, in the scene says to Zeus angrily says to McClane "If it hadn't saved your fucking ass, I wouldn't be here $100 billion of fucking gold!" and McClane tells him "Well, you're only gonna blow up with me". Zeus then asks "How do you know?" and McClane says "I know the man, I know the family. The only thing better than blowing up $100 million, is making people think he did!". McClane then tells Zeus they won't die as he has a piece of splintered cable in his shoulder that they can use to pick the handcuffs. 

So, as McClane drops the splinter into Zeus's hands and he starts to pick the lock, Zeus sighs and says "Damn it, McClane, I was just starting to like you" and McClane says "Well, don't, I'm an asshole" and Zeus asks "What are you talking about know?". So, McClane tells him "I lied to you, Zeus" and Zeus asks "About what?" and McClane tells him "You remember, I said that Weiss found that bomb up in Harlem?" and Zeus says "Yeah" and McClane admits "They found it down in Chinatown" and Zeus scornfully says "Oh, that's low! Even for a white motherfucker like you that's low!" and McClane says "Told you I was an asshole". 

Then as Zeus tries to undo their cuffs, they talk about McClane's ailing marriage to Holly and Zeus says to him "I'm surprised anybody could stay with you long enough to be married!" and McClane says "She didn't stick around. We're sort of separated. She was in L.A., I was in New York, we had a fight on the phone, she hung up, I didn't call her back". Zeus then asks "How long ago was that?" and McClane says "About a year ago" and Zeus begins to laugh much to McClane's annoyance who asks "What the fuck you laughing about?!" and Zeus continues laughing and asks "You threw away your marriage because you were too fucking stupid to pick up the phone?!" and McClane irritated asks "You think that's funny?!" and Zeus giggles and says "I bet you blame your wife, too!" and McClane angrily says "My wife is a very stubborn woman, yes!" and Zeus laughs some more. 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER NEXT PARAGRAPH!

And last of all is the last scene of the film where the bad guys have been dealt with as McClane shoots down Simon's helicopter into a ball of flames. So, McClane laughs with Zeus as they are near the fire wreckage of Simon's chopper and McClane asks Zeus "Think we should call a fire truck?" and Zeus laughs and says "Naw, fuck em, let em cook!".

Jeremy Irons next is also perfect in his role as Simon Gruber, the brother of Hans from the first film, who sends McClane on a wild goose chase to solve his riddles and defuse his bombs throughout the city.

As for Jeremy's notable scenes there is for example his first one where Simon calls Inspector Cobb and asks him "Is there a detective McClane there?" and Cobb says "He's on suspension" and Simon warns him "No, Walter. He's not. Not today" and Cobb asks "Who is this?" and Simon says "Call me Simon". Cobb a little anxious asks "What do you want?" and Simon says "To play a little game" and Cobb asks "What kind of game?" and Simon says "Simon Says". Simon's going to tell Lt. McClane what to do, and Lt. McClane is going to do it. Noncompliance will result in a penalty" and Cobb asks "What penalty?" and Simon says "Another big bang in a public place!".

Then we have the scene where McClane and Zeus get to a payphone just in time for one of Simon's riddles. So, as McClane answers the phone, Simon says ""Birds of a feather, flocked together, so do pigs & swine. As nice as their chance as well as I had mine!" and McClane says "Nice. Rhymes". Simon then asks McClane "Who were you calling?" and McClane sarcastically tells him "The psychic hotline!" and Simon warns him "I advise you to take this more seriously" and McClane annoyed says "Hey, this is a public phone! What do you want me to say?" and Simon angrily says "You can simply say there was a fat woman on it and it took you moment to get her off!". 

Simon then gives McClane the St Ives riddle to solve but McClane asks "Wait a minute say that again!" and Simon says "Not a chance! My number is 555 and the answer. Call me in 30 seconds or die!". So, after McClane and Zeus work out the riddle and make the call, Simon says "Hello, John!" and McClane sarcastically says "Yeah, piece of cake! Give us something harder next time!" and Simon says "But your 10 seconds late!" and McClane yells in panic "NO! THE ANSWER IS 1!!" and he dives out the way as if a bomb is about to go off but nothing happens and we hear Simon's laughter on the line. So, McClane feeling embarrassed goes back to the phone and says "Yeah" and Simon laughs and says "I didn't say "Simon says!".

Then there is the scene where Simon's ruse to enter the federal reserve bank works as he looks down below the scene outside as he successfully get's the police looking for a bomb in one of the schools in New York "They bought it! Hook, line and sinker!". 

This is then followed by the scene where Simon disguises himself as a city engineer to the police and he says to them in a truly awful American accent "Bob Thompson... City Engineer's Office. We'd like to get an idea of the damage" and one of the cops says to him "Man, you guys really got here fast!" and Simon tells him "Well... it's Wall Street, sir. A lot of money here. A lot of opinion-makers... the mayor doesn't want to piss off, you know?" and he surveys the scene of an explosion caused by his bombs and says in his naff accent "Holy Toledo! Somebody had fun!".  

And then we have the scene where Zeus makes it onboard Simon's ship and Zeus aims a machine gun at him and warns him "Don't fuckin move!" and Simon turns around and says "Oh, the samaritan!" and Zeus says "Give me the goddamn code!" and Simon says "Oh, for the school. I'm sorry, I can't do that" and Zeus warns him "You call in that code right now, or I'll blow your sick ass into the next world!" and Simon walks right up to him and says "Well, if that's what you gotta do" however as Zeus pulls the trigger, nothing happens. So, Simon takes the machine gun from him and checks it and says "You have to take the safety catch off" and he does and shoots Zeus in the foot, who screams in pain and Simon says "See that works! Now, where's McClane?!". 

And then there is the big reveal that the school bomb was a fake and just a ruse, which McClane berates himself for falling for it, as he reaches the deck of the ship where Simon is, who comes in and kneels down next to him and says "Hello, John McClane". So, McClane says "There never was any bomb was there?" and Simon says "Of course not. I'm a solider, not a monster, even though I sometimes work for monsters. No the real bomb is on this ship". McClane then taunts Simon by saying "You know, you're brother was an asshole!" and Simons just smiles and says "He was an asshole! You got his number". 

And this is then proceeded by the scene where Simon has McClane and Zeus handcuffed togther sitting on a large cylinder filled with explosive liquid. So, in the scene, Zeus asks Simon "What's all this gotta with killing McClane?!" and Simon says "Life has its little bonuses!" and Zeus asks him "Didn't I hear you say you didn't even like your brother?" and Simon corrects him and says "There is a difference between not liking one's brother and not caring when some Irish flat-foot drops him out of a building". And as Simon prepares the timer for the explosives, Zeus asks him "No riddle is gonna stop this motherfucker?!" and Simon tells him "No code, no riddle, no fancy little countdown!". And just before he leaves, McClane calls out to Simon and asks "Have you got any aspirin?! I've had a bad fucking headache all day long!" and Simon smiles and says to him "Must be your lucky day! Here, have the bottle!" and he throws and it lands in McClane's lap, who laughs out loud as Simon leaves. 

And last of all is the scene where Simon and his team arrive in a warehouse as they unload the gold and they celebrate their victory with some champagne. So, Simon addresses the men and says "Yesterday we were an army with no country. Tomorrow... we have to decide which country we want to buy! And remember... this is all due to the g-g-g-gullibility of the New York Police Department! To the police department!".

As for the other cast members, I won't go into full detail on their scenes just to save a bit of time but I will quickly mention a few key members of the supporting cast.

Starting with Larry Bryggman who is pretty good in his role as the wary police Inspector, Walter Cobb, who supervises McClane and is forced to deal with Simon's dangerous games. 

And Bryggman has one or two good scene worth a mention that include his first one where he get's a call from Simon and after the call he demands to know where McClane is. So, Cobbs shouts to his team "Kowalski?! Lambert! Where is McClane?" and Lambert says "Well, I doubt your gonna find him at church" and Cobb says to him "Well, you better find out what rock he's under and kick it over!". 

And secondly and last of all is the scene where Simon calls back at the station not long after McClane is rescued from Harlem by Zeus. So, as Simon calls, Cobb tries to persuade him not to persue McClane saying he isn't worth it. So, Cobb says to Simon "I can appreciate your feelings for McClane. But believe me, the jerk isn't worth it. He's stepped on so many toes in this department, by this time next month he's gonna be a security guard. His own wife wants nothing to do with him, and he's about two steps shy of becoming a full-blown alcoholic!" and McClane whispers "One step! One step!". 
 
As for the other cast members, Graham Greene is also good in his role as the wisecracking cop, Joe Lambert, who helps out during the crisis. And Greene's most notable line comes after McClane manages to get rid of the subway bomb just before it detonates on a train. So, in the aftermath scene, Lambert tells the others "We got a shitload of cuts and bruises, a couple of concussions, some old guy's pacemaker stopped, and a pregnant girl's water broke, and that's all!".

And last of all is Sam Phillips who makes an intimidating impression as Katya, the ruthless mute henchwoman and girlfriend to Simon aswell. And her most notable scene comes when Katya brutally murders a guard down in the federal reserve bank, who had fired a shotgun at Simon's men and we see Katya slowly walk down the corridor toward the man and stabs him from behind in the neck, chest and the back until Simon grabs her wrist to stop her doing more and he says disapprovingly "I think he's dead, my dear!". 

DIRECTOR 

Finally moving onto the director, John McTiernan does a fine job here once again in the franchise as this was his second and last directorial effort in the series and he expertly handles the film's action scenes and also keeps up the suspense nicely throughout. McTiernan also provides the best intro scene in the franchise here with the use of Lovin Spoonful's "Summer in the city" playing over a New York sunrise and then we suddenly see a big explosion on the streets. Its a pity that McTiernan didn't return to the franchise for future films although around the time of the 5th and so far final film, McTiernan was serving a federal prison sentence, so was obviously not available. 

MUSIC 

As for the music, the film is once again scored by Michael Kamen, who provides another very good score for the movie although it does of course feature some of the familiar music cues we have already heard in the previous Die Hard movies. However one of the more standout aspects of the score is Kamen's rendition of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" a well known song from the American civil war era. The soundtrack also features tracks from other artists most notably "Summer in the City" by the Lovin' Spoonful as I mentioned already and plays at the start of the film.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)   

As for flaws...yes, DHWAV does have some. 

For starters I would have to say that the film really does push the whole racial angle a bit too much regarding Zeus's contempt and mistrust of white people and how we constantly get him complaining about being stereotyped e.g. for being able to lockpick or not knowing how to use a gun. And this all culminates in the scene where McClane finally has had enough of Zeus's accusations and calls him out for being a racist to white people. This is further emphasised in the scene where a New York businessman steps into a cab that Zeus is in (that McClane commandeered earlier) and Zeus attempts to explain its not a cab for hire and the passenger says "What? You don't like white people?!". So, yeah the film makers try to throw the whole racial thing in your face in a very non subtle way, which it could have easily done without. 

Another issues I have is the scene with the police psychologist explaining the psychosis of "Simon" and how "we are talking about a pyschopathic personality, with possible schizophrenia, and he wants control over McClane, and his actions".  Its just really feels superflous to the whole film, and unecessary exposition, we don't really need a psychologist to explain all this stuff as its something we can all pretty much work out for ourselves, even McClane knows what Simon is all about without the help of the "shrink".

There are also some bizarrely convenient moments in the film such as Zeus's ability to work out riddles in their first puzzle call from Simon over the "St Ives" riddle as Zeus says to McClane "Shut up, McClane! I'm good at this!". Yep how convenient, Zeus! Perhaps Simon knew something a bit more about Zeus than he let on, as thought "Hmm, good samaritan! He must be good at puzzles!". 

This is followed up by the rather ridiculous scene where McClane somehow manages to avoid being drowned after Simon had the dam blown as McClane drives through the tunnels and get's flooded with water and somehow manages to cling onto a ladder rail and is sent flying up a tunnel into the open air by the rush of water. And the big coincidence is of course when Zeus just so happens to be driving by at the EXACT moment we see McClane flying out of the tunnel into the air! How's that for timing?! 

I also felt the inclusion of Simon's stutter was a bit pointless as well in the film as we hear him stammer twice, first on the phone where McClane pushes him and Simon says "You c-c-c-couldn't catch me in my chair with me sitting in it!". And later near the end where he addresses his men over the victory of their heist and he speaks of the NYPD's "g-g-g-g-gullability!". I mean this only occurs twice in the whole film and because of that alone its totally unecessary especially as Simon is so in control for the rest of the movie. 

And last of all is the film's silly ending with McClane going after Simon in a helicopter after he tracks him down to Canada (thanks to the label on the aspirin bottle Simon gave him). And of course in the scene, Simon is about to have it off with Katya, only for then we see the helicopter lights outside and we hear McClane's voice from a megaphone say "Hey, dickhead! Did I come at a bad time?!".  Its also pretty daft as the writer of the screenplay, Johnathan Hensleigh pointed out in the DVD commentary, that Zeus would come along with McClane in the chopper ride, as he really isn't needed, but I guess maybe Zeus wanted to see it through to the end (well that's the only thing I can think of that makes any sense here!). 

So, that's it for the flaws. 

SUM UP 

So, to sum up, Die Hard With a Vengeance is a very solid entry in the series and in my opinion is easily the second best film of the franchise as it features two solid leads in Bruce Willis and Sam Jackson, who enjoy some good onscreen chemistry together as they bicker and argue but also work well togther. The film also has a more memorable villain in Simon Gruber, the brother of the late Hans Gruber, who McClane killed off at the end of Die Hard and Jeremy Irons really succceds in actually making him appear somewhat less ruthless and more practical as a villain, doing what is necessary to get the job done. 

And yes there are some minor plot issues and the film pushes the black/white racial angle a bit too much and yep the ending is really dumb but that all aisde, DHWAV is still well worth a look 26 years on since its initial release.

So, Die Hard With a Vengeance gets...

8.5 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back sometime soon with another post.

Till then its bye for now!