Bruce Willis names his least favourite ‘Die Hard’ movie: “Far too self-referentially precious”
People like what they like, which is why it’s usually so hard to settle on a definitive ranking of any popular movie franchise. However, most folks would surely agree that when it comes to Die Hard, the highest and lowest points of the action saga came at the beginning and end.
John McTiernan’s original isn’t only one of the genre’s greatest-ever movies and a staple of the festive viewing calendar; it ushered in a new era. The days of the musclebound meatheads who dominated the 1980s were drawing to a close, to be replaced by the age of the everyman hero, spearheaded by Bruce Willis’ career-defining turn as John McClane.
It also gave rise to an entire subgenre that’s continued spitting out barely disguised Die Hard clones for the last four decades, but the opener remains the pick of the bunch. As for the worst? A Good Day to Die Hard runs away with that unwanted distinction, bringing the once-mighty franchise to a dismal conclusion.
There are a few willing to die on the hill that Die Hard with a Vengeance might be the pick of the bunch, while the fourth instalment was a solid-if-unspectacular blockbuster that didn’t even feel like a Die Hard film. That leaves Renny Harlin’s first sequel as the outlier, largely because it couldn’t be bothered to bring anything new to the formula, instead remaining content as a follow-up that’s a bit of a remake, too.
That’s probably why Willis hates it so much, with the actor trying his hardest to make McClane more of a straightlaced and solemn protagonist than the quip-happy banter merchant the studio, director, and screenwriters wanted him to be. It didn’t work despite his protestations, and it left a bad taste in the leading man’s mouth.
“The first Die Hard was the most fun,” he reflected to Ain’t It Cool. “Because it was all very new. The second was my least favourite and the least fun. Far too self-referentially precious, the story was all over the place and suffered from severe un-claustrophobic-ness.”
His point isn’t invalid when Die Hard 2 was basically Die Hard all over again, except this time it was set at an airport instead of a skyscraper. The ‘if it ain’t broke’ mindset has been a blight on countless big-name franchises, but audiences didn’t seem to mind at the time when the sequel earned significantly more than its predecessor at the box office.
It’s definitely – and vastly – superior to A Good Day to Die Hard, though, and it’s better than the fourth. Whether it deserves to be in the top two is a matter of personal preference, even if Willis was adamant that Die Hard 2 was McClane’s weakest outing by far.
