Die Hard 2: Die Harder

After the success of the very first Die Hard movie, out came “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” in 1990. Bruce Willis reprises his role as John McClane, and this time he enters in a marathon of brutal violence, one after another. Like every main action hero, he places first in everything. He wrestles with guns, jumps on conveyer belts, ejects from cockpits, leaps onto a plane’s wings while it is in flight and fights with the authorities.

Roger Ebert describes: “This is one of those thrillers, like the "Indiana Jones" series, that I categorize as Bruised Forearm Movies, because when the movie is over your forearm is black-and-blue from where your date has grabbed it during the moments of suspense.”

Why is Willis Grade A in this franchise? It might be because he blends together looking physique enough with also having the look of an Everyman. The title of this movie gives you the basic plot: McClane is a man who will not give up, not admit defeat, and single-mindedly keeps moving in the face of danger. These types of dangerous obstacles he faces would intimidate James Bond, but for this tough, tenacious cop who is about to go bald, he has no choice. On top of that: “My wife is on that plane!” Just like in the first movie, he is a cop who is on vacation. This time, he is in Washington’s Dulles Airport waiting for his wife, Holly’s plane to land so he can spend Christmas Eve with her in this packed airport. In that same airport, at the same landing time, a military jet will land, bringing a South American drug fiend in. A group of terrorists, led by a former CIA operative, plots to take over the airport operations by electronically dodging the control tower. They turn off the airport lights and leave a bunch of airplanes in the air and one of them crashes, as a warning. What they want is a spare plane with full tank of gas, ready to take the dictator to freedom.

McClane, who has an Owl’s eye for a cop, sees one of the terrorists, follows him to the baggage-claim and finds out about their plan. He can’t convince the airport chief, played by Dennis Franz, who basically brushes off a cop that doesn’t have jurisdiction in the state. After a murder and several other hints (including that plane crash) the security chief finally sees that there is an attack being planned. But does that stop McClane? Of course not, and by the end of the movie, he has single-handedly takes on planeloads of terrorists one by one.

Because “Die Hard 2” is so well put together and well-directed, it has a momentum that carries it past handful of authority gaps that might have sunk a lesser film.

For instance, look at the part where the tower tells the circling airplanes that they’ll be out of radio contact for a few hours, and the jets keep going in circles? Why can’t those planes get in radio contact with other ground receivers, and be given an alternate airport? Because then Holly wouldn’t be in the airplane and in grave danger, that’s why?

This is what Ebert had said when he said a real-life trial about this movie: “A more serious problem involves the whole rescue operation itself. When Manuel Noriega was taken captive and returned to the United States to stand trial, there was little serious effort to save him: At the end, he was a refugee in his own country, reduced to seeking asylum in the residence of a Vatican diplomat. Would anyone have the means, the money and the will to mount such a vast and complicated terrorist operation simply to save one drug-connected dictator? Even if he does bear an uncanny resemblance to Fidel Castro? I doubt it.

“But on the other hand, I don't care.” “Die Hard 2” is as unlikely as the Bond movies, and as much fun. During the summer when violence and mayhem are allowed to replace for imagination and good writing, this is an especially great movie. It tells a story that we can relate to, it has a lot of interesting supporting characters, it handles the action scenes with calm precision, and it has a couple of scenes that are worth writing home about.

One of those scenes is the plane crash. Ebert says, “Not everybody's favorite image, I'll grant you. (This is a feature that will be severely edited before it becomes an in-flight movie.) Watching the plane burst into flames on a runway, I knew intellectually that I was watching special effects, probably a fairly large and detailed model photographed in slow motion.”

No matter. The plane crash is scarily convincing.

Another shot, more fun, is harder to describe without spoiling the movie. But it involves putting the camera’s eye so far up in the air and then propelling Willis up until his nose is about to touch the lens before he begins to fall down to ground again.

Ebert says, “Not only is this shot sensationally effective in terms of the story, but as a visual it is exhilarating: I love it when a director finds a new way to show me something.”

The director of “Die Hard 2” was Renny Harlin, who was well-known for directing the fourth “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie and the Andrew Dice Clay movie, “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.” Like Paul Verhoeven, “Harlin has taken Hollywood commercial moviemaking, shaken it and given it new energy,” says Ebert.

Given the great success of the first “Die Hard,” producer Lawrence Gordon and his partners must have prayed hard to make sure this was success before handing it over to a fairly inexperienced director.

But they did the right thing: this is fairly entertaining. I would give this film a 9.

Harlin picked really great actors to portray the terrorists in this movie. They are believable and really act the part out great. The actors are: William Sadler, Franco Nero, John Amos, Don Harvey, Tony Ganios, Peter Nelson, Robert Patrick, Mick Cunningham, John Leguizamo, Tom Verica, John Costelloe, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Mark Boone Junior, and Ken Baldwin. Also, expect another cameo appearance from Reginald VelJohnson in here.

Look out next week when I look at the best film in the “Die Hard” franchise. I hope you all are enjoying “Die Hard” month.