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Die Hard - Ultimate Collection
Actors: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, William Atherton
Directors: John McTiernan, Renny Harlin
Genres: Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

R 2001

Die Hard is the movie franchise that made a movie star out of TV star Bruce Willis, and created an entire action-movie genre of its own. In the original 1988 film, Willis plays wisecracking New York cop John McClane, who ... more »arrives at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles to meet up with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonny Bedelia), at her office Christmas party. As luck would have it, the company ends up in the middle of a terrorist plot led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his gang of expert killers, and with little help coming from outside, McClane has to pick off his enemies one by one. Thus was born the "Die Hard genre," epitomized by such films as Under Siege ("Die Hard on a ship"), Passenger 57 ("Die Hard on a plane"), Speed ("Die Hard on a bus"), and Cliffhanger ("Die Hard on a mountain"). But few measure up to the explosive brilliance of Die Hard. Director John McTiernan develops the action at a fast and furious pace, culminating in some fantastic set-pieces on the top of the building, in the elevator shaft, and in the building's outer plaza. Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza's script, based on Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever, is smart, funny, and full of memorable lines (among them "Welcome to the party, pal!" and of course "Yippee ki-ay, motherf*****"), and the cast is perfection, especially Rickman as the cunningly evil villain, and Willis, whose McClane character--bloodied, beaten, bruised, and barely breathing, as he battles both bad guys and bureaucrats--is someone audiences could genuinely cheer for. Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, Die Hard 2 (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), doesn't match the level of the original, but it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action sequences. One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport when he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, including all the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert Patrick as terrorists, and future politician and Law and Order actor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control. The third film in the series, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), was again directed by John McTiernan and uses a different concept. The villain (played by Jeremy Irons) claims to have planted bombs all over New York City and gives John McClane (Willis), now alchoholic and separated, a series of clues to try to track them down. Along the way, he's aided by, and eventually teams up with, a Harlem shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson). The interplay between Willis and Jackson is engaging, but better suited to the Lethal Weapon franchise it was previously considered for, and not till the end does the movie return to the familiar McClane-vs.-villains-showdown format. The 2007 Die Hard Collection is a four-disc set that comes up short when compared to the previous six-disc Ultimate Collection , which is now out of print. That 2001 set had two discs for each film (plus, Die Hard was a Five Star Collection release). This set does away with all of the second discs, though it retains the features that were on the movie-only discs, including director commentaries and the seamlessly branched version of the first film with a scene added back in. There's also a brand-new fourth disc, but it's pretty minor. "Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time" is a 40-minute retrospective of the original movie. Wide-ranging but rather dull, it collects interviews with director John McTiernan, cinematographer Jan De Bont, screenwriters Jeb Stuart and Steven E. De Souza, other crew, and actors Reginald Veljohnson, Hart Bochner, and William Atherton. Also from 2007, "The Continuing Adventures of John McClane" looks at the second and third movies in the series. It's a mere 13 minutes and only interviews the two directors, Renny Harlin and (in new and old footage) John McTiernan. Last, three trailers for the 2007 film, Live Free or Die Hard, make this set look like something that was released merely to have something on the shelves while the new film was in theaters. --David Horiuchi

Movie Details

Actors: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, William Atherton
Directors: John McTiernan, Renny Harlin
Creators: Doug Richardson, Jeb Stuart, Jonathan Hensleigh, Roderick Thorp, Steven E. de Souza, Walter Wager
Genres: Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense
Sub-Genres: Crime, Die Hard, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Renny Harlin, Mystery & Suspense
Studio: FOX Home Entertainment
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen
DVD Release Date: 07/10/2001
Original Release Date: 07/15/1988
Theatrical Release Date: 07/15/1988
Release Year: 2001
Screens: Color,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 3
SwapaDVD Credits: 3
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 0
Edition: Box set
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Languages: English, German, Italian, Spanish

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Member Movie Reviews

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 1/22/2022...

5/5 Rating - Die Hard - A really great plotline and before all the CGI non-sense where real stunts and stunt men and women shined. Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and others really shined in this. A must watch! Yippee Ki-Yay!

5/5 Rating - Die Hard 2: Die Harder - John McClane continues where he left off and you will enjoy the great Diehard plotline again. Bruce Willis and others shine in this. A must watch for Diehard fans!

4/5 Rating - Die Hard 3: Die Hard with a Vengeance - John McClane goes back to his roots with the original Die Hard action and plotline style with Samuel Jackson joining the game! The only complaint was the racism could have been left out since it was a bit too much. A must for Die Hard fans!

5/5 Rating - Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard - This reboot in the series is definitely a massive update to current technology. An all-star cast of characters to include Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Cliff Curtis, Kevin Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and others really shine in this. A must watch for Die Hard fans!

4/5 Rating - Die Hard 5: A Good Day to Die Hard - This really had a different feel at first to it and definitely jumped the shark several times but then it pulled back in and got back to what the Die Hard series is all about. A must for Die Hard fans!

Movie Reviews

The BEST Action Movie of all time.

JLong | Las Vegas | 05/29/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Explosions, running, jumping, shootouts and cool one liners. What's not to love. If action movies are your thing, this one has no expiration date."