On D List of Movie Reviews

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Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 2/06, 5/21

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2/06: Once again, Die Hard with a Vengeance is a fun-filled film but, this time, has no annoying characters.

Although the last sequel and this are similar plot-wise, I pick the latter for sheer entertainment value. Instead of Reginald VelJohnson, Samuel L. Jackson stars. Jeremy Irons is the baddie while Bruce Willis is back to his old self.

There are incredible special effects to provide an infusion of energy to keep the pace lively. Sprinkled around is the great sense of humor, most especially from Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. The story is kept simple in order to focus more on the action.

All in all, Die Hard with a Vengeance works, thanks to the return of director John McTiernan.

5/21: Die Hard with a Vengeance may look like the franchise is back, but it has serious editing flaws that are hard to overlook.

Yes, it's a good movie in parts, especially when the action is fast and furious. The special effects of the bombings around New York City are impressive. Yet there are several scenes with continuity problems. For instance, Targo was winning big time in a fight with John McClane. Then, there's a cutaway, and when it's back to them, John just finished off Targo. What the heck happened? How did he manage to do that?

Another is after McClane took care of the boat, his superior and co-workers suddenly showed up at the dock when I thought they were still at the school, trying to defuse the bomb. That has to be incredible because I've been in New York City before and it's a total gridlock during the day. When there's panic, forget it...there's no way of getting out by car. How the dump trucks got through the FDR that quickly is impossible.

At the end, Simon and his girlfriend were taken out by an overhead wire that's caught by the helicopter blades. When it happened, I felt nothing because Simon was the least developed archvillain of the franchise. I mean, who is he? What's so interesting about him apart from being Hans Gruber's brother? That being said, Jeremy Irons, along with his terrible haircut, is a bad casting choice. Having never been in a blockbuster film of this size, he probably cashed in just for the heck of it. Forget the masculine female German; she has zero character development and never speaks.

On the positive side, the sense of humor is back in a big way which was missing in the last sequel. Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson have good chemistry, but it's not 100%. However, Zeus' pulling out the race card constantly is tiresome, and I didn't want to see it.

All in all, as entertaining as Die Hard with a Vengeance may be, it's a ridiculous movie.