Review of Die Hard 2

Introduction

There was a time when every second film from Hollywood involved a sole hero going up against terrible odds and prevailing where whole armies fail. It could be the American President defeating terrorists on board Air Force One, a humble fireman defeating terrorists in Sudden Death, or even a chef defeating terrorists in Under Siege. The operative word here is terrorist, and the man who started the crusade against the planet`s villainy was one John McClane, the day he ventured up into a skyscraper to visit his wife at work one Christmas. Being the genre defining movie that it was, Die Hard spawned not one but two sequels, with the second seasonal offering set in an airport. Then overnight, these movies stopped being mindless fun and began looking like the Al-Qaeda handbook instead. But Hollywood doesn`t let the real world get in the way of profits for long, and audiences will always need some mindless entertainment. I blow the dust off the old disc of Die Hard 2: Die Harder and slip my brain into neutral.

John McClane is having another dire Christmas. He`s stuck in Washington DC with his in-laws, his wife`s plane is late, he`s waiting at a crowded airport and his mother in-law`s car has just been impounded. It`s going to get worse though, as a leader of one of those fictitious Latin American countries is about to be extradited for plenty of drug crimes, and rogue Colonel Stuart is planning something nefarious. Soon the airport is under siege, air traffic control is cut off from its planes, and dozens of airliners, including his wife`s plane, are circling Washington, running out of fuel and unable to land. As John McClane so eloquently puts it, "How can the same s*** happen to the same guy twice?"

Video

The original release of Die Hard 2 in the UK gets a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, but it is hardly a stellar one. While there are few problems with brighter scenes, with everything appearing sharp and clear, as soon as the image darkens, problems begin to appear with ghosting, grain, unnatural skin tones and lack of detail. When you consider that most of this film takes place in the dark it becomes a significant problem. It`s worth noting the earlier scenes aboard Holly McClane`s flight, where skin tones are positively rainbowed. It`s less of a concern now that this disc has been superseded.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 5.1 English and Spanish soundtracks. The dialogue is clear throughout, and the surrounds are punchy and expressive in bringing the action scenes to life. Bullets flying all over the place basically.

Features

Surprisingly, even this early disc had extras, if only a few of them. Included is the theatrical trailer, as well as a featurette that gives Bruce Willis just 4 minutes to sell the movie. It`s a race against time! Finally there are cast filmographies.

Conclusion

Die Hard 2: Die Harder, as well as possessing one of the most ridiculous movie titles until the second sequel came along, is one of those sequels that is actually a remake in disguise. The same characters and the same situations are masked by a change in a setting and a vaguely topical plot, as this film came out around the time of the Noriega affair. While the one man battling alone, against the odds to save all of existence (or at least his little patch of it) is mirrored directly from the first film, this film fails where the first film succeeded.

A lot has to do with the plot depending greatly on luck, coincidence and contrivance. Naturally in an action film, you would expect the hero to succeed where lesser men fail, but the scene where the SWAT team are mown down in an ambush, has plenty of gunfire, but without a single, highly trained weapons specialist hitting his mark. Of course McClane manages to make every bullet count when he comes upon the scene. Reginald VelJohnson`s appearance as Powell amounts to a cameo, but it makes sense in terms of the plot. However William Atherton`s reprise of the annoying reporter, conveniently trapped aboard the same plane as McClane`s wife just so they can continue their little feud, is a coincidence that just goes beyond the incredulous. None of this would matter of course, but the film lacks the emotional strength of the first film. In the original Die Hard, the core of the film was the relationship that developed between the beleaguered McClane and the deskbound Al Powell. The friendship that formed between the two, as McClane fought for his life in the tower, with Powell serving as the lifeline to the outside world was the counterpoint to the violence and action that made the first film so compelling. There is none of that here.

Ultimately, Die Hard 2 is a string of action set pieces linked together by a plot, feeling bloated at times. While the film is unquestionably spectacular, the sense of tension and suspense is sorely lacking. It`s enjoyable, fun and definitely clichéd, but is barely a patch on the original. The Special Edition has surpassed this disc; so look for it only if you are allergic to extra features and a decent transfer.