You’ll be hard-pressed to find movie watchers who haven’t heard of Die Hard 2. It’s the bigger, more expensive — and more chaotic — sequel to Die Hard.
The 1990 action flick carries on the story of detective John McClane and his larger-than-life antics. Directed by Renny Harlin and co-written by Steven E. de Souza and Doug Richardson, Die Hard 2 is the second instalment in the Die Hard film series.
Starring Hollywood legend Bruce Willis as the film’s titular character John McClane, the action icon is joined by William Sadler, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, Art Evans, Dennis Franz, Franco Nero, Reginald VelJohnson, Fred Thompson, and John Amos. The film is currently streaming for free on BBC iPlayer.
A year after McClane’s heroics in LA from the first film, Die Hard 2 finds the LAPD detective at Washington Dulles International Airport, where he’s waiting for his wife Holly, who’s due to arrive on a flight.
Coincidentally, that’s the night terrorists take over the airport and wreak havoc, threatening to crash every inbound flight unless the notorious drug lord Ramon Esperanza is freed. McClane must stop them before his wife’s plane is put in jeopardy.
Made on a budget of around $70 million, Die Hard 2 was a mega success at the box-office, grossing over $240 million worldwide — almost double the earnings of its prequel. It went on to become that year’s seventh highest-grossing film. Die Hard 2 was followed up by Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013).
Talking about his experience making the blockbuster film in a 2021 interview with Empire, director Renny Harlin shared: “When I look back, I think, ‘Did I realise how young and inexperienced I was?’ I was very passionate and confident, but not cocky, because I really had huge fears and doubts. We shot so much at night-time too, and I was just really stressed about not being able to sleep. So yes, I felt huge pressure.”
Explaining the gruelling aspects of production, Renny said: “It’s no secret the movie went over budget and over schedule. Not because we didn’t plan things carefully — I was super-organised and responsible — but because it was the warmest winter in North America for, like, 60 years. So there was no snow anywhere. We were literally hunting for snow around the country and in Canada, while we were leasing this whole armada of aircraft.”
With a 69 per cent critics approval rating, Die Hard 2 received mixed responses, with one reviewer writing: “Packs plenty of punch, heavy-hitting adventure, and explosions galore.”
Comparing it to the first Die Hard, another critic commented: “This disappointing followup to Die Hard has more action and bigger action, but considerably less suspense.”
A third critic was all praise, writing: “The filmmakers know the audience is challenging them to top themselves, and they’ve risen to the bait. Harlin and company build suspense the old-fashioned way. They earn it.”
While another reviewer said: “Exquisite widescreen theatrics and explosive entertainment. It’s an awesome machine of mayhem….a skilled sequel, a brass-knuckled bruiser of an action picture, and a sublime cinematic distraction.”
Audience reviews of Die Hard 2 were mixed as well, with one fan commenting: “While they have ramped up the action sequences here, it lacks the claustrophobic setting of the original movie that helped make it an instant classic. Still an entertaining movie and one worth checking out.”
While a second viewer commented: “Call me crazy but I think that this could be greater than the first one, and don’t get me wrong the first one is a masterpiece of the action cinema but this one has more intensity, I don’t know both are great movies.”
Another audience review of the sequel stated: “Still a fun Die Hard film but nowhere near as exciting as the first one. Very bleak, dark and ugly looking by contrast. Bruce is still great; full of energy and chaos. The villains were a little over the top and campy.”
Die Hard 2 is available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer.