Die Hard 2 (1990)

John McClane, officer of the NYPD and hero of the Nakatomi Hostage Crisis, attempts to avert disaster as rogue military officials seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers:

Walter Wager (novel), Steven E. de Souza (screenplay),

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	Lt. John McClane
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Holly McClane
William Atherton	...	Richard Thornburg
Reginald VelJohnson	...	Sgt. Al Powell
Franco Nero	...	Gen. Ramon Esperanza
William Sadler	...	Col. Stuart
John Amos	...	Maj. Grant
Dennis Franz	...	Capt. Carmine Lorenzo
Art Evans	...	Leslie Barnes
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	Trudeau
Tom Bower	...	Marvin
Sheila McCarthy	...	Samantha 'Sam' Coleman
Don Harvey	...	Garber
Tony Ganios	...	Baker
Peter Nelson	...	Thompson

Storyline

After the terrifying events in LA, John McClane (Willis) is about to go through it all again. A team of terrorists, led by Col. Stuart (Sadler) is holding the entire airport hostage. The terrorists are planning to rescue a drug lord from justice. In order to do so, they have seized control of all electrical equipment affecting all planes. With no runway lights available, all aircraft have to remain in the air, with fuel running low, McClane will need to be fast.

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Plot Keywords:

airport | airplane | plane | fuel | colonel | 

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Taglines:

Yippee Ki Yay, All over again!

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

foxhome.com - Behind-the-Scenes and ensemble cast

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

4 July 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Hard 2: Die Harder

Filming Locations:

Alpena Airport, Alpena, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$117,541,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Gordon Company, Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Renny Harlin made sure that the scene where Major Grant says to McClane that he is "the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time", with McClane responding "Yeah, story of my life", ended up in the movie's trailer, because it perfectly summed up McClane's character.

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Goofs

After falling from the exploding snowmobile, McClane examines the automatic weapon he was using to see why his shots did not hit anything. He pulls and examines one magazine with a blue band from the gun, but after the closeup shot of his realization he can now be seen holding two magazines, one with a blue band and one with a red band.

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Quotes

Holly McClane: Honey, it's the '90s, remember? Microchips, microwaves, faxes, *air phones*.
John McClane: Hey, well, as far as I'm concerned, progress peaked with frozen pizza.

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Connections

Referenced in The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

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Soundtracks

"CAROL OF THE BELLS"
Written by Peter Wilhousky

User Reviews

It's No Die Hard 1...

...but other than that, there's very little going against the second in the series. It helps (but not enough) that the character realizes he's basically in a sequel. There are some minor variations in the formula, but basically the movie relies on the Bruce Willis' charisma and humor, and elaborate action sequences. William Sadler is okay, but no Alan Rickman (or Jeremy Irons in #3). It's still enjoyable, though.