Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

John McClane and a Harlem store owner are targeted by German terrorist Simon in New York City, where he plans to rob the Federal Reserve Building.

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

Jonathan Hensleigh, Roderick Thorp (certain original characters by)

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	John McClane
Jeremy Irons	...	Simon
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Zeus
Graham Greene	...	Joe Lambert
Colleen Camp	...	Connie Kowalski
Larry Bryggman	...	Arthur Cobb
Anthony Peck	...	Ricky Walsh
Nick Wyman	...	Targo
Sam Phillips	...	Katya
Kevin Chamberlin	...	Charles Weiss
Sharon Washington	...	Officer Jane
Stephen Pearlman	...	Dr. Schiller
Michael Alexander Jackson	...	Dexter
Aldis Hodge	...	Raymond
Mischa Hausserman	...	Mischa

Storyline

John McClane is now almost a full-blown alcoholic and is suspended from the NYPD. But when a bomb goes off in the Bonwit Teller Department Store the police go insane trying to figure out what's going on. Soon, a man named Simon calls and asks for McClane. Simon tells Inspector Walter Cobb that McClane is going to play a game called "Simon Says". He says that McClane is going to do the tasks he assigns him. If not, he'll set off another bomb. With the help of a Harlem electrician, John McClane must race all over New York trying to figure out the frustrating puzzles that the crafty terrorist gives him. But when a bomb goes off in a subway station right by the Federal Reserve (the biggest gold storage in the world) things start to get heated.

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Plot Keywords:

john mcclane character | time bomb | good versus evil | motor car | weapon | 

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Taglines:

John McClane is about to have a very bad day

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and pervasive strong language

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a mathematical formula that can be applied to the St. Ives problem, called the Geometric Progression Formula, which is a(r^n - 1)/(r-1), "a" being the first term, "r" being the common ratio, and "n" being the number of terms of the geometric series. The 7 wives would be "a". The following 7s would be the common ratio. "N" would be 4 (i.e. kittens, cats, sacks, and wives). This translates to 7(7^4 - 1)/(7-1) = 7(2401-1)/6 = 7(2400)/6 = 16800/6 = 2800. This is all assuming the narrator going to St. Ives. and the man with seven wives are excluded.

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Goofs

McClane uses a mixture of the binary liquids to blow the handcuffs off Zeus on the container ship. The amount he uses would have been enough to blow at least one of Zeus' hands off (in comparison to the amounts used as a demonstration earlier on in the film).

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Quotes

John McClane: [referring to the dispatcher for the Coast Guard, he attempted to call] She told me to stay on the line.
[laughs]
Simon: [laughs] Oh, God, I love this country!
John McClane: You know, your brother was an asshole.
Simon: [pauses] Ha!
John McClane: You know, he really was an asshole.
Simon: He was. He was an asshole. You... you got his number.

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Alternate Versions

SPOILER: The Version shown on German TV features the alternative ending (Gruber escapes with the gold, but McClane tracks him down through the number on the bottom of the aspirin bottle (at the phone booth) and kills him).

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXVII (2016)

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Soundtracks

Got It Covered
Written by Chip Fu (as R. Roachford), Poc Fu (as L. Maturine), R. Kirkpatrick and Erick Sermon (as E. Sermon)
Performed by Fu-Schnickens
Courtesy of Zomba Songs Inc./CPMK Sounds (adm. by Zomba Songs Inc.) (BMI), Erick Sermons Enterprises Inc. (adm. by Zomba Enterprises Inc.) (ASCAP) and Jive Records

User Reviews

Fast-paced and action-packed

This is definitely the grittiest of all the 3 Die Hard films. John Mclane is now a drunk, he's separated from his family, living in New York, and to make matters worse a terrorist calling himself "Simon" is out for revenge on Mclane. Mclane, and everyone else, has absolutely no idea why.

The first 2 films are superior to this one since this has a lot of changes from the mood that made the others so great. First off, it's not set on Christmas. No biggie though. Secondly, there are too many complications and twists to the plot. You almost have to take notes. And thirdly, the biggest change is that it's now turned into a buddy movie to the style of Lethal Weapon, since Samuel L. Jackson as Zeus unwillingly teams up with John Mclane. They're complete opposites, they argue, and they become friends. That sort of stuff.

Die Hard: With A Vengeance still stays true to it's amazing action scenes, though. There's plenty of explosions, there's floods, and overall general destruction. It's a different kind of movie, yes. But it's a good different kind of movie.

My rating: 9/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Romanian

Release Date:

19 May 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Hard: New York

Filming Locations:

Ray's Candy Store, 113 Avenue A, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,162,245, 21 May 1995

Gross USA:

$100,012,499

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$366,101,666

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinergi Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1