Die Hard is a tetralogy of action films. All of its films are centered around John McClane (Bruce Willis), a New York detective who, in every episode, finds himself fighting a group of terrorists. The franchise also features several video games based on the films.
Overview
Die Hard begins on Christmas Eve with New York detective John McClane traveling to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), who is now living in LA with their two children and going by her maiden name. The party was being held at the fictional Nakatomi Plaza. During the evening, German terrorists break into the building and take the partygoers hostage. McClane escapes detection after having an argument with his wife and leaving to an upstairs bathroom. He manages to hide throughout the building, killing off the terrorists one by one. He finally meets the leader Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and throws him out of the window.
Die Hard 2 takes place a year after the events of the first film, once again on Christmas Eve. This time, John McClane is in Washington D.C. at Dulles Airport awaiting the arrival of his wife. While waiting, a group of terrorists planning on rescuing a drug lord have taken over the control tower of the airport. This strands several planes in the air, including the one McClane's wife is on.
In Die Hard with a Vengeance, set several years later, McClane is back in New York. He is now separated from his wife, suspended from the police force, and two steps away from being a full-blown alcoholic. A terrorist who goes only by the moniker "Simon" (Jeremy Irons) threatens to blow up various locations in the city unless McClane will play his twisted version of Simon says. McClane must solve a number of riddles and challenges in order to keep the bombs from going off. He receives the reluctant help of Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson), a shopkeeper from Harlem who had saved McClane after the first challenge "Simon" had put him through. The police finally reveal that "Simon" is in fact Simon Peter Gruber, the brother of Hans Gruber.
Nineteen years after the original film, Live Free or Die Hard has McClane and Holly divorced. His daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), now in college, is going by her mother's maiden name and telling people that her father is dead. A group of cyber-terrorists begin hacking into FBI computers. The FBI then sends McClane to bring in a known hacker, Matt Farrell (Justin Long). In the process, a group of thug's attempts to kill the pair. Farrell tells McClane that the terrorists are actually in the middle of preforming a fire sale. Lucy is captured by the mastermind behind the terrorists, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant).
Development
Die Hard is adapted from the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever, by Roderick Thorp. Nothing Lasts Forever is a sequel to the novel The Detective which was also adapted into a film starring Frank Sinatra. Both novels are about a private detective named Joe Leland. Die Hard 2 was adapted from the 1987 novel 58 Minutes, by Walter Wager.
Reception
| Film |
Release date |
Budget |
Box office revenue |
Reference |
| Worldwide |
United States |
United States |
Outside US |
Worldwide |
| Die Hard |
|
15 July 1988 |
$30,000,000 |
$83,008,852 |
$55,700,000 |
$138,708,852 |
[1] |
| Die Hard 2: Die Harder |
|
4 July 1990 |
$70,000,000 |
$117,540,947 |
$122,000,000 |
$239,540,947 |
[2] |
| Die Hard with a Vengeance |
|
19 May 1995 |
$90,000,000 |
$100,012,499 |
$261,200,000 |
$361,212,499 |
[3] |
| Live Free or Die Hard |
|
27 June 2007 |
$110,000,000 |
$134,529,403 |
$248,747,776 |
$383,277,179 |
[4] |
| Total |
|
|
$300,000,000 |
$435,091,701 |
$687,647,776 |
$1,122,739,477 |
|
References
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