The original got four Oscar nods in 1988.
In 1995’s “Die Hard With a Vengeance,” Willis makes like an angry New Yorker. (
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Hard to believe the “Die Hard” franchise began so long ago, Bruce Willis had hair. As we await the inevitable “Die Hard 6: With a 3-D Surcharge,” let’s take a hard look back at the previous four installments.
“DIE HARD” (1988)
The story: Detective John McClane fights terrorists in an LA high-rise.
Fun fact: Frank Sinatra first played the McClane character (then called Joe Leland) in 1968’s “The Detective,” based on the book series by Roderick Thorp.
“DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER” (1990)
The story: Bad guys take over an airport in order to free an extradited drug kingpin.
Fun fact: The film contains one of the more famous movie goofs: McClane, who is supposed to be at a Washington, DC, airport, is shown making a call from a Pacific Bell pay phone, which only exists on the West Coast.
“DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE” (1995)
The story: McClane and Samuel L. Jackson try to locate bombs planted around NYC.
Fun fact: The script by Jonathan Hensleigh called “Simon Says” was originally considered as an entry in the “Lethal Weapon” franchise or as a Brandon Lee vehicle.
“LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD” (2007)
The story: McClane teams with Justin Long to stop a hacker.
Fun fact: The original story line involved an exploding oil tanker sending waves washing over New Orleans and had to be rewritten after Hurricane Katrina. The cyber-heavy new plot was based on a Wired article.