Die Hard week continues as we anticipate the opening of A Good Day to Die Hard on Thursday, after which we’ll have to incorporate “yippee ki yay mother Russia” into the pop culture lexicon. Today, we’re taking a look at Die Hard 2, which I assume everyone has seen at this point, so this is more of a Die Hard 2 points of interest post rather than a full movie review.
Let’s quickly address this title situation: is it Die Hard 2, Die Harder, or Die Hard 2: Die Harder? Well, I’ve seen all three on official documents (posters, VHS, DVD, Blu Ray), but when the movie starts, it proclaims that the movie is called Die Hard 2, so that’s what I call it… except in the title of this post… Yeah, I have no idea what the actual title is.
As I mentioned in the Die Hard review, the film series had a short-lived accidental tradition of an actor playing a cop in the movie and then getting a similar acting job on a TV show. In the first installment, that honor falls to Reginald VelJohnson in the role of Sgt. Al Powell (who reprises his role in Die Hard 2), who went on to star in Family Matters as Sgt. Carl Winslow, and in this flick, it’s Dennis Franz as Captain Carmine Lorenzo, who goes on to play the famous Det. Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue.
And, like the first Die Hard, Dies Hard 2 takes place at Christmas time, but it doesn’t seem to have the same “Let’s watch this movie at Christmas time!” cult status that the first one does. Again, I’ve written about this phenomenon before, and I don’t understand why the first one made the holiday cut and the second one didn’t, but there you go. (Actually, it might have something to do with the naked kata at the beginning of the flick… No matter how well toned the ass is, naked kata doesn’t exactly shout, “Merry Christmas!”)
Die Hard 2 has its moments, but it’s just too much like the first one, and not nearly as good – and the movie references the first movie so many times that it’s silly. I give Die Hard 2 a 7 out of 10. It’s worth a watch, but it’s nothing special.
Edited by Jamie Insalaco
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