10 Great Movie Stories Wasted On Terrible Sequels
7. John McClane Takes On The Russian Mafia - A Good Day To Die Hard
There hadn't been a bad Die Hard film until this point, even if the third and fourth instalments didn't quite hit the same heights of the classic first two entries in the franchise. The previous entry, Live Free Or Die Hard, made use of an older McClane taking down a Tech wizz, in spite of his lack of IT knowledge. There were some issues with the PG-13 rating and McClane feeling a little bit indestructible, but overall it was still a solid entry.
The idea for the next entry in the franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard, looked like another top concept, with McClane taking on the Russian Mafia. The fish out of water component was the best aspect of the previous entry and gave McClane something new to overcome, and having our hero battling out in the foreign surrounds of Moscow seemed exciting.
On top of this, the film thankfully went back to an R rating, avoiding the disaster of having McClane's iconic line left out of the movie. The return to an R rating also allowed for a return to the more grounded bruising violence of the original Die Hard.
Unfortunately the issue of McClane becoming indestructible reared its ugly head, the movie full of unrealistic and impossible to survive scenarios that rob the film of any credibility. Bruce Willis looks bored throughout and Jai Courtenay as McClane Jnr. proves to be the most grating character of the franchise, bringing the Die Hard journey to an unfortunate conclusion.