Die Hard is still regarded by many as not only the best Christmas film of all time, but also the best action film of all time as well, so it is unsurprising that it is still spawning numerous sequels despite the fact that many critics and audiences believe it to be going down hill faster than John McClane's marriage. Having said that, there are still many people who love the crazy direction that the series is going in, even if it is being steered away from what made Die Hard what it was in the first place. I have to admit that I am in the latter camp. I love each entry into the Die Hard series and whilst I can appreciate that the plot of Die Hard 4, combined with them far too readily involving McClane's daughter (although I do love Mary Elizabeth Winstead), lead many people to declare that it had lost the intelligence that Die Hard brought to action films and gone for style over substance, I enjoyed the insane ideas it brought forward, including the jeep in the elevator shaft and Willis facing off against a fighter jet from on top of a big rig truck. Maybe it wasn't Die Hard, but it was stupidly entertaining nonetheless. Having said that, there is a reason that Bruce Willis has been such a hugely successful actor and that's because he has made some great, and brave, career choices over the years, including many films that have always been just crying out for a sequel that never came. This list explores just some of his back catalogue that would probably suit a sequel much more effectively than the Die Hard series.
5. Unbreakable
Whilst I know many people will disagree with this choice, I for one love Unbreakable and feel like there is plenty of scope for a sequel, although it would be tough to steer it away from a typical superhero movie. Unbreakable followed the story of Willis's David Dunn, a man who had almost never been ill and was the sole survivor of a train crash at the start of the film, something which earned him the attention of comic book fan Elijah Price, a man with brittle bone syndrome, who believed Dunn to be his polar opposite, a near invincible superhero. Unbreakable worked because it was not a typical superhero origin story and instead focused on the effect these abilities had on Dunn's life, as he struggled to come to terms with what he could do. Also, whilst many believed the twist at the end of The Sixth Sense to be M. Night Shyamalan's strongest moment, the twist at the climax of Unbreakable is arguably even stronger as it comes completely out of nowhere. As Dunn realises his true potential and stops a man from killing a family in their own home, he visits Elijah to discuss his powers, but then realises that Elijah actually caused numerous disasters, including the train crash, to find someone who could be his nemesis, just like in his beloved comic books. This was a truly shocking climax and although Elijah ends up in a mental institution, there is more than enough room for David Dunn's story to continue, especially as he has already revealed to his son that he is the masked man who saved the family after it hits newspapers. The sequel itself could follow all kinds of routes, maybe just following Dunn's attempts to stop a serial killer before he claims too many more victims, although that would also run the risk of becoming a typical police thriller. For me, Dunn's story calls for a complex and brutal killer who is almost completely anonymous, maybe someone who has been following the story of the hooded man who is saving lives and wants the chance to take him down. It could even be the father of one of his son's school friends, if for example his son has too much trouble keeping his exciting secret to himself. They could even break Elijah out of the mental institution for the sequel if necessary, being that he is Dunn's self-proclaimed nemesis and his last words were "They call me Mr. Glass!" immediately giving himself a villainous moniker. Then of course there's the fact that M. Night Shyamalan could definitely do with a career pick-up, his last few films haven't exactly been up to the standard of these earlier offerings, so maybe an Unbreakable sequel is exactly what he needs to get back in the game.