Rating: 
Summary: Die Hard 2: Die More Retardedly
Review: Or what I like to call "the one in the trilogy we pretend doesn't exist."
Of course John McClane has terrorists following him around the globe and now targeting an airport that his ex-wife is flying into. What makes the first movie so genius is, though it's pretty dramatic, it contains all the action to one building, one very reluctant hero, and basically realistic situations. Basically. But this movie just couldn't get less realistic. At one point I'm pretty sure John McClane learns how to fly.
Anyway, it's there for Die Hard completists and it does bridge the gap between the best action movie of all time (the first one) and a great sequel ("Die Hard III"). Other than that, it's pretty darn skippable.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Action Movie, With An Important Lesson
Review: This second Die Hard film incorporated a lot of elements from the first -- a gang of "criminals" on a secret mission, John McClane accidentally caught up in the plot, startling developments as the story progresses -- it's an enjoyable action flick, to be certain. However, consider all of the mayhem, injury and death that could have been averted if the authorities had simply given into the freedom fighters' demands: free their political prisoner, turn him over to the freedom fighters, allow them to fly to a neutral country, and that's the end of that. Instead, by resisting these freedom fighters, the authorities (and John McClane) prompted them to kill airport personnel, kill an innocent man at a church, and kill everyone on an airliner, in addition to injuring no telling how many others and destroying all sorts of property. The lesson here is that when freedom fighters make demands, it's best to immediately appease them, let them have what they want, and avoid bloodshed. This movie would have been far less violent if they'd only done that in the first place. Instead of "Die Harder," the film could then be called "Cave Easily."
Rating:
Summary: Overreaches but still exciting
Review: While this installment is the weakest of the three, it still has some exciting moments. All in all, I think the film tried so hard to top the first (best) Die Hard film, that the failure is that much more evident.The characterizations are not as well fleshed-out as in the others. The action scenes become predictable and less exciting as the movie progresses. I had to laugh at one of the BIGGEST continuity flaws I've ever witnessed in a big-budget movie: the plane that crashes is forced to the ground by lack of fuel. Why, then, does it explode in a HUGE fireball if it's out of gas? Somebody screwed up.
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