Cheap Die Hard 2 - Die Harder (Special Edition) (DVD) (Bruce Willis, William Atherton) (Renny Harlin) Price

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Customer Reviews of Die Hard 2 - Die Harder (Special Edition)

Die Hard 2: Die Not-so hard
Renny Harlin directed this sequel to the immensely popular action flick Die Hard. While the 2nd instalment has it's moments, it's pretty much more of the same, as Bruce Willis gets back in sweaty vest mode as John McClane, with William Atherton. But this time around, the action, while impressive, isn't as cool as the first one, and the villains aren't as well written or interesting. Harlin's trademark over- the- top action is always present however, and this makes for some enjoyable action stunts and heroics.

As action sequels go, it's good enough to satisfy fans of the franchise, and despite its faults, director Harlin (Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea) knows how to string together some impressive action scenes. The extras are good, with a commentary from Harlin, making of's, deleted scenes, trailers, visual effects 'making of's and some other cool stuff. A good film made better by the extras.

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Almost as good as the original
Count me among the few, it seems, who believe DIE HARD 2 to be almost as good as the original DIE HARD. I personally don't understand why this sequel always seems to be undervalued in favor of the jaggedly uneven, incoherent DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE.

Certainly DIE HARD 2 is not as good as the original. It lacks the first film's grittiness and claustrophobic atmosphere (but of course a loss of the latter was expected when the scriptwriters expanded the playing field to an entire airport as opposed to one floor of a highrise); its villain is no match for DIE HARD's subtly chilling Hans Gruber; and director Renny Harlin disappointingly favors action over those little human touches that so distinguished the original, insteading favoring more action. (Besides, couldn't the screenwriters have come up with a more creative plot than simply recycling the general structure of the original? But hey, this is a Hollywood product, where it's best not to take too many chances in the quest to cash-in on a big success, which DIE HARD certainly was.)

All that being said, the action sequences are undeniably thrilling---the action of the second half, particularly, moves so quickly from one great setpiece to another that the momentum never lets up 'til the very end---and Bruce Willis is just as good as he was in the original, proving that he will always be John McClane in my mind. All in all, DIE HARD 2 is arguably even MORE entertaining viscerally than DIE HARD.

In short, DIE HARD will forever be a genre classic, but DIE HARD 2 is a worthy sequel when it comes to pure action---and when you are talking about action movies, isn't the action what's really important anyway?

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A fan's review
I would like to start by pointing out that this movie gets a lot of crap. A LOT. This is in no way as bad as the reviews may make you think, and in fact this is my favorite Die Hard film.

I'm a huge fan of the series. I've seen them all plenty of times, and this one stands out for me. I'm not the only one, either; Ebert also claims this to be the greatest Die Hard. You've heard the same complaints about this movie a thousand times, I'm sure of it. But what tends to be left out is the amazing special effects, the truely die hard enemies, and the perfectly directed action scenes. This was directed by a different director than the other two blockbusters. Die Hard 2 also made the most money at the box offices. It really is the best!