What To Do With Die Hard?

I wanted to take a minute today to look at what should happen with Die Hard.

As an action movie junkie, Die Hard was that gold standard that I held for many years. It doesn't matter how realistic some of the aspects of Die Hard became; it still was a movie that you could go and relate with in some way.

Unlike many critics who relished in taking down the series, actions films and Bruce Willis - it pained me to write the negative review I published on this film.

I wanted to like the film. I thought no matter what they did, I would like the film. Instead it was easily the worst film the franchise put out. But while other critics called for this to be the death of Die Hard, I say NO!

This series cannot end with this film. This is not the way I want to have my action hero, John McClane go out.

So what can be done?

I've thought long and hard and come to a couple conclusions about a 6th Die Hard film, and what would work.

1. Get the series back to a place that we can relate to.

- Die Hard -- an office building in Los Angeles. (in fact as McClane comes from the plane, there is the classic jab at California in the airport).
- Die Hard 2 - Dulles Airport during the holidays. (we've all been on planes, we've all been in crowded airports or at least seen these scenes on multiple occasions).
- Die Hard With A Vengeance - In and around New York City (probably one of the most recognizable locales in almost any film).
- Live Free or Die Hard  - In and around the Washington DC area and the NE United States (Many obvious shots to viewers of films.)

John McClane is a decidedly American action hero. Taking him out of the country, to a locale that we are not readily familiar with was a real mistake. (unless of course you just watched Chernobyl Diaries) Bring him home, get him somewhere claustrophobic and kick up the action.

2. Let McClane wisecrack away. 

    Let's be honest when Bruce Willis stepped into Die Hard he was coming out of the Moonlighting role and was allowed to use his humor to really move things along. He always kept you listening closely to the film, waiting for the next line to be remembered. Yippee Ki-Yay became more than a one off, it became the definition of McClane's attitude. It was and IS a calling card.

3. Bring a better villain to the stage.

    I'm sorry the villian in A Good Day to Die Hard was just BORING. Again something, even at it's worst, Die Hard always had the market cornered on was cool villians.

It's undeniable that Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) personified the perfect foil for McClane and the classic showdown that took place between the two will always be the platinum standard. But that doesn't mean we can't strive for better.

- Die Hard - Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) plus the smaller villains like Dick Thornburg (William Atherton) and even Karl made for great moments.

- Die Hard 2 - Esperanza (Franco Nero) and Col. Stuart (William Sadler) led the way, but you got William Atherton back along with John Amos.

- Die Hard With A Vengeance - I love me some Jeremy Irons. The fabulous actor came to an action blockbuster and had some fun in the role as Simon Gruber (yes...releated to Hans)

- Live Free or Die Hard - Even in this film, Timothy Olyphant is just purely cool and his coolness comes through onscreen.

4. Blow things up!

Let's be honest...we want things to blow up in these films. We want fights. Most of all we want are constant underdog John McClane to win. SO DO IT.

5. Keep it R Rated.

I was excited when I saw A Good Day to Die Hard went back to being an R rated feature, but disappointed when I saw the way they used it.

It's more than throwing in an "F" word with Yippee Ki-Yay.

It's McClane being an old school New York cop whose language is a part of him more than anything else.

It's gritty, real and effective language.

But not only in language, don't worry about firing at someone and blowing them away. Probably one of the most shocking scenes when I originally saw Die Hard was when Joseph Takagi (James Shigeta) states "you're just going to have to shoot me" and Hans doesn't hesitate and blows him away (sparing any remorse). It shocked but set the stage for the rest of the film to come, and boy was I ready. Sure I was 18 when I saw that film the first time, but man it still is a pretty intense moment today.

I believe keeping just those 5 steps in mind would really make a Die Hard 6 soar. But probably bigger than any of these, HAVE FUN. Die Hard should be a FUN film that you enjoy your 2 hours away from the world and the ride you take on with John McClane.

I'm sorry I didn't like A Good Day to Die Hard, but I WANT this series to suceed so I'm throwing my two cents out there.

Yippee Ki-Yay Die Hard!