THEY SAY LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES TWICE… THEY WERE WRONG.

As John McClane (Bruce Willis) is waiting for his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Washington, terrorists take charge of Dulles International Airport and demand the release of a South American drug lord.

Another Christmas, and once again McClane is denied the opportunity to celebrate it without bloodshed. We recognize the formula from the first film and the change of locations from L.A. to snowy Washington is refreshing.

Director Renny Harlin is no stranger to bloody violence and not big on credibility either, but he brings a lot of tension to the story, as well as a few white-knuckle sequences. Willis delivers enough wisecracks to soften the impact of the mayhem. 

1990-U.S. 124 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Renny Harlin. Screenplay: Steven E. de Souza, Doug Richardson. Novel: Walter Wager (“58 Minutes”). Cast: Bruce Willis (John McClane), Bonnie Bedelia (Holly MClane), William Atherton (Richard Thornburg), Reginald VelJohnson, Franco Nero, William Sadler, Dennis Franz, Fred Dalton Thompson… Robert Patrick, John Leguizamo, Vondie Curtis Hall, Colm Meaney. 

Trivia: Followed by Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995).

Last word: “I don’t know why, but I remember we were working on the script with Steve De Souza and Joel Silver. And I said ‘I think it would be awesome if we see this guy naked and he’s nothing but muscles, a killing machine with scars all over his body’. Then when we cast William [Sadler] I said ‘okay, you’re not in bad shape, but I want you to be in fantastic shape for this movie’. And he really took it seriously, and he started working out like a maniac. And I must credit the idea with the fact that it ended up probably being the best thing for my future in terms of my health, because when I saw Bill getting into such great shape, I actually started training. I feel it’s something that really keeps me standing on the movie sets. Though I never come close to looking as good as Bill!” (Harlin, Den of Geek)