The Correct Order To Watch The Die Hard Movies
The "Die Hard" movies run the gamut from great to dire, but even the worst of the bunch can't undermine the franchise's standing as one of the all-time best action sagas in cinema history. The original "Die Hard" has influenced countless filmmakers and inspired untold "Die Hard" knock-offs. Which is ok because, as star Bruce Willis told Entertainment Weekly, "If I was going to make an action movie today and I hadn't done 'Die Hard,' I would totally rip it off."
But even if the likes of "Speed" or "Air Force One" never existed, 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios following the Disney-Fox acquisition) arguably ripped off "Die Hard" enough by itself. The first film became a surprise hit when it arrived in the summer of 1988, and naturally, Hollywood decided John McClane needed the full franchise treatment. Thus the character was doomed to be placed in ever more perilous and unlikely scenarios as 20th Century Studios churned out sequel after sequel.
In the 35 years since John McClane first faced off against Hans Gruber, we've been treated to a further four films, making for five movies in the overall "Die Hard" canon. As such, you might be a little hazy on how the whole saga played out. Fox also gave up on numbering the sequels after the second one, so if you're looking to revisit the franchise, it's not as simple as following the titles.
As long as you just want to watch the "Die Hard" films in the correct chronological order, it's quite simple. If you want to preserve your memories of John McClane as an all-time great action hero, however, you might want to consider a different approach...
The Die Hard movies in order
Before we delve into the unfortunate trajectory of the "Die Hard" saga, here's the good news: You can watch the films in the order they were released. That's right, there's no spin-offs, prequels, inter-quels, or mid-quels muddling up the timeline here — just good old fashioned sequels, racking up one after another. (Thankfully, a planned "Die Hard" prequel died harder than Hans Gruber).Here's the correct order in which to watch the "Die Hard" movies:
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"Die Hard" (1988)
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"Die Hard 2" (1990)
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"Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995)
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"Live Free or Die Hard" (2007)
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"A Good Day to Die Hard" (2013)
As the films go on, they get a little more absurd and a little further away from the realism that helped make the first movie (bombastic though it was in places) such a refreshing change of pace in the late '80s. But it's worth watching them in chronological order because, aside from the fact that that's literally how the in-world timeline plays out, it's interesting to see how the same material is reinterpreted across two and a half decades of action movie-making — interesting and also, kinda sad...
A good day to skip the last two films
There's no doubt that, perhaps with the exception of Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber, the real draw of "Die Hard" was Bruce Willis' John McClane. After a decades' worth of hulking, near-indestructible, superhero-esque action stars, audiences were ready for something a little different. Thankfully, all the big action guys from Sylvester Stallone to Clint Eastwood passed on "Die Hard," and audiences got a fresh take on the action hero with Willis and his everyman charm. The actor was previously only known for his role on comedy-drama series "Moonlighting." As John McClane, he not only proved he could bring the requisite brawn, but that he could make an action hero feel like a real guy caught up in an unreal situation — even as his character took on untold hordes of thugs and overcame impossible odds to save the day.
The issue with the subsequent "Die Hard" films is that John McClane slowly morphed into the thing he'd previously provided the antidote to: a stereotypical action movie hero. Over the course of the four sequels, John McClane transformed from just an ordinary guy being a hero to John McClane: action hero. That change is most notable with 2007's "Live Free or Die Hard," and as such, I'd argue it's worth skipping that film and the final installment altogether.
But if you simply have to see early-2000s Bruce Willis doing his action hero thing, I'd suggest chasing "Die Hard With A Vengeance" with 2005's "Hostage." While it's not Willis' finest film, it's at least better than the legacy "Die Hard" sequels that came after it, and actually feels kind of like a characteristically world-weary John McClane stepping back into the fold for one last go round.