Customer Reviews

Die Hard: The Ultimate Collection (Die Hard / Die Hard 2 / Die Hard With A Vengeance)

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

With action films on the rise in the 1980s', John McTiernan took a gamble and made "Die Hard". Lacking big names (Bruce Willis was still in his "Moonlighting" phase) but working with a servicable script, he crafted one of the greatest and most successful movies of all time, not to mention 2 smash hit sequels, both of which are featured in this extraordinary boxed set. It also made Bruce Willis a big name, and he hasn't made another film as great as these (with the exception this film about a kid who could see dead people).

"Die Hard" begins with hard - boiled police officer John McClane (Willis) arriving in Los Angeles to join his estranged wife Holly (Bonny Bedelia) and his kids for Christmas. He meets her at Nakatomi Plaza, a 40 - foot skyscraper, as well his wife's office building. They plan to go home as soon as the Christmas party ends. McClane is hoping that maybe he and Holly will even reconcile. However, these plans go awry when a group of Russian terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman in a showstealing role). Holding the building hostage and executing the boss, McClane knows that he has to spring into action and rescue his wives as well as thousands of other hostages. What entails is nonstop action: great shootouts, great lines (Yippe - ky - a, well you know the rest) and the powerful ending. Also included is "Family Matters"' Reginald Vel Johnson as Sgt. Al Powell, who brings comic relief as John's only friend outside the building. So buckle up, it's going to be an exciting ride.

McTernian was absent for 1990's "Die Hard 2: Die Harder". Director Renny Harlin was called in to hlm this blockbuster sequel. It takes place in Washington D.C., exactly one year at Dulles International Airport. Willis and Bedellia return as John and Holly. They've reconciled and are spending Christmas with each other. John awaits Holly's arrival impatiently, especially since her landing time keeps getting delayed. To make matters worse, terrorists have seized control of the entire airport, holding thousands of travellers hostage from thousands of feet above the ground - including Holly. Once more, John must get out his pistol and shoot whatever s.o.b comes within 10 feet of him. Great action.

After a 5 - year hiatus, Willis returned to the role that launched his career in "Die Hard With A Vengeance". Also returning is John McTernian, the man who made the first "Die Hard" a classic. Absent this time are Bonny Bedelia and Reginald Vel Johnson. John is now on the streets of New York, the city where he started. Holly's at home. One hot summer day, a bomb suddenly goes off, and McClane is taunted by the shady Simon (Jeremy Irons). After a while, McClane learns that Simon is the brother of Hans Gruber, the villian from the first film. With the help of a civillian named Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson in the second of three movies he teamed with Willis), McClane leads on a wild ride through the deadly streets of New York.

I highly recommend the purchase of this set, especially if you're a fan of action movies. It will have you thrilled and even laughing. Yippe - ky - a!

Die Hard defined the concept of tension, with McClane trapped in a building, maybe in elevator shafts, trying to kill the terrorists, save his wife, and destroy the building. Die Hard 2 started the mayhem all over again, as McClane found himself up against terrorists trying to rescue a drug kingpin, taking over Dulles International Airport, grounding all airplanes and leaving them trapped in the air and running out of fuel, AND screwing the passengers up in the process. Die Hard with A Vengeance showed Hans Gruber (the terrorist leader in the original)'s brother up for revenge. Him and his terrorists place bombs throughout the city of NYC to cover up a massive heist, worth all the gold in the Federal Reserve, and trick McClane into thinking it's an act of revenge. Overall the series is wildly entertaining, but it's made even better by this explosive giftset. Great audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, slideshows, trailers, TV commercials, etc., all make this one of the better giftsets out there. Buy it if you want RAW action.

With action films all the rage in the 1980s', director John McTernian took a stab at it and struck gold with "Die Hard". This was the film that made Bruce Willis a star and proved that action films could be more than rediculous, overblown shootouts. It inspired two smash sequels. All three are in this boxed set.

1988's "Die Hard" is where it all began. Hardened New York City cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) just wants to fly out to L.A. and spend Christmas with his kids and his estranged wife Holly (Bonny Bedelia). But when he goes to meet his wife at her work station at Nakatomi Plaza, things go awry. A group of Russian terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman in his best pre - Harry Potter role). They kill the office's head boss and hold everyone hostage - including Holly. McClane goes out on a limb with only his gun and his cunning to protect him. What ensues is nonstop, heartstopping action and some great moments of humor. Also in this film is Reginald VelJohnson, the star of the longrunning tv show "Family Matters".

McTernian was absent for 1990's "Die Hard 2: Die Harder". so Renny Harlin was tapped to direct. Willis, Bedelia and VelJohnson were the only original castmemebers for this one. In this one, McClane is at a Wshington D.C. airport waiting for Holly's plane to land. While waiting, he gets involved in a shootout that results in death and has an argument with an imcompetent police chief (Dennis Franz). Worse, he gets word that a group of terrorists are planning to take over the airport and free a drug lord. All this chaos throws McClane back into action. This causes flights to be delayed, and many planes are running low on fuel - including Holly's. While not as good as the first one, this one has enough thrills and comedy to satisfy.

After a five - year absence forom the screen, 1995 saw "Die Hard With A Vengeance" released. This is one is my personal favorite. Willis once more plays McClane. This one is quite different from he first two. First, the plot has nothing to do with Holly (Bonny Bedelia). In fact, Holly isn't even this film at all. Second, this film has McClane in his official city of work, New York. Still, it's a great movie. In this one, a bomber named Simon (Jeremy Irons) is targeting McClane for a delightful game of cat and mouse (wait until you find out why). So McClane once again goes out on a limb to risk his life for innocent people. Only, this time he has help from a reluctant civillian (Samuel L. Jackson). Once more, heartstopping action and hilarious humor fills the movie.

Extras include documentaries, tarilers and comentaries. This a great collection movies that I highly recommend. Also recommended is the "Lethal Weapon" boxed set and the "Dirty Harry" boxed set.

I could have chosen the Lord of the Rings box set, Star Wars box set, or the Die Hard box set and in the end I chose this one. I love this set. What your getting hear is 6 discs, 3 movies, 3 hours 44 minutes of featurettes, trailers, interviews, "making of" documentaries, ONE AWESOME SET, and much more. I'm not going to explain that much about what happens in each movie because either you already know what happens or you have seen other reviews that tell you about the movies. This is a great set though. I'm very proud to own it.

DIE HARD (1988) Length-132 minutes 2 DISC SET (Rated R)
-Cast-(Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, Paul Gleason, and more)
-Widescreen, English 5.1 DTS, English 5.1 Surround, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround, subtitles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
-Commentary, Subtitle commentary, scene Specific commenatry.
-Branching Version of movie with Extended Power Shutdown Scene put back in movie.
-2 Extended scenes, Editing room where you can re-edit- and re-mix scenes.
-Deleted Lines and Sequences reel, gag reel (12:49)
-3 trailers (4:54), 5 TV spots (3:37)
-Featurette (7:22), Slide Show (9:24)
-Whole script
-DVD-ROM-Script to Screen Comparison, Links, Game Demos.
-more

DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER (1990) Length-124 minutes, 2 DISC SET (Rated R)
-Cast-(Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedilia, William Atherton, Franco Nero, John Amos, William Sadler, more)
-Widescreen, English 5.1 DTS, English 5.1 Surround, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround, subtitles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
-Commentary
-Making of Die Hard 2 (23:05)
-Featurette (4:00)
-4 Trailers (6:26)
-TV Spot (:32)
-4 Deleted Scenes (:51, 1:05, 2:50, 3:47)
-Interview (6:41)
-Villians Profile (6:36)
-3 Behind the Scenes Vignettes (4:07, 7:50, 2:56)
-5 Visual Affect Breakdowns (3:06, 1:45, 1:26, 3:26, 2:03)
-more

DIE HARD 3: WITH A VENGENCE (1995) Length-131 minutes, 2 DISC SET (Rated R)
-Cast-(Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, Colleen Camp, Graham Greene, and more)
-Widescreen, English 5.1 DTS, English 5.1 Surround, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround, subtitles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
-Commentary
-Behind the Scenes Vignettes, making of documentaries (21:44, 21:35, 8:45, 10:22, 7:50)
-Featurette (4:09)
-Alternate Ending (6:01)
-Storyboard sequence (2:14)
-Bruce Willis Interview (6:10)
-Villians Profile (4:22)
-Visual Affect Breakdowns (6:42)
-2 Trailers (3:51)
-10 TV Spots (5:17)

-more

PROS about movies:
-GREAT action, acting.
-Awesome Cast of characters.
-Cool Explosions.
-Movies are 2 Hours long each.
-Great story

CONS about movies:
-Vulgar
-In Die Hard it looks like McKlanes shirt changes color around middle of movie.

PROS about DVD box set:
-Cool Case
-Contains all 3 movies
-6 DVD's
-LOT'S of Special features

CONS about DVD box set:
-too expensive
-Nothing Extra comes with the set if you buy the 3 movies as one set.

I don't recommend this set to anyone who is younger then 16 because the movies do contain STRONG language, nudity, and graphic violence.

For me, this will always be one of the classic action trilogies. John McClane is a great action-movie hero---a domestic James Bond in the guise of everyman---and Bruce Willis will forever be linked to the character. As for the movies: DIE HARD is an influential action classic, now and forever; DIE HARD 2 is not quite as good but still a worthy sequel, and a lot of fun to watch; and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE is the least of the series, generic and incoherent despite its skillful action sequences. Still, the DIE HARD trilogy will always have its place in action-movie history, and this Ultimate Collection is the definitive DIE HARD DVD collection, with all three Special Edition releases in a box that is slightly less expensive than buying all three separately. For fans of the trilogy, snap it up while it lasts!

These movies are great, the action all makes sense, and my favorite is the first one. This trilogy is considered the greatest action trilogy of all time, and i strongly agree. My favorite DVD here is the first one, because you can watch an awesome movie as well as have fun on the second disc! On the first disc of the orginial Die Hard, there are TWO versions of the movie, and they are the theatrical version and the branching version, with the deleted power shutdown scene editied seamlessly back into the movie. On the second disc, you can have fun in the cutting room while editing some scenes yourself that are in both versions of the movie. The second and third movies are great, too.

Bruce Willis has made numerous action movies that are truly memorable classics over his career and Die Hard is considered by many to be his crowning achievements in his acting career and I have to say I do agree with them even though some of his other movies do deserve recognition as well. The series concluded in 1995 with "Die Hard: With A Vengeance". All three of these Die Hard movies are totally awesome and this is not a movie trilogy that went downhill with each sequel like the Batman, and Jurassic Park trilogies did with time. All three of these Die Hard movies are must-haves. Let's not forget that unforgettable movie quote "Yippee Kayee Mother [edited for inappropriate language]!".

DIE HARD (1988): This is likely to be considered the best of the Die Hard movies in this series. Although that may be difficult for me to agree, I do have to say that it was a groundbreaking and terrifying but fun ride. In this one, John McClane, a tired out NYPD officer takes a vacation to Los Angeles to visit his estranged wife who he hadn't spoken to in a long time. However, the dream turns into a cesspool of a nightmare when the building that Mrs. McClane is in, is taken over by a band of vicious terrorists lead by renegade Hans Gruber. John McClane, now leads a one-man army (That's himself) in a fight against the terrorists and to rescue the hostages in the building. Bruce Willis is awesome playing the disgruntled terrorist-fighter John McClane but Alan Rickman steals the spotlight as the vicious terrorist leader Hans Gruber, whose cunning personality is quiet yet very threatening as to warrant attention. This movie was a well-deserved smash hit and is an action classic that was many years ahead of it's time. The explosions, fight scenes while a bit much at times, were totally awesome. This set the scale for the next two to follow. There is also a lot of really cool stuff like commentary from the director John McTierman along with commentary from the actors. Along the commentary are deleted scenes, behind the scenes and outtakes from the movie's making along with talk behind the making of the movie. Really cool stuff!

DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER (1990): A small number of fans seemed to have considered this a disappointing follow-up to the first one and said it didn't live to that one. To those, I say baloney! "Die Harder" is just as good as the original and has an even darker, colder tone than the first one. This time, John McClane's second deadly adventure takes place at Dulles International Airport after it is taken over by a vicious band of rogue terrorists and they threaten to crash a jetliner if a dangerous political prisoner isn't released on the deadline that they've set. Even worse, planes that are stranded in mid-air and not allowed to land are beginning to run low on fuel and one of the planes' passengers is none other than our beloved Mrs. McClane. Now the heat is on to flush out these mean nasty militia terrorists and to save the fleet from meeting their fiery doom on the runway in a nasty snowstorm. I disagree with those who said that this was weaker than the first Die Hard Movie. This is just as good, if not better. Dennis Franz is awesome as the foul-tempered police sergeant who's in charge of the police activity going on at the airport. This, like the 1988 original, contains commentary from the director Renny Harlin along with behind the scenes and deleted scenes.

DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE (1995): The third and final installment in the awesome movie series is lighter in tone than the first two. This time, John McClane returns home to his city of New York City where his job as a police officer is stationed at. After the downfall and demise of the infamous Hans Gruber, the population of New York is held hostage by none other than Simon Gruber, the brother of Hans Gruber and threatens to released an extremely toxic chemical into the atmosphere and kills thousands of innocent lives. This time, McClane teams up with another undercover police officer (Played by Samuel L. Jackson), whom he has clashed numerous times with to bring down Simon Gruber and his cronies. In light of recent world events, this movie is even more chilling to watch but still an excellent third and final installment in this awesome movie series. In a lot of ways, this not only returns to the fun of the first but also breaks the mold by removing the friendliness of Officer Al Powell, and replacing him with the unpleasant comrade Zeus Carver. Really fun stuff watching them clash.

This movie trilogy truly is an excellent purchase for action movie fans. The movies are improved by their vastly superior picture quality on the DVDs and by the extras contained in the individual DVDs. The silver box is really nice too. To me, this is one of the few movie series that stayed on high ground without going downhill retaining the fun yet breaking new ground with each movie. Get this movie collection today, get out the soda and popcorn, and have a swell time. Enough said.

This movie box set is a perfect gift or just movie set for the action fan. These movies have a lot of action, humor, suspense,and a great main character (Bruce Willis). I will review each movie individually because this review would sound wierd if I didn't put them seperately. This box set gets a 10/10 from me, so you can get an idea of what each movie will get. One thing to say before I start the review: get a bag of popcorn, a big sound system, and get ready for a thrill ride through three of the best action movies.

Die Hard- This movie was released in 1988 and became a huge blockbuster hit. It involves LAPD officer John McClane (Bruce Willis)and how he is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He goes to a hotel to meet his wife for Christmas. The meeting soon turns into disaster as the building is taken over by terrorists. John has to save the building and the hostages (including his wife Holly)from the terrorists. This movie isn't just an action movie without a plot. This movie is full of action, comedy, and has a great plot. Also, with great acting, this is a classic. This movie is rated R for language and graphic violence (for the time era anyway, and better than a lot of stuff today). 10/10

Die Hard 2: Die Harder- This one again puts John McClane in the wrong place at the wrong time. This time around it is Christmas again and Holly McClane is stuck on a plane that is being monitered by terrorists that are putting obstacles in the way to prevent them from a safe landing. This is a sequel that actually is as good as the first, though is the weakest of the series (I think Die Hard With a Vengeance is better). Once again great acting, comedy, a plot, and a lot of action. This movie is rated R for language and graphic violence. This movie is as highly recommended as the first, though it's not as good. 10/10

Die Hard With a Vengeance- This movie takes time in the summer and is very different than the other movies. This one is where McClane has to follow a man named Simon's (as in Simon says)directions, or a bomb will blow up the place. He is Hans Gruber's (the terrorist from the first movie)brother and a terrorist that is trying to distract McClane and the police from getting the money he is about to steal from "our Fort Knox". He plays child games and gives riddles for McClane to solve along with Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson)whom he met from one of the terrorist's (I forget his name)games. This movie is exceptional and breaks the rules that sequel is supposed to [smell] and the third movie is supposed to be the worst. This movie is highly recommended and is better than the second, but worse than the first one. This movie is rated R for language, violence, and some racial comments. THIS MOVIE IS NOT RECOMMENDED TO ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 16.

This series is the best action movie series, even better than Lethal Weapon. Highly Recommended to everyone 16 and older who can enjoy a few exceptional action movies.

Without question, the finest of the action-movie genre are all rolled into one in this DVD package (even DH2, the weakest of the three, grows on you after ten or twenty viewings!).
Anyone looking for gritty realism and correct application of physical laws in their movies should stay away.
Bonus features are good -not exceptional- but they are not why you buy this collection anyway.

I love this set, it includes Die Hard, Die Harder 2: Die Harder and Die Hard with Vengeance,
all three movies in their specials edition.
Each movie got a 2 disc set where disc one is the feature and the 2 is the extras.
The movies got terrific Audio/Video quality, Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as DTS 5.1! you cant hear it clearer!!!
And a very good audio commentary by the director and some of his crew.
For people that dont speak english but does spanish, dont worry, this cutie comes with subtitles in english, spanish!
The extras includes deleted scenes, trailers, tv spots, features, documentals, and extended scenes, very valuable material. THere are some easter eggs that i left for you to find.
If you dont have the money, do what i did, START SAVING!!!, i was
saving for some months till i got all the money that i needed, my DVDs where the last package in the store, you may not be as lucky as me, order it now!