# Die Hard 3 (spoilers again, but if you haven't seen it by now, you probably won't anyway) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506 "2018-12-21T22:09:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/1 "2018-12-21T22:09:06Z")
Die Hard 3 is a much better movie than Die Hard 2, but…and I don’t know if this’ll make sense…it doesn’t _feel_ like a Die Hard movie. It feels like it should be 48 Hours or Beverly Hills Cop or something. A “Die Hard” movie should have a very limited area: a building. an airport. Not all of New York City. I could easily see Eddie Murphy in place of Samuel L. Jackson–he wouldn’t have been as good an actor or nearly as pissed off as Zeus was\*, but he could still have brought his own take to it. And frankly, Nick Nolte would have been better than Bruce Willis. Bruce “I’m always smirking” Willis was really showing up here and I kept wanting to smack him. There was a Beverly Hills Cop (I think) film where the action was all set in an amusement park. THAT would have made a good Die Hard movie. All that said, I did enjoy the hell out of Die Hard 3 and once again, Samuel L Jackson shows everyone else that he can act better than they can. I’m also glad that they didn’t do a 3 minute super-forced cameo of Reginald Van(?) Johnson–the guy’s great, _use him_. Or don’t. But a cameo like in DH2 is just stupid and insulting. As an aside, I don’t like that they made Holly into such a crazed bitch. She’d been the (slightly) more sensible of the two of them. Anyway, this is the last of the Die Hards that I acknowledge. Any alleged movies that came after DH3 are about as real as Highlander II or the Star Trek movie that people think Shatner directed (but they’re wrong because it didn’t happen) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/2 "2018-12-21T22:18:19Z")
I really liked this movie. The reason it doesn’t feel like a **Die Hard** movie is because it was originally a stand-alone project intended for Brandon Lee called “Simon Says,” then the script was bought by Warner Bros who rewrote it as a **Lethal Weapon** sequel, before it finally landed at FOX who rewrote it as a **Die Hard** sequel. Which is probably the reason it was successful: unlike **Die Hard 2** , they didn’t just paint-by-numbers with the script from the first movie, it was actually an original story. Samuel L. Jackson’s performance was inspired, and I really liked that they changed the dynamic from “commando cop” to “reluctant partners.” Now I’m going to watch this tonight when I get home! ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/3 "2018-12-21T23:47:50Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Anyway, this is the last of the Die Hards that I acknowledge. Any alleged movies that came after DH3 are about as real as Highlander II or the Star Trek movie that people think Shatner directed (but they’re wrong because it didn’t happen) Goddamn right. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/4 "2018-12-22T00:20:13Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Die Hard 3 is a much better movie than Die Hard 2, but…and I don’t know if this’ll make sense…it doesn’t _feel_ like a Die Hard movie. It feels like it should be 48 Hours or Beverly Hills Cop or something. Actually, it felt much more like _Speed_, which I’m pretty sure is what the filmmakers were going for. I mean, multiple booby-trapped bombs and virtually no gunfights? _Speed_. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/5 "2018-12-22T00:39:49Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > unlike **Die Hard 2** , they didn’t just paint-by-numbers with the script from the first movie, it was actually an original story. All of the first three Die Hards were adaptations of completely different properties, so whatever issues DH2 may have had, that wasn’t the source. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/6 "2018-12-22T02:38:57Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Anyway, this is the last of the Die Hards that I acknowledge. Any alleged movies that came after DH3 are about as real as Highlander II or the Star Trek movie that people think Shatner directed (but they’re wrong because it didn’t happen) I dunno, **Live Free or Die Hard** is pretty damn good. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/7 "2018-12-22T05:24:43Z")
You seem to have a Die Hard-on. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/8 "2018-12-22T06:45:41Z")
Die Hard 3 is also notable as (probably) the only movie to namecheck Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/9 "2018-12-22T07:43:01Z")
I kinda like the puzzles in DH3, but overall it’s just way too convoluted. Too many things have to go just right, or not happen at all. McClane even says that there was no chance of stopping the bomb on the subway, and that it was supposed to blow up at the station where it did. He’s right, of course, because that gave them the excuse to bring in the dump trucks that actually hauled away the gold. So if that was Simon’s real target, why did he prepare any more puzzles for McClane and Zeus to do after that. Weren’t they supposed to be dead; why send them to fill up the water jugs, or the wild goose chase to Yankee Stadium? There was no point to those events that I could see. Plus, why did the bomb expert spend so much time trying to figure out how to disarm the detonator on the big bomb at the school? The explosive is harmless until the two different chemical mix; put a clamp on the hose that pumps one liquid into the other and you’re done. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-3-spoilers-again-but-if-you-havent-seen-it-by-now-you-probably-wont-anyway/826506/10 "2018-12-22T12:48:15Z")
I think Die Hard 3 is better than the original. Don’t kill me. :eek: