John McTiernan by Larry Taylor

Author:Larry Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2018-06-18T16:00:00+00:00

John McTiernan (forefront, wearing cap), Samuel L. Jackson (upper right, partially obscured), and Bruce Willis (far right) discuss the bridge scene from the end of Die Hard: With a Vengeance (20th Century–Fox, 1995).

They came around to the idea of making the bomb in the school a hoax, therein placing the actual bomb on the ship. While it cleared up the issue of McClane’s misappropriation, it felt like one twist too many for McTiernan. But again, he went with it, and it put the wheels of the current ending in motion. Now, the finale would involve Simon and his team faking their own deaths and escaping, which was Hans Gruber’s intention in Die Hard before McClane ruined that plan; this twist at least had some symmetry with the original film.

There were two endings filmed for Die Hard: With a Vengeance. One featured Simon escaping, which didn’t feel right in the John McClane universe. The other, which became the theatrical ending, had McClane tracking Simon across the border into Canada and taking down his helicopter. It was a messy end, and a messy route to said end, but it all managed to come together, for better or worse. The shoot wrapped in December of 1994, and the release date was set for May 19, 1995.

Critics were lukewarm on Die Hard: With a Vengeance when it unofficially kicked off the summer movie season in 1995. Ebert mildly praised it. Some critics enjoyed the Rube Goldberg–style plot machinations; others found Samuel L. Jackson to be a welcome addition to the franchise. But regardless of critical praise or disdain, the John McClane franchise had reached a point where it was critical Teflon. Analysts could have mercilessly hammered the movie and it still would have opened well and had some legs at the box office. Having McTiernan back in the driver’s seat was icing on the cake, so to speak. Vengeance wasn’t too big to fail, it was too “John McClane” to fail.

The box office proved as much. Die Hard: With a Vengeance grabbed just over $22 million in its first weekend on its way to a $100 million domestic haul. That was enough to cover the $90 million budget, and the additional $266 million foreign take solidified the film’s overall success.3 However you slice it, Die Hard: With a Vengeance was a much-needed hit for McTiernan and Bruce Willis.

In the bitter wake of Last Action Hero, here was John McTiernan the filmmaker returning to the franchise that made him, and managing to create a fresh new adventure while simultaneously bringing the John McClane story back to its roots.

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