Die Hard

As one of the most popular franchises to date, does McClane and co really stand up to be counted?

Die Hard is a growing franchise, currently spanning more than quarter of a century. Despite this, the franchise has stood the test of time particularly well. Aside from the huge cell phones, dreadful 80’s clothes and talk about “futuristic micro chips” early in the franchise, the majority of special effects and explosions would hold it’s own in modern cinema.

As expected with not getting any younger, McClane shoots a lot more people in the later films and is also seen to take part in fewer physical fights than the first three films. But this doesn’t feel out of place, especially as the final three films are not confined to mainly a singular place.

Throughout the franchise, McClane is responsible for 79% of all kills made by goodies, solidifying his role as a badass character even though he works with partner from the third film onwards. 65 kills is a huge amount for a police officer, and when considering he uses 50% of the weapons used during the franchise it shows he’s a much sharper shot than both his friends and enemies; however, despite being an un-realistic portrayal of a cop, it does set up the character and franchise nicely.

McClane’s habits like smoking and talking to himself slow down considerably as the franchise moves on displaying the franchise moving away from its roots planted in the original couple of films. It’s also telling that as soon as John gets a partner he almost never talks to himself.

The addition of Jack McClane and his backstory for the final film makes for interesting watching. His similar ballsy attitude to John McClane would make a very effective and popular future lead for the franchise adding an element of youth and reinvigoration. With Bruce Willis wanting to keep the Die Hard franchise running and with it still bringing in an impressive amount of money this could certainly become a reality.

The final two films of the franchise have generally hinged on McClane saving each of his children. With no children left to save, maybe it’s finally time for him to fix his broken marriage. Whichever way future instalments decide to go, we’re sure there’ll be plenty of explosions, injuries, elaborate action scenes and McClane kills to keep the inner adrenaline-junkie interested.