Die Hard with a Vengeance

Die Hard with a Vengeance is a 1995 American action film directed and produced by John McTiernan, written by Jonathan Hensleigh, and starring Bruce Willis as John McClane. It is the sequel to Die Hard (1988) and Die Hard 2 (1990) and the third installment in the Die Hard film series. The film also stars Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson, and features Graham Greene, Colleen Camp, Larry Bryggman and Sam Phillips.

In the film, NYPD Lieutenant John McClane is embroiled in a plot by a mysterious terrorist calling himself “Simon” (Irons), who extorts the city of New York by threatening to detonate several bombs unless McClane solves a series of games scattered across the city. McClane reluctantly partners with a shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Jackson), and learns the terrorists plot to steal the gold bullion of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Adapted from a spec script written by Hensleigh, Die Hard with a Vengeance was the first film in the series not directly based on a literary source material, and the first not to be produced by Joel Silver and Lawrence Gordon after both producers had a fall-out with Willis, instead being produced by Andrew G. Vajna’s Cinergi Pictures. Principal photography took place in New York City and South Carolina.

The film was released on May 19, 1995 by 20th Century Fox and grossed $366.1 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year, and initially received mixed reviews from critics. However, the film has received positive reevaluation over time and is now largely considered the best sequel in the franchise. The film was followed by Live Free or Die Hard in 2007 and A Good Day to Die Hard in 2013.