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Die Hard With A Vengeance DIRECTED BY JOHN MCTIERNAN RELEASED: 1995 Why's it so good? Renny Harlin's efficient Die Harder was an enjoyable, larger-scale retread of the first movie. Die Hard With A Vengeance, though, saw original director John McTiernan come back and open out the claustrophobic, single-location franchise to a much bigger playground: New York City. Adding an antagonistic Samuel L. Jackson for Bruce Willis - whose John McClane is a slobbish wreck here, as opposed to the flawless superman of the first sequel - to bounce off pays dividends, while Jeremy Irons, having enormous fun with an outrageous accent, makes the hokey plot device of a vengeful long-lost brother actually work.

How does it stack up to the original? The original is the greatest action movie of all time, so this can't beat it. But Vengeance is an enormously confident movie that balances ludicrous set pieces (McClane escaping from a tidal wave in the New York sewers) with first-class banter between its two stars. Glaring error: The climax, reshot to replace an explosive finale that Fox bosses thought might draw unfavourable reaction in the wake of the Oklahoma bombing, doesn't really work. GAP BETWEEN SEQUEL AND ORIGINAL: 82 MONTHS 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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