There are also some very nice character touches. Fred Thompson plays a traffic controller who is sympathetic, but not all-powerful. Dennis Franz plays the head of airport police who is almost shrill in his passionate criticism of McClane. And reuniting McClane's wife and the obnoxious reporter from the first film on an airplane that is low on fuel was brilliant touch.

Still, the twists and turns are perhaps a bit much. There were some twists in the first movie, but not at all like there were in this film, and it almost seemed as if the writers tried a little too hard. And it was a little difficult for me to accept that the tower was completely locked out of communication when I know that you can use a commercially-available handheld set to broadcast on those frequencies, no problem. Not to mention that airplanes can talk to each other, so if they could reach one, they could reach them all. I tried to ignore all of this, and it worked out for me. While this film isn't quite as good as the original, it's still one of the best action movies ever made. Had Hollywood stopped at two, I would have been a happy man indeed.

Die Hard With A Vengeance
Instead, they made Die Hard 3, and now the Die Hard name is tainted. While the third film is enjoyable, it is also full of plot holes big enough to drive fourteen dump trucks through. I'd list some, but I might get carried away and take all day. They waited five years and brought back the director of the first film, but it wasn't enough. The movie opened huge with the impressive explosion of a department store in downtown Manhattan, but failed to live up to the standard set by that scene, or the first two movies. Apparently they couldn't get the actress who played McClane's wife in the first two movie to reprise her role, so McClane is separated and back with the NYPD, only he has been suspended and is working on becoming a full-blown alcoholic. Unfortunately for McClane, the man who blew up the department store wants to lead him through a series of death-defying puzzles and stunts to avoid further explosions. A creepy British voice, riddles and puzzles, and a psychiatrist handy to spell out what it all means, it's a pretty good setup. The first twist is pretty good, too. After establishing his bona fides and leading everybody to believe he is out for vengeance on McClane for an offense from the first movie, the mysterious caller turns out to have been in it for greed. Only he isn't. Only he is. Okay, there are one or two too many twists in here.