Die Hard Series Vs. Lethal Weapon Series

[Doctor Jones]

This is hard.

Die Hard, all four films are more consistant with quality (even though the second is the lesser of the four, I can still watch it) whereas Lethal Weapon 1 and 2 without the other two films make up for all four Die Hard films. 3 is mediocre, and 4 flat out sucks. But I love the first two films to death. Riggs and Murtagh are just as great as McClane in their own ways. LW popularized the buddy cop angle. Gibson and Glover's chemistry is undeniable, yet the film itself is so awesome. I prefer the first two LW over the first Die Hard. With A Vengeance is my favorite Die Hard, but jeez, McClane can make anything he is in good.

Die Hard is more consistant with its quality, yet I prefer the first two Lethal Weapons more. Confusion!!!

 

[Bim]

I enjoy both, but my vote goes to Die Hard.

 

[Catman]

DH gave it's lead hero much more subtle character drama than the borderline Oscar baiting scenes of Gibson's Riggs trying to kill himself.

Oscar bait? I doubt they were thinking awards when making these films. It's just that Shane Black decided to add some depth to his script.

he sincerely tells Al over the radio that he screwed up his marriage to Holly

John McClane's marriage was just used as a set-up to get him in the building. It ultimately didn't matter since once the action starts the two characters remained apart till the end and there was no real resolution since their problems continued onto the sequels. It was even used as a running gag in the third film.

Martin Riggs death wish, on the other hand, was used as a real plot point. It wasn't just mentioned in two scenes and that's it. It was an issue throughout the whole film and ended with him visiting his wife's grave and giving Murtach his bullet as a Christmas gift.

 

[The Navigator]

John McClane's marriage was just used as a set-up to get him in the building. It ultimately didn't matter since once the action starts the two characters remained apart till the end and there was no real resolution since their problems continued onto the sequels. It was even used as a running gag in the third film.

Martin Riggs death wish, on the other hand, was used as a real plot point. It wasn't just mentioned in two scenes and that's it. It was an issue throughout the whole film and ended with him visiting his wife's grave and giving Murtach his bullet as a Christmas gift.

Which is why the series takes an incredibly awkward downward turn once Riggs becomes the wisecracking, dog-treat-eating, light-hearted friend of the family in 3 and 4. The series suffers because of it, with Riggs really becoming an entirely new character.

So as a series, Die Hard is better. Die Hard changed how an "action hero" is perceived, Riggs was the latest in a long line of troubled cops.

 

[Catman]

Which is why the series takes an incredibly awkward downward turn once Riggs becomes the wisecracking, dog-treat-eating, light-hearted friend of the family in 3 and 4. The series suffers because of it, with Riggs really becoming an entirely new character.

It's about quality not quantity. The first two films are way better than the entire Die Hard series.

Die Hard changed how an "action hero" is perceived

Not really. There was nothing unique about John McClane. What are his traits? He's funny? Well, Eddie Murphy was hilarious in Beverly Hills Cop. He doesn't follow the rules? Dirty Harry beat this film by 17 years. He's all bloody and beat up by the end? Well, Clint Eastwood got beat up pretty badly in A Fistful of Dollars all the way back in 1964. Plus, audiences saw Mel Gibson get tortured just the year before in Lethal Weapon. Gibson also had his hand run over by a motorcycle in Mad Max a decade earlier and crashed a truck into a bunch of cars in The Road Warrior earlier in the decade. So, really, Gibson already had dips on the whole beat up thing.

 

[bullets]

It's about quality not quantity. The first two films are way better than the entire Die Hard series.

In your opinion...


John McClane starts out as an average cop that gets way over his head and he is kind of the reluctant hero . He might turn into characters that John Wayne , Eastwood, etc have all played but he didn't start out like that.

 

[GhostPoet]

Really hard choice...but I'm gonna go with Die Hard. purely because it fits closer to the action hero persona...where as Lethal Weapon is more of a buddy cop action/comedy. And I prefer action hero films more.