It can be difficult to accept the harsh realities of rewatching the Die Hard movies, especially when thinking of the franchise as a whole and not just the classic first film. As a formative action thriller franchise, Die Hard deserves an objective examination from the lens of contemporary film criticism, as many of the current action movie tropes trace back to the Bruce Willis flick. While these harsh realities cannot be ignored, pointing them out isn’t necessarily tantamount to condemning the Die Hard franchise, although some entries ranged better than others.
