John McTiernan returns to direct the third instalment in the Die Hard franchise, 1995’s Die Hard With a Vengeance starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons.

German terrorist Simon Gruber (Irons) sends John McClane (Willis) and shopkeeper Zeus Carter (Jackson) around New York City in a sadistic version of “Simon Says” in order to distract the authorities from of his real plan of robing the Federal Reserve Building.

What made Die Hard With a Vengeance a more satisfying sequel was that it wasn’t going to be a Die Hard sequel to begin with, but a new movie called “Simon Says”. And it could have been a good movie on its own, but adding the McCalne character with the key elements of the first film (intense action mixed in with comedy) gave new life to our hero and the franchise itself.

Something else that makes Die Hard with a Vengeance a much more interesting sequel is the relationship between McClane (Willis) and Carter (Jackson). These two individuals do not like each other and the situation they are in and this makes for some highly entertaining banter.

The ending may be a slight letdown for some, but all in all the third installment of Die Hard hits the mark.