Somewhat better than the first 'Die Hard' movie.

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2008)

I know that many rave about the first Die Hard movie, but for me this second one was much better, with a better story. I just found myself wishing it had been a bit shorter, it made me tired just seeing everything McClane had to endure.
Bruce Willis is L.A. cop John McClane, in Washington, D.C. waiting for his wife's plane. But he notices something fishy about a couple of men, follows them to a secure baggage handling area, and ends up in a big gunfight. This leads him to believe there is something more sinister in the plans, but has trouble getting the local police to believe him. Bonnie Bedelia is back as his wife, Holly McClane.
The main bad guy is William Sadler as Col. Stuart, and the whole plot is to gain control of a drug lord, Franco Nero as Gen. Ramon Esperanza, being flown in under arrest. Their plan involved putting incoming commercial jets in jeopardy, as a way to get Esperanza rescued and flown to Central America in a waiting 747.
Dennis Franz, who later became a fixture on NYPD Blue is good as Capt. Carmine Lorenzo, the local cop who tries to get McClane thrown out. A bit ironically, Fred Dalton Thompson who today is a Republican candidate for the upcoming presidential nomination was Trudeau, in charge of air control at the airport.
Overall a good, complex story with lots of action. And, of course, McClane always comes out on top.
SPOILERS. At the end the bad guys have the drug lord and the 747, but McClane gets a local news helicopter to drop him onto the plane's wing as it taxis for takeoff. A door opens and he fights one bad guy, who ends up getting sucked into the jet's engine. The second bad guy manages to knock McClane off the wing, but not before McClane had opened the fuel dump valve to spew jet fuel. As the plane accelerates away, McClane smiles and throws a cigarette lighter onto the trail of fuel, which catches up to the plane's wing just as it rotates for takeoff. The plane goes up in a big ball of fire, all on board are roasted. McClane wins again!! Good stuff.