New York cop John McClane keeps ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time, fighting terrorists and thieves almost single-handed: in a Los Angeles skyscraper, at Dulles Airport, across New York, against a cyber attack and finally in Russia. Along the way his marriage to Holly falls apart and his children grow up, and A Good Day to Die Hard ends with McClane and his son Jack, now a CIA officer, walking off a plane together to meet his daughter Lucy.
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No. 01 · 1988 · Film
Die Hard recap
On Christmas Eve, New York cop John McClane flies to Los Angeles to see his estranged wife Holly at her company's party in the Nakatomi Plaza tower. While he is freshening up, Hans Gruber and a team of armed men take over the building and hold the guests hostage, posing as terrorists while they break into the vault to steal $640 million in bearer bonds. Barefoot, McClane slips away and fights them floor by floor. He kills one of Hans' men, Tony, which enrages Tony's brother Karl. McClane makes radio contact with Sergeant Al Powell, a patrol officer who believes in him, while the police chief, the FBI and a reporter make things worse. Hans meets McClane face to face and pretends to be a hostage. Ellis, Holly's cocky co-worker, tries to bargain with Hans and is shot.
How Die Hard ends
The FBI cuts the power, which opens the vault, and Hans plans to blow up the roof with the hostages on it. McClane gets them off the roof and swings back in through a window as the roof explodes. With two bullets taped to his back, he shoots Hans, who falls from the tower clutching Holly's watch until she unfastens it. Al shoots the last surviving gunman, Karl, and McClane and Holly leave together.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 02 · 1990 · Film
Die Hard 2 recap
A year later, on Christmas Eve, McClane waits at Dulles Airport in Washington for Holly's flight. Mercenaries led by Colonel Stuart, a former US Army officer, take over the airport's systems to free General Esperanza, a Latin American drug lord being flown in for trial. They cut off the runway lights and communications, leaving planes circling in a snowstorm with fuel running low, Holly's among them. Stuart crashes a British airliner to show he means it. McClane, ignored by the airport police chief Lorenzo, works with the head of engineering and a janitor to fight back. An army special forces team led by Major Grant arrives, but Grant and his men are secretly working with Stuart.
How Die Hard 2 ends
Esperanza lands and the mercenaries take him to a 747 to escape. McClane is dropped onto the plane's wing by a news helicopter, fights Grant and is knocked off, but first opens the fuel valve. As the plane takes off, he drops a lighter onto the trail of fuel and the plane explodes, killing Stuart, Esperanza and Grant. The burning fuel lights the runway, and the circling planes land, including Holly's.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 03 · 1995 · Film
Die Hard with a Vengeance recap
A bomb goes off in a New York department store, and a man calling himself Simon demands that Lieutenant John McClane, suspended, separated from Holly and drinking, play a game of "Simon says". The first task sends McClane to Harlem wearing an offensive sign, and Zeus Carver, a shopkeeper, saves him from being killed and gets dragged into the game. Simon sends them racing around the city solving riddles to stop more bombs, including one in a subway train and one he says is in a school. Simon is Simon Gruber, brother of Hans, and the bomb threats are cover: while police search every school, his men drive into the Federal Reserve Bank and steal billions in gold bullion in dump trucks.
How Die Hard with a Vengeance ends
McClane and Zeus follow the gold onto a ship, which explodes, and they escape. McClane realises the trucks were heading for Quebec, finds Simon there and shoots down his helicopter by hitting a power line, killing him. Afterward, McClane finally phones Holly to try to patch things up.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 04 · 2007 · Film
Live Free or Die Hard recap
On the Fourth of July weekend, the FBI rounds up hackers after a breach, and McClane is sent to bring in Matt Farrell from New Jersey. Assassins attack just as he arrives, and McClane gets Matt out alive. Matt realises the hacks are part of a "fire sale", a staged cyber attack to shut down the country's transport, communications and utilities one stage at a time. It is run by Thomas Gabriel, a former Defense Department security expert who was fired after warning about these weaknesses. McClane takes down a helicopter with a car and fights Gabriel's partner Mai Linh. The final stage targets a facility in Maryland where the country's financial data is backed up, and Gabriel plans to steal it. Gabriel kidnaps McClane's daughter Lucy.
How Live Free or Die Hard ends
McClane destroys an F-35 jet sent after him and tracks Gabriel to a warehouse, where Gabriel holds Lucy and Matt. With Gabriel's gun pressed into his shoulder, McClane fires through his own shoulder, killing Gabriel behind him. Lucy and Matt are safe, and Matt shows interest in Lucy, which McClane notices.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 05 · 2013 · Film
A Good Day to Die Hard recap
McClane hears that his estranged son Jack has been arrested in Moscow for murder and flies there to help. At the courthouse, Jack is on trial alongside Yuri Komarov, a political prisoner and former billionaire who has a file that could bring down a corrupt official, Viktor Chagarin. A bomb hits the court, and Jack escapes with Komarov, only to run into his father. Jack is a CIA officer, and McClane has just wrecked his operation to get Komarov out of the country. Chagarin's men chase them through Moscow. The two McClanes fight together and argue about the past. Komarov asks to collect his daughter Irina, who is working with Chagarin's men, and the file is a lie: Komarov wants the weapons-grade uranium hidden in Chernobyl.
How A Good Day to Die Hard ends
In Chernobyl, Komarov kills Chagarin, and the McClanes fight their way in. Jack throws Komarov off a roof into the blades of Irina's helicopter, and Irina flies her helicopter into the building to kill them before dying in the crash. The McClanes survive, reconciled, and fly home to meet Lucy.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Common questions
What is the Die Hard story so far?
New York cop John McClane keeps ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time, fighting terrorists and thieves almost single-handed: in a Los Angeles skyscraper, at Dulles Airport, across New York, against a cyber attack and finally in Russia. Along the way his marriage to Holly falls apart and his children grow up, and A Good Day to Die Hard ends with McClane and his son Jack, now a CIA officer, walking off a plane together to meet his daughter Lucy.
Where did Die Hard leave off?
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) is the latest. In Chernobyl, Komarov kills Chagarin, and the McClanes fight their way in. Jack throws Komarov off a roof into the blades of Irina's helicopter, and Irina flies her helicopter into the building to kill them before dying in the crash. The McClanes survive, reconciled, and fly home to meet Lucy.
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