Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) on Netflix
R19952h 8mActionAdventureThriller
A bomb wrecks a New York department store. A man who calls himself Simon will speak only to Lieutenant John McClane. Harlem shop owner Zeus Carver saves him from a crowd.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.6/10433,421 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes59%
Trailer
Plot summary
Lieutenant John McClane is on suspension when the New York police come looking for him. A caller who identifies himself as Simon has taken credit for a bomb that destroyed the Bonwit Teller department store, and he will talk only to McClane. He wants McClane sent to Harlem wearing a sandwich board carrying a racial slur, and warns that another bomb will go off if the police do not obey. Inspector Walter Cobb and his major case unit explain the demand. In Harlem, a group confronts McClane over the sign, and electrician and shop owner Zeus Carver steps in and gets him away in a taxi. At 1 Police Plaza, Simon forces the pair through a timed challenge, and no one can say why he has singled out McClane.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Laurence Fishburne was originally offered the co-starring role of Zeus Carver, a part also written for him, but wanted a higher fee, and producer Andy Vajna held out on the deal. Fishburne had earlier turned down the role of Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, eventually played by Samuel L. Jackson, on his representatives' advice.
- Vajna was so impressed by Samuel L. Jackson's performance in the Quentin Tarantino film, Tarantino recalled, that he offered him the part of Carver instead. Fishburne filed a lawsuit against Vajna's company Cinergi for reneging on a verbal agreement, settling before trial for $750,000 and a guarantee that Cinergi would option a screenplay he had written.
- The script used was intended for a film entitled Simon Says, positioned as a Brandon Lee vehicle, but canceled after Lee's death during filming of The Crow. Warner Bros. bought it and rewrote it as a Lethal Weapon sequel, then put it in turnaround; 20th Century Fox bought it and rewrote it as a Die Hard film.
SPOILER
McTiernan later revealed a planned original ending that was never filmed: the suitcase bomb passed around for much of the film ends up loaded onto the plane the bad guys escape on, flying over McClane and Zeus in the ocean, until it reaches Simon, who opens it and asks, “Does anyone have a 4-gallon jug?”- In Japan the film set a record opening for 20th Century Fox with a five-day gross of $13.5 million, beating Return of the Jedi, and it ranked number one for five consecutive weeks, grossing over $81 million there.
