Bruce Willis, William Atherton and Bonnie Bedelia in the Renny Harlin movie ‘Die Hard 2’

With the theory that movies set with references to Christmas as part of the underpinnings for establishing the story might be Christmas movies, we return to the action thriller sequel to Die Hard (1988) with the Renny Harlin directed movie Die Hard 2 (1990). This movie is set on Christmas Eve with the main context for the movie being Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia.

(From left, Bruce Willis as John McClane and Dennis Franz as Captain Carmine Lorenzo in the Renny Harlin movie Die Hard 2).

With the movie Die Hard 2 having been based on the book 58 Minutes by Walter Wager, we encounter John McClane awaiting the arrival of his wife, Holly, on a flight arriving at the airport. McClane, as portrayed by Bruce Willis, uses his intuition as a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department to act on his suspicions that a pair of men are behaving erratically. In following the men into a restricted space for sorting baggage, a gun fight ensues with just two of the three men in the encounter escaping with their lives. Bonnie Bedelia portrayed Holly, John’s wife.

(From left, William Atherton as Dick Thornburg and Bonnie Bedelia as Holly Gennero McClane in the Renny Harlin movie Die Hard 2).

The men confronted in the restricted area are part of a plan aimed at freeing corrupt foreign military leader General Ramon Esperanza, who is being extradited to from outside the country by airplane to Dulles International Airport. With the help of Sergeant Al Powell of the LAPD, John McClane learns that the man he killed was an American soldier who supposedly died in a helicopter accident two years previously. Airport police chief, Carmine Lorenzo, and air traffic control director Ed Trudeau find McClane’s suspicions unlikely when he reports what he knows. Franco Nero, Reginald VelJohnson, Dennis Franz and Fred Thompson portrayed Esperanza, Powell, Lorenzo and Trudeau, respectively.

(From left, Reginald VelJohnson as Al Powell, Fred Thompson as Trudeau and John Amos as Major Grant in the Renny Harlin movie Die Hard 2).

Former Colonel William Stuart, meanwhile, works with a group of ex-military sympathizers on the outskirts of the airport in support of causing chaos among the team operating the airport. Thrills, twists and turns follow the initial baggage claim scene with the motivations of Major Grant, Dick Thornburg and others coming into question. The seeds of McClane seizing the initiative, as cultivated with the original Die Hard movie, bears fruit during the blizzard and flight control issues that follow the shenanigans intended by Stuart and the team allied with Ramon Esperanza. William Sadler, John Amos and William Atherton portrayed Stuart, Grant and Thornburg, respectively.

(From left, Franco Nero as General Ramon Esperanza, Vondie Curtis-Hall as Miller and William Sadler as Colonel William Stuart in the Renny Harlin movie Die Hard 2).

The central appeal for the movie Die Hard is first and foremost the action and intrigue. The undercurrent of humor present with the original movie were downplayed with the sequel, though I found the movie did not require the humor to remain engaging. I grant Die Hard 2 as directed by Renny Harlin 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, December 3, 2022

Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt and the Brian De Palma movie ‘Sisters’

My first introduction to Brian De Palma was the movie Scarface (1983), which Matt Lynn Digital holds as quality cinema in this review from October 2020. Moving backwards in time eleven years offers a trippy movie clearly inspired by the mystery thriller movie genre pioneered by Alfred Hitchcock with a clear and gleeful foray into the slasher film yet to come in Hollywood with the movie Sisters (1972).

(Margot Kidder as Danielle Blanchion and Dominique Blanchion and Lisle Wilson as Phillip Woode in the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

Margot Kidder stars as conjoined twin sisters Danielle and Dominique Blanchion in the independently made, low-budget Sisters. The films opening credits offer shocking images that hint at part of the background of the Blanchion sisters would mean in the telling of the story inspired by facts that only later give the psychological punch that offers the film and reputation De Palma would establish for himself meaning. The disquiet, edgy qualities are central, effective and worth a viewing for this film.

(From left, Jennifer Salt as Grace Collier and Charles Durning as Joseph Larch in the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

Before getting into the backstory of the Blanchion sisters portrayed by Kidder, we at first are introduced to Phillip Woode, who is portrayed by Lisle Wilson. Woode and Danielle Wilson cross paths through an odd circumstance wherein their backgrounds are unknown to one another with a mutual attraction that offers the opportunity for intimacy. To earn that outcome, however, the two need to act cunningly against the prying eyes that we only later learn belong to Grace Collier and Emil Breton. Jennifer Salt portrayed Collier as William Finley portrayed Breton in the movie.

(From left, William Finley as Emil Breton and Burt Richards as an uncredited Hospital Attendant in the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

The character of Breton feels like a stalker from the beginning of the movie. While that feeling is relevant, the trippy role he plays in supporting that feeling in the larger narrative that the movie offers definitely holds hope over time. The shocking parts of the movie intersect strongly with the stories we get from Joseph Larch, Arthur McLennen and Detective Kelly.

(From left, Barnard Hughes as Arthur McLennen and Dolph Sweet as Detective Kelly in the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

Charles Durning portrayed Joseph Larch in Sisters. Barnard Hughes portrays magazine writer Arthur McLennen. Dolph Sweet portrays police Detective Kelly. The mysteries, suspense and slasher thrills of the movie Sisters, with the slasher components being one place where De Palma separates himself from Hitchcock, are told in many ways through the changes in experience for many of the movies characters. This fact, combined with the psychological impact for much of the movie, gives the movie the punch that allows me to bring this movie to you.

(From left, director Brian De Palma and actress Margot Kidder on the set of the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

The larger cinematic experience and narrative of the movie, along with the exposition for most of the characters, are strengths for the movie. Not everything in the film necessarily ages well, in looking back on the film with contemporary lenses. That the ending felt abrupt to me perhaps was a matter of budget in the making of the film more than a shortcoming of the larger vision of the film. All told, I rate Sisters at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, January 16, 2021