I voted for the original only. I really liked it a lot, and it has good re-watch value. The next 2 felt like generic action movies to me, easily mixed up with any other movie in the genre. I did not like the 4th one at all. But the first one...awesome!
1, 2, 3, 4 in that order. I guess not very many people love 2 that much, although Gene Siskel had it in his 10 best of the year list (and later on he'd put Under Siege in his top 10 too). 3 was a lot of fun, but it did seem like they had a bunch of action sequences they already came up with and needed a story to link them together. 4 was a decent action movie, but it didn't feel like a Die Hard movie. The PG-13 neutering probably had a lot to do with that. Tom Rothman gave us a Brett Ratner X-Men and a PG-13 Die Hard -- but at least he didn't give us a Brett Ratner Die Hard.
The cyber terrorist who hacks into traffic control and power generation, despite the fact that YOU CAN'T DO THAT?
Die Hard : John McClane saves the people in the building. Die Harder : John McClane saves the people in the airport and aircrafts. Die Hard with a Vengeance : John McClane saves the people of New York. Live Free or Die Hard : John McClane saves the people in the USA.
As a few said, lets just agree the first film is the BEST(cause it's killing the poll) and banter about the rankings for the others. I voted for 1 & 3 cause we could. Since those are linked via the brotherly connection Vengeance works great as a sequel to the first film. SLJ is a great "in tow" sidekick that Officer Al only wishes he could've been. So those kinda tie for first imo. My very tight second place goes to Live Free or Die Hard. I wholly agree with the others that it's overly bashed on the internet(like IJ:KOTCS). People I know offline who aren't on any msg brds never say crap about it. Great cast, fun to watch and this film really illustrates how even though this has come to him again he's going to do what needs to be done. He tells Matt Farrell he "hasn't done this kinda thing in a while" that "if there were anyone else available to do it, he'd let them, but there isn't, so we're doing it". It's McClane accepting what needs to be done, just like the first film. Reluctant honor bound cop. I don't dislike DH2 but something has to be last. The night custodian Marvin makes for a great comedic "in tow" character here. William Sadler makes for a great bad guy to really hate. With John Amos as the turn coat for hire helping him from within. When I finally saw this on VHS for the first time circa '92 all I knew him from was Mr.McDowell from Coming to America so it was fun to see him play "McClane's kinda asshole". So my ranking: Die Hard Die Hard with a Vengeance Live Free or Die Hard Die Hard2: Die Harder I'm attending the Regal Theater all day Die Hard Marathon tomorrow starting at 12 noon culminating in the 10pm-ish debut of A Good Day to Die Hard. Ending I guess in time to start showing the "official" midnight shows. That's a great title, you should purchase the URL now just in case.
It's a freebie, I don't mind. I'd just like to see the film. As long as it's not in outer space, I'm fine. Maybe at a football game or something. Bruce Willis has all but confirmed that they will make it, and it will be his last. For the record, I would still like to see John Carpenter (or his successor) make Escape from Chicago. The fourth movie should be Escape from Houston. Both cities have coastal areas, and they are successively the next largest population centers on the MSA list. Escape from Phoenix would be an interesting movie, too.