When it comes to the Die Hard franchise and the best ‘90s movies in general, Die Hard with a Vengeance will always be at the top of my list. Admittedly, this was the first John McClane movie I saw (it came on HBO when I was like seven years old), and so I’ve always had a soft spot for Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson teaming up to save the “Big Apple.” The frenzied New York City setting, the cat-and-mouse game, the big twists, the ties to the franchise’s early days. All of it is just perfect.
While I’ve known for years that this didn’t start out as a Die Hard movie, I only recently learned that we saw this iconic version of it because of a classic Steven Seagal action flick. So, I guess I have the controversial actor-turned-musician-turned-sheriff to thank for it all. Here’s why…
The Third John McClane Movie Was Originally Going To Use A ‘Die Hard On A Boat’ Concept
Die Hard on a [insert location]” trend took off like wildfire soon after Bruce Willis first played John McClane back in the 1988 franchise starter, but the series almost tried that angle out itself in the early 1990s. Following the release of Die Hard 2: Die Harder, 20th Century Fox made plans for another sequel, which wasn’t going to take place in New York City, but instead on a boat. Yes, we were close to having Die Hard on a Boat.
Back in late 1992, the Los Angeles Times reported that the threequel’s original idea would have seen the grumpy, hungover, yet dependable detective attempt to save a yuppie cruise ship from a band of terrorists. In that report, it was also pointed out that this version was based on a spec script titled Troubleshooter, but more on that later. So, what ended up causing the studio to back off and pivot to what would become the 1995 blockbuster?
John McClane say his famous line while swinging from a cable connected to a ship’s smokestack or while taking out a terrorist by swinging on an anchor or something.
massive movies in ‘94, and Die Hard 3 would have been right in the middle of it all. Imagine two Bruce Willis movies, two all-time great action flicks, and more in the same summer. Bonkers!
the actor’s tragic death on the set of The Crow.
According to Comic Book Resource, Simon Says was pitched after the success of 1992’s Rapid Fire, with Lee taking on the role of NYPD officer Alex Bradshaw and the character that eventually became Samuel L. Jackson’s Zeus Carver being a female instead. But those plans were scrapped when Lee died in a freak on-set accident in 1993, and the script was put back in the pile before being turned into Die Hard with a Vengeance.
absolutely insane Willem Dafoe death scene. Digging around, I discovered that the unused Die Hard 3 script from the early 1990s was later retooled and turned into Speed 2: Cruise Control. Though the story ended up being used for a random sequel to 1994’s Speed (without Keanu Reeves) that is considered garbage by most, it still got to see the light of day.
When speaking with Movieline back in 2001, John McTiernan, who directed the original Willis actioner and Vengeance, explained that most of the material that was developed for the aborted third installment was turned into Speed 2, including the iconic scene where the ship washes ashore, causing all kinds of destruction. See, it wasn’t all lost.
All in all, Die Hard with a Vengeance is one of my favorite action movies, my most-watched installment in the Bruce Willis action series, and a game-changing blockbuster. Maybe it’s for the best that Steven Seagal had to come in and make a mess of things.