Holly’s refusal to move back from Los Angeles is questioned after McClane’s ordeals.
Getting to Yankee Stadium so quickly strains New York geography.
From the Yankee Stadium diversion onward, the ending feels improvised even though it remains enjoyable.
The crowded stoop and open repair shop seem implausibly active before school starts; the store is corrected from a pawnshop to an electronics repair business.
Escaping ten attackers after being struck with a bottle seems unlikely.
The subway bomb should cause greater damage and deaths.
McClane might have recognized the German connection sooner after being told about Simon’s accent.
The riddles seem too difficult to solve so quickly; whether Simon expects success is raised as a counterpoint.
Zeus abandoning an unlocked shop and rarely worrying about it is questioned; the objection is corrected because he does mention its likely destruction.
Simon’s apparent ability to observe each task and the logistics of his large mercenary crew are questioned.
Simon’s claim to be a soldier rather than a monster conflicts with bombing an occupied subway, even if the blast serves the heist.
The heroes accumulate blood, gunshot injuries, crashes, falls, flooding and cable fragments yet remain mobile; McClane is jokingly likened to Unbreakable’s protagonist.
McClane’s lack of temptation by the enormous stolen fortune, or even a single gold bar, is questioned and compared with Marathon Man’s rejected diamonds.
The uniformly tall German henchmen and Simon’s false American persona should be obvious impostors rather than credible police or city workers.
Surviving the flooded tunnel and being shot into the air exactly as Zeus drives past is the decisive implausibility.
The anti-lock-brake maneuver is nevertheless admired as a striking stunt.
Simon’s meticulous plan is undermined by handing over the identifying aspirin bottle; replacing the gang’s gold with scrap should also be discovered.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Original scripts; alternate ending; rejected action projects; FBI questions; digitally altered sign

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 00:14:20Read transcript

The script was reportedly acquired for a fourth Lethal Weapon film before Fox bought it and turned it into this sequel.
An alternate ending has McClane find Simon in Hungary, play McClane Says and kill him with a rocket launcher; the studio reportedly rejected its vigilante darkness and financed a replacement.
Willis rejected a cruise-ship sequel script as too close to Under Siege; it was reportedly repurposed as Speed 2.
Reported Die Hard-style projects include Sandblast in a sandstorm, No Safe Haven on Martha’s Vineyard and Track Down in the Channel Tunnel.
Suspension was set on the George Washington Bridge, Platform and Rig on oil rigs, and High Roller in Las Vegas.
Other reported projects included In Contempt in a courthouse, He Who Dares at the British embassy, L4 at a disease-control facility and several hurricane scenarios.
Jonathan Hensleigh was reportedly questioned by the FBI because the gold-reserve details seemed unusually accurate; he attributed his research to the New York Times.
Willis’s sign was reportedly blank during filming and its offensive wording added digitally.

Recasting Couch

Annabella Sciorra; Joe Pantoliano; San Francisco setting

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 00:14:20Read transcript

Gibson and Glover could fit the material, though the Willis–Jackson pairing is preferred.
Annabella Sciorra could replace Colleen Camp as a colleague and post-divorce lover who dumped McClane for drinking, adding workplace tension and personal stakes.
Joe Pantoliano could fit as Walter Cobb or elsewhere among the police without weakening the film.
San Francisco is an alternative city; Los Angeles traffic would make the timed missions impossible.

Casting What-Ifs

Laurence Fishburne; Brandon Lee; uncertain Sean Connery story; McTiernan’s Batman offer

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 00:21:29Read transcript

Fishburne reportedly had a verbal agreement for the role, but compensation negotiations stalled and Andrew Vajna chose Jackson after seeing Pulp Fiction at Cannes.
Fishburne reportedly received $750,000 after suing, and the producers also had to option a script he wrote.
Simon Says was reportedly intended for Brandon Lee before his death.
Connery was reportedly first choice for Simon, though the research is not treated as certain; his villain credibility, German accent and physical fit are doubted.
McTiernan reportedly declined Batman Forever to make this film.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 00:31:17Read transcript

Ebert awarded three stars; the review praises a cleverly made, energetic action machine but the final stretch is treated as limiting its success.
The review itself receives a joking two-star assessment for being less distinctive than usual; this is separate from Ebert’s three-star film rating.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Simon’s monitoring and task count; next-day news coverage

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:47:28Read transcript

How many tasks Simon expected McClane to solve, and how he monitored them, remain open questions.
The next day’s newspaper lead could be the subway crash, multiple attacks, school threat, flood or McClane; New York under attack is a possible umbrella headline.
A multi-day version would allow ongoing newspaper headlines; filming amid New York’s 1994 sports excitement is recalled.
Mike and the Mad Dog are imagined delaying discussion of the attacks until after Knicks–Pacers and returning to Rangers coverage; the impression is fictional.

Best Double Feature

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In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:59:34Read transcript

Die Hard followed directly by this film is a pairing, skipping the more self-contained second installment.
Under Siege is another pairing; The Siege is separately proposed for New York and Willis, with its merits debated.
Pulp Fiction is the final additional pairing.

Producer review

Jack Sanders prefers this to the original; Jackson elevates Willis

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 02:10:06Read transcript

The invited Jack Sanders response compares Willis gaining Jackson to LeBron gaining Kevin Love, chooses this over the original Die Hard and credits Jackson with immediately elevating it. — Jack Sanders