A Good Day to Die Hard

A Good Day to Die Hard has quietly become one of the more dependable crime dramas currently available in Australia on Disney Plus, and in the US on HBO Max Amazon Channel and YouTube TV. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. A 5/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Bruce Willis anchors it, but the writing does the real work. Put it on tonight on Disney Plus and see for yourself.

A Good Day to Die Hard arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. At its heart, A Good Day to Die Hard understands what makes crime drama work — character first, plot second. Iconoclastic, take-no-prisoners cop John McClane, finds himself for the first time on foreign soil after traveling to Moscow to help his wayward son Jack - unaware that Jack is really a highly-trained CIA operative out to stop a nuclear weapons heist. With the Russian underworld in pursuit, and battling a countdown to war, the two McClanes discover that their opposing methods make them unstoppable heroes. Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2013. What makes A Good Day to Die Hard hold up is that the resolution matters less than how the characters get there. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Viewers who think they have seen every crime drama tend to find A Good Day to Die Hard proves them wrong. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Watch Bruce Willis work — it is a masterclass in the genre. Few crime dramas earn their twists this consistently.