I had recently purchased and watched all four Die Hard movies in Blu-Ray. As I watched the first (and arguably BEST) Die Hard, I realized something: Hans Gruber’s plan was actally rather well thought out. He had every base covered, every contengency looked at and planned for. The only thing he couldn’t have possibly planned for was that darned fly in the ointment (pain in the a$$) John Yippee-Ki-Yay MoFo McClane.
And then I watched the other three and realized that all of the plots were meticulously executed and were destined to succeed if not for the rather rude intrusion of McClane. But which was the best plot?
Using my own rating system, I have come to the conclusion that Die Hard 2’s Colonel Stuart actually has be the best plan of them all. Extremely well-concieved and executued, had the ability to adapt to outside circumstances, and he was prepared for someone like McClane. The only reason he failed was almost sheer luck on McClane’s part. Grade 5 of 5
Hans Gruber’s plan was ingenious and covered all the major bases, but lacked any real flexibility (he had to speed up his time tables to make up for McClane, but never really changed his plans accordingly). Grade 4 of 5
Simon (With a Vengence) made the fatal flaw of actually making McClane a part of his plan from the beginning. He had serveral chances to kill McClane but instead decided to play with him some more. A polar opposite to his brother Hans: his plan had WAY TOO MUCH improvisation. Grade 3 of 5
Thomas Gabriel (Live Free…) has the most intricate plan and almost made it to the top, but lacked Stuart’s finesse and physical ability to dominate the situation. When things went bad, they went bad fast. Grade 4.5 of 5
The irony: Die Hard 2, even after I finished this assessment, is still my least favorite of the series.