Die Hard - Watch Order: Release Order
The Die Hard franchise follows NYPD officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) as he repeatedly finds himself battling terrorist threats in increasingly elaborate scenarios across 25 years. Starting with the popular 1988 skyscraper thriller that established the template for the "in the wrong place at the wrong time" action formula, this watch order shows McClane's entire journey.
The movies take you through different eras of action filmmaking - from the grounded, practical effects-driven tension of the late 80s and 90s entries to the more CGI-heavy, large-scale spectacle of the modern sequels.
Linear Timeline: Release Order = Story Order
Die Hard
NYPD cop John McClane's plan to reconcile with his estranged wife is thrown for a serious loop when, minutes after he arrives at her offices Christmas Party, the entire building is overtaken by a group of terrorists. With little help from the LAPD, wisecracking McClane sets out to single-handedly rescue the hostages and bring the bad guys down.
Die Hard 2
One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Christmas Eve, as he waits for his wife's plane to land at Washington Dulles International Airport, terrorists take over the air traffic control system in a plot to free a South American army general and drug smuggler being flown into the US to face drug charges. It's now up to McClane to take on the terrorists, while coping with an inept airport police chief, an uncooperative anti-terrorist squad, and the life of his wife and everyone else trapped in planes circling overhead.
Die Hard with a Vengeance
New York detective John McClane is back and kicking bad-guy butt in the third installment of this action-packed series, which finds him teaming with civilian Zeus Carver to prevent the loss of innocent lives. McClane thought he'd seen it all, until a genius named Simon engages McClane, his new "partner" -- and his beloved city -- in a deadly game that demands their concentration.
Live Free or Die Hard
John McClane is back and badder than ever, and this time he calls on the services of a young hacker in his bid to stop a ring of Internet terrorists intent on taking control of America's computer infrastructure.
A Good Day to Die Hard
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.
Other Film Series
Bourne Series
An amnesiac CIA assassin discovers his deadly past while being hunted by his former agency.
Mission: Impossible
Tom Cruise stars as IMF agent Ethan Hunt in this action-packed spy franchise known for elaborate stunts and impossible missions.
Ocean's Films
A heist franchise spanning from the Rat Pack era to modern ensemble capers.
Phantasm
A surreal horror franchise following young Mike Pearson and ice cream vendor Reggie in their ongoing battle against the interdimensional Tall Man and his deadly silver spheres.
RoboCop
A cyberpunk action series about a critically wounded police officer transformed into a cyborg law enforcer in dystopian Detroit.
Taken
A retired CIA operative uses his particular set of skills to protect his family from increasingly dangerous threats across three action-packed films.