Domestic box office: $100 million
Inflation-adjusted grosses: $211 million
Another movie that's unapologetically aware of its time and place, John McTiernan "recovered" from Last Action Hero by returning to the John McClane franchise. Initially framed as a mad bomber thriller, the film took some pre-release heat from opening a month after racist militia jack-asses blew up the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 166 people. Bruce Willis asked at the time that he not be asked about the potential parallels because he didn't want to trivialize that tragedy by discussing it in terms of an apolitical popcorn action blockbuster, which frankly should be how these kinds of unfortunate situations play out on the regular. slot
Its success, $100 million domestic and a year-topping $366 million worldwide, was further proof that real-life tragedies don't affect the fortunes of films audiences already want to see. The film pits John McClane against Simon (Jeremy Irons, fresh off The Lion King), who uses a bombing spree to distract from, well, no spoilers. Unfortunately, Sam Jackson gets roped into the scheme and becomes McLane's unwilling partner (the film is from an original screenplay, Simon Sez, initially developed as a Lethal Weapon sequel).
The chatty flick doesn't shy away from the racial implications of an innocent Black man risking death over a family feud between two white dudes. The film's opening (featuring Willis wearing a very, uh, unpleasant sign on his chest) probably wouldn't fly today, and I'd imagine the film's flirtations with reverse racism would merit a few think pieces. But Die Hard with a Vengeance is from a time when R-rated action movies weren't supposed to stand in for the moral discourse.
