MovieChat Forums > Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) Discussion > Say what you will about the ending but t...

Say what you will about the ending but the alternate ending is dumber.


In the alternate ending, it's said that the NYPD and the FBI thought John was in cahoots with Simon. What!? Nothing that happened the whole movie even supports that! If he's in cahoots with Simon why would he have risked his life to get the bomb off the subway train? Why would he kill Simon's men at the bank? Why would they have blown the dam to kill John if he's in cahoots with them? Then there's Simon's own men trying to kill him on the roadway and them trapping Zeus and John on the ship at the end. How could they think with all that and with Zeus' testimony that he's in cahoots with Simon? It makes no sense at all.

Say what you will about the ending but that alternate ending is dumber.

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Agreed ... plus it's out of tone with the rest of the movie and the franchise

"Die Hard" films take place within a limited span of time, almost real time, to maintain an air of urgency.

Also, while McClane is quick and hard to kill, there's nothing to suggest he has ninja-like abilities that would allow him to track down Simon and silently kill all his bodyguards.

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Absolutely right

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I prefer the alternate ending which I found more realistic

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I prefer the alternate ending but this was indeed an illogical part of it. It's a good and memorable scene though. If they could have written a one on one encounter with Simon similar and made a few adjustments, I'd have happily kept it in over the anti-climactic ending we actually got.

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It’s fascinating seeing the alternate but yeah, they made the right choice. It’s too depressing for no reason, it makes McClane behave (and look) almost like a villain himself, it kills the urgency, and his pay-off ‘joke’ about the flak jacket isn’t clever or witty enough.

The chopper ending we got is much more in keeping with the film and has some neat moments, it’s just let down by being a bit bland, a bit dumb (why is Zeus’ seatbelt suddenly ‘stuck’??), and it pales in comparison to the brilliant endings of 1 and 2. Still, it smashes anything in that turd DHINO (DH4) and DHINO 2 (DH5).

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DH4 is good, F you, Drooch!

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