Die Hard / Bandits / The Siege / Hart’s War Billy Bob Thornton 2007 DVD

Five popular Bruce Willis movies. In ‘Die Hard’ (1988), on Christmas Eve, New York cop John McClane (Willis) is visiting his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Los Angeles, where she works. They are attending a party at Holly’s high-rise office block when terrorists, led by the suave Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) break in, taking everyone hostage. McClane manages to evade capture, however, and sets out to rescue his wife and the other prisoners. It is not long before he is running barefoot over shattered glass (ouch!) in a sweaty vest, muttering ‘Yippy kay aye’ as he dispatches the baddies with bullets and a certain earthy wit. In ‘Bandits’ (2001), escaped convicts Joe (Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) have come up with a new way to approach to bank robbery: they will take the bank manager hostage the night before, and then accompany him or her to the bank in the morning and clear out the vaults. Amazingly, the plan works, and the pair are soon known nationwide as the notorious ‘Sleepover Bandits’. But when madcap housewife Kate (Cate Blanchett) joins the gang, both men quickly fall in love with her, and their previously harmonious working relationship suddenly turns sour. In ‘The Siege’ (1998), FBI/NYPD anti-terrorist officer ‘Hub’ Hubbard (Denzel Washington) is called into investigate when a Brooklyn bus is bombed. The perpetrators are demanding the release of Sheik Ahmed Ben Talal, who has been kidnapped by US General William Devereaux (Willis). Hub focuses his initial search on Brooklyn’s Arab community, but is shadowed by CIA operative Elise Kraft (Annette Bening), whose contact in Palestine intimates that the real problem lies elsewhere. Before Hub or Kraft can act, however, the FBI headquarters are also bombed, and Deveraux imposes a state of martial law. In ‘Color of Night’ (1994), Willis stars as a psychiatrist who runs an encounter group in LA, amongst whom is the murderer of one of his friends. While the police monitor the group, Willis gets involved in a steamy relationship with Rose (Jane March), not completely understanding her complex character. In ‘Hart’s War’ (2001), Willis stars as a US officer determined to protect the details of an escape attempt in this tough Second World War drama set in a prisoner-of-war camp in Belgium. When racist prisoner and known traitor Sergeant Bedford (Cole Hauser) turns up murdered, suspicion turns to African-American pilot Lieutenant Scott (Terrence Howard). Colonel McNamara (Willis), the officer in charge of US prisoners, requests that Scott be put on trial and orders Lieutenant Hart (Colin Farrell) to stand as his defence counsel. In his subsequent investigations, Hart gradually uncovers new information about the killing, and begins to question McNamara’s role in the proceedings.