DIE HARD (1988), DIE HARD 2 (1990), and DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE (1995) constitute one of my favorite trilogies like the GODFATHER series. For the sake of brevity, in this collective review I'll refer to them as DH1, DH2, and DH3.

The main thread that runs all throughout the three Die Hards is the loose cannon of a New York City cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) who finds himself pitted against world-class villains Hans Gruber (DH1), Col. Stuart (DH2) and Simon Gruber (DH3, brother of Hans Gruber). That conflict between good and bad is the central classic plot in all three DHs and it works much better in DH1 and DH3 than in DH2 for reasons I'll explain later.

McClane's wife Holly Gennero McClane (played by lovely Bonnie Bedelia) who found herself a new career in Los Angeles is the "love interest" subplot that threads through all three DHs despite her physical absence in DH3.

Police Sergeant Al Powell (played by Reginald Vel Johnson) has a prominent role in DH1 and a minor one in DH2 as a narrative device to knit links between these separate films.

There are specific references to DH1 by the characters in DH2 and DH3, as for example when they greet McClane as