Cinema Science

Watching Live Free or Die Hard tonight I had the idea of what the movie should have been. It's actually a movie already made and a movie already made starring Bruce Willis, his 2006 film 16 Blocks. Just read this plot description and tell me it doesn't sound more like a Die Hard movie than Willis going up against a bunch of internet terrorists.

John McClane (of course I changed this to fit my theory), a burnt-out New York detective, is assigned the unenviable task of transporting a fast-talking convict (Mos Def) from the jail to a courthouse. However, along the way he learns that the man is supposed to testify against McClane's colleagues, and the entire NYPD wants him dead. McClane must choose between loyalty to his colleagues and protecting the witness, and never has such a short distance seemed so long.

So I know it's not perfect but if you ironed out a few kinks I think it could have worked. You have the sidekick, the single day story the other films have employed, and McClane burnt out and overcoming insurmountable odds. Hell, make Mos Def's convict Argyle the limo driver from the first film and the series comes full circle. That last sentence was a joke, sort of.