Just a few weeks ago, when promoting his film, The Bricklayer, JoBlo asked Renny Harlin about making Die Hard 2: Die Harder, and he had high praise fro star Bruce Willis, who he compared, favourably, to the new generation of action stars, who seem reluctant to ever allow themselves to get beaten up on-screen, Willis never had this issue, said Harlin:

“I really wanted Bruce Willis to get really screwed up. His face is a blody mess by the end of the movie, and like you said, it really does make the character more heroic. They are really taking punishment and keep going.”

However, as we reported a little while back, there was one line Willis didn’t love in Die Hard 2:

Just the fax, ma’am…

It’s a line that made audiences laugh, but, in his book “The Last Action Heroes,” writer Nick de Semlyan interviews Harlin, and the director reveals it was a line the actor hated. In the book, Harlin says the only conflict between him and Willis happened because the latter wanted to play the great detective John McClane in a more serious way than he had in the original Die Hard, 1988’s biggest action movie. “One-liners and jokey comments are bullshit: that’s not real life. In a real situation, with lives on the line, you can’t say that kind of thing.”

According to Harlin, a compromise was made where Willis would do however many takes he wanted in a serious way, but Harlin would then be allowed to film a lighter, more humorous version. Most of these funny takes wound up in the final cut. But Willis drew the line by saying “just the fax” during a bit where a flirty airport worker helps him send a fax of a dead bad guy’s fingerprints. “He said it’s cheesy, it’s stupid. I’m not going to say it.” Finally, producer Joel Silver got involved, and the line was shot as planned.

Whatever the case, Die Hard 2: Die Harder wound up being a major financial hit, grossing $240 million worldwide, which is over $100 million more than the classic first instalment made. Ironically, the book states that when Die Hard 2 came out, Willis swore he was done with the character, saying, “Sure, Die Hard 3: He’s Dead. No, I think we’ve pretty much said everything about John McClane and terrorists.” Willis would go on to make Die Hard with a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard, and the now infamous A Good Day to Die Hard. Since being diagnosed with aphasia, which his family announced was an effect of frontotemporal dementia, Willis has been retired. Now is definitely time to look back at some of his classics, as well as some his movies that never really got their due, such as Antoine Fuqua’s Tears of the Sun (2003), 1991’s Hudson Hawk, The Last Boy Scout and, of course, his classic TV show Moonlighting, where he starred opposite Cybill Shepherd.

If you want more classic stories from the eighties and nineties golden age of action movies, I highly recommend checking out de Semlyan’s book. Buy it here!

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