A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

Film and Plot Synopsis

In A Good Day to Die Hard, New York City cop John McClane arrives in Moscow to track down his estranged son, Jack. McClane thinks his son is a criminal, so it comes as a shock when he learns that Jack is actually working undercover to protect Komarov, a Russian government whistleblower. With their own lives on the line, McClane and Jack must overcome their differences in order to get Komarov to safety and thwart a potentially disastrous crime in the Chernobyl region.

‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ Movie Summary

A Good Day To Die Hard begins in Moscow. Viktor Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov), a high-ranking Russian official, plans to incriminate former billionaire and government whistleblower Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch) in an imminent rigged trial unless the billionaire turns over a secret file believed to contain evidence incriminating Chagarin. Jack McClane (Jai Courtney), an undercover CIA agent and son of John McClane (Bruce Willis), is arrested for a feigned assassination attempt. Jack attempts to negotiate for a shorter sentence by offering to testify against Komarov. Jack’s true agenda is to help Komarov escape so that the CIA can acquire the secret file.

Meanwhile, John McClane, who has not spoken to his son in several years and is unaware of his son’s job as an undercover CIA agent, flies to Russia to help his estranged son. As John approaches the courthouse where Jack and Komarov are making appearances, Chagarin’s henchman Alik (Radivoje Bukvić) detonates a bomb in the courthouse, which allows Jack escape with Komarov. John sees his son making a jailbreak and confronts him. However, the two men’s argument is cut short when Alik and Chagarin’s men try to kill them and they are forced to make an escape in a high-speed chase through Moscow. Jack takes Komarov and his father to a CIA safe house.

At the safe house, Jack tells his father that he has been in an undercover operation for the CIA for the last three years. Jack’s partner, Collins (Cole Hauser), attempts to extract the location of the Chagarin file from Komarov so the CIA can bring the government official down. Komarov agrees to turn over the file if he and his daughter are given safe passage out of Russia. Chagarin’s men raid the safe house and Collins is killed. Jack, John, and Komarov escape and make their way to a hotel in Moscow where Komarov states there is a hidden key to a vault containing the file.

At the hotel, the trio meets Komarov’s daughter Irina (Yulia Snigir), who has been instructed by her father to meet them there. John is suspicious of Irina, who has informed Chagarin’s men where her father can be found. Alik and his men capture the trio and tie up John and Jack. Irina informs her father that she turned him in for a large sum of money. Jack gets out of his bindings and kills some of Chagarin’s men. Alik becomes aware of the McClanes escape and returns to the hotel with Irina and Komarov in a helicopter. Alik uses the helicopter to try to kill the McClanes but the two men escape yet again.

The McClanes steal a car full of guns and drive to Pripyat, Ukraine, where the secret vault is allegedly located. However, Komarov, Irina, and Alik reach the vault before them. The file is revealed to never have existed. The drawer with the file inside it is actually a secret passage to a Chernobyl vault containing weapons grade uranium. Once inside the vault, Komarov reveals himself to be the true villain when he and Irina kill Alik. Komarov calls Chagarin and listens as Komarov’s men kill the government official.

The McClanes arrive at the vault and discover Komarov’s true agenda. Jack and John capture the former billionaire. Irina and another Komarov henchman attempt to rescue the girl’s father. Komarov gets away from Jack, who then chases after his former prisoner. John goes after Irina, who attempts to escape in the helicopter. Irina fires the helicopters guns at Jack to assist her father in his escape. John drives a truck, shackled by a chain, out of the hanger section of the helicopter via the open ramp. The helicopter is thrown off balance, causing Irina to struggle with control and throwing John out of the helicopter and onto the building.

Komarov watches from a distance with Jack. Komarov tells Jack that he will get to see his father die, and Jack pushes the Russian into the spinning blades of the helicopter killing Komarov. Jack finds his father alive. Irina flies the helicopter into the building in an attempt to avenge her father just as Jack and John leap off the building into a large pool of water. Irina dies and the McClanes survive.

The film ends with Jack and John returning to the United States and reuniting with Lucy McClane (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

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Additional Film Information

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