Die Hard movies pretty much set the bar for action movies in the nineties. They are over the top, based almost entirely on the action, and aren't meant to be taken too seriously. But with the advent of the newest movie, it is easy to see that their time has passed. John McClain is probably ready to be retired.

The first pits a single cop, John McClain, against a group of terrorists/robbers. The main bad guy, played by a very stylish Alan Rickman, is the perfect example of the over the top, pure evil bad guy that we like to see fall out of a window at the end of the movie. What is great is that even though John has to fight everyone on his own, he spends the whole movie trying to get anyone else to come and help him. This gives the movie a sense of realism, as well as telling us that John doesn't think he can really take out everyone on his own, even though that is what ends up happening, though it does happen largely through luck.

The second movie gets more outlandish. It takes place in an airport and once again our hero is thrown into something just because he happened to be in the right place at the right time. The premise works, and he is able to save the day, but there are a few more elements of the completely far-fetched that start to pop up. Still, the movie isn't outside the realm of possibility by too much.

The third movie encompasses an entire city. This time John gets roped in by the choice of the bad guys instead of just happening to be around for it. And even though the action gets a little more out of control in this movie, it is still in the realm of believable for an action movie. It also allows Samuel Jackson to show up and constantly complain about having to deal with John.

But the forth movie ends up having an entire nation at siege. And it doesn't make a lot of sense how that happens. What makes less sense is that this cop from New York suddenly seems to have super powers. Yes, he seemed nearly indestructible in the first three movies, but now he is able to jump out of a moving car that he has just turned into a rocket to destroy a helicopter and get up and walk away.

These types of movies work better when they are done on a bit smaller scale. They need to be done smaller. This isn't a super hero we are dealing with, this is an aging cop. John can't do everything, and the audience should know this. Regardless of how much people want to root for him, it is hard when he has become some sort of superman instead of just being a tough New York cop.

Ultimately it is just a difference in the styles of the time. A couple of decades ago it was okay to show an average guy in an unusually situation. Now, with the advent of super-hero movies and an ability to do more with special effects, every action movie is made with an eye to massive explosions and not to making a good underdog story.

Die Hard movies are never going to go away. People will still want to watch them for many years to come. There just comes a time when a new one can't do justice to the franchise anymore. John McClain needs to retire and Bruce Willis can do other outlandish action movies in its place, and that way everyone will be happy.