Die Hard (film series) memorable." James Berardinelli wrote that the film "represents the class of modern action pictures and the standard by which they must be judged." Critic Desson Howe wrote that "Willis has found the perfect vehicle to careen wildly onto the crowded L.A. freeway of "Lethal Weapons" and "Beverly Hills Cops"." Willis was also called "perfect as the wisecracking John McClane" and "an excellent casting choice as a sardonic action hero." Alan Rickman's portrayal of villain Hans Gruber was described as "marvelous" and "a career-making performance." Gruber also ranked 46 on the villain side of AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains. In
Die Hard (film series) to overwhelmingly negative reviews and grossed $304.7 million worldwide. When the production was formally announced for the fifth film in the series, Bruce Willis expressed his desire to retire the John McClane character in a sixth and final film. In October 2015, returning director Len Wiseman, who previously directed "Live Free or Die Hard", shared the film's working title as "" on his Twitter feed. This, after stating that upon completion of "Die Hard 4.0", he and Willis discussed a type of prequel/sequel for the McClane character. Combined with the social media account, this drove speculation of some sort of