[With A Good Day to Die Hard set to open this Thursday, we'll be taking a look back at the first four Die Hard movies.  These reviews will contain spoilers since the movies have been out for years.  Click on the respective links for my look back at Die Hard and Die Hard 2.]

I like to consider Die Hard with a Vengeance the true sequel to Die Hard.  It’s bigger, bolder, darker, but still retains the same sense of desperation, humor, and intensity of the first movie.  Unlike Die Hard 2, the purpose of Die Hard with a Vengeance isn’t to copy the plot elements of the first film, but to take the spirit of the original and paint it on a broader canvas.  Die Hard with a Vengeance takes what could have been a stolid, safe entry, and instead shakes up the formula to keep John McClane (Bruce Willis) alive and kicking, which is impressive for a guy who should have died many times over.

In the 1970s, the city of Cleveland played host to a turf war between the Italian mafia and an Irish crime syndicate headed by Danny Greene. In Kill the Irishman, Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) plays the titular Celtic warrior in a biopic based on true events. Writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh (The Punisher) allows Stevenson to tread ambiguous moral ground in his portrayal of Greene, but the movie tends to lean towards establishing Greene as a folk hero instead of a murderous criminal. Hit the jump for my review.

Anchor Bay has released a trailer and poster for their new crime thriller Kill the Irishman.  The film centers on real-life Irish mobster Danny Greene (played by Ray Stevenson) who decided to stop being a loan shark for the Italian mob and go into business for himself.  Not surprisingly, the mafia didn’t take too kindly to that career change and they tried to blow him up.  A lot.  There are about 14 explosions over the course of this two-and-a-half minute trailer.  However, the film does look like a nice showcase for Stevenson and Stevenson’s mustache.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  Kill the Irishman also stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer, and Christopher Walken.  It opens March 11, 2011.