[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 here for my look back at the first Die Hard.]

There wasn’t a shred of doubt that after Die Hard became one of the biggest hits of 1988, a sequel wouldn’t be far behind.  Two years later, Die Hard 2 (with the tagline “Die Harder”, although this is sometimes erroneously believed to be part of the title) opened and became one of the biggest hits of 1990.  But the rush came with a lack of ingenuity, and Die Hard 2 is mostly a retread.  Rather than focusing on John McClane (Bruce Willis) as the outsider, Die Hard 2 is about how he can’t catch a break.  It has to be due to the chronological proximity to the first movie.  However, while the sequel lacks originality, its biggest problem is misunderstanding the motives of McClane, and ignoring the conflict between his drive to do the right thing, and once again saving his wife.

Director Robert Rodriguez’s sequel Machete Kills now has a release date, as the continued adventures of the titular Machete will commence on September 13th of this year.  The pic is the second in a planned trilogy (the third film supposedly takes place in space) and centers on Machete’s (Danny Trejo) quest to stop an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has plans to spread war and anarchy across the planet.  On the September release date, the pic will open opposite the dancing film Battle of the Year and the Aaron Eckhart-led action horror adaptation I, Frankenstein.

Hit the jump to read the full press release.  The colorful cast includes Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alex Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror, and of course Mel Gibson.

A double-barrel of good news on the Machete Kills front, as the Robert Rodriguez-directed and Danny Trejo-starring sequel has been picked up for North American distribution in 2013 by Open Road Films and has released its first official image!  The second installment in a planned trilogy features Trejo as the former Mexican federale out to stop a madman and a billionaire arms dealer from unleashing war across the globe.

The crazy cast which crowds Trejo out of his screen time features Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding, Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror and Mel Gibson.  Hit the jump to check out the first image of Machete Kills.  Mr. Machete, what are you doing to Miss San Antonio?

Filming is currently underway on Robert Rodriguez‘ Machete Kills, and the TV show Extra got to visit the set.  They sat down with the director, and one of the film’s many stars, Mel Gibson.  Gibson plays the movie’s villain, a dangerous arms dealer who is threatening the U.S. with nuclear attacks.   In the fluff-piece interview with Extra, Gibson said he only spent a week filming his entire role, and his character is “an evil genius, kind of like a Bond villain, but also a gourmet chef.”

The large cast also added yet another actor with the talented William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption) tweeting an image of the poster for his character, Sheriff Doakes.  Hit the jump to check out the set video and poster.  The film also stars Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Edward James Olmos, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Demian Bichir, Michelle Rodriguez, Lady Gaga, Alexa Vega, and Charlie Sheen.

Man on a Ledge will have a long and prosperous life playing on TNT for the next 134 years.  That’s not an insult.  Not every thriller needs to pump up our adrenaline, not every heist film has to dizzy our minds, and not every drama has to make us reconsider men and the ledges they stand on.  Sometimes it’s enough to simply be a fun little movie that can play in the background while you’re working on something else.  For the most part, Man on a Ledge manages to clear its modest bar but some key miscasting and wasted performances keep it from reaching the levels of The Negotiator or In the Line of Fire.