John McClane, the heroic New York cop with a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time, is back, and his latest predicament takes him all the way to Russia to track down his estranged son, Jack, who has been imprisoned in Moscow. But the mission takes a deadly turn as father and son must join forces to thwart a nuclear weapons heist that could trigger World War III.

To make the world safe for nuclear arms merchants, Lex Luthor creates a new super being to challenge Superman: the radiation-charged Nuclear Man. The two foes clash in an explosive extravaganza that sees Superman saving the Statue of Liberty, pluging a volcanic eruption at Mount Etna and rebuilding the demolished Great Wall of China.