'Die Hard With A Vengeance' is 20 years old, so let's solve that math problem again

Yippee ki-yay, Die Hard With A Vengeance was released 20 years ago, on May 19, 1995. The best Die Hard sequel — and maybe the best Die Hard? — brought Detective John McClane to New York for the first time, added a sidekick in the form of Samuel L. Jackson’s Zeus and made audiences really think about math.

At a key point in the film, McClane and Zeus are given a five-gallon jug and a three-gallon jug and asked to fill one with exactly four gallons of water to prevent a bomb from going off. So how do they solve the problem? Simple:

Fill the five-gallon jug with water.

Empty three gallons into the three-gallon jug, leaving two gallons in the five-gallon jug.

Empty the three-gallon jug completely, and then refill it with the remaining two gallons from the five-gallon jug.

Fill the five-gallon jug again.

Empty one gallon from the five-gallon jug into the three-gallon jug.

The five-gallon jug is left with exactly four-gallons of water.

Happy anniversary, Die Hard!

• By Christopher Rosen