1990s
Hill began the 1990s with the only sequel he's directed to date, Another 48 Hrs., with Murphy this time top-billed over Nolte. However, the sequel to his biggest commercial success was thought by many critics to be merely a retread of the original, but became the highest grossing film that Hill has directed.
In 1992, Hill directed a film originally called Looters about two firemen who cross paths with criminals while searching for stolen loot in an abandoned East St. Louis tenement building. However, the L.A. Riots broke out shortly before the film's release and the studio delayed its opening, eventually changing the title to Trespass.
Hill began to focus his energies on Western-themed tales. His film biography of Geronimo, entitled, Geronimo: An American Legend, with a screenplay written by John Milius, was well received by the critics, but fared poorly at the box office. A second biopic - this time of the titular Wild Bill - had little critical or commercial success, although Hill would return to the same themes and same characters, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, the next decade with the TV series Deadwood.
His 1996 effort Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis, a Prohibition-era Western update of Yojimbo (and thus reminiscent of that film's inspiration, Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest, and its western incarnation, A Fistful of Dollars) saw him return to his earlier style to some extent: a gruff antihero and a heavy focus on stylized action. It was seen as a return to form for the director probably because of the mix of genres (including gun plays inspired by Hong Kong director John Woo).
The 1990s also saw him retain a writing and producer credit for Alien 3. He and David Giler were responsible for the final and controversial rewrite of the story which killed off the Bishop, Hicks and Newt characters from Aliens. He continued as one of the three original producers on Alien Resurrection, although he has stated in several interviews he has had nothing to do with the franchise since Alien 3.
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