In comparison to T2 and the summer giants that followed, Die Hard had little to no hype and starred an unproven TV actor as its action hero. Die Hard still falls into the standard '80s action blockbuster category. After T2, everything had to be gigantic, computer-assisted, super-expensive, and "like you've never seen before!"
Before T2, summer blockbusters were still out to deliver a good movie with exciting action and stunt sequences. Up until then, you can still see effort put into the writing, story, how it's shot, and generally attention given to the art and craft of making a film almost entirely in-camera due to the lack of effective CG. After T2, they became tech demos. T2 is unique among its imitators (IMO) because it's one of the few super blockbusters that doesn't underestimate its audience.
Now, I certainly enjoy a good tech demo, but I don't think anyone can honestly look at some of the big action blockbusters of the pre-T2 era (Terminator, Die Hard, RoboCop, Aliens, Raiders, Predator, etc.) and say they aren't better and more lasting films than their latter-day equivalents. Aliens is still an awesome movie, made for $18 million using guys in suits and puppets, and it looks fantastic even today. Everything the characters do in that movie makes sense, there are no stupid plot holes to speak of, and it's a smart script overall. And that's 20 years later.
In 2016, will anyone be saying the same about Independence Day?