 The unrated version is fantastic! Spoilers Ahead! |
| Review Date: November 8, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Senor Zoidbergo, Washington D.C. |
Like many other people nervously anticipating Len Wiseman's debut as DH4 director, I could only hope that he could live up to, at the least, Die Hard 2. But he has done a fantastic job with McClane, that lives up to the previous trilogy. In fact, I'd rank LFoDH just behind the first Die Hard movie. No one can top Alan Rickman! The small touches, e.g. Gennero/McClane, Agent Johnson, helicopter flying, are subtle, but add greatly to the movie.
There were a few things missing from the theatrical release, of course. Most noticeably, the lack of swearing, McClane's trademark yippee-kai-yay being truncated. The violence was all there, but it just wasn't intense enough. Fear not fans! The unrated version fixes all of that! It's fantastic, McClane is back in all of his mf-in' glory!
**Spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.**
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I was hoping for some more dialogue from Timothy Olyphant in the unrated version, but unfortunately, he is still a bit one-dimensional. Run-times of the unrated vs. the theatrical are about the same, surprising considering that the unrated does add extra scenes.
What the unrated version includes:
Many more f-words and MF-ers.
- Extra dialogue between McClane and his captain, Clevino.
- Longer opening intro scene to Matt Long typing to the warlock,
listening to rock music.
- Extra banter when McClane and Matt first meet.
- More intro shots at the FBI command center.
- Shot of the National Transportation Center losing control of their
traffic grid.
- More shots of false anthrax alarm evacuation.
- Thomas Gabriel's hodgepodge of video of Nixon/Bush/Clinton speaking is
longer.
- Blood spurts!!! More gore, though not significantly more.
- More McClane-isms. When John is driving the police car in the tunnel
towards the helicopter, Rand shoots the engine, which lights on fire.
McClane quips, "Well the car's on fire, that can't be good."
- When Matt runs to his side after McClane destroys the helicopter,
McClane adds, "100,000 people are killed every year by cars. What's
another 4?"
- Quick shot of dead guards in power plant.
- When Mai dies in the elevator explosion, McClane screams a profanity
laced tirade at her.
- McClane flying (and landing!) helicopter scene much longer.
- The guy getting crushed in the giant blades scene doesn't have much
more blood.
- Yippee-kay-yay mf-er is said in full!
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McClane returns once again to show us how action is done-Yippee-Ki-Yay style!
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| Review Date: June 28, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Cody Patton, Albuquerque, NM USA |
| I'm a huge Die Hard fan as are most warm-blooded males, and my biggest fear was that this would just be another modern actioner with John McClane in it, but not a DH movie per-se. Well, thankfully, those fears couldn't have been more unfounded. This is definitely a DH movie, and what's more is it's the best action movie I've seen in a long time (which any DH movie worth making should be). Bruce Willis is truly the greatest action hero pretty much ever, and he reminded me of that constantly during this film. Now, some of the action is silly to say the least (the F-25 jet versus truck scene instantly comes to mind), but the movie never takes itself too seriously, and everything is well staged and executed. The PG-13 rating makes little difference, and I honestly can't believe they got away with it cuz this is one hard-hitting action thriller. Trust me, nice and violent even by DH standards. Also,I honestly wouldn't have minded a little more of McClane's signature overuse of the F-bomb, but there are some great lines and it's not exactly profanity-lite. Either way, this is a true summer movie and a true Die Hard movie! So if you like both of those things and aren't looking for depth and realism, but just a damn good time at the movies, then this is your ticket. Of all of the sequels and blockbusters this summer worth mentioning or seeing (or lack thereof), I can honestly say that Yippee-Ki-Yay is the way! |
McClane's Back! Making The World Unsafe For Terrorists!
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| Review Date: July 1, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Mel Odom, Moore, OK USA |
The DIE HARD franchise isn't a thinking man's dream. It belongs to the wannabe action hero inside every red-blooded American male. And to the women who love them. Any misapprehension that these films are going to take themselves realistically or seriously should be checked at the door.
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD opened Wednesday of this week just in time for the Fourth of July celebration, and to take advantage of the extra-long weekend at the box office. It's the fourth film in the franchise about New York Police Department Detective John McClane, absolutely the toughest cop Hollywood has ever created. In my opinion. Nobody bleeds like McClane bleeds. Or limps. Or talks to himself, delivering a humorous, self-deprecating monologue on how he got into the whole mess he is in.
There was some hesitation about whether or not Bruce Willis could pull off the franchise character again. There was no hesitation about the fact that if Bruce Willis could not play McClane, no one else could. Willis the actor and McClane the character are too tightly-knit to allow to anyone else to intrude into the franchise. Maybe other actors can play James Bond and win over a whole new audience, but I can't see that happening with this one. Not as long as Bruce Willis can still walk and talk.
After seeing the movie, there's no doubt that Willis - and McClane -are back in a big way. For a while, Willis swore he'd never play the character again. He wanted more serious roles and a chance to stretch as an actor. He's made some good films, and some not so good films, since DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE with Samuel L. Jackson. And while the McClane role is somewhat limiting Willis pulls it off with zest. Maybe he was born to do other things as well, but he was definitely born to be John McClane.
Now all the fans are going to be waiting for the next Die Hard movie, although there hasn't been any talk of such. We can only hope.
The movie starts out with a bang, the way these things always do. A group of cyber-criminals utilize code and algorithms written by blackboard computer hackers to get into key Federal government installations, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They're operating under a man named Thomas Gabriel, who has used enough players in his operation that none of the computer hackers know who they are working for or what they are truly doing.
As soon as Gabriel is certain that he's into the computer networks he wants to be into, he gives orders to start the elimination process of all the computer hackers involved. The action turns violent and bloody. Matt Farrell (played brilliantly by Justin Long) is the only one who escapes his fate, and that's only through the direct intervention of McClane.
It's been twelve years since the last DIE HARD movie. Those twelve years are reflected in the latest release. McClane has gotten older and his life has moved on. His wife finally left him for good and he's estranged from his son and daughter. He's introduced breaking up his daughter's latest date in a fairly humorous scene.
One of the things that was awkwardly handled in the movie was Lucy's - McClane's daughter -sudden change in feelings about her father. Viewers knew it was coming, but it came without true motivation from within. That part felt particularly scripted.
When McClane gets the call to go pick up a known computer hacker, the tension immediately ratchets up. In a move that was also very scripted, McClane arrives at Matt's house just in time to keep him from being blown to smithereens. (And you have to wonder why the bad guys simply didn't walk into each of the hackers' houses/apartments and simply shoot them when they were done with them. The explosions were just to give the special effects crew a warm-up for the action that was coming.)
The cat and mouse game begins, with McClane alternately fighting to stay alive and chasing the bad guys. The action sequences are pure dynamite, fueled by adrenaline and testosterone - on part of the characters and the audience. Viewers that are totally into the McClane experience are hard pressed not to hoot and holler in support of their hero's actions and one-liners.
Those fans understand that there are glaring plot holes and things that make no sense and in the real world things wouldn't function the way they do in the movie. For instance, the cell phone systems would go down almost immediately as emergency services took them over to use for their own operations. McClane uses a cell phone a lot in the beginning of the movie, as do the terrorists. Those would be the first things shut down. Security on major important network sites, like the eastern seaboard utility control area, would be immediately entrenched in military personnel if the United States government believed it was under attack.
But that's beside the point. This film is about action, not about reality. Reality would be much slower paced.
As always, McClane ends up being the guy involved in the investigation who gets all the key pieces as to what's really going on. It wouldn't be a DIE HARD movie if he didn't.
The concept of the "fire sale" in the realms of cyber-terrorism is a real thing. There are a lot of checks and balances to keep it at bay, but it is one of the things the United States government constantly guards against. The movie sells the idea very well.
Also, though the franchise isn't known for being cutting-edge or high-tech, there's a lot of the emerging computer technology and integrated systems that are nationwide and international in the film. Justin Long's character introduces all that technology and the concepts behind it in bite-sized chunks that the audience can keep track of in the midst of car chases, gunfights, and serious explosions.
I found myself as enthralled by the computer attacks as I was by McClane's usual physical action and banter. There was something so inherently cool about watching the terror-geeks and Matt Ferrell at work on computer systems even though much of it was fake. The idea that it was all possible and would be done in such a way was amazing.
But the action - that's the key to every Die Hard film. There's plenty of it in this movie. Is it over the top? No doubt about it! No one - but no one - could walk away from all the damage that McClane takes while doggedly pursuing the bad guys. I lost count of the number of bodies left behind, the number of vehicles that were destroyed in wrecks and explosions, the number of buildings that were leveled, and would have to guess that the number of bullets fired must be in the millions.
The most over-the-top sequence in the film is the scene where McClane is driving an eighteen-wheeler through a system of elevated highways while being pursued and fired upon by a military attack jet with hover capability. There is simply no way this could ever happen, or that a truck could suffer that much damage and still keep going. Much less without the driver getting killed.
If they do a video game on this movie as they have some of the movies in the past, you can see this sequence being part of the game. It's ludicrous. It's impossible. And yet, it's so McClane. And that's what puts the butts in the seats, folks.
Maggie Q plays possibly the most lethal lady McClane has ever had the misfortune of crossing paths with. She absolutely tears him apart for a while. And that leads to possibly the second-most over-the-top sequence in the film when the action spreads the elevator shaft. Still, if anybody was gonna do it like this, it has to be rogue cop John McClane.
Make no mistake. This film isn't for posterity. This film isn't even close to Academy Award material - except maybe for special effects.
What this film is, and where it succeeds so admirably, is an action film starring one of the best action heroes ever invented or portrayed, and played once more by the only actor that could do that character justice. This is superhero action without the cape and the mutant abilities. And this is a hero who's fallible yet impossible to beat.
Treat yourself to a summer delight over the holidays. Buy a ticket. Invest heavily in a willing suspension of disbelief at the door. Find a good seat. And prepare to cheer on John McClane one more time as he goes up against impossible - and, admittedly, wildly improbable - odds. |
A strong addition to the "Die Hard" films
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| Review Date: June 28, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Some Gravity, Indiana, USA |
It is worth noting that before "Live Free or Die Hard" was released, it actually had two complaints that it had to deal with: not only was it PG-13, the grandfather of the "Die Hard" series, John McTiernan (who directed "Die Hard" and "Die Hard With a Vengeance"; something that gave McTiernan the honor of directing all but one of the DH films before this was released), was MIA. Negative signs for a sequel, especially a sequel to a film that came out twelve years ago ("Die Hard With a Vengeance") and is a fourth film in a trilogy.
But, none of the above hurts "Live Free or Die Hard" whatsoever. This time around, John McClane (Bruce Willis) is still a New York City police officer. While John McClane's police work has become easier, his personal life hasn't. This is due to the fact that John McClane is divorced from his wife Holly, and that his two children, Lucy (portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead in this film) and John Jr. are not speaking to him (throughout this film, with the exception of a picture of the actress that played Holly McClane in "Die Hard" and "Die Hard 2: Die Harder", Bonnie Bedelia, being present, there is no sign of either Holly McClane or John McClane Jr. throughout this film).
And then, one night, everything in John McClane's life turns around and makes a turn for the worse. Once John McClane has arrested a computer hacker by the name of Matt Farrell (Justin Long), before McClane knows it, he and Farrell are on the run. Now, not only is it up to John McClane to save the life of Matt Farrell(and before he knows it, his own daughter),he and Farell,before they know it, are up against Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olymphant),a dangerous man who has the computer infrastructure and the world at the tip of his fingers.
Can John McClane not only defeat Thomas Gabriel, but at the same time, rescue his own daughter, Matt Farrell, and the entire nation? Or, will the power of Thomas Gabriel lead to Gabriel defeating both John McClane and the nation, and McClane's personal life and career being permanently scarred?
The only things that will tell are time, decisions, and intelligence.
So, what makes "Live Free or Die Hard" a strong addition to the "Die Hard" series? Based off of the article "A Farewell to Arms" by John Carlin,"Live Free or Die Hard" understands its limits. It avoids becoming too much of reality that several people fear every day, without trying to be light for that specific reason. In that matter, "Live Free or Die Hard" is straightforward and realistic, something that any type of film like itself needs. There is plenty of suspense and action in "Live Free or Die Hard" that is richly executed, and is able to remain true to its predecessors ("Die Hard"," Die Hard 2:Die Harder", and "Die Hard With a Vengeance"),without recycling them. At the same time, you will find classic humor that is to be found in "Live Free or Die Hard". This humor 1)never fails to entertain,2)fits in well the script, and 3)is suitable enough for "Live Free or Die Hard" to be a strong addition to the "Die Hard" films, without going overboard.
The acting in "Live Free or Die Hard" is also another one of the film's highlights. The main actors of "Live Free or Die Hard"--Bruce Willis,Justin Long,Timothy Olymphant,and actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead--plus several others--perfectly understand the drama and emotion that their performance in "Live Free or Die Hard" requires, and execute it to their fullest. At the same time, Bruce Willis and Justin Long make a perfect onscreen team, while Willis, despite his age, NAILS the action that his fourth portrayal of John McClane requires.
It is also worth noting that even though some people were angry/disappointed that John McTiernan did not direct "Live Free or Die Hard", the director of LFODH, Len Wiseman (who was hired as a replacement director for McTiernan, as a result of McTiernan having "Three Kings" and "Batman Begins" producer Charles Roven wiretapped and lying to FBI agents about it) serves as a perfect director for the film. Not only does Len Wiseman's direction of "Live Free or Die Hard" save the film from its PG-13 rating (in other words, Wiseman did a good job at making sure that LFORDH was not less intense by its rating, something that could have happened) and give it the suspense, emotion, action, and humor that it needed, there is something else worth noting. That is the fact that as good as the first three "Die Hard" films were, all three of them did have some goofs and a few bits of inaccurate information. But," Live Free or Die Hard" does not have these two flaws--something that proves that Len Wiseman did his homework while making this film, something that makes Wiseman a talented director.
Bottom Line: if you are a fan of the "Die Hard" series, "Live Free or Die Hard" is not to be missed, as it is top notch and does not disappoint.
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Unrated Special Edition the only way to go
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| Review Date: November 19, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Cubist, United States |
Fans of the Die Hard franchise were upset when it was announced that this film would be the first one in the series to be rated PG-13, an obvious bid to attract a younger audience. Thankfully, the more violent, profanity-laden unrated version is included on this DVD so that we can watch the film the way it was meant to be seen.
The first disc includes an audio commentary by director Len Wiseman, actor Bruce Willis and editor Nicolas De Toth. Right from the get-go, all three men address the studio-imposed PG-13 rating thing and how they went ahead and shot an R rated version anyway. There are quite a few lulls as the three men tend to get caught up watching the film but manage to deliver a fairly decent track.
The second starts off with "Analog Hero in a Digital World: Making Live Free or Die Hard," a feature-length documentary that can also be viewed as 10 separate featurettes. Wiseman admits to being a big fan of the series, especially the first one, and this motivated his decision to accept the gig. Various other aspects of the production are covered in detail, including casting the main roles, set design, stunts, editing, visual effects, and sound. This is done in an accessible way that is entertaining and informative.
"Yippee Ki Yay Motherf*****!" Filmmaker Kevin Smith interviews Bruce Willis in this fun, entertaining extra. Smith flat out asks Willis why he decided to do yet another Die Hard sequel. He admits that mistakes were made on the second and third films and with this new one he was more conscious about not repeating those mistakes. Smith asks good questions which Willis answers them honestly.
There is a music video for "Die Hard" by Guyz Nite, a pop punk band. The song pays tribute to the Die Hard films with a montage of clips from all four films.
"Behind the Scenes with Guyz Nite" is forgettable look at this rock band as they talk about themselves and their music.
"Fox Movie Channel Presents Fox Legacy" takes a brief look at the Die Hard franchise, giving a little backstory.
Finally, there is a theatrical trailer. |
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