Die Hard 4

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
43,746
Reaction score
8,652
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.amazon.com
Against my preconceived prejudice, I went and saw Live Free or Die Hard and surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. OK, the techno crap was really annoying. As a techie I am really annoyed by how movies portray technologies -- yeah, right, just plug in a keyboard and hack into the entire country's system... sure. But anyway, as an action film, it actually is very entertaining, and keep me interested. Some really, really cool stunts and the special effects are fine. Bruce Willis is in fine form here, and Justin Long is not too annoying (although he's still playing the same role -- all I see is the Mac guy). Maggie Q is hot -- possibly one of the best, most gorgeous baddies.

The action is really over the top but fun. Plot holes galore and 2-D characters, but hey, it's all about the action. It's a great adrenaline rush, and it's not as dumb as I thought -- still, I really did have to check my brain at the door to fully enjoy this one. The story is really simple and that is one of the strengths of the film! You can easily sum up the whole film in one line, and that's a good thing.

So, yeah, I really enjoyed it. But please, no more outrageous la-la-land techno babbles. That's all I ask.
 

ChunkyC

It's hard being green
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
12,297
Reaction score
2,135
Location
trapped between my ears
I have to agree with Ray. I just finished writing my review and recommended it to Willis fans.

Tons of action and absurd stunts. McClane endures enough physical punishment to put him in a morgue many times over, but keeps on going. As for the computer stuff, it was like a huge commercial for the USB interface and plug 'n play.

Still, it was so much fun that you could overlook the silliness and go along for the ride. What I appreciate about a movie like this is that even though the stuff McClane does is ludicrous, it doesn't cross the boundary into the absolutely impossible. Sure, the odds of pulling things off like running that squadcar off a concrete lane barrier to launch it into a low flying helicopter are a billion to one, but there is that one in a billion chance he could make it work.

What's ridiculous is that he pulls off a dozen or so of these billion-to-one shots in about 24 hours, but once you're caught up in the action, who cares? It's a really entertaining flick.

As for Justin Long, I liked him in this, despite seeing his face nearly every day in the Apple commercials.
 
Last edited:

swvaughn

adrift
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 17, 2006
Messages
2,037
Reaction score
593
I've never seen the Apple commercials, but I remembered Justin Long from waaay back in Galaxy Quest. :D

Such a cute kid. He's still a cute kid. I thought this movie was a lot of fun (I went in expecting nothing, so I would have a shot at enjoying it).

SUV rammed up her ass. Heh heh heh. :)
 

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 12, 2005
Messages
18,981
Reaction score
6,933
Location
At some altitude
Website
www.jamie-mason.com
I just saw it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Die Hard is one of my alltime favorites, but the first sequel was awful and the second, only so so. Accordingly, I was pretty skeptical going in.

I have to say it didn't hurt that being able to go out to the movies last night was a last minute unexpected surprise.

At any rate, it's hilarious. Great, great one-liners from Bruce Willis and Justin Long. The action, while non-stop, deftly trod the line of not looking stupidly unlikely (with one possible sequence that threatened my loyalty). The actors were appealing, the script was funny, the plot was engaging and the special effects were great. They just got it all right.

Twice this year, I've spent a couple of hours in a darkened room with a couple of hundred people, laughing, squealing and easing my shoulders away from my ears. For action fans, that's pretty much all you can ask for.

Except Daniel Craig is quite a bit easier on the eyes than Bruce Willis.
 
Last edited:

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
4,288
Reaction score
561
Location
Pennsylvania
I saw Live Free or Die Hard the day after it came out and really liked it. The action scenes were great and pretty much nonstop. It was really funny in places too. I went straight from watching At World's End for the 7th time to Die Hard, so between the canon fire in Pirates and the gunfire and explosions in Die Hard my ears were kind of ringing, but it was still lots of fun. I'm going to see Die Hard again tomorrow.

Did anyone else notice that McClane's exchange with his daughter at the beginning was almost word-for-word identical to the first scene between Bruce Willis and his daughter in Armageddon? (Catching her with a guy, her using his first name then him telling her to call him Dad)
 

My-Immortal

Mr. Invisible
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
4,882
Reaction score
932
I haven't seen 4 yet (I want to), but I went to my own video library and started watching the entire series again (I've always been a fan of the series-just haven't watched them in a while). Anyway, I noticed that Die Hard was based on a book written by Roderick Thorp-Nothing Lasts Forever. I looked up some info on the book and found out it was actually a sequel to The Detective by Thorp. The Detective was made into a movie back in 1968 starring Frank Sinatra as the main character (in the books the John McClane character is actually a detective named Joe Leland).

Also, a bit more useless trivia-Die Hard 2 was based on another book, by another author, 58 Minutes by Walter Wager. Wager has written other books that have been turned into movies, but I haven't determined yet if any of these 'characters' could also have been "John McClane".

Okay-sorry for this brief interruption of stupid trivia.... :)

Take care all -
 

Writer2011

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
5,209
Reaction score
331
Location
North Carolina
I LOVED it...just as good as the others...and who cares if some of the tech stuff is far fetched--I got into a movie not to think...I want to be entertained.

Good stuff and nice to see Bruce Willis back in his form.
 

ChunkyC

It's hard being green
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
12,297
Reaction score
2,135
Location
trapped between my ears
and who cares if some of the tech stuff is far fetched--
When a movie isn't done well, then stuff like that is just one more irritant. *cough* Charlie's Angels *cough* But when it is done well like this one was, then you can overlook those things.
 

ALLWritety

One Step closer, I hope!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 30, 2007
Messages
834
Reaction score
137
Location
Out there somewhere
Hey does any one know what the music in the trailer is? Christmas, Motazt or something else. I really love the trailers version of said music. Yeah I know what a "Sad" guy i am.

The movie isn't released over here until the end of the month. I will go see it then.

Kev.
 

Bmwhtly

Yes, I'm back.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Messages
6,965
Reaction score
3,051
Location
The unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of
Like most of the rest of you, I was pleasantly surprised by Die Hard 4.0 (why it's called that over here, I've no idea).

Mostly because I was half expecting a.n.other CGI-laden quiptastic adrenaline rush.

But no, it wasn't very far in when I thought "Yup, That's a die hard film".
Thoroughly enjoyable.