It's time for another comprehensive franchise discussion from Brandon Peters, this time centering around the February 14th release of A Good Day to Die Hard. As such, the fourth film on the list is obviously Live Free or Die Hard. The film has a rocky history and a rocky reputation, but I agree with most of Brandon's points below (my original review from 2007). About that jet scene? Here's a tip: Just skip it. Hit the DVD skip button once and the film still flows 100% and works a good 10% better overall. I'll leave the floor to Brandon once again...Live Free Or Die Hard
What, like you a bigfan of the Fett?
No, I was always more a Star Wars guy.
~WAR10CKto McClane
It took twelve years for John McClane to return to the theatersaround the world. The franchise seemed atad like it was complete. No, With A Vengeance didn't spell out anend, but it just felt satisfactory and I think everyone kind of assumed it wasthe last hurrah. Now, that didn't stopmurmurs of a Die Hard 4 from poppingup every so often. Following the openingof Armageddon in 1998 came the first wind. Willis and Armageddon co-star Ben Affleck were going to team up forit. Affleck would play McClane’s sonJack and the film would take a minimalist “no weapons” approach taking place inthe jungle. This never panned out. Throughout the years the rumors would be there and most of them somehowincluding a Lucy McClane rescue. Maybeinspired by Stallone’s revisiting of Rocky Balboa, Fox and Willis were motivatedto finally get this off the ground.
Director John McTiernan would have been ideal to take thehelm, but he was caught up in some big time legal troubles. Brought up to the plate was director LenWiseman, who had only helmed two Underworld films prior. How'd they do? LiveFree Or Die Hard turns out to be quite a fun film, while not living up toMcTiernan’s standards, but seeming to make a picture matters more thanHarlan’s. The film takes a step forwardin the “going bigger” territory from the last film by making this a nationalcrisis and giving McClane a situation that takes longer (about a day and ahalf) and has a bigger playground (four cities).
A lot of the action pieces in the film feel like a bunch of“Die Hard on a…” situations grouptogether to get from place to place. There’ssome absolutely thrilling and fun pure DieHard stuff going on at times in this film. I absolutely love the battle in Matthew Farrell’s apartment. It’s an exciting, intense escape with McClanehaving to be incredibly quick on his feet. Another fun situation pits them in a darkened hellacious traffic tunnelwith cars going full speed at each other. While not perfect, this film is rather good at keeping you on your toes.
Bruce Willis seems to be having a lot of fun with thisone. McClane is backed, it appears he’scleaned up since we’ve last spent a day with him. However, he’s divorced and he’s struggling toconnect and garner interest in a relationship from his children. In a nice call back to the original, Lucy isgoing by her mother’s maiden name of Genarro (another call back I like is FBIagent Johnson). John’s still a manrefusing to adapt to modern technologies as we were told in the second film. While that’s acknowledged ifyou’re paying attention, there’s still no real recognition of anysequels. You could honestly watch thisafter the first Die Hard or go 1-2-4 or 1-3-4 so far with this series. I don't think its that they don’t want torecognize the sequels, its just maybe that its inconsequential to the currentepisode.
There is a great moment in this film where John discusseswith Farrell what it means to be a “hero”. It’s a great speech and a wonderful summation of McClane and of the80’s-90’s action hero in general. Itsbits like this and the fun ride we’re taken on that makes me appreciate thisfilm more than most internet trolls. There’s complaints that John is too much of a Superman in this film andnot the “common man”. I argue he’s stillgot that average thing going for him. And yes, he survives his biggest beatings of the series and is at a mucholder age. However, I feel in this film,since its so far removed from the original three tells the story of JohnMcClane as a legend. Whereas the first three were being there and seeing the events unfold in the present time, Live Free’sJohn McClane is a product of a man growing through years of stories being told,exaggerated and building a mythology to a man. In this regard, I fully accept what John McClane has become in thisfilm. I don’t think its too hard to see or enjoy. These films get bigger each time, and Johnsuffers more and more. We started withglass in the feet and have worked our way to getting knocked over by cars andfalling off ledges. That said, let meget to this jumping off a jet fighter, free way being destroyed mumbojumbo. It’s a bad moment. The whole thing. It’s a scene that isn't just a bad thing in aDie Hard movie, it would have been abad scene in any action movie. Luckily,its not the end of the film and there’s more to come.
The rest of the cast rounds out just fine. Justin Long as Matthew Farrell provides yetanother new angle for McClane to partner. While his and Willis chemistry is a far cry from Samuel L. Jackson’s,its not trying to be and I thank them for it. Long’s character brings about a few very funny moments (I love theOnStar scene). Timothy Olyphant ismerely serviceable/good as the villain. As a big fan of Olyphant, I was definitely wanting more for him. It feels as if he was keeping himself on aleash, fearing that he might sink to camp territory with a wrong move. Instead trying to play everything to smartand too clean. He does bring about somemenace and threat, but always feels a little too far to be too dangerous (ascript fault likely, not his). Maggie Qis the real scene stealer here. She mayjust be my favorite hench person in the series. I really like the fight/elevator shaft sequence in the middle of thefilm. She’s smart, competent and superkick ass. And she’s given absolutely nospecial treatment because she’s a girl. In a way, we feel she may just be just as equal to Olyphant’sGabriel. Rounding out, we get LucyMcClane and Winstead manages to to give us a convincing performance to believeshe’s truly a Genarro-McClane.
Now, this Die Hardgot a lot of crap for getting the moneygrabbing PG-13 rating, making peoplehave their minds made up that they didn’t like it before they even purchasedtheir tickets. I think an appropriaterating for this would be R-13. As itstands, the PG-13 rating is as gory/violent as any of the previous films inthis series, if not moreso. Its almost ajoke that this cut is PG-13. I thinkhaving to do quicker cuts away from some scenes make the violence/impliedviolence much worse than anything that could have been shown. I also thought the “Yippie-Ki-Yay” moment inthe film was actually cleverly done. When getting released on DVD, the uncut version was dropped. Did it “fix” what people wanted? I dunno. All that appears in the uncut version are bunch of “fucks”, a couplelingering shots and some extra CG blood at a couple spots. Really, it doesn’t do a whole lot forit. I could care less whether somebodyis saying the word “fuck” or swearing more. Doesn’t do much for me. But ifthat’s your fancy, I guess its there for you. I prefer the PG-13 cut. Sue me.
I really think this is a fun film, while maybe stretchingthe series to some bigger heights than weave come to expect. There’s one big moment that really doesn't work, but I can shrug it off. I feellike everywhere I read, there’s an incessant hate for this film. However, looking through the internet, I've seen quite the opposite in the general arena. Metacritic gives it a 69, Rotten Tomatoes 81% (critic) and 86%(audience), and a 7.3 on IMDB (higher than 2 and just below 3). So, it must be that those who hate this movieare just a bit more vocal about it. Ireally like it. Is it he best in theseries? No. Is it a fun time, thatthrills me and keeps good with the character I've loved through 3 filmsnow? Hell yeah! Its DieHard. Every film so far has takenthe scale up a notch every step of the way. This one is no different. Sometimesas a franchise takes time off, and the originals are allowed to grow to a thingof legend, any new follow up is held up to this absurdly high standard that theseries’ sequels were never held up at to begin with. I applaud Len Wisemen for making a fun film,not succumbing to overly Greengrass Bourneaction, and keeping things practical with as much physical effects and stunt work he could cram into it.
Next Up: Ranking DIE HARD
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