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Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:07 pm
by wayfriend
Actually, this is a very interesting and good review.
Holy Cow! It’s Vern’s Review Of LIFE FREE OR DIE HARD! Did He Like It Or Not?!?!

... So, my friends, I dearly wish we were not in this ridiculous situation. I wish they had just done the right thing and released the movie as it was obviously meant to be, so I could recommend this movie without reservations or caveats or what have yous. I mean how ludicrous is it that we are actually put into the position of explaining how a flippin DIE HARD movie is "really violent... for PG-13!" and "pushes the limits... of PG-13!"

It's preposterous and it's sad and it's a bad omen that we have found ourselves here, but it could've been worse. The movie could've sucked. But I am relieved to be able to tell you that, despite everything going against it, LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD is a pretty damn entertaining movie. ... [link]

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:34 am
by Cail
It's awesome.

It really should've been rated R (guy gets shot in chest, falls on white car, leaves no blood), but other than that minor gripe, it's great.

Can't wait for Die Hard 5.0

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:56 am
by ItisWritten
Oh yeah. An R rating would have made viewing it a tad more believable--but the over-the-top stunts and action sequences are the best part of this movie.

That said, I only noticed the PG-13 trappings after the fact, and it did not ruin the movie at all.
Spoiler
My son and I laughed oh so hard when the french hamster fell into the wheel and McClane yells, "Oh no!" as if someone had just spilled milk on his morning paper.
As we left the theatre, I wondered if the writers had made a list of every throw-away one-liner ever used, and patched them into the appropriate place. Even if that were true (and I'm not geeky enough to follow through on the question), it was well done.

I'll take a 5th, please.

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:41 pm
by Menolly
Wow guys, I am not an action movie gal at all, and have seen none of these films, but these comments are making me think of tagging along with Hyperception and Beorn if they go.

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:02 pm
by The Laughing Man
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I did steal my title line from a review of it online, heh. the critic was describing all the other action sequels in comparison to this one....as "moping dolorously"..... :D

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 12:22 pm
by Usivius
this was a good action movie. Very neat premise and well executed: John McClane was teh Terminator to the bad-guys in this one. He just kept coming like a juggernaught! Great stuff.
Only one action sequence made me go, "Oh, Come ON!!!!" And I don't do that easily...
Spoiler
the big rig on the highway sequence...
:roll:

not as good as the first (but what is?) but a solid 8 out of 10 for me.

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 12:38 pm
by Cail
Yeah, I think everyone feels that way about that sequence (and for the record, there isn't a highway near Woodlawn that looks like that).

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:56 pm
by Cail
Just got back from taking Cailette to see it. She loved it (though not as much as Transformers), and I enjoyed it just as much the second time.

We both agreed (she's 12) that it should've been rated R.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:10 pm
by kevinswatch
I saw DH4 right before Transformers, and really enjoyed it. Probably more than Transformers. But DH4 was a lot better than I expected. Probably the best pure action movie I've seen in years.-jay

(It was funny though that it was set around the DC/Baltimore area. Heh. Although I thought I remembered hearing that they filmed some of it in College Park, which is cool if true.)

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:18 pm
by Cail
It's funny though, other than the stuff that was obviously in DC, there couldn't have been much done in Baltimore. I know there's no part of 695 that looks like the highway in the climax of the film.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:25 pm
by Menolly
Well...

Hyperception rented all three previous Die Hard movies last night, and when he gets off work the entire family will have a rest of the weekend marathon watching them. We drive Beorn to camp on Wednesday. Since neither Beorn nor I have seen any of these films, our hope is to be caught up and to be able to see Die Hard 4 by Tuesday afternoon. I doubt it will still be in the theaters by the time Beorn returns from camp.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:36 pm
by Cail
I've really enjoyed watching the old ones again, and I've been pleasantly surprised (and more than a little proud) at my daughter's reaction to them.

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:50 am
by Cail
So I've been following this like a gushing fanboy, but after 5 weeks of release, LFoDH has grossed $127,400,100, is the 222nd top grossing film domestically, has earned $178,659,471 overseas, and is the 163rd top grossing film worldwide.

Pretty impressive for the fourth movie in a franchise that followed the previous film by 12 years.

Go see it again!

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 5:12 pm
by ItisWritten
I saw it again last weekend. Just as much fun. Maybe more, because I caught some lines I missed the first time around, like the Agent Johnson moment.

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:31 am
by Cail
www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic. ... e=3&p=.htm

www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/?pagenum=2&p=.htm

209th domestically and 137th worldwide. It made over three times its budget. I'd say that makes it a bona fide hit.

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:00 pm
by Cail
OK, I know I'm obsessing, but it came out on DVD today, and the unrated version is awesome.

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:17 pm
by Usivius
WHAT?! The DVD is 'unrated'?.. you man it's nastier and better?!!!
Cail, please fill me in!

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:20 pm
by Cail
About 30 f-words, the "Yippie kai-yay motherf*cker" isn't muffled by the gunshot anymore, lots and lots of blood spatters, and a few other minor changes. The story's the same, but the movie feels a lot more like a Die Hard film now.

This is the version that should have been released in the theater.

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:08 pm
by Usivius
oh, f*ck'n A!
I'm there!

:)

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:53 pm
by Zarathustra
Rented this over the weekend. Why is the entire movie green? In fact, why is every movie in the last 5 years so green? All the colors washed out to give it that "edgy" look. Well, I like colors. The original Diehard movies had colors. Damnit, Hollywood, stop taking out all the freakin colors!

Oh, and the movie sucked, too. Sorry Cail. I hated it. I couldn't believe how the silly techno-terrorism plot dragged on and on and on. The bad guys were . . . computer nerds! Uhg. If they were only after money, why all the shenanigans? Why not use those awesome computer skills to steal it outright?

And I'm so sick of movies where the main hero can kick everyone's ass he meets . . . except some 105 pound chick. Come on. I don't care if she can kick. My 7-yr-old can kick. But I can still take him in a fight.

And you guys think that the 18-wheeler scene was the only "oh come on" moment? How about taking out a helicopter by jumping out of a speeding car and it hits a toll booth which magically shoots it 100 feet into the air to perfectly strike the aircraft? Even McClain was telling us, "This is a really bad idea." No shit, McClain! You should have told the writers! Maybe they would have listened to you. :)

Don't get me wrong. I know Diehard movies have spectacular and often improbable stunts. But nothing about this movie approached the gritty, realistic danger of something simple like walking barefoot through broken glass. You don't need green-tinted computer graphics for such a visceral image. You just need one badass character who is driven to extreme ends. Sadly, that badass was nowhere to be found in this movie. He was an aging Bruce Willis surrounded by lame bad guys, computer graphics, and Michael Bay-style explosions.

Looking at director Len Wiseman's resume, I can't believe he got to direct a movie in such a classic series. The guy was a prop assistant not long ago.