Starring Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kevin Smith, Cliff Curtis
Written By: Mark Bomback
Directed By: Len Wiseman
Studio: 20th Century Fox
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I really wanted to catch Live Free or Die Hard in theaters this summer, but with a lot of summer movies; if I don’t see it within the first two weeks, I end up missing it. I was anxious to see this new Die Hard movie since I love the trilogy. Well I guess it’s not a trilogy now. After seeing the movie, I think it’s a good action pack flick but not sure it measures up to the other movies.

Live Free or Die Hard takes place several years after Die Hard With Vengeance. John McClane is still a grumpy bastard but he certainly hasn’t lost his edge. The beginning of the film, you see him arguing with his college-aged daughter and that sets stuff up for later in the film. Then McClane gets a call to pick up a Hacker kid in Camden and bring him to Washington, DC. The hacker apparently knows something about the Government’s holes in their systems. But with any Die Hard movie, things don’t always go as planned. McClane gets to the kid’s apartment just in time, because right after that, they get attacked by a bunch of foreigners with big guns. The reason why the hacker was targeted was because he was one of many that was somewhat involved in a huge cyber-attack that could bring down the country’s computer systems. And now one by one, they are being picked off. John McClane protects the geeky hacker kid and tries to find out who’s behind these cyber attacks.

Live Free or Die Hard seemed like a different type of Die Hard movie to me. I can’t put my finger on it but it just doesn’t feel like a Die Hard movie. Maybe it just feels too new and the threat is more of world-wide threat instead of just one building or city. John McClane isn’t a computer type of guy so I thought it was interesting to see him being caught up in all this technology stuff. In the end, man conquers computers once again. Now, I don’t know how believable this all could have been, but it worked in the movie. Having everything get attacked through computers would be disastrous but I just don’t see that ever happening on this big of a scale. At least I hope not. But you’re not here to watch the movie for some type of thought-provoking plot; you’re here to watch it for the action! There’s plenty of action in this movie including stuff inside buildings, car chases, gun fights, and even stuff on a fighter jet. Obviously not all of the action is believable but who cares, that’s why you go to the movies…to escape reality!

After all these years, Bruce Willis doesn’t skip a beat and does a great job with his unsung hero character. It’s always fun to see him grouped up with people that don’t know what’s going on. This time it’s Justin Long, and he was pretty convincing as the Hacker who made a lot of jokes & wiseass remarks. I’m still not sure what to think of Timothy Olyphant as a villain just yet. He looked like Billy Bob Thornton in this film for some strange reason. Plus the guy had some extremely white chompers too. I think he played the character quite evil, I just don’t think he was as bad as the previous villains in Die Hard. No one will ever top Alan Rickman in Die Hard. I seriously think he could be one of the top 5 villains in any action movie!

If you get the Uncut Collector’s Edition, you’ll have a whole disc filled with special features! The first disc just has both the theatrical & uncut versions of the movie and then audio commentary with Bruce Willis, director Len Wiseman and Editor Nicolas De Toth. The first thing I watched was the hour and half Making of featurette and that was excellent. Just think of anything that goes into making a movie and this featurette has it. The Kevin Smith interviewing Bruce Willis was interesting. It’s cool to see a director & actor interview another actor. Other extras include a music video by Guyz Nite and a behind the scenes look at that video. That’s really about it but the Making of and Bruce Willis/Kevin Smith interview are awesome.

I still can’t figure out if I like Live Free or Die Hard better than Die Hard 2 or 3, but the movie is still quite entertaining. The action was really great, Bruce Willis was fantastic again as John McClane, and there’s some funny dialogue. I’m not sure other people will like this movie as much as the other ones either. Die Hard 1 & 3 were always my favorite in my mind. But if you’re looking for a good time, then look no further than Live Free or Die Hard!

Features:
Audio Commentary by Bruce Willis, Director Len Wiseman and Editor Nicolas De Toth
Digital Copy of Live Free Or Die Hard
Analog Hero In A Digital World: All-New Documentary on the Making of Live Free Or Die Hard
Yipee Ki Yay, Motherf*****: Bruce Willis/Kevin Smith Interview
Fox Movie Channel Presents Fox Legacy
Original Theatrical Trailer
Music Video: “Die Hard” Performed by Guyz Nite
Behind the Scenes with Guyz Nite Featurette

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
ENGLISH: DTS 5.1
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Surround
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Surround

Video:
Widescreen 2.40:1 Color

Subtitles:
English, Spanish

Favorite Scenes: I liked when McClane picks up the hacker kid and the gun fight in the apartment. Then the car chase after that. I liked the fight scene with Maggie Q too.
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 129 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: