This is topic Live Free or Die Hard (2007) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Jake Lafree (Member # 3656) on 06-26-2007, 04:16 AM:
 
I built both of our copies and screened it tonight, in our #12 auditorium. This is our best sounding house, in my opinion (Dolby Digital, stadium seating).

- - - SPOILER INFO BELOW - - -

I thought the movie was pretty dang good! I just watched the first three Die Hard's about a week ago, so I was still in the "mood". I liked the idea of the hackers taking over the country and all of our important computer-controlled essential systems (traffic, electric, etc). Imagine if this actually happened, how much of a crisis we would be in! I am into computers a lot, and I thought the whole "hacker" atmosphere was very fun to watch and I really got into it, my hand fell asleep a few times while I watched it (I usually get a little restless and move around some while watching movies, rarely am I still like that for very long).

A few minor complaints:

- They should have followed suit and made this film rated "R". I would've enjoyed just a touch more violence, but more importantly I wanted to hear the F-word. Probably a smart move to PG-13 though, better shot at pulling in more money.

- Perhaps at least one shot of John's wife Holly would've been nice. What has she been up to for the last 12 years?

- The "Yippee-Kuy-Yay" scene in the movie is not the same as in the trailer! I saw it happen in the movie, then thought it might still come again, but it never happened.

Well, they didn't actually end the series. John shoots himself in the shoulder but we never see him die, so the door is still open, but I think this is a good place to end it. I mean, what is bigger than hackers taking over our country in order to get rich? Is it going to go international? It had a solid run.

7/10 stars
 
Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 06-27-2007, 07:29 AM:
 
This review is going to be unique, because "Die Hard 4" is the first film that I have had the opportunity to watch at the Hyattsville "Royale 14" theatre which we just opened a few weeks ago. I have been so busy with opening this new place that I had not been able to sit down and enjoy a movie until last night.

Auditorium #8 - Dolby Digital "Live Free or Die Hard"

Hey - what can I say - I liked it. I did have issues with a couple of scenes. One scene in which the two main characters had some dialogue got on my nerves - because the editing was so bad - they dubbed the lines and you could clearly see that the audio did not match what they were actually saying. I thought I was watching a foriegn film for a second - just as I was getting agitated - it cut to another scene and moved on. Also - the whole F-35 scene - very reminiscent of "True Lies". It was a little 'over the top' - even for a 'Die Hard' film.

Overall I did like the movie. Yes- it would have been better had it been rated "R". I would give it a 7 out 10 - which is better than a lot of films that have come out lately.

On a side note - I haven't watched a movie in a theatre in a while. I am very disappointed in the print quality of most films nowadays. With this particular film there was a severe amount of 'negative dirt' on one reel. I guess when they were making it in the lab some dirt got on the contact heads or something. Anyways - it looked like snow for part of reel 2 (or was it reel 3?).

-PEACE [scream]
 
Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 06-27-2007, 01:45 PM:
 
Yuck, negative dirt. I am going to check this out later on today and I hope that the print I watch wont have that same problem. I know a lot of Da Vinci Code was ruined for me bacause of this same thing. If anyone is interested here is a link to the first 8 minutes of the movie...

Link Here

I am curious as to how the Mac guy does in a feature length movie.
 
Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 06-27-2007, 02:39 PM:
 
Maybe you should watch one of the five or so movies that he has had a lead role in and find out.

I thought it was excellent. The epitome of what a summer blockbuster should be. Yes many of the scenes were "over the top," but that is exactly what I want out of a movie like this. It has the same feel as an action movie made in the early to mid-ninties. Very nice change of pace after the flood of comic book and gay pirate movies everyone seems to love these days.

Aside from the lack of profanity I couldn't tell it was rated PG13, still pretty violent.
 
Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 06-28-2007, 12:14 AM:
 
Loved it! I have to agree with Chris here. Violence is awesome!

Love Justin Long too! [Smile]

Whoever built the presentation needs to be fired. Half of the trailers jumped out of frame and it even started out of frame. Do people not screen their movies first???

[The Jen] [The Jen] [The Jen] [The Jen] & 1/2 out of 5
 
Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 06-28-2007, 12:40 AM:
 
I loved every minute of this one. It really did feel like a true, real, action flick. It was a lesson to all the shitty action flicks we have had the option to see lately. And Bruce Willis was tremendous. Anyone else think the sound mix was great? That shot where the cab hits the two cars in the tunnel just hit so low it was stunning.

AJG
 
Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 06-28-2007, 04:00 PM:
 
Not really a plot so much as an excuse to string together the four extended action set pieces. However each of these set pieces was lively and well done. At least they had the good sense to keep it moving so you didn't think too hard about what was going on. A good but not great summer popcorn movie.
 
Posted by Chad M Calpito (Member # 3736) on 06-29-2007, 09:56 AM:
 
I've been a fan of the Die Hard films and I thought this movie was great, mostly due to the action sequences. The story line, well, it was good. I was sort of hoping it would be given an R-Rating, but, the movie was still great. I did build and screen the film, but, had to keep myself busy due to working at 12-hour shift. Luckily, I was able to watch it on opening day. I also loved the sound effects. It was presented in Dolby Digital in Theatre #10, our biggest auditorium. I did like the asian girl in the movie, especially when she did her Martial Arts. So, I give this movie 3.5 Stars out of 5 Stars for the action sequences.
 
Posted by Justin Gorka (Member # 3727) on 07-01-2007, 08:03 AM:
 
Intersting that you don't have the F-word we do. We must have a different edit. Ours is rated 15. Sorry about the other post. It is called Die Hard 4.0 in the UK.
 
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-01-2007, 02:37 PM:
 
I wouldn't be too surprised to see an "unrated" version of Live Free or Die Hard on DVD where the F-word is actually used. A growing number of DVD releases have taken this approach (American Pie, Dodgeball, The 40 Year Old Virgin, etc.).
 
Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-01-2007, 03:09 PM:
 
CINEMA: Carmike Cobblestone 9, Urbandale, IA
AUDITORIUM: 5
PRESENTATION: Christie DLP Digital (it's the mirrors)
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Movie letterboxed on screen perfectly capable of opening wide (it's the curtains)
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

12:00pm: Scheduled start time of show. We arrive and wait to buy our tickets behind a lady taking her kids to Ratatouille. "These tickets say 11:45, but we wanted the 12:00 show!" Manager: "It's fine. Just go into the 12:00 one."
12:01pm: Arrive in auditorium. Projector is still displaying still slides (yes, they STILL use them).
12:02pm: TV commercials start
12:09pm: (Wife #1) "What's up with the TV commercials?" Decides she has time to run to the rest room
12:13pm: Wife #1 returns with bottled water, just as the trailers start
12:22pm: (Wife #1) "Oh come ON!"
12:28pm: Feature starts. (Wife #1): "I should stand up and applaud."

I've been in this building three times this year. The first time (Hostel II) they started the TV commercials before the scheduled start time to align the beginning of the trailer package with the scheduled start time (the way Cinemark, AMC, and Regal do it). The second time (Ratatouille), they didn't run any commercials at all. We got the Christie trailer, the cheesy Carmike-produced "DLP is super neato" thing, and into the trailers.

THE PLOT: Some loose dialog surrounds an orgy of over-the-top action sequences. It's porn, yet NOBODY GETS LAID.

Quoting Wife #1: "Well...it's a Die Hard movie!"
 
Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-01-2007, 04:39 PM:
 
Great summer action movie. Yes you can pick the plot apart if you wanted to but it was well-paced, had great (albeit over-the-top) action sequences. It was highly entertaining and exactly what I was hoping for.

I would recommend this to anybody that is an action movie fan.

4 out of 5 stars from me

quote: Sam Graham
The second time (Ratatouille), they didn't run any commercials at all.
Disney does not allow commercials before their features (I can't remember if it's everything or just animated).
 
Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 07-01-2007, 08:13 PM:
 
I believe that it's any movie released under the Walt Disney name. Also, Coke ads are allowed. Do they serve Coke at Disney theme parks?
 
Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 07-01-2007, 08:50 PM:
 
AFAIK, there are to be no rolling stock on Walt Disney movies. I know Disney has a deal with ScreenVision for live action films.
 
Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 07-03-2007, 02:35 PM:
 
People laughed when they heard about another Rocky movie coming out, yet, it wasn't half bad. People rolled their eyes when they heard about ANOTHER Die Hard movie..yet, this was pretty damn decent. THIS movie is the kind of movie I think of when I hear "Summer Action Flick".

People are still laughing about the upcoming Rambo movie.... I don't know if I would laugh quite yet.
 
Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-03-2007, 03:59 PM:
 
quote: Jarryd Beard
Do they serve Coke at Disney theme parks?
They sure do! There is even a mini Coke store called Club Cool at Epcot.
 
Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 07-04-2007, 06:18 PM:
 
Odeon Huddersfield, Screen 4, 17:00 Show, 35mm SR*D
--

Some nice set pieces (like the car falling down the lift shaft)
strung together with a silly plot.

Felt more like a Bourne movie that a Die Hard. I was waiting for Matt Damon to show up.

[ 07-11-2007, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: Michael Brown ]
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-04-2007, 09:14 PM:
 
Today at Regal 15 in Shelbyville, Screen #3. Uneven illumination, uneven focus, fuzzy edges. Sounded good though.

I liked it. The plot is outrageous but provides the framework for some pretty good action sequences. Would like to see an R-rated cut. I'll give it 3.5 out of 5 stars, works very well as a summer action movie.
 
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-10-2007, 12:27 PM:
 
Location: Carmike 8
Auditorium: #6, 9:55pm show
Format: Christie DLP/Doremi Server, 2048 X 852 pixels
Rating: 2.75 stars out of 4

This latest release in the Die Hard franchise was fun, but derivative and forgettable. While entertaining it certainly doesn't measure up to the original.

The premise of the movie is interesting and I humored it just to give the movie a chance. In reality, the "fire sale" concept would be much more difficult or even plain impossible to execute. So many things that are computerized are not connected to the Internet. Many systems are very proprietary in nature, demanding industry specific or even custom software to manipulate. Many other things are just not computerized at all. Lots of surveillance cameras are still analog and recording to analog tape. Important systems in our nations infrastructure are vulnerable to black hat attacks. But there's no way to bring down everything.

Most of the action scenes were well done and entertaining. The acrobatic bad guys made certain sequences more interesting. But I did have the thought, "why is this guy committing crimes instead of earning gymnastics gold medals in the Olympics?"

Justin Long played the same character he does in all his movies. Still, he did a good job of brining humor into the slow scenes between each action set piece. Long had many of this movie's best lines, muttering quips just out of earshot like, "if you knew half of what I know your fuzzy little head would explode."

Kevin Smith's "Warlock" character (über-Star Wars geek/hacker slob) wasn't as funny as it should have been.

The PG-13 thing wasn't as much of an issue. The action scenes were still pretty violent. IMHO, regular over the air network TV often wanders into R-rated areas of violence and gore these days. This Die Hard sequel doesn't have slow motion shots of exploding knee caps or brains getting blasted onto door glass. But the fights, stunts and shoot outs all still have some brutal impact.

I agree with the comments of others that the scene with the VSTOL jet was very reminiscent of True Lies, but even more preposterous. It's a good thing the elevated expressway was strangely empty when that jet was demolishing parts of it.

The sound mix was pretty good. I really liked the surround use during some of the shoot outs.

I would have preferred Live Free or Die Hard to be shot in true anamorphic 'scope like the previous 3 installments in the series. Since this movie was shot in Super35 it just didn't have the same visual continuity.

The editing and shot choices could have been better. Parts of this reminded me of the incomprehensible shot/edit bullshit that took place in The Bourne Supremacy. Jeez, let us focus on something. Objects were blurring through the frame so much I could barely even tell John McClane was using a SigSauer P226R instead of his usual Beretta 92F.

The biggest nit I have to pick with this movie is geographical continuity. Obviously not enough movie goers care about this at all, otherwise Hollywood would not be pulling this shit.

Los Angeles and Long Beach do not look anything at all like the Washington, D.C. area. DC doesn't have mountain ranges in the outskirts that look like the San Gabriel Mountains. That whole scene in the "tunnel" is just another location in L.A. we have seen used in countless other movies (Black Rain, Lethal Weapon 2, The Terminator, Mystery Men and on and on).

One would think with all the CGI tools movie studios have on hand, they could do a better job of making a set look more like it comes from the location stated in the script. People can hit the pause button on a DVD player and see details like a California state highway "spade" showing up on a sign supposedly in Maryland.

One would think the studios would be more up to speed about the resources movie viewers have on hand, such as Google Earth and all its included content layers. Maybe those movie producers ought to be using that tool to more effectively scout locations and get a better handle on geographic continuity instead of trying to film everything involving an expressway on the I-105.
 
Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 07-10-2007, 01:54 PM:
 
Yeah, I felt the same. I enjoyed it mainly because it harkened back to the good ole days of summer action movies(damn, I am getting old to talk about the 80s and early 90s as good ole days). But it could have been better.

Firesale thing was far fetched, to say the least. I thought the stunts looked pretty good - kind of like Die Hard meets Lethal Weapon. I was a little concerned because the trailer action scenes looked way too fake. Maybe a small screen exposes the limitations more since we can grasp the whole image at once. Or maybe they edited out the fake looking sequence. I think it was the one where Willis and the kid get thrown out of the car(I cant remember).

I wasn't too pleased with the color tone. The director should have cut down on the blue hues. Maybe he thought he was making Underworld 3.

A Bruce Willis movie is not complete without having one annoying family character. The daughter all of a sudden remembers her dad only when she is in trouble? I do not wish upon anybody the family members Bruce Willis has to endure in his action movies.

Still, I enjoyed it. Justin Long wasn't annoying like I expected after seeing him in his Mac ads. I liked him in Jeepers. And he was pretty decent here.

SPOILERS
I wish they didn't include the plot point where Tim O. is subjected to gunpoint threat by the government. It actually made me feel bad for the guy because at that point, I blame the government for making him snap. They should have just left it at an impatient guy who went off the loose end a little too quickly when his suggestions were spurned by the government and he was unjustifiably demoted. But once they took the storyline into territory where this guy was ruined by our government, I started feeling bad for his character instead of wishing for him to die. But then they make him totally ruthless to others in his group too who were not related to the government. And what was Maggie Q's story? Did she take his mistreatment by the government so personally too or she was just out for the money?
 
Posted by Ray Faultless (Member # 903) on 07-10-2007, 02:18 PM:
 
I did'nt notice the f word at all but did notice Bruce did not light up. In earlier Die Hards he stopped for a smoke whenever he got a chance.
 
Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 07-11-2007, 04:43 PM:
 
The BBFC rated this "15" for "frequent action violence and one use of strong language"

Even though we don't actually hear the one use of strong language. [Roll Eyes]

This movie should have been "12a"
 
Posted by Jason Winn (Member # 3568) on 07-11-2007, 11:28 PM:
 
I loved it! Great summer action movie!
 
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-12-2007, 08:51 PM:
 
Willis hasn't lost that touch. I liked this film and some of it was even believable. The contains best line in a long time in an action film... (Kid to Willis)man, you brought that chopper down with a car... (Willis to Kid) yea kid, I ran out of bulletts! All in all a very enjoyable film worth seeing. The gal playing Willis's daughter is a hot number!!

Mark
 
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 10-13-2008, 04:16 PM:
 

It has been 458 days since the last post.


 




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