Die Hard 4K UHD (1988)

[Monterey Jack]

Die Hard 3 has HORRIBLY edited action sequences.

https://youtu.be/8TPdPpxi2Vc?t=109

If the link doesn't start at the proper place, go to 1:48, and ask WHY does the camera pogo all over the damn place as Willis is running across the road?! They invented the steadicam for a reason!

[Jay H.]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Die Hard 3 has HORRIBLY edited action sequences.

https://youtu.be/8TPdPpxi2Vc?t=109

If the link doesn't start at the proper place, go to 1:48, and ask WHY does the camera pogo all over the damn place as Willis is running across the road?! They invented the steadicam for a reason!

Poorly edited, and anticlimactic. I didn't like Jeremy Irons' performance, either. He's a great actor who was badly miscast. The script is dumb and the ending is ridiculous (at least they didn't use the originally filmed finale). Willis and Jackson have good chemistry, but there's not much else worth recommending.

[Monterey Jack]

The special effects are awful as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6qVasDZDkM

Go to 2:15 for the laughable boat explosion in WAV, and compare it to the plane explosion in Die Harder, which came out five years earlier.

[Agent Kay]

This vengeance hate is baffling

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

This vengeance hate is baffling

I agree, not my favorite movie or anything but it's miles better than part 2.

[Agent Kay]

Second best by far

[morris_schaffer]

A lot of movies improve in retrospect for me. It's very easy to start appreciating and even loving the likes of Die Hard 3 when placed side by side with part 5. Die Hard 2 no question, that was mad love right from the start. Part 1 stands on the highest pedestal of course.

[morris_schaffer]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Go to 2:15 for the laughable boat explosion in WAV, and compare it to the plane explosion in Die Harder, which came out five years earlier.

If only Air Force One, released 2 years later, had learned a lesson from the economically shot boat explosion when

[Show spoiler]they decided to show the crash of the presidential plane

in elaborate and rather painful detail.

I always considered the boat explosion in Die Hard 3 simply the opposite of elaborate, but rather efficiently shot, perhaps due to budgetary or time constraints. But not bad per se although it looks a bit dodgy so I get where you're coming from. I also think the plane crash had much more emotional impact in Die Hard 2 for a number of reasons whereas the boat in DH3 was just an anonymous container ship. And the shockwave is a nice touch.

[johnnyringo7]

My ranking:

Die Hard (10/10)
Die Hard 2 (8.5/10)
Die Hard 3 (8/10)
Die Hard 4 (7.5/10)
Die Hard 5 (garbage)

[okko]

I seem to recall the hype around DH4, particularly after a long absence. I think everyone was revved up (including me) waiting for it.

Funny thing is, I don't even remember DH5 being a thing until I saw the trailer for it very shortly before it came out. It received little or no fanfare if I recall. After watching it, was no surprise why......


Kev

[Geoff D]

Re: DH4, it was always on a hiding to nothing but the whole PG-13 thing didn't help. It's actually a pretty decent actioner at its core IMO, but people got so caught up in the "butchered" rhetoric that they simply couldn't enjoy the movie. Alas, we'll probably never see it on UHD disc

[levcore]

Die Hard 4 has such a poor villain. Olyphant is an ok actor but very badly cast in 4 and the character is just really dull and forgettable. I'm not saying this like Die Hard 5 is much better in this department but the villain actors are far more interesting in 5, despite even weaker characterisation.

[Geoff D]

I quite like Oliphaunt in DH4 meself. I'd rather forget that DH5 ever existed.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by johnnyringo7

My ranking:

Die Hard (10/10)
Die Hard 2 (8.5/10)
Die Hard 3 (8/10)
Die Hard 4 (7.5/10)
Die Hard 5 (garbage)

^ This.

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I quite like Oliphaunt in DH4 meself.

Never had an issue with him.

[Bn43]

Die Hard - 4/5 or 8/10
Die Hard 2 - 3.5/5 or 7
Die Hard 3 - 3.5/5 or 7
Die Hard 4 - 2.5/5 or 5 (Average)

Die Hard 4 is the only one I never cared to revisit, like Indiana Jones 4. I also stopped watching them after that.

[mikesncc1701]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Die Hard 3 has HORRIBLY edited action sequences.

https://youtu.be/8TPdPpxi2Vc?t=109

If the link doesn't start at the proper place, go to 1:48, and ask WHY does the camera pogo all over the damn place as Willis is running across the road?! They invented the steadicam for a reason!

It's obviously meant to make it feel like you're running along with them. It was hand held action before The Bourne Identity, just not as frenetic and quickly cut.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by mikesncc1701

It's obviously meant to make it feel like you're running along with them. It was hand held action before The Bourne Identity.

Exactly. Hand held is a choice, not a limitation. There's a similar shot in Se7en when Mills and Somerset (sounds like a brand of romance novels) are chasing after John Doe and the camera's all over the place, it's meant to convey how frenetic the scene is. Not everything has to be ultra-smooth locked down cameras gliding all over the place.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

This vengeance love is baffling

Fixed.

[Noremac Mij]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Re: DH4, it was always on a hiding to nothing but the whole PG-13 thing didn't help. It's actually a pretty decent actioner at its core IMO, but people got so caught up in the "butchered" rhetoric that they simply couldn't enjoy the movie. Alas, we'll probably never see it on UHD disc

Not only is DH4 a horrible Die Hard movie, but one of the worst movies in general. Terrible action movie. Same with DH5. Embarrassing movies.

DH1 and DH3 are fantastic.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

Not only is DH4 a horrible Die Hard movie, but one of the worst movies in general. Terrible action movie.

DH1 and DH3 are fantastic.

And just when I was thinking "my hyperbole levels are kinda low today, I need a top-up", here comes Reverse Jim with enough hyperbole to keep me going for weeks. Thanks!