Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

[aygie]

Ok guys reviews up, bit of a strange one so let me know what you think. Sunshine coming tomorrow.


The Movie - 3/5

Back in the eighties it was easy. Get a big name star, a big set and a big budget, throw in a hand full of explosions, quippy one liners and bulging biceps and voila! You had your summer blockbuster. But amidst all the shoot outs, fist fights and Arnie growls came one of the most iconic action movie characters of our time. John McClane. A moody, arrogant, obnoxious straight down the line hero who captured the essence of every wanna be good guy sitting in the audience - be a kick ass cop without the paperwork.

Now nearly twenty years on and the Die Hard trilogy wrapped up, we find ourselves dubiously back in our seats waiting to see if old Yippee Kay-yay can still measure up, especially in the summer of Spiders, Pirates and Wizards. (Yes i know there is another but that is still a fragile subject)

Well, i was unsure of what to expect of Die Hard 4.0. As i've already said, and i think many will agree, Die Hard with a Vengeance seemed to complete the Die Hard series nicely with (some may disagree) the best in the series.

I think the best place to start is the story line. Die Hard 4.0 tries to incorporate our on-going world struggle with terrorism and mix it with the ever on-growing world of computers, hackers and police who are always one step behind. I found that as believable the story is, it just did not capture my attention as well as the script writers intended it to. The thought of cyber-terrorist controlling Washington doesn't really scare me, the thought of what we have seen in real life does, and i think this is where the film falters.

Die Hard has always revolved around terrorism in one form or another and this film finds its self trying to follow in its predecessors footsteps but now walking on eggshells. Yes its supposed to be a no brainer action movie, yes its not meant to be taken seriously and yes we're supposed to have fun with it but i find myself thinking that the creators of Die Hard 4.0 were stuck in the middle of what they wanted it to be, Unnerving hostile take over movie or easy going good guy / bad guy movie.

What brings me out of this over-thoughtful and quite frankly morbid view of this film is the good old fashioned blow stuff up action sequences. Whether a car is being ramped out of a tunnel into a helicopter or trucks and cars smashing from all angles because of corrupt traffic lights the action is thick, fast and ridiculous, and i like that. Ok, McClane one liners are overdone and you can see them coming a mile off but this just wouldn't be Die Hard without them, and Bruce Willis has spent long enough trying to rid his career of those skertchy one liners that its about time we let him have some fun with them.

I could go on and dive into charecters, acting and so on but this is only a mini review, so onto what everyone wants to know.....

The Picture - 4/5

Fox brings Die Hard to Blu-Ray on a (yeah you guessed it) BD50, AVC encode, and the picture quality is (you guessed it again) very nice. 4.0 has a strange (intended) blue/green tint in many of the films key scenes, giving the film a type of gloomy colourless feel which i was interested to see how these came out in HD. The result is very good. The film looks stunning as it it passes from deep blacks of night to bright sunny day as the story evolves.

The detail is also sharp and clean with colours looking stable and clear. There is slight noise in some of the earlier scenes but i found myself not really noticing unless i specically searched for it, so no complaints from me.

The Sound - 5/5

Coming with (yeah you gue...never mind) Fox's usual DTS HD MA which equates to DTS 1.5mbps, this is the films stand out point. This is where i feel that i'm back in the eighties where explosions, gun fights and car chases impressed me. This is what made me sit on the edge of my seat. 4.0 is truly a screamer in terms of audio. The first acts gun fight in the apartment is flawless with huge variations of bullets coming towards you from every speaker all with their own individual sound and presence. Explosions that make your sub literately shit it's self with lows that will sweep you whole room.

The audio on 4.0 is impeccable and by far (in my opinion) the only disc i will use from now on as audio reference, i like it that much.


Overall - 4/5

I love the Die Hard series and maybe i'm thinking too hard about it but for me the movie was just ok. Better than number two but no where near as good number 3. The Blu Ray however is a must buy for the audio alone and i for one cannot wait to see what Fox has done with the rest of the quadrilogy.

Live Free or Die Hard Blu-ray