Live Free or Die Hard Staff Review
The Die Hard series has been a roller coaster for the movie going public. The first movie is considered by most one of the best action movies ever made. However like any success there are always downfalls and by the end of Die Hard 3: Die Hard With a Vengeance the series seemed to Die...Hard. Surprisingly "Live Free Die Hard" finally brings the Die Hard series back to where it belongs. A successful action film that delivers!
Live Free Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4) takes place 12 years after Officer John McClane's Die Hard with a Vengeance. Life has not gotten much better for John. He is still divorced; his daughter lives close, but wants nothing to do with him, and for the most part Office McClane is just driving an unmarked car waiting for retirement.
That was until today. All of this changes when John asked to bring in hacker Matt Farrell (played by Justin Long) to the FBI for questioning. However, it seems that others have different plans for Mr Farrell, and the rollercoaster ride begins. It appears that Thomas Gabriel (played Timothy Olyphant) is not happy with the way our society has become and has decided to have a fire sale (a hacker term for basically destroying all the technology in the United States and bringing us back to the stone). There is only one problem with his plan, Office John McClane is now involved and as you can guess the body count gets extremely high and the typical McClane banter between the terrorist hits new levels.
All of the Die Hard films have not only been known for their action, acting, and script, but also for their direction. This time around is no different as Len Wiseman (Underworld) takes the helm and the movie looks amazing as ever. No shot disappoints and the story definitely benefits from having him behind the lens.
The one predominant fear many movie goers have had for the past few months is how would a PG-13 Die Hard film work? Would it stay true to the franchise? The answer is 99%....yes! This film is definitely a hard PG-13 (in fact it's unclear how it was not rated R) The violence is right up there with every other Die Hard film (more violent than Die Hard with A Vengeance) The only time the audience was groaning instead of cheering was the PG-13 version of Office McClane's signature phrase.
Live Free Die Hard is THE action movie for the summer of 2007. Yippie Ki Yay Mother... (edited for PG-13 Content)
--Nathan M Rose
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