Live Free or Die Hard

Watching on Wednesday: Live Free or Die Hard

Title: Live Free or Die Hard
Type: Movie
Age Group: Teens +
Release Year: 2007
My Rating: 4/5

Many computer hackers across America are being targeted and killed. The new war age is coming.

Matthew Farrell (Justin Long) is a hacker, who nearly died if it wasn't for detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) who came to his place for an investigation. Running away from their pursuers, they learn that someone out there is infiltrating all the systems within America. They are messing up with the lights on the streets and turning off all electricities; they are causing a havoc among the American citizens.

Why are they targeting Farrell and what is their intention? Can Farrell and McClane fix everything before it is too late?

Live Free or Die Hard is very face-past movie with non-stop pure action. I enjoyed watching it because it kept going with little boring parts. I was reminded of a YA computer fiction I reviewed, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. It was very interesting to see that if you knew the cyber world inside out, you could pretty much do anything because modern society is connected through a huge network force.

Long did his role very well as a jittery computer geek. Willis, well, he is his brusque and gun-wielding character. If you were to ever be in a zombie Apocalypse, you would want him to be your friend.
 

Last updated: 2010-04-09 08:40:52 by user01

DIE HARD 4.0 / LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (2007)

BOTTOM LINE: The action is well staged, the one-liners are prevalent, and the film is overall very entertaining but one cannot help shake the fact that this entry in the “Die Hard” franchise is at best a pale imitation of its predecessors, from Bruce Willis down.

THE GOOD: The “Die Hard” series has been known for delivering some great action sequences along with its trademark cowboy humour and in this respect, this fourth entry does not disappoint. Again relying on a strong concept, John McClane (a weary looking Bruce Willis) takes on a group of cyber terrorists who take control of America through hacking all of its critical computer infrastructure. As before, the terrorists are well financed and very slick, led by a very cold Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) who manages to shut down Washington DC with a few keystrokes. Of course, he was not counting on McClane showing up to spoil the party. While en route to pick up computer hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long), McClane gets caught in the middle of the terrorists’ plot and it is not long before it is up to McClane to take them down. This film contains some brilliantly staged action, with even the CG moments looking quite real in most respects. The film still delivers on its trademark action and one-liners, and at times, the film does echo the fun moments from the previous films as McClane dispatches each of the terrorists one by one. “Die Hard 4” is a decent entry in the franchise, and by itself, a very good action film that will entertain most fans of the genre.

THE BAD: “Die Hard 4” feels like an echo of the previous films. You are reminded of what franchise it is through a moment here or there, but overall, it feels a little bland and distant, even generic. John McClane was typically a very energetic character, who swore his head off and served as a fantastic foil for the bad guys but Bruce Willis does not look like he cares that much this time, playing McClane very low key; the theatrical release was even worse as all the swearing was cut out to avoid an R rating! As a result, you do not get that buzz or high you would have got from the previous films. It may be that this type of film belongs to a different era, when terrorism could be more jovially played in cinema, or maybe that with three previous films, the “Die Hard” franchise has grown old hat, particularly with the multitude of action clones that have been made since. “Die Hard 4” is an echo; a pale imitation of its predecessors. Enjoyable? Yes. Memorable? Hardly.

RATING: 7/10

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Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net