+ Best Action Movie of the Year
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| Bruce Willis is back as John McClane for another round of 'cops and bandits' in Len Wiseman's Live Free or Die Hard |
QUICK REVIEW:
- This is some comeback! - For the Die Hard franchise that is. (Star Bruce Willis (Die Hard (1988)) was not in any career slump in the years leading up to this fourth chapter in the action movie series, but this still marks a highlight in his career.)
John McClane is assigned to pick up a computer hacker in New York, when they are attacked by an extremely well-armed terrorist group that continues to launch a 'fire sale' Internet attack on the country the following day.
No doubt this is the action movie of the year: Willis is back in top shape, and the fire sale idea, (based on the article A Farewell to Arms by John Carlin), is more than a bit scary, (and has only become more frightening since the film's release.) Although, - luckily, - it does seem a bit too elaborate for the real-life thug terrorists we are struggling with these years.
The action scenes of Live Free are hardboiled and imaginative, besides massively entertaining, which goes for the entire film. Justin Long (Tusk (2014)) makes for a good comic relief as the physically inferior hacker that McClane drags along with him. The only minus is Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood (2004-06)), who plays the villain and simply doesn't live up to the franchise's best in the department; Alan Rickman in the first film and Jeremy Irons in the third, Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995). Olyphant, in comparison, is colorless and forgettably anonymous.
But, still, a minor detractor from a rare action treat that simply works. It is written by Mark Bomback (Insurgent (2015)) and directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld (2003)). Today, Wiseman is working on producing another Underworld sequel and a future directing job, a TV movie titled Lucifer.
Related posts:
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Die Hard franchise: A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) - Willis' action franchise dies an ugly death
Die Hard (1988) - McTiernan's action masterpiece
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| Justin Long and Bruce Willis in Len Wiseman's Live Free or Die Hard |
Watch the trailer for this action fan's dream of a movie right here
Cost: 110 mil. $
Box office: 383.5 mil. $
= Box office success
[Both Willis and his stunt double Larry Ripperkroeger were seriously injured during the shooting of the film. It was edited to receive a PG-13-rating, a first for the franchise, whose three earlier entries are all rated R. The film entered #2 in the US and ended up making 134.5 mil. $ there (35 % of the total gross). It was well-received critically and by audiences worldwide, and it became the year's 12th highest grossing film and the highest grossing film in the franchise yet.]
What do you think of Live Free or Die Hard?
Do you want to see a 6th Die Hard film after the awful 2013 sequel?
Rank the 5 films from best to worst
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