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Live Free or Die Hard (2007) (2 Viewers)

WillG

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I was somewhat of a casual friend with him, we were in high school together. During that time, I know I acted in a play with him. May have even been at a party I had at my house one time back then. Nice enough guy when I knew him.

BTW, pretty sure now that LFoDH is Super 35. Pretty sure I caught a circular lens flare in the teaser trailer. Not surprising though, Panavision is pretty much dead, it seems.
 

Inspector Hammer!

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As a lover of old style epic filmmaking just reading that statement makes me want to bang my head on the desk out of frustration.

Very cool that you knew Justin. :emoji_thumbsup:
 

WillG

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The funny thing is that it was his brother, Damian who was the big acting "sensation" of our high school at the time, yet Justin is now the one who is getting to be pretty famous in Hollywood now.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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Just wait until The Dark Knight...

I never really noticed a difference until the IMAX releases. Batman Begins on IMAX was a big, bold immersive experience. It felt like it was MADE to be on that screen. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, while better than regular theater, wasn't nearly so spectacular. And I think I like Superman Returns better on the normally big screen.
 

Ray_R

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John McClane should kill Harry Potter. How many more of those damn movies do they need to do? Fifty? Seventy? One hundred? When will it end?! That kinda malarkey hasn't any business in a DIE HARD thread, thank you very much! Those were all Warner films with nary a hint of a 20th Century FOX release. Quite eschewed on the monkey's 'tude...

Bring on Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard! And can't wait for Rambo IV either.;) (Now if they'd get cracking on Indiana Jones IV/4, then we'd be set.)
 

Phil Florian

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I have to agree with the folks on here who think that this movie doesn't look at all related to the guy who fought the "terrorists" (I mean, common thieves!!) in the first movie. Even the second one kept to the idea that John was "the right guy for the job stuck in the wrong place at the right time."

What was revolutionary about the first movie was that here was this scrawny little balding dude who fought bad guys with moxie, guns and a lot of wit. When it came out in the 80's, action heroes didn't look like that. They looked with Sly or Arnie or Van Damme...superheroic physical ability with no fear. John McLane was scared and told us, got bloody, was always the underdog and came out on top. Finally, an action hero we can find something in common with!

This new one looks like a generic Michael Bay explodofest. With the advent and popularity of smarter thrillers like the Bourne movies, the most recent MI3, the classy new Bond, and so on it looks like this new DIE HARD movie will be the dinosaur in need of replacing, not the genre-busting take of the original. Granted, we only saw one scene with Bruce but he looks to be playing the stoic action hero that he moved to in the 90's. Even in the lame 3rd installment in this series, he had lost the snappy patter of the original. He was desperate, sure, but I think it was desperation brought on by a horrible script.

16 Blocks was brought up already and I have to agree that that movie feels more like a John McLane flick than the fourth DIE HARD movie. Granted, the character isn't this witty, snarky cop any more but the set up...simply trying to guide one perp 16 blocks to the courthouse...is exactly what a DIE HARD movie should be about. The Willis character was outgunned and unprepared and had to use...NO!...wit and guts to get through where exploding cars and such wouldn't work. Yes, the movie had a bit of that with the bus but it felt a natural part of the movie, not some tacked on wackiness like the scenes in the 3rd movie.

There is hope that the new movie will be better than the trailers. But to me, it looks like a generic action movie way past its prime.
 

Inspector Hammer!

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Well to be fair, Phil, we can't expect this forth film to break the action mold the way the first one did, that would be asking the impossible at this point for to do that would be setting yourself up for certain disappointment. Revolutionary action films are very rare, in fact I can only recall three that redefined the genre and those are Die Hard, Speed and The Bourne Identity, the only thing we can ask of this film is for it to have a good story and hit us as hard as it can with tension, suspense and creative action sequences, so far I get the feeling that it's on the right track for those three things.

I'm also not ready to proclaim that McClane is going to appear too sure of himself here, we have to remember that he has gone through things like this before and that the scenes we see in the teaser may be from later parts of the film when he's accepted this new situation, we don't know how he'll react when it all starts again. And even if he is a surer hero this time out we have to keep in mind that he's had to have grown over the years, he's older and probably a little wiser than the young cop we saw in Die Hard.

Point is, we as fans and viewers have to be prepared to cut ties with our memories of the early McClane because for him to remain the same in every film would demonstrate a tremendous lack of character development and yes, would also be a tad boring to have him be the same scared and ill-placed hero he's been in the past.

Bottom line, our John McClane has grown up into a brave cop who maybe just MAYBE won't be as easily shaken as before, and that's good for us if you think about it, if those evil bastards couldn't kill him when he was young they sure as hell won't be able to kill him now that he's older...and tougher! :cool:

Of course this all speculation right now, he could still be the same ol' McClane we know so we shall see.
 

Inspector Hammer!

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Maybe he doesn't, not everyone is a HP fan and it's entirely possible that he has no idea how many books there are. I know that I don't follow Daniell Steel (just an example, I know HP is written by Rowling) and so as far as I know there are 100 of those books but I don't know for certain because I don't follow them.
 

Ray H

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Ray R just seems to go on a rant everytime he sees the words "Harry Potter" so no need to dwell on it.

I saw the trailer earlier. Sure as heck doesn't feel like Die hard. For whatever reason, I'm getting more of a Bruce Willis as Jack Bauer in Mission: Impossible 4 vibe.
 

Phil Florian

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Hammer, good points. I can see what you are saying about character development for McLane but if he develops into just another supercop, why go see the movies? This is why 16 Blocks resonates as a better old-man Mclane movie, to me. I am all for some development in character over a series of movies...to a degree (Did Indiana Jones change much? Did Capt. Kirk?) but to change what made his character unique among action heroes is kind of a let down. Sure, he can be more sure of himself as an older, wiser McLane. But then, do I really need or want to see that?

The bigger point to me would be, if you replaced the character John McLane, could the movie still work? If you say yes, then it really isn't a DIE HARD movie...it is just another action movie. Granted, going on a very thin trailer makes it hard to be sure but if this is any indication of overall movie, it clearly looks like any generic rent-a-cop would do nicely.

As you mentioned, Bourne was a genre busting movie. His character is very integral to the movie and how he approaches things is very important. Methodical, well thought out, serious, subtle, etc. If in the third movie he became a wise-cracking, two-gun shootin' hombre from a John Woo movie, would it still be a Bourne movie? I don't think so.

Speaking of Woo, I would add either THE KILLER or HARD BOILED as another genre busting movie for your list. The style of those movies (back to the lesser known A BETTER TOMORROW) is still reflected in today's action films, though I think the Bourne movie seriousness has taken over. That said, I look forward to HOT FUZZ to change all that with its glorious return to the Woo standard! :D

I know this is a lot of handwringing but it is mostly for fun conversation. I really am not that invested as the DIE HARD franchise quality dropped a bit with 2 and became a non-player with the 3rd. 4 at most will be a curiousity that I hope is better than it looks.

Enjoy!
 

hikura3

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pete
I always think his character in 16 Blocks is like an older version of John McClane
 

Ray_R

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Could it be that I just don't give a flying shit? Harry Potter has no need to be in a thread which has a character which predates him, John "Yipee Kay-Yay Motherfucker" McClane. I tells ya the lady who wrote them books stole the idea from Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic. But why should I care? I'm only going to care when the overly long book/film series is finished when I get around to watching the rest. Except the first two movies which I watched once. Pffffffffffft... I'm gonna watch them probably in 2015. No more HP in this thread, please!

Has anyone played Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza? I've only played the demo. I wish Samuel L. Jackson would return as Zeus Carver. It's only a teaser trailer.
 

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