Die Hard 4.0

In the wee hours of the morning I watched a movie I recorded last month. I couldn't sleep so I figured 2 hours of explosions and car chases might help. Crazy, huh?

The movie I watched instead of sleeping was the high-definition version of Life Free or Die Hard, AKA Die Hard 4.0 in other countries. Bruce Willis, as John McClane, sipping at the Die Hard franchise once more. And it was well worth watching, a 129 minute thrill fest with some pretty decent acting to boot.

Did you hear me mention plot? LOL Well, suffice it to say that you'd best not pay too much attention to details while watching this movie because this movie makes sci-fi movies look plausible. It's horrible in that regard. The initial premise of the movie is that the transportation grid of the nation is intentionally fucked up by terrorists and then all outside controls--like traffic lights--are either shut down or left on in a manner to encourage accidents. Yes despite this, John McClane and other principal characters are able to move about at high speed with little or no traffic around them--unless it serves the plot to have a traffic jam, in which case you have a traffic jam that magically disappears a few minutes later. Wow!

The movie is chock full of crap like that, but it hardly matters. Bruce Willis, despite being 53, is able to pull off the look and attitude of an action hero, and his sidekick, Justin Long--he's the guy that personifies a Macintosh computer in Apple's "Get a Mac" advertisement campaign--is very likable. Particularly for a known cyber-criminal on the FBI's watch list. Also of note is the performance by Timothy Olyphant as terrorist mastermind Thomas Gabriel. He's not a very intimidating terrorist but given the background of the guy in the movie, that's reasonable. And Olyphant is great on the screen. He created one of my favorite characters ever in his role as Sheriff Seth Bullock in HBO's Deadwood.

But much as I liked some of the acting, it was the action sequences that made this film worth watching. If you don't like loud noises and things getting shot up, you might want to skip this movie. But if action films appeal to you, by all means watch this. From early on when Willis rescues Justin Long from 5 assassins the film never loses momentum. Over 2 hours of frenetic violence. Maybe I'll watch it again...

Comments

tiff said…
Finally- an action movie with no stupid love interest stuff to muck it up! Yay!
I loved the first one. I worked at a theatre when it came out and must've seen it a dozen times (we got free admission - and soda and popcorn if we brought our own containers!).
Unknown said…
First one was great, second one was OK...I don't remember the 3rd one so my memory's faulty or it wasn't so good.

Happy Friday!

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