Post by Triggerhappy on Feb 14, 2008 22:57:28 GMT -5
Pretty much the most influential action series ever made. The original Die Hard changed the action genre forever and a million knockoffs are made a year.
The best of course is the original. We get Bruce Willis's best performance and a new type of action hero that is not perfect. He gets hurt. He cracks and curses under pressure. He doesn't always save every hostage. He bleeds. He's real. We get the great effects, great direction and one of the best villains ever put on film in Alan Rickman. One of the only truely flawless perfect action movies. Severely quotable.
Die Hard 2 is almost the same, but in a different setting. We get Holly in trouble again, Dick Thornberg being.......a dick, Reggie VJ helping out John, and John being held back by an incompetent police force. Despite the series repetetiveness, I still love DH2. The action is very well-done, especially the bloody and brutal Annex Skywalk shootout. Great novelty deaths, great McClanisms, and the best usage of The Line out of any entry in the series. DH2 gets a lot of undeserved criticism.
Die Hard With A Vengeance is almost as good as the original. It deviates a little from the series formula, but the action sequences are fresh and exciting, and its exciting seeing McClane deal with action out of his usual Die Hard element. Great deaths, great lines, great direction, and we get FANTASTIC chemistry between Willis and Samuel Jackson. "Yah, Zues! Father of Apollo? Mount Olympus? Don't fuck with me or I'll shove a lightning bolt up yo ass? Zues! You got a problem with that!?" Jeremy Irons was a GREAT villain and the 2nd best in the series.
(This review is referring to the Unrated, original cut)
Live Free or Die Hard deviates even MORE from the formula, taking it cross-country, but that didn't stop me from loving this entry as well. I had second thoughts as to if Bruce could pull off the same character he last played 13 years ago, and he pulled it off perfectly. He still makes great wisecracks, bad attitude, and good action, which is surprising since it's directed by Len "Vampire Shitfest" Wiseman. He actually shows that he can do a few great action scenes. The big problem is that it lacks the real soul and reality that all the Die Hards had. It broke the modern action movie mold by doing all the action with NO CGI. They really thew a helicopter into a car. They really threw a car on top of 2 other running cars. A guy really did run along those walls like that. This one also had a fantastic villain death, even though its the worst villain in the series. Anyone who's seen it will agree that it was supremely badass. Best line:
"Mai? Asian chick, likes to kick people? Yah, I don't think she's going to be saying anything to anyone in a really long time. Last I saw her she was at the bottom of an elevator shaft with an SUV rammed up her ass."
A (near) perfect series. Maybe when McTiernan gets out of prison he'll straighten up and do a proper send-off to the series.
Discuss
The best of course is the original. We get Bruce Willis's best performance and a new type of action hero that is not perfect. He gets hurt. He cracks and curses under pressure. He doesn't always save every hostage. He bleeds. He's real. We get the great effects, great direction and one of the best villains ever put on film in Alan Rickman. One of the only truely flawless perfect action movies. Severely quotable.
Die Hard 2 is almost the same, but in a different setting. We get Holly in trouble again, Dick Thornberg being.......a dick, Reggie VJ helping out John, and John being held back by an incompetent police force. Despite the series repetetiveness, I still love DH2. The action is very well-done, especially the bloody and brutal Annex Skywalk shootout. Great novelty deaths, great McClanisms, and the best usage of The Line out of any entry in the series. DH2 gets a lot of undeserved criticism.
Die Hard With A Vengeance is almost as good as the original. It deviates a little from the series formula, but the action sequences are fresh and exciting, and its exciting seeing McClane deal with action out of his usual Die Hard element. Great deaths, great lines, great direction, and we get FANTASTIC chemistry between Willis and Samuel Jackson. "Yah, Zues! Father of Apollo? Mount Olympus? Don't fuck with me or I'll shove a lightning bolt up yo ass? Zues! You got a problem with that!?" Jeremy Irons was a GREAT villain and the 2nd best in the series.
(This review is referring to the Unrated, original cut)
Live Free or Die Hard deviates even MORE from the formula, taking it cross-country, but that didn't stop me from loving this entry as well. I had second thoughts as to if Bruce could pull off the same character he last played 13 years ago, and he pulled it off perfectly. He still makes great wisecracks, bad attitude, and good action, which is surprising since it's directed by Len "Vampire Shitfest" Wiseman. He actually shows that he can do a few great action scenes. The big problem is that it lacks the real soul and reality that all the Die Hards had. It broke the modern action movie mold by doing all the action with NO CGI. They really thew a helicopter into a car. They really threw a car on top of 2 other running cars. A guy really did run along those walls like that. This one also had a fantastic villain death, even though its the worst villain in the series. Anyone who's seen it will agree that it was supremely badass. Best line:
"Mai? Asian chick, likes to kick people? Yah, I don't think she's going to be saying anything to anyone in a really long time. Last I saw her she was at the bottom of an elevator shaft with an SUV rammed up her ass."
A (near) perfect series. Maybe when McTiernan gets out of prison he'll straighten up and do a proper send-off to the series.
Discuss