Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
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Critics Consensus: Live Free or Die Hard may be preposterous, but it's an efficient, action-packed summer popcorn flick with thrilling stunts and a commanding performance by Bruce Willis. Fans of the previous Die Hard films will not be disappointed.
Critics Consensus: Live Free or Die Hard may be preposterous, but it's an efficient, action-packed summer popcorn flick with thrilling stunts and a commanding performance by Bruce Willis. Fans of the previous Die Hard films will not be disappointed.
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Movie Info
On the Fourth of July weekend, an attack on the vulnerable United States infrastructure begins to shut down the entire nation. The mysterious figure behind the scheme has figured out every modern angle... but he never figured on McClane--the old-school "analog" fly in the "digital" ointment. It's the beginning of the holiday, but New York City Detective McClane isn't celebrating. He's had yet another argument with his college-age daughter Lucy, and received a crushingly routine assignment to … More
- Rating:
- PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, language and a brief sexual situation)
- Genre:
- Mystery & Suspense , Action & Adventure
- Directed By:
- Len Wiseman
- Written By:
- Mark Bomback
- In Theaters:
- Jun 27, 2007 Wide
- On DVD:
- Nov 20, 2007
- US Box Office:
- $134.5M
- Runtime:
Cast
-
Bruce Willis
as John McClane -
Timothy Olyphant
as Thomas Gabriel -
Justin Long
as Matt Farrell -
Maggie Q
as Mai -
Cliff Curtis
as Bowman -
eljko Ivanek
as Molina
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LoginCritic Reviews for Live Free or Die Hard
All Critics (206) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (168) | Rotten (38) | DVD (28)
Len Wiseman handles many of the set-pieces with flair and tension.
It's not remotely plausible, but with Willis' McClane leaping onto the tailfins of passing jet fighters and bringing down helicopters by launching police cars at them, there's enough stuff blowing up that action fans won't mind much.
The bad guys' omnipotence at nearly every turn dilutes the film's suspense.
An enjoyable pop projection of post-9/11 anxiety. That said, it also makes you nostalgic for the days when irresponsible action movies didn't have to deal with it.
What's the fourth "Die Hard" called? I keep forgetting. "Die Hard: With a Pension"? "Die Hardened Arteries"? "Die Laughing"?
Movie characters like McClane are the Paul Bunyans and John Henrys and Pecos Bills of our age, the stuff of tall tales spun with the technology of an age whose campfires are found in multiplexes with stadium seating.
It's an over-the-top spectacle of action violence, and I loved it.
Provided you don't put too much thought into it and just enjoy the ride, you'll have a blast.
Ultimately, a passable new Die Hard movie is more than anyone of us ever really expected, and that in itself is worth a jolly old Yippee-Ki-Ay.
Brainless? Sure. Entertaining? Yup.
Though it's mostly entertaining (if overlong), there is a sense that the whole thing has become somewhat rote.
Live Free or Die Hard needs a sense of joy, a sense that despite the harrowing nature of the situation, there is something entertaining - even to the participants - about the absurdity of the situation ... it doesn't have that.
Fred Flinstone in the land of the Jetsons
Pulled off with just the right spatial élan
The Die Hard series was about as animated as Rocky's face until director Len Wiseman restored it to its kinetic essence...
Live Free or Die Hard is an over-the-top, fun rampage.
Live Free or Die Hard is as close as we are going to get to reliving the good old action films of the '80s.
I was actually nervous with all the gunfire and near misses. But then it kept happening over and over again. So instead of being involved, I studied the action sequences.
As more and more movies rely on massive CGI enhancement and Hong Kong choreographed wire-rigged fights, Die Hard revels in good, old-fashioned fist fights and real, immaculately executed stunts.
Its hyperactive 80's chic action crap and I had a blast just the same...
It is is about as realistic as a Tom & Jerry cartoon, but then again, this is a Die Hard movie . . .
Yipee-ki-ay your way past the plot flaws and enjoy the ride.
Audience Reviews for Live Free or Die Hard
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
This was a nice (enough) return to a great series. There's plenty of action and drama, and over-the-top stunts and sequences, Willis still has the gusto he used to, and the supporting cast does nice work too. It would have been nice had this been "hard-edged" like the previous films, but even though it's not, it's still a decent film.
Like the previous entry, this one is on a larger, more open scale, with McClane having to stop a high tech terrorist attack on the country's (mainly eastern seaboard) computer infrastructure using his old school analog ways. Joining him is a dweeby computer guy who makes for a pretty decent comic foil, though he has nothing on Samuel L. Jackson's Zeus from the previous film.
The film (at least the theatrical cut) suffers from being sanitized and given the PG-13 treatment, but if you're open minded, you can look past this aspect. McClane is also treated like a friggin superhero, basically surviving stuff that no normal man should. This last aspect seems to increase as this series goes on, and, yeah, it's a bit dumb, but if all you want is a cheesy over-the-top action spectacle, then you should be decently happy with this one.
Super Reviewer
Up until the most recent movie("Good Day to Die Hard") this was the most over the top installment of the movie. McClane(Bruce Willis) is visiting his daughter when he gets a call to pick up a hacker(Justin Long) and take him to Washington D.C. When he gets to the hackers apartment they are attacked, and it turns out the hacker didn't know, but he had been working for a terrorist named Gabriel(Timothy Olyphant) to set off a Fire Sail. Using technology they turn off traffic, all the power, all the communication, shut down financial institutions and attempt to put the U.S. back in the dark ages. But they didn't know they would have to contend with John McClane, an "analog man in a digital world". Now he is our best chance to stop them before it's too late. McClane is pretty much indestructible, and jumps onto F-35 jets here, so yes it's crazy and way over the top, but it's still a "Die Hard" movie, and it's still awesome. Not as good as others in the series, but it's still very entertaining for an action flick that holds up decent. Biggest problem is it's rated PG-13 and he only says "Yippy Ka Yah" without the rest of it;) Still, if you haven't watched it, go back and give it a shot.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Live Free or Die Hard Quotes
- Thomas Gabriel:
- On your tombstone it should read 'At the wrong place at the wrong time'.
- John McClane:
- How about ' Yippie ki yay, motherfucker!'.
- Thomas Gabriel:
- [on the phone] Mai, what the hell's going on?
- John McClane:
- Mai? Oh yeah, little Asian chick, likes to kick people? I don't think she's gonna be talking to anyone for a long time. The last time I saw her she was at the bottom of an elevator shaft with a big SUV rammed up her ass.
- John McClane:
- Nice poster.
- Warlock:
- What are you a fan of the Fett?
- John McClane:
- No, I was always more of a Star Wars person.
- John McClane:
- Is that your best shot?
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