A Great Die Hard Movie but ...

Rating: 6/10 (3 July 2007)

John McClane is back and he is still in top shape. No, let me rephrase this, he is in an excellent shape. The Movie is full of breathtaking action, funny dialogs and it has a good storyline. It is almost Die-hard at its best. Well, almost.
First of all, what bothers me the most is the PG-13 rating. Some scenes cold have been better if the R-rated version hit the cinemas instead of the money-thirsty PG-13 version. In some scenes you can actually see that they have been cut and it still keeps you think how did the scene look in the original cut. I won't say there aren't any bloody scenes in the film, but still it is not shown in the amount as it should be.
Secondly, the bridge scene is awesome, but it still is something that is a little too much for such a film. Why? Because such a thing is almost impossible and of course there were a few impossible scenes in the first three films, but none of them was so far fetched than this. But like I said it is still an awesome scene and brings the whole thing on a different level.
But this is enough of the negative things. Let me say why this film is still a great entertainment. First, we have been waiting for John McClane to return for 12 years and now he is finally back and he really doesn't disappoint at all. Together with Justin Long, Willis has made quite a great performance. The funny moments between Willis and Long are just great. It is like old school meets new school. It is just too funny. You just have to laugh at certain points.
If we go on, Timothy Olyphant really shows a great performance as the main villain and he really gives you a cold shiver sometimes. He did a good job, if we think on part 1 where the main villain was played by Alan Rickman and in part 3 by Jeremy Irons, who are both great actors, but Olyphant really was shining in his role.
Another plus is McClane's daughter Lucy, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. In her you can really see the reflections of both of her parents. She has a big mouth like her father and is stubborn like her mother. And both of this put together gives us quite a toxic combination. Just see the boyfriend scene at the beginning and you will get it.
The storyline like I said is good but not perfect. It is something like we have seen in many different movie and series, like 24 or 16 Blocks. Well, but the writers really managed to put the best of different films together and have created a cocktail that is very tasty. It is more than just this, it's delicious. Where there are holes in the screenplay the director, Willis and Long really managed to fill the gaps with great wordplay and awesome action scenes.
All in all, this is a Great Die Hard film, but it could have been even greater. So, I hope Fox will see that the fans still want more from the film and they will deliver us the R-rated version on the DVD or even better on BluRay Disc. One more advice, if you are making sequels to rated R-movies, don't downgrade them again. I really hoped you had your lesson with AVP, but I guess I was wrong. Well, still, Live Free or Die Hard is way better than AVP, but it is still missing some important ingredients.