I had to forgive a lot with this one.

Rating: 7/10 (26 November 2013)

The best action movies were made in the 80's. Die Hard was among them. While the sequels (especially Die Hard 2) didn't improve on the first one - which isn't exactly a flaw, since the first one is a classic and almost impossible to top - they did have that certain grit and 80's feel to them.
With Die Hard 4.0 (sigh, that's what it's called here in the nordics), I had to forgive a lot of things in the movie to enjoy it. I still haven't found the non-PG13 blu-ray with finnish subtitles, so currently I'm stuck with the theatrical release.
These are my gripes:

PG13 is useless. The trend to release everything in PG13 is insulting to action movie lovers. I don't even know what bothers me the most, the awkward and awful almost-cursing ("jerkoff!") or the lack of brutal, impactful violence. The way the movie is cut somehow does seem to make up for the lack of blood without totally losing the impact, but anyway these are significant shortcomings for me.

John McClane is not a superhero nor should be treated as such. When I think about my favorite scenes from the three previous movies, I never (not even once) thought that "hey, this scene would be better if that guy fought a jet". It's not the SCALE of things that made the first film a genre classic, it was a very confined environment with a lot of simple battles.

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Those are my gripes with Die Hard 4, and I'm not alone with them. Anyway, onto the good stuff. The story is decent enough. Willis is still (mostly) okay, and there's something about Timothy Olyphant that I can't quite grasp. I love watching the guy, yet his character doesn't seem really menacing. I don't fear him, I don't even hate him that much, but I want to watch him. It's weird in a positive way for me. Justin long manages fine as a stuttering sidekick/exposition device. Kevin Smith was a nice surprise.
The action is (minus the ridiculous jet scene) passable for a PG13 flick. Lots of cool moves and stunts, won't complain. I thought the movie got gradually a little bit worse as it progressed, but the surprisingly good start (apartment shootout scene) somehow carried the rest of the movie.
I still probably like this more than Die Hard 2, but then again the PG13-rating can, in time, make me change my mind. Naturally the first and third are superior to both Die Hard 2 and this one.
This could've been a pretty awesome action film if treated properly. A solid R-rating from the beginning, tighter script with more tense action without certain ridiculous "big" scenes, a more interested Bruce Willis...but the ship sailed. Die Hard 4 is OK, if you're willing to forgive some of its shortcomings.
I skipped Die Hard 5. Everything that people say (read a lot of reviews here on IMDb, had some friends even warn me not to see it) makes me not want to see it. And I won't, I don't hate myself that much.
If the producers/filmmakers/Bruce remember or care about what's good in this franchise to begin with and deliver a good sixth entry, I will give that one a chance. I'm not holding my breath.