"The Best Action Film Of Recent Years"

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2007)

In the year 1988 there was a man running around a high rise building with no shoes on. In 1990, this same man was running around again, this time in an airport fighting a guy who likes to pose naked in his hotel rooms. Then in 1995, this same man drove around NYC trying to solve numerous riddles. Now the year is 2007 and this same man now must stop hackers corrupting the United States Government and the entire country. Sounds pretty rough to us, well it's just another day in the life of John McClane.
Before the release of this film, many die hard DIE HARD fans (like that one eh?) were up in arms over not one, not two, but numerous things about this flick. One, would be the absurd PG-13 (14A) rating, whereas all the other DIE HARD films had R ratings, this was the first film in the series without it. Two, McClane's so called sidekick was a MAC...sorry I mean Justin Long. Third, the man behind the lens was Len Wiseman, whose resume was UNDERWORLD...and it's sequel. Finally Willis was old, pass his 50's old, could he still have the McClane charm and make it believable? No, things were not looking all too well for the next DIE HARD film, that is until it was finally released and blew everyone away. Myself included.
I will admit I was never head over heels in love with the first Die Hard film. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but not the be all to end all action film that everyone made it out to be. I give it credit for what it did, which was start a trend of films that would later be called " Die Hard On A.....Die Hard In A...." Those titles go for films such as SPEED or Sudden Death. I prefer Vengeance to be honest. Throughout the series to settings grew bigger and bigger, from a high rise building, to an airport, to a city and now the entire country. Live Free Or Die Hard is ambitious, violent, funny, and clichéd. So what I'm trying to say here is that it's the best action film of recent years. While CRANK tried it's best to inject live into a dead genre, it's this film that finally did it.
First off, the PG-13 rating will have no affect on your views for this film. you're too busy being blown back into your seat to even notice. The film has dropped the F-bombs, but has thrown in more bombs itself. Live Free or Die Hard is the most violent of the Die Hard films, and yet it probably shows the least amount of blood. It's the 'action violence' that sets it apart. Everything is taking place on a grander scale, making everything seem more significant and bigger then ever before. Die Hard was the one of the first films to be deemed the "Ultimate Guy Flick", Live Free or Die Hard is one film that is challenge that role. It so desperately wants to be the ultimate guy flick and it almost succeeds.
This film does what it does best, entertains. I guarantee you, that you are going to see this film for the action. You will not be disappointed. It is above and beyond in action. It even plays on the old tired action film clichés, which brings it into a self parody, but that's okay because will all know that no one is taking anything seriously here. Just listen to the plot to know that, don't even have to mention the car crashing into the helicopter scene. It's the clichés that actually bring the film higher. You know from the beginning that his 'partner' is going to be the wise-ass, guess what he is. Long serves as the comic relief, the young and hip kid to Willis' old and tired McClane. His daughter, who wants nothing to do with him will need her father in the end, as she will be kidnapped and the dad must do what he does best to get her back. The main villain being in love with a woman who is also one of the main villains. Not to mention the series famous catch phrase.
No one in this film is getting an Oscar anytime soon, but they play their roles to their beat. McClane is his joke spewing self, who shoots more bad guys in one day then most cops do their whole lives. Long plays his comedic young counterpart with just enough humour and just enough fear to play into the old/young relationship clichés. Winstead as the daughter who hates/loves her father and even Olyphant as the bad guy with the cold dead menacing stare.
I don't know what it is about the old beloved character, but with Stallone's Balboa and Willis' McClane, it seems that old things never die. It's up to Ford and his fedora to see if we can make it three for three. The film is about 30 minutes too long, but with all the action on the screen you won't care. This is a summer flick that actually delivers on it's promises. Boom, Boom, Boom. One gripe I have though is that there is so much action going on that not one scene particularly stuck out in my mind as the "DIE HARD" scene. In the original it's the jump from the explosion, with hose wrapped around him. The sequel is the cockpit ejection and third is the cable jump to boat. This film, even in it's jet-plane climax, has no real "DIE HARD HERO SHOT" that I wanted to see. Other then those minor gripes that I personally have, this was a big surprise to me. Other then Grindhouse and 300, I had the most fun at this film this year.