Die Hard 4: I saw it

Just saw Die Hard 4.0, as it is called here. Am told it's labelled Live Free or Die Hard elsewhere. It's a good movie. I am not sure it's gonna be as cherish-worthy as the first two Die Hard films, but it isn't crap. John McLane, older, still reckless and foul-mouthed, is brilliant to watch and Bruce Willis fits into that role so effortlessly, they might as well have added 'John McLane as himself' in the cast listing. There are hardly any distractions in the film, the action is unrelenting and the real stunts ('You... you just took out a chopper with a car!') make it a good watch.

However, the flyover sequence with the F-35 is too far out. In a world where missiles can evidently be targetted to explode 2.66 microns inside your left ear, John McLane must radiate some sort of fifth dimensional force field, because the pilot, in a yet-to-be-deployed F-35 next-generation fighter aircraft, aims for McLane's bald head and ends up with his missile taking out the flyover ramp McLane's trucking along on. At a range of 15 feet or something. Ridiculous. This too-far-out action is, in my opinion, completely new to the Die Hard franchise.

That aside, though, it's vintage McLane, still reluctant, still effective and still with a bagful of curt but appropriate one-liners. Nice. And yeah, Maggie Q who? I can't even remember if she spoke a single word in the movie.

Overall? Attending one movie screening is a good idea, although I am not sure if you would want to go back and see it again. I will probably end up purchasing the DVD at some point, but I will only buy it because it completes the Die Hard movie set.

The Ballad of John McLane – a silent movie version of Die Hard. ~10 min

Trailer: Die Hard 4.0 / Live Free or Die Hard.~2 min

A Die Hard music vid by Guyznite, from YouTube via kautilya