7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
On the July 4th holiday, 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 an old-analog fly, John McClane, in the digital ointment.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Cliff CurtisAction | 100% |
Thriller | 66% |
Crime | 37% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
D-Box
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Computer hacker Matthew Farrell (Justin Long) and several others electronically deliver programs to a mysterious woman and her colleagues. After
delivery the hackers are violently “deactivated” one by one. The woman, Mai Linh (Maggie Q), informs her boss that they are ready to begin. In the
FBI Cyber-Security Division computer monitors flicker and go dark momentarily. Assistant Director Miguel Bowman (Cliff Curtis) demands that his
agency interview anyone capable of breaching their system. When informed that the department is understaffed to handle such a massive
undertaking, Bowman orders his staff to have local law enforcement agencies assist.
At Rutgers State University in New Jersey, New York Police Lieutenant Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) interrupts his daughter Lucy’s (Mary
Elizabeth Winstead) date much to her displeasure. After she storms off, McClane gets a call from his supervisor informing him that he has been
assigned to take Farrell, who is in Camden, to the Hoover Building in Washington D.C. Naturally, Farrell is reluctant to go, but the five gunmen who
show up to “deactivate” him convince the hacker to accompany McClane to Washington.
McClane and Farrell arrive in the capital as Lin and head conspirator Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) begin their three stage plan to disable the
country’s infrastructure and bring the United States to its knees. Farrell realizes what kind of attack is in progress and tries to warn Bowman.
Skeptical, Bowman directs McClane to escort Farrell to the location where they are interviewing the other hackers brought in. McClane and Farrell are
ambushed en route and barely survive. Afterwards, Farrell tells McClane that the terrorists will try to take out the power grid. Isolated and without
backup, John McClane realizes that it’s up to him to stop the terrorists and once again save the day.
Live Free or Die Hard is presented in 1080p and encoded in MPEG4 AVC. Another day and date home run for Fox, the image is terrific. Colors
are well saturated, grain is natural, and the picture is free of noise and artifacts. The film has that HD depth and detail we've come to expect from the
Blu-ray format. As a movie, it looks VERY different from the ones that preceded it. Besides being made 10-15 years after the others, Wiseman shot in
Super35 (rather than anamorphic Panavision), and the film was immediately transferred to digital format and color graded/corrected via computer.
Wiseman admits to being a fan of the Terminator films (he says so in the commentary) and it shares the same gray-blue highlights of those
movies in the majority of the night and interior scenes. This BD reproduces the look exactly as intended by the director.
A good example is right near the beginning when McClane goes to pick up Farrell from his apartment in Camden. Even in the low light you can make out
a wealth of detail in the room on various toys, action figures, and the ratty furniture. The scratches and unpainted walls, even the names of the icons on
Farrell's computer monitor (apparently Farrell was able to build his own custom Macintosh), are easy to spot. Of course there's Bruce Willis' weathered
visage as well. Every wrinkle, cut, and bit of stubble is there to see. As Indiana Jones might say: it's not the years, it's the mileage.
The film is encoded in Fox's usual 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Before I could not take advantage of the lossless track, but recent upgrades have rendered
this moot. What an introduction! Wiseman loves surround sound : his Underworld films have the reputation of being some of the most active
and powerful soundtracks out there and this movie is no different. Even toned down for the PG-13 rating, it's still a hard hitting and dynamic
soundtrack. From the quiet whirr of hard drives to the slam of an exploding helicopter, this will give the hardiest of surround systems a workout.
A prime demo sequence is the scene where McClane and Farrell attempt to escape a helicopter firing at their police squad car. It starts off quietly with
McClane and Gabriel trading insults via radio. When they reach an intersection all hell breaks loose. Bullets rip through all the speakers as both the car
and aircraft swerve from channel to channel. Every hit, glass break, and metal crunch sounds absolutely real. Five out of five.
The film is also encoded in English, Spanish, and French Dolby Digital (DD) 5.1 @ 448 kbps. Once again, I appreciate Fox including the 5.1 DD track,
this is not a soundtrack can listen to at night full range without waking the neighborhood. DD allows for dynamic range control and relatively decent
playback on lower-end systems.
Fox provides Live Free or Die Hard with the full suite of extras from the 2 disc DVD Special Edition, along with a Java game and D-BOX support. All the
extras are encoded in MPEG2, with the majority in standard definition. With the disc clocking in at over 42GB, it's understandable why they aren't
presented in HD. The feature film's video and sound are the priority here. The disc also contains the trailers for The Simpsons Movie and
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but are only accessible when you first insert the disc. Viewer advisory: While the film itself is PG-13,
the language in extras is uncensored.
Commentary by Bruce Willis, Director Len Wiseman, and Editor Nicholas De Toth (feature length, DD 2.0 @ 224 kbps): Willis,
Wiseman and De Toth discuss the creation of the film, revising the script, and what differences there are between the PG-13 and unrated versions.
Wiseman was always a big fan of the first film, and reveals that he made his own version in his family's backyard as a youngster. Too bad they
couldn't locate the camcorder footage from that! Willis' is open and he discusses his contributions to the script, the other films, and even entertains
the idea of further films in the future. De Toth is more behind the scenes, explaining the nuts and bolts of the film and what it took to create the
version ultimately seen theatrically.
Black Hat Intercept Game: Java based game, with intro by Kevin Smith. The goal is to penetrate several levels of a facility
before terrorists can unleash a computer virus. More arcade like than some of the previous Fox games, which makes it somewhat difficult to play via
the remote. For the curious.
Analog Hero in a Digital World: The Making of Live Free or Die Hard (1:37:15): Complete documentary on the making of the
film: everything from cast and crew interviews to stunts to visual effects to even the digital intermediate process. Can be viewed complete or in
chapters. A must see.
Yippee Ki Yay, Motherf***** (0:22:40, 480p 16x9, DD 2.0 @ 224kbps): Kevin Smith interviews Bruce Willis on the Fox lot.
Willis is candid and open about his thoughts on his career and the Die Hard series. Smith and Willis have a good rapport. Definitely worth
watching.
Die Hard by Guyz Nite (0:04:31, 480i 4x3, DD 2.0 @ 224kbps): A sensation on You Tube, Guyz Nite is a small New York band
that made a catchy song last year about the first 3 films and posted the video online. They initially were stopped by Fox for violating copyright, but
later Fox realized that the attention the video got could be used to market the Live Free or Die Hard, and not only allowed the band to re-
release the video, but add a verse and clips for the new film. NOTE: there appears to be an encoding issue with the video: terrible combing and
interlacing artifacts throughout.
Behind the scenes with Guyz Nite (0:05:48, 480p 16x9, DD 2.0 @ 224kbps): Still not sure if they're for real or not, a
humorous interview with the band with some samples of their music (they refer to the Die Hard films as documentaries). Worth a look.
Theatrical Trailer (0:02:14, 1080p 16x9, DD 5.1 @ 448kbps): OAR original trailer.
FOX on Blu-ray (0:06:45, 1080p 16x9): Teaser trailers for Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Die Hard
With A Vengeance presented in DD 2.0 @ 224kbps, and the full trailer for The Siege in DD 5.1 @ 448 kbps. Fairly beat up, and the
teasers for the first 2 films almost seem like parodies today. Interestingly enough, The Siege has not yet been formally announced as of this
writing, so I guess it's coming soon.
FOX MOVIE CHANNEL presents FOX LEGACY (0:06:19, 480p 4x3, DD 2.0 @ 224kbps): Promotional short produced by Fox
Movie Channel, hosted by Tom Rothman. Rothman discusses the Die Hard as a franchise and gives some behind the scenes information on the creation
of the first film.
Fox has put together a very good package for Live Free or Die Hard. An excellent video transfer, even better lossless audio, and a robust amount of supplements make it a good value. The only thing missing is the seamless-branching of the unrated version offered on DVD. Even without that, the film is still hard hitting and well done. Willis and Wiseman prove that there's still some mileage left in John McClane after all these years. Well worth the purchase.
Unrated and Theatrical Version
2007
Unrated & Theatrical Versions | Die Hard Collection Version
2007
1990
1995
1988
Extended Cut
2013
2001
The Complete Final Season
2010
2013
2012
2016
2015
2015
Unrated
2015
1997
2013
2005
2008
2013
2009
2010
20th Anniversary Edition
1996