When faced with a choice between Sicko, Ratatouille, and Live Free or Die Hard; the choice was easy. I will take action over comedy every time, and I will never take socialist propaganda. It didn't hurt hearing that Bruce Willis seems to think Fred would "make a wonderful candidate".
I was a big fan of the original Die Hard when it came out in 1988. To this day, I think that Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber was one of the greatest movie villains of all-time. (The American Film Institute seems to agree as they rate Hans Gruber the 46th Best Villain of all-time)
In my opinion, this was the first Die Hard sequel to measure up to the original. In many ways, it surpassed the original. I have never had so much action in a single sitting. Vin Diesel is sipping tea in his Riddick movies compared to what Jack McClane does in this fourth installment of Die Hard.
As an IT Professional, I can say some aspects of the script are somewhat far-fetched. There are many computer geeks in this movie and they play an important part into what is going on. Jack McClane is constantly encountering obstacles thrown at him by homicidal hackers. He must dig deep into his "old school" ways to survive an onslaught from a villain that can kill with a keystroke and turn every object in the city against you.
The plot highlights the differences between the men from Jack McClane's era and the men from Gen X and Gen Y. Even though he is a relic lost in the information age, McClane is still able to save the day. I can appreciate this storyline. Being a graybeard by computer geek standards, I can recall a time when a hard drive meant Route 10 between Princeton and Covel. Many of my contemporaries can't even remember the U.S.S.R.
Much to my surprise, Middleton, West Virginia plays a significant role in the script. I had never heard of nor been to Middleton, WV so I checked with Google and Yahoo Maps just to make sure. It is fictitious.
West Virginia license plates appear on several vehicles, and Joe Manchin will be happy as his hideous sign gets a full screen shot with a few seconds of air time. You can even read MoJo's name on the right corner. (Fortunately, the popcorn bag was empty by this point in the movie, so I could use it as a makeshift barf bag.)
Aside from not being able to escape the reality of living under the reign of King Joseph the first, it was a great movie and a great experience.
Bruce Willis as John McClane ranks up there with John Wayne as many characters, Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry and the "Man With No Name", Keifer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, and Fred Thompson as Fred Thompson.
Justin Long plays the role of hacker-turned-reluctant hero Matt Farrell very well, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays an angry Lucy McClane, John's splitting image of a daughter. Maggie Q plays the role of sexy assasin very well. She takes a very interesting ride in an SUV with West Virginia tags.
Timothy Olyphant stars as evil genius Thomas Gabriel. Gabriel lacks Hans Gruber's commanding presence, but he demonstrates an unusual array of weapons at his command. He represents the clash of the information age against Jack McClane who relies on the sweat of his brow and an infinite pool of courage.
Kevin Smith of Jay and Silent Bob fame makes a pretty interesting cameo, and Star Trek:Voyager fans will recognize one of the government agents.
If you like action, you'll love this one. I give it five stars out of five stars!
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