Heart-Ache?: Die Hard Outside Die Hard Tradition?
Update: A Commenter Says It Exceeds DHWAV; Manages 77% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Oh, dear. This guy says that to compensate for the lack of gore and brutality, Live Free or Die Hard resorts to physically-impossible CGI "stunt" sequences that, while satisfying in their own right, just ain't Die Hard.

I was sort of worried about this, based on the huge CGI car crashes and semi-trailer vs. F-35 jet sequences I saw in the commercials, but I consoled myself: Hey, Die Hard With A Vengeance had had that improbable winch-line-plummet-to-the-boat thing (where two humans fall about 150 feet on to a steel deck and get up with a bit of bruising). And the dump-truck surfing scene.

Still, I didn't really like those parts, as they were pretty far from the original Die Hard concept of really clever, really brutal, really exciting actions sequnces that kinda-sorta really could happen. They were fine for Lethal Weapon. For Die Hard? No.

It's sad that Live Free or Die Hard pushes this up to 11 to make up for the lack of blood.

Still, the review is fairly positive-- he just thinks you'll like it better if you pretend it's not a Die Hard movie at all.

But... 77% positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes. Though, I have to say, I trust critics' positive reviews of films they plainly have no appreciation for about the same as their negative reviews. These are the sort of people who thought Eraser was kinda good.

TheEJS says it's good:

There's no lack of blood...

Live Free or Die Hard was better than the second and third (though I dare not compare it to the original because, simply, nothing can compare to the original).

posted by Ace at 04:57 PM

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