Review of Live Free or Die Hard (2007) by Adam D — 23 Feb 2013

This represents a new era in the Die Hard series for me- one based on exploiting the success of the series' name to make bombastic and ridiculous action films.

Hollywood action flicks as big as this one rarely disappoint in the action field and this is no exception- it's full of great action scenes that are well-shot and on a grand scale. It goes too far though making it laughable at times.

The plot is okay but nothing special but that's alright because none of the Die Hard follow ups have matched the original's plot. There's an attempt to modernise here with Justin Long representing the newer generation of fans- the age rating being the most obvious sign that this is supposed to be a more family-friendly offering. McClane certainly still represents the old folk though with his disdain for technology and old-man music taste on full display here.

This is an entertaining action film- one that beats most big-budget offerings around today and at the time but it's not a Die Hard film. The only remaining element of the series in this film is McClane and here he becomes some kind of strange parody of himself. There's weak attempts to connect the story- bringing his daughter in for example, but it's clearly nothing more than an unimaginative way to keep the story going. The fact that the newest Die Hard includes his son is further proof of this- I bet it'll be the grand kids next.

Its understandable why this moves on from the previous Die Hard movies- the climate has changed and people expect different things from an action film now but that doesn't excuse how obtuse this offering is- it blatantly rides on the Die Hard name and uses it to justify a pretty ridiculous, though entertaining, film. If the action wasn't shot so well and this was the same story but without the Die Hard name and Willis' presence, I think this would have been a big failure with the critics and at the box office.