Die Hard 5: One death too many - Page 5

Figured out why John McClane would go to Russia for a vacation - it's Action Central!

Dash cams in Russia are used to document road rage and accidents - as well as the occasional meteorite.

Russians don't f_ck around...it's a good thing we never went to blows with 'em.

Whats the matter OINK, chicken...

I am acutely aware of what they did to the Nazis (among others)...

There are Russians and there are soviets.

Couldn't keep from seeing this in spite of the low critic scores. It's big, bang, boom! Went in with low expectations and ended up enjoying it. Yes the whole thing is preposterous and over the top - check your brain at the door - popcorn movie. The villains were okay within the context of the movie but nothing special.

With John McClane achieving super human status (acquired in LFoDH) it's a natural extension of that movie. Anyone with steel bones and muscles can easily survive falls from great heights. It's as believable as James Bond's header off the train trestle in Skyfall, 200 foot fall head first into rushing water, which we know always cushions a fall.

Some of the close-up shots had great clarity and according IMDB they used an Arricam LT, Arriflex 235 and Arriflex 435 to film this. So the movie did look and sound great but as others had commented the shaky cam was a nuisance.

Marco Beltrami's score seemed a little disjointed in the beginning but eventually blended in with the film especially when incorporating the original Michael Kamen score from Die Hard.

There were brief scenes that reminded me of other Die Hard and Bruce Willis movies such as Hans Gruber in Die Hard, the loading of the Federal Reserve gold in Die Hard 3 and even the taking cover from gunfire behind a bar scene in The Fifth Element.

I thought the first act was confusing trying to figure out who was doing what to who. By the second act it is all sorted out. I like John Moore as a director but some scenes seemed a little awkward. There is a family vibe that gradually rises to the surface with the resolving of the father and son conflict and it eventually incorporates the daughter Lucy. My guess is that the final installation of this series will bring back Holly Gennaro to create an arc back to the original movie - at least I hope so.

I'll likely pick this up on Blu-ray when it comes out.

Well, the girlfriend went out with her 20-year old daugther to see the latest installment. I stayed home because...hello...young daughter. Her take that it was mindless, non-stop action and a great popcorn movie. PS...I've learned never to criticize a movie that she's enjoying. Something about "leave it to a man to suck the joy out of a woman's life." Can't fault her for that observation.

I saw it for free with the wife (my mom had two $10 discount codes).

Terrible, terrible sequel. The John McClane in the early films was human. He was scared when appropriate and did not come across as some trained super-agent when battling the bad guys. He had to take his time piecing the plot's puzzle together before he knew what his next move should be. Audience members identified with the character because he came across as an everyday Joe.

In this movie, that's all tossed out the window. He knows everything and can out battle anything. Character development is replaced by constant wise-cracks; he is so 2-dimensional now. The action scenes end up losing intensity because of this.

His son, in an obvious attempt to take over the series, is completely forgettable in this role. The first act is unnecessarily confusing, and I feel asleep during the last action scene.

I want my free movie pass back.

I saw A Good Day to Die Hard today and was underwhelmed. Bruce Willis was, as always, funny and charming, and the production values were outstanding but the plot descended to a depth of silliness I have seldom seen, not even in Die Hard films. I decided to see it only because I was looking for something to do. Thanks to my extremely low expectations, the exercise of seeing the film in the theater and the expenditure of $4.25 were not a complete waste. Nevertheless, if its runtime had been two hours instead of only 97 minutes I would have been mad as hell. Save your money and wait until it shows up at Redbox or maybe even wait until HBO or Showtime runs it. 6 Stars out of 10 and that's only because I am feeling charitable.

I think most of us will eventually give it a look out of curiosity at some point.
DH4 was only enjoyable when it was a free watch, so.....

Guess what I just thought of...you talk about a reboot? this franchise is dire need of one...start all over fresh again with a young gun..take your picks

No.... it deserves time to rest before that is even a consideration.

No need for a reboot. Why would it need a reboot actually? John McClane is a product of its time, and hopefully the next (and last) film won't make him a relic of its time. There's no need to reboot anything in Hollywood, only the need to make money on an existing "product". That's the only reason things get rebooted. The only exception imo is superheroes, simply because by definition, they defy time in the comics, these guys never age, never die (mostly), so in order to maintain their relevance on the big screen, they have to refresh them from time to time. Had they stopped publishing comics 30 years ago, I'm not sure we'd need more Batman and Superman movies in 2013. John McClane is different, he's just a movie character, and at some point he needs to retire...

I am almost ashamed to confess that I loved DH4, Live Free orDie Hard. I even bought it on BD. I thought the deranged bad guy computer genius, as played by Tim Olyphant, was almost as funny and entertaining as Willis himself. I also liked Maggie Q as Olyphant's lethal henchwoman. As loud and dumb as it is, DH4 hangs together, sort of, and is a lot of fun.

+1. I loved DH4 too. In fact if I had to rate them, here's how it would go in order of preference:

1. Die Hard.
2. Die Hard With a Vengeance.
3. Live Free or Die Hard.
4. Die Harder.
5. A Good Day to Die Hard.

Now that's not to say I don't like DH2, it's just not the most enjoyable for me. DH5 could have a lot better, but I'm not giving up on McClane, hopefully the 6th installment will be a great one.

No way Jose...DH 2 may not be original as the 1st one BUT in terms of action and entertainment some would say it's just as good as DH 1

I read an online blog some time ago that considered the screenplay for Die Hard written by Steven E. de Souza to be almost perfect (my words). The movie created a whole new genre where critics have taken to saying that a certain action movie was like Die Hard on a Train, Die Hard on a Ship, etc.

For anyone not familiar with its transition from novel to movie it's an interesting read.

http://www.scriptsecrets.net/articles/diehard.htm

Finally someone gets it. This was all gone in the 4th. They are making it like they are trying to appeal to teens and this tech generation. This is not transformers. Directors in hollywood are losing sight and focus

I suspect that much of my fondness for DH4 is owed to the presence of the always entertaining, Tim Olyphant. I became a fan during his Deadwood days and have been simply blown away by his performances in Justified, which is one of my very favorite TV series these days.

The problems starting on the script level today. If the script isn't good, no director can save the movie.

No truer words have ever been posted on this forum.

There are moments with very good actors, like Olyphant, Irons that make it worthwhile.
Alan Rickman set the standard. DH2 didn't have this all important "Heavy" IMO.

He has a tendency to do that.

+1! Rickman was wonderful as the evil German terrorist, Hans Gruber, in DH!, in a class with Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lector and Gary Oldman's deranged, dope addicted DEA agent, Stansfield, in Leon: The Professional.

+2

Oldman does the crazy better than almost anyone. Kinda partial to his insane Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg role in 5th Element

+100000000

It's fair to say, I think, that Oldman has a lot of range. Think of his deliciously out of control craziness as Stansfield and Zorg and compare those performances to his quiet, subtle, even repressed, George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Amazing, simply amazing!

Not to forget Shelly Runyon in The Contender. He disappeared inside that one.
Too bad he doesn't like leaving the Isle these days. They could cast him with Spacy next season.
Off topic here, but fun
Edited by thedeskE - 2/21/13 at 1:41pm

The guy is a chameleon....