After a twelve-year hiatus, Bruce Willis is back as New York City detective John McClane, who still plays by his own set of rules. Following DIE HARD (1988), DIE HARDER (1990), and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (1995), the fourth installment in the popular action series stars DEADWOOD's Timothy Olyphant as Thomas Gabriel, an evil mastermind who is determined to bring down the entire infrastructure of the United States on Independence Day, sending the country into anarchy and chaos. Joining him on his mission of destruction is the elegant Mai, played by Maggie Q from MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III. McClane becomes involved when he gets caught in the crossfire while transporting prisoner Matt Farrell (Justin Long, most well known as the mac in a series of computer commercials), a hacker extraordinaire who is the perfect complement to the old-school McClane, who eschews cell phones, computers, and doing anything the easy way. But when Gabriel kidnaps McClane's daughter, Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, from the DEATH PROOF section of GRINDHOUSE), it gets personal. Full of the sarcastic humor, exciting action sequences -- including flying cars -- and fun characters that have defined the series, LIVE FREE OR DIE HARDER is an excellent addition, directed by Len Wiseman (UNDERWORLD and UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION). The plot was based on a magazine article, "A Farewell to Arms," written by John Carlin, that appeared in a 1997 issue of WIRED magazine. The movie also features Kevin Smith as a computer geek -- er, expert -- known as Warlock, who still lives in his mother's basement. Yippee-ki-yay indeed.
Theatrical Release: June 27, 2007
DVD Features:
2-Disc Set
Audio:
Dolby Digital Surround - French, Spanish
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
DTS 5.1 - English
Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Behind the Scenes - "Behind the Scenes with Guyz Nite"
Music Videos - Guyz Nite - "Die Hard"
Disc 1: LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD - Widescreen
Widescreen - 2.35
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentaries - Including Len Wiseman - Director; Mark Bomback - Screenwriter
Trailers - 1. 20th Centry Fox Forced Trailers (3)
2. Additional 20th Century Fox Trailers (4)
Disc 2: LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD - Supplemental Material
Additional Release Material:
Behind the Scenes - "Analog Hero in a Digital World: Making of LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD" (Parts 1-10)
Featurettes - "Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherF********!"
Trailers - Theatrical Trailer
Featured
Kevin Smith: Writer/Director, CLERKS, DOGMA
Screenplay
Mark Bomback:
Story
David Marconi: Screenwriter/Director
Story
Mark Bomback:
Director of Photography
Simon Duggan: Australian DOP
Review 1:
"LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD gets a bit of the old mojo back by tapping into fears that are, by nature, too virtual to see." -- Grade: B
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.49 07/13/2007
Review 2:
3 stars out of 5 -- "Long is likeable; Maggie Q is sleek and sexy as a kung fu-kicking black-leather widow; Kevin Smith is good fun..."
Source: Total Film
p.46 07/01/2007
Review 3:
3 stars out of 5 -- "The appealing essence is still Willis' wisecracking, extraordinarily tough 'ordinary guy'....His relish for a cat-and-mouse engagement is undiminished."
Source: Empire
p.56 09/01/2007
Review 4:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[D]irector Wiseman confidently reinvigorates the franchise, with a blockbuster movie that feels huge..."
Source: Ultimate DVD
p.65 04/01/2008