Price: $29.98
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
I sure am glad about two things. Firstly that I read a lot of reviews saying this movie is terrible, and secondly knowing that most of the time public reviews are often extremely harsh and not always fair, I'm glad I didn't listen to these people. Here, netflix, IMDB 75-90% of the reviewers either didn't like or downright hated this movie. And I read dozens at each web site. I expected this movie based on all that to be a total bomb. Truth is it's not bad at all. Certainly better than the second installment. In my opinion it's not as good as 1,3 and 4. But better than 2, which I simply thought was not very good at all. People complained that Russia is not a good setting for a Die Hard movie. well I can say it's a lot better than an entire Die hard movie set at an Airport. And in this installment the action is much better than it was in 2.
Many of the reviews were not only too harsh but they were also totally incorrect sometimes. For instance numerous reviews complained that Willi's McClane doesn't hardly say a thing through nearly the entire movie. Totally false. He talks through most of the film only a little less than would be expected. Another is people complaining that the chase scene was 20,30 minutes long. Well it was actually about 3 or 4 minutes longer than the usual classic chase scenes we like to reference. But that doesn't matter and shouldn't. The action and destruction that takes place during this scene is some of the best I have ever seen. More cars are destroyed in this segment than have probably ever been destroyed in any other chase scene in movie history, but they are also destroyed in unique ways and it's visually realistic and extremely impressive. What's the main thing people expect from a Die Hard movie? Lots of mind blowing action that doesn't let you down. This chase as well as all the action in the movie doesn't dissapoint, it's done superbly. Some action moments are pretty hair raising and very stylishly done.
What doesn't work in the movie well is the chemistry between McClane and his son. It's just lazy chemistry with no real heart. They are not given much as far as a script goes to work with either. Comparing it to the script and Chemistry Wills had with Sam Jackson or Justin Long in 3 and 4, it's pretty lackluster, downright terrible in comparison. There is also a lot less humor than we've come to expect and that is a let down too. The bad guys in this outing do not standout like Hans or Peter Gruber did, and there's no hot ass kicking asian girl in this one either. The movie is also not as lengthy as the other Die Hard movies. It's about 15 minutes shorter, so I understand the various reviews where people felt it could have been longer. And Willis often becoming sort of a backup man for his son seems a bit unflattering too. One of the things that we love about John McClane is that he takes control of the situation even if most of the time he feels "This a bad idea".
So if there is a lot that just doesn't work well about this movie, then why 4 stars? Well that was a tough choice, but considering how far downhill the movie industry has drifted in the last 10 or so years, I've seen so many movies as of late that are just plain terrible or such letdowns when they promised to be great that I expected this to be even worse than those. I mean based on all the bad reviews I expected an absolute total bomb. This film is far from that. Since Hair raising action is the main reason I go see a Die Hard movie, on that level this movie delivers the goods. Very happy Willis is still willing to play in another sequel, so that's a lot better than no Die Hard to go and see. Sure the plot, script and other various things about this film seem kind of dull and feel kind of flat, but it's still a very entertaining movie, and though it's nowhere as good as the last installment I still really enjoyed it, and much more than Die Hard II.
Still there's a lot to like about this movie. The setting of Russia as a backdrop is really very nice. It's used well, particularly arial shots make the city interesting. Lots of great moments, the plot and story are still interesting, and the movie has a lot to like about it. I think too many people expect each Die Hard movie to outdo the one before it. That was true of 3 and 4 after all, but then not true of I and II. I recommend it as long as your expectations are not set too high, you should really enjoy it. Certainly better than the 'Taken' films. More intelligent and better action. If you loved the two Taken movies, you should love this.
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