A Good Day to Die Hard - Just Die Already

[workinwifdakids]

I saw Die Hard 2, Bruce Willis' attempt to see if a hit could become a franchise, in theaters in the summer of 1990. I saw the first film sometime in the next few years. (I didn't have access to movies, really, until about 1993). Like most people, according to online reviews, I loved the first Die Hard even more.

Die Hard 3 came along in '95, and I was ambivalent. There were parts I loved, but the movie itself felt disjointed. I'm satisfied having seen it, and I'm satisfied not seeing it again. The 4th installment entitled "Live Free or Die Hard" was everything, to me, that a summer blockbuster should be, and I promptly went out and bought my own copy which I've seen too many times to count.

So, I was thrilled to see that a new Die Hard would be coming, this one titled "A Good Day To Die Hard." You know that feeling you get when you see a trailer and want to immediately see the film at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning so you can have the whole theater to yourself? That's how I felt after seeing the trailer. After I "saw" the film, I think a better title would be "A Good Time to Give Up Was One Film Ago." I put the word "saw" in quotes because I knew within 20 minutes the film was going to be poor, and within 40 minutes I took the unprecedented step of pulling the DVD out of the player and shutting off the TV, annoyed at the $1 I just spent on Redbox, annoyed at the hour I'd just lost, and feeling like Bruce Willis had phoned in his performance. I don't know if he was curtailed by the script or what. But it felt like someone had inputted his lines into a music board, and were pressing keys: "I don't get paid enough for this!" "I'm on vacation!" "Get down!" "Did I do that?"

The story was trite and boring, the acting was mediocre, and the dialogue again was so atrocious I can hardly believe it made it past a first reading.

Disappointing.

[Weetabix]

Dang. My assessment of 1-4 matches yours. Guess I'll skip this one. Thanks for saving that 90 minutes of my life.

Indiana Jones had a similar flight path. I skipped the Crystal Skull because Indie looked too old in the trailers. I called it "Kingdom of the Crystal Hip" but most people didn't laugh.

[Aesop]

Bruce Willis continues to do Die Hard movies because they keep paying him, not because the scripts are so interesting and well-written. Plus I think he's still on the hook for keeping his ex in rehab, which is why marrying Demi off to Charlie Sheen is looking better by the day.

The last one was not as bad as Indiana Jones And The Temple Of WTF by a long shot, but it wasn't worth in-theatre ticket price.
So suck up the $1 Netflix fee you're out, and move on.

RED 2 looks like a much better ride.

[Weetabix]

I skipped the Temple of Doom, as well.

Just recently saw Red and enjoyed it. I'd watch Red 2 on spec.

[Jered]

Here's a link to the Honest Trailer for Indy IV. If you click that link, you will lose an hour of your life while you watch all of them.

[Weetabix]

To be fair, the old refrigerators were pretty stout...

[Greg]

Here's a link to the Honest Trailer for Indy IV. If you click that link, you will lose an hour of your life while you watch all of them.

While we're talking time sinks.... there are also the How __ Should Have Ended and Everything Wrong with __ series. Sample links both refer to Prometheus.

[Weetabix]

I love HISHE. It's where my kids and I share some [strike]quality[/strike] time well wasted.

[Yogimus]

NO die hard script was ever written. The title was slapped on to existing scripts.