Die Hard With A Retrospective - Page 5

For years I thought that guy was actually Parker Lewis (Can't Lose).

Another great little part: the sudden, hilarious, split-second flashback to Hans Gruber.

Great, great, great film. Slight messiness in the second half isn't enough to deflate it at all. Best action movie of the '90s, alongside SPEED and GOLDENEYE.

Great cap to the series of articles, Russ.
DH3 was a definite improvement over DH2, McTiernan's classy direction once again comes to the fore, this really was McTiernan's last great movie and he caps it with a Die Hard film.

The back and forth between Willis and Jackson is what makes this movie, so many great one-liners from them both. Making the villain Gruber's brother could've come off as cliche but they twisted it around, just like the first movie and took first impressions and flipped them.

McClane driving a cab through central park, the claustrophobic scene in the lift where McClane realizes the man wearing the badge isn't a cop, McClane vs Targo, all great scenes.

That scene with Zeus waiting by the phone at the subway is a classic.

Oh yeah, this too.

Great work, Russ. Might buy myself that trilogy set soon.

I'd like to read your thoughts on Predator as well, as I consider it, like Die Hard, one of the few perfect action movies.

I'm really looking forward to this Trilogy, the AlienSaga, and the Predator films making it to BluRay. Fox has been doing a decent job of putting out some films, and these need to get remastered.

So, when are the Alien films getting the retrospective treatment? I look forward to seeing Resurrection recieve 0 Crying Paxton's out of 4.

Oh come on, RESURRECTION is at least worth 1 Bishop Torso.

I still remember dragging my folks to see Die Hard With A Vengeance on the first day. This movie is all kinds of greatness, and a the second best of the series. Jeremy Irons does a great job, and I think the parkway chase is great. I also like McClane surfing the dump truck, and how it quickly segues into the chase sequence. I also dig the elevator shoot out. Claustrophobic as fuck, and great.

Truth be told, I typed Bishop Torsos and changed it at the last minute because I thought he was severed too high up for the part that shows up in 3 to be considered a torso.

Well there's less of Bishop in 3 than there was at the end of ALIENS. I think he was just a gooey head at the start of 3.

Now I need to go out and get the With A Vengeance DVD. Haven't seen it since renting the VHS in the mid 90s. I really liked it at the time, I hope it holds up.

I tried watching Die Hard again. It's still a great movie, but I've seen it so many times it's hard to enjoy anymore.

I've yet to see Die Harder in it's entirety, I'll have to rent that.

Great job, man. Exactly the way I feel about each movie. I had to fight a guy I work with in a fight to the death because he thought that 2 was the best movie. Thankfully, he no longer taints this world with his badness.

Great job with this feature, Russ. Each article got better as it went along, which isn't a knock on the first article - it's just more interesting to read about a film's "arguing points", and the 1st movie doesn't have much to argue about.

As far as the parkway chase, it always felt like that sequence had quite a few parts that were edited out. I even remember a couple of parts from the commercials that weren't in the film when I saw it in the theater (although I can't exactly recall them now). Are there any deleted scenes on the disc other than the ending?

...and The Rock. and Face/Off. looks like we're going to have to skip a decade of great action flicks, the neutering of john mclane being a sign of the times.

can't remember if there were any cut scenes directly from the parkway chase, but i'm almost positive there were a handful of deleteds on the special features disc. speaking of the alternate ending, it's kind of a trip listening to the writer's commentary on it. being that he didn't even know that the scene had made it past storyboards and had actually been shot, it took him several seconds to get used to that and give his take on the scrapped ending. it was pretty interesting. i, for one, was kind of disappointed that they didn't tool around with that idea more for inclusion into the finished film. it had an unsettling but provocative darkness to it. it at least maintained the ballsy approach to mclane's psyche that kicked the movie off

My brother-in-law lost my copy of Die Hard, so I've just ordered a nice 6 disc Die Hard Trilogy set.
Can't wait to revisit "..with a Vengeance".

Please do a feature on the Alien films, followed by the inevitable "Home Alone week" .
Four scorched Pesci-noggins out of four?

I just watched all four Special Editions of the Alien Quadrilogy over the past few days. It was quite an interesting experience because I really got to see how formulaic all the movies except three are. For some reason, three gets treated like the red-headed stepchild, but it at least tries something new. Even ALIENS was guilty of the 'fleeing exploding ship/barely escape explosion/oh no, an alien somehow made it aboard/Ripley's got to suck it out of the airlock' that was used for three of the movies.

This would definitely make for an entertaining read.

I hope there isn't contention over Aliens. It's my favorite of the bunch, but different enough from Alien that I can understand why some folks would like it more. Different scares.

If you need any help with those, Russ, let me know. I've seen Aliens nearly 200 (167) times.

I'm so sad.

Great articles, I remember watching Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Predator, Aliens as a kid and just being blown away! It's amazing how long these movies stick with you.

I dunno, this decade has given us two, probably three great Bourne movies, the return of good James Bond, the first Pirates (the other two are up for grabs), and Kill Bill. Great action to be had all around.

ALIEN is still my favorite of the series, but that in no way lessens ALIENS, which is still a fantastic film.

I wouldn't call ALIENS fantastic. Fun, leaning towards good, but overlong and overly maudlin. It's a lot like Terminator 2, where a lot of people have been fooled into thinking it's better than its predecessor by virtue of it being bigger and louder.

No, I think it's a genuine classic of the genre. I think Ripley's arc is one of the most moving and satisfying character journeys I've seen in a sci-fi film (at least in the first two films). It's got great characters that match the characters of the first film, and the action sequences are still great. I love that Cameron throws a moment of genuine dread and menace in the intense rescue of Newt when they stop in the Queen's lair. The clock's ticking, and Ripley and the Queen size each other up, aliens all around... it's just great.

I prefer ALIEN though. I still think it's got a weird Altmanesque vibe to it, with the overlapping dialogue and the character work that's not in the script but in the actors.

The alien is also my favorite all-time movie monster. I still dream about it.

Sorry to derail completely...

ALIENS has definitely dated a lot more than ALIEN, which is still razor sharp in my opinion. Cameron admits that he's nowhere near as good at creating atmosphere or setting mood as Scott, and that's the enduring factor of the first movie for me, the claustrophobia and oppressive atmosphere. ALIENS is more bombastic, sure, but nowhere near as effective.

Anyway, back on topic, loved the retrospective feature. You reminded me how much I enjoyed WITH A VENGEANCE, despite its faults. Much better than the rehash of a sequel that was DIE HARDER.

It would probably be fun to see a retrospective for all the ALIEN/PREDATOR films prior to the realease of AVP2. Might as well have something to look forward to since there won't be much interest in AVP2 itself.

Both ALIEN and ALIENS are great but I prefer ALIENS. In general your preference for either will depend greatly on whether you're more into horror or action.

That's sad. I don't know how many times I've seen DIE HARD and it's still just as fun and enjoyable as the first time I saw it.

Great job on the retrospective, Russ. It's always good to see some love going to VENGEANCE. That one always seemed like the needlessly-maligned sequel.

I still haven't picked up the DVD set of these. I'll be sad if the 6-disc version is discontinued because of the new release.

It's impossible to get tired of Die Hard.

I'm sure it's tough to find the 6-disc set in stores, but Amazon still has it for not much more than they're selling the 3-disc release.

Great job, Russ. I got a huge kick out of this and I completely agree with your ratings for all three flicks.

Watching Die Hard again reminded me of how The Matrix completely ripped off the helicopter scene. Both protagonists think they've landed safely, only to be dragged towards the edge. There's even a similar between-the-legs shot. Then both helicopters crash into their respective buildings.

Fixed, etc

perhaps i should rephrase, because you're right in referencing these movies (Pirates especially not even occurring to me as a legitimate action flick til you mentioned it). with the exception of Kill Bill (v. 1 alone?) and Matrix Reloaded, the balls out R-rated action movie hasn't reared its head since the millennium dawned. i'm sure it'll see a rise again eventually, like the R-rated comedy seems to have done. it's part of the ebb and flow of cinematic nature. but i don't hate it any less that the studios seem to have developed a way to almost totally restrict this breed of film from seeing the light of day, content instead to push out a diluted substitute (using DH4 as a perfect example) that lacks all the earmarks of an honest-to-God action thriller. we're just not supposed to notice that mcclane doesn't smoke or curse or carry himself with the spirit he used to? Grindhouse fails financially, so an R rating must be the kiss of death? please. it's political correctness personified (in the context of cinema anyway), and it bugs me to no end that this mentality is totally accepted without question right now.

stepping off the soapbox...

If you don't mind used, I just picked up the old set on the fairly cheap at Second Spin. Plus, they've got a 25% off sale working right now (see the front page for the code).

I wanted to bump this thread and say that Russ knocked these reviews out of the park. The discussion that they spawned has been great. Please do more.

Re-read Russ' retrospectives recently after watching Die Hard.  Great stuff and fun discussion. 

 

My entire body tingled with goosebumps when the FBI unwittingly causes the vault to open for Hans and his team.  Such a sweet movie moment.  MERRY CHRISTMAS.