Die Hard...what did you think?

Cafe Society
1

Just saw the new Die Hard movie and haven’t seen a thread on it (mods, feel free to close this one if there is already a thread open on it).

I was wondering what people thought of it. For my part (as a network engineer) I haven’t laughed that hard in ages. My sides were actually hurting as I tried to hold in the snorts and giggles.

However, I realize that not everyone has the same perspective…so 'dopers, what did you think? What was your favorite part? And what did you find the most implausible? :stuck_out_tongue:

Don’t bother with spoiler boxes (IMHO)…anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet and doesn’t want it spoiled should turn back now. I won’t put any spoilers in the OP but from here on out there be dragons…

-XT

2

I enjoyed the ride. Yes, the computer stuff was a joke, but I let that slide. It was fun and exciting. For some reason there was only one thing that put me off.

The F35 scenes were too much for me.

Jim

3

I agree with What Exit’s spoilered thoughts, but otherwise I was completely entertained. Several times I thought “That is completely illogic- aw fuck it, it’s cool!”

And c’mon, it has Kevin Smith! I’m so glad I didn’t know that beforehand. It worked, and it was exactly the right level of corny.

4

The whole plot was illogical and almost put me off entirely. But the action and comic relief was entertaining enough to pull me back in. However, I find it funny that…

eventhough the badguys have access to every camera (in the world, apparently), ever traffic light, every radio frequency and police network, every online network, every government network, and every power grid and gasline in the nation, they didn’t have the ability to restore power to the elevator holding Mclain’s daughter and thus simply drop her right then and there, instead of dragging out the entire hostage process.

5

Yeah

[spoiler]Leaving aside the hilarious stuff with on the compute side and the various gun fight scenes where either the bad guy misses as essentially point blank range or the good guy makes unreal shots with a pistol, the thing with the fighter jet was off the scale!

However, laughting as I was throughout most of the movie I wanted to say that I did enjoy it by and large. :)[/spoiler]

-XT

6

**What Exit **pretty much said what I would have. The computer stuff was hard to take, but I let it go. It was some good action and that is all I was looking for, but there were parts that were too over the top.

7

Was it unreal? Sure especially the part with the jet. However, overall I loved the shit out it. I thought it was great. I also thought BW turned in a an excellent performance ias the world weary detective.
High art? No. Plausible plot? Nope. Is it a great movie to grab a bag of popcorn, and a soda, park you brain for a while and enjoy? Yup. And great special effects.

8

7/10. I would describe it as a big budget, 2-hour episode of 24–with a sense of humor and without the soap-opera crap.

9

All I have to say is that shooting the bad guy through your own body
is about as badass as it gets

And I did thoroughly enjoy the movie…over the top in a good way.

10

I really enjoyed it, although as someone who fractured and permanently damaged my arm after hopping awkwardly over a six foot fence and landing on concrete, I find it amazing that Bruce Willis and assorted bad guys can fall 100 feet onto a highway and then walk away. Also, the hot Asian chick can get hit by a car going about 60 MPH, but still proceed to kick Bruce Willis’ ass. Go figure.

11

Way, way over the top for me but still exactly what I expected and an exciting ride. The implausibles made me laugh out loud also but it was part of the fun.
My favorite:

I didn’t know that once you had computer access to the gas utilities you could divert the gas flow to certain locations to blow them up :smiley:

12

It was very entertaining. I think it may be my most favorite Die Hard flick.

I wasn’t expecting to laugh out loud and the corny humor was a delightful surprise.

13

A couple of questions I had while watching the movie however (if anyone would like to take a shot at answering them):

[spoiler]First: What was the point in killing all the computer geeks who contributed to the various break-ins (leaving aside how 6 computer geeks could basically have the keys to bring the entire US infrastructure to its knees :stuck_out_tongue: )? I mean, once things started there was really nothing they could do…all it did was show their hand early to the FBI (not that THAT mattered either)…

Secondly: What was the point of badges and an FBI painted helicopter to cruise into the ‘central node’ in the power grid in West Virginia? I mean, pretty much as soon as they landed they just wacked everyone anyway, right? Why bother with elaborate disguises when they were just going to shoot anyone immediately anyway?

Thirdly: If they had already completely penetrated ‘Wall Streets’ network to the point where they could basically change the stock market prices, etc etc (and leaving aside how this network is connected to all the other government networks, or the myriad separate networks involved in what they were doing there), why did they need to bother with the sooper sekrit financial data stored in some obscure Department of Agriculture building (that was only a BACKUP to that supposed data…and leaving aside all the fun stuff this would bring up :wink: )? They were ALREADY in the primary financial networks and obviously controlling things at that point (denoted by the rapidly changing stock prices and stunned looks by the broker weenies)! Instead of the stupid changing of all the stocks to down by -$200 (in red :stuck_out_tongue: ), why not simply shift a few billion dollars to an unmarked account in Switzerland…or maybe perhaps transfer some nice stock from, say, Microsoft (or simply subtly change the stock price on some stock they bought BEFORE the crisis)?

Forth: Why did all these critical systems (presumably SECURE, critical systems) have USB/Firewire ports all over the place where some super smart geek type person could plug in a PDA(!!) with a roll up keyboard… Um, never mind…must…not…go…there… :wink:

Fifth: Why would ‘The Warlock’ be the ONLY one in Baltimore with a backup generator? :smack:

Sixth: Why did the writers of the movie think that the FBI would be in charge, and NSA would be basically standing in a corner looking sullen while waiting for the FBI super-geek to figure out what was going on?

[/spoiler]

Just a few random questions I had while watching the movie. If anyone else has a few, feel free.

I want to make it clear however that, despite a few questions I had I DID enjoy the movie a lot. While I think the first Die Hard was better (one of my all time favorites!), I think this one was by far better than any of the others.

-XT

14

First, the purpose of killing the geeks was so that they wouldn’t be around to undo what the bad guys were doing. The geeks were “ranked” and the dead ones were the lesser talented ones. The better hackers were the dudes on the truck doing all of the bad stuff before they also got killed.

15

They needed her as a hostage with them as they moved around as a bargaining chip, as insurance in case Mclain caught up with them.

Just got home from it. It was fun, exciting, fast paced, with a bunch of improbable and unbelievable action sequences, in the tradition of the franchise. One of the better action action films, though I still think the first is the best of the series.

Frostillicus, the same thought occurred to me, but then I thought that’s why they call the films Die Hard.

16

I posted this in the other Die Hard thread, may as well put it here too…

I just saw Live Free or Die Hard last night. Yippie Ki Yay was it awesome!

Definitely no more or less realistic than any of the other three. It was fun, there were plenty of explosions and Bruce Willis actually looks like he enjoys playing McClane, so that’s a plus.

My wife and I also had a brilliant idea for a crossover movie as we were leaving the theater.

Bauer vs McClane
Whoever wins, the terrorists lose.

Now off to Target to buy the trilogy box set.

17

It was very much John McLain kicking the crap out of CTU. I’ll tell you, after being stuck at work at my computer consulting firm and missing most of my buddies Die Hard marathon, watching McClane kick the crap out of a bunch of computer nerds hit the spot!

All in all, I prefer the pattern of odd Die Hards - McClane and a black sidekick fighting intellectually superior Euro-trash with little help from incompetent cops - over the hacker theme of the even Die Hards.

18

Fun fun movie to watch. Just suspend any semblance of reality when you enter the theater and enjoy the ride. The best part is that you KNOW that McClane will win at that end, that the bad guy will get his just reward, and he did. How McClane got out of his last predicament was unexpected, so that was satisfying.

Justin Long and Bruce Willis had great chemistry together – baby boomer vs. current generation. Meeting McClane’s daughter and seeing how she’s a lot like her dad was a kick. The baddie, played by Timothy Olyphant did not project the same vile evil as Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), and another actor might have done a better job there.

All in all, a movie that I can’t wait to see again when it comes out on DVD.

19

That, that right there is brilliant!

20

I agree with most that despite the implausability of most of the plot, it was a great actioner, and I liked it better than “With A Vengeance”. The pacing and interesting characters made it fun to watch, and despite the fact that the computer stuff was farfetched, it was handled more believably than it is in some films. Hollywood invents these fantastic operating systems and user interfaces that make computer systems look so slick and fast, and they simply don’t exist. Compared to a movie like “Hackers” or “The Net”, whose utterly farfetched computer sequences made me cringe, this was pretty good though.

I don’t think the bad guy was really bad enough. Hans Gruber has to be one of the most insidious bad guys in movie history, so he’s a tough act to follow, but this guy Gabriel was a marshmallow by comparison. Too much of a softie. He was a worm, of course, but too compassionate for a Die Hard villain.

And what’s with the F35 pilot? He was asked to destroy a semi-trailer truck, and he blew up an entire bridge in several places instead. I wonder whether that jag will get court martialed for being a huge asshat. I expected to see McClane get down off the bridge after seeing him land with his parachute, and go over and punch him in the mouth. :smiley: