Die Hard 4.0
Mikey 15 comments
So I finally got around to seeing Die Hard 4.0, something I have been curious about for a little while now, but not for the reasons you think.
I went into this movie having absolutely no idea of the plot, the actors (apart from Bruce Willis) or the premise. Luckily my expectations were not that high to start with as I was prepared for a computer themed action movie. Almost a paradox I know.
Anyway, I will just come out and say it now: Die Hard 4.0 is an atrocity of a movie. Let's start with what's good. OK now that's out of the way, moving on to the bad.
I felt like I was watching Die Hard again. That wouldn't be a bad thing if it were still 1998. The action is way over the top. I mean on a level that just makes you constantly LOL. Maybe this film was meant to be a piss-take of itself?
The protagonist (Willis) is simply indestructible and the survival Gods are constantly smiling on him. The laws of physics have been cast aside to join plot holes and allow the central character and his sidekick to survive the un-survivable.
Speaking of lazy story writing, the use of computer hacking has been taken to new levels, so far-fetched even for the laziest of Hollywood hacks.
The enemy in this film is a disgruntled computer hacker with a team of geeks who are able to use computers to hack into and control absolutely everything, and they do it in mere seconds. To anyone who remotely understands even the most basic fundamentals of hacking or even the basic principles on which the Internet functions, the dialogue in Die Hard 4.0 will make you feel like you have suddenly lost about 50 IQ points.
I am starting to think may have been contracted to do the technical consulting. It is so bad that words cannot completely describe, so I will let this Penny Arcade comic do the talking for me:
Anyway, I won't get that 2 hours of my life back but it doesn't matter as I had a great laugh throughout, to which my partner can testify as she walked in on me with tears streaming down my face.
Rating: 
Hoggy
Thursday 27th September 2007 | 09:59 AMI don't undetstand anything about computers or hacking in the way you described but even I know the stuf they did in the movie was rediculously impossible. The gas pipe scene for example - what a load of crap. And the amazing manouverablity of the jet around the colapsing bridge - hah! This shit doesn't fly anymore.
Point taken Jake. But I am willing to bet you still knew how insanely dumb most of that stuff was. Here's the thing - and maybe this is just me - but this stuff people say about 'switching off' so you can enjoy a dumb action movie is a pile of horse-sh*t.
I think that is just an excuse people use to justify to themselves having just been ripped off with tripe like Die Hard 4.0.
I can't see how its possible to immerse yourself in a movie when there are so many obvious things wrong with it that it actually becomes a distraction. Do I need to mention MI3? LOL.
All that said I know this is just my opinion, because there are actually a lot of people out there who enjoyed the film. I won't be taking any movie recommendations from them :-)
Jasmin
Thursday 27th September 2007 | 10:21 AMYour being too harsh. I liked it
andrew
Thursday 27th September 2007 | 11:40 PMsure die hard was full of holes but then aren't most movies? i enjoyed it for the action, car chases etc. and to just forget about life for a couple hours..
From Ohio
Friday 28th September 2007 | 09:47 AMIts true the movie was every bit as terrible as you made out but I couldn't look away. Does that say something about my taste in movies? Yeah maybe.
Mikey
Friday 28th September 2007 | 10:12 AMHave to disagree there. Escapism is only possible when it can be allowed to happen. This BS movie was so over the top, so incorrect on so many things, and just plain dumb, that it was a constant irritation making it impossible to become immersed in it.
The fact is it's possible to make an action film that doesn't bend the laws of physics and make up impossible computer hacking scenarios just to carry the film from point A to B. Linear films like this are so old hat now it is really, really, really boring.
Like I said before, this was just Die Hard 1 again. Haven't we already seen that? I have seen it twice now except the 2nd time it was called 4.0. I haven;t seen 2 or 3 but I have it on good authority they are still the same movies. Bad guys get greedy - McClean gets stuck in the middle, thwarts their plans and survives against impossible odds - repeat ad-nausium.
It's a bit of a shame because Bruce Willis can do so much better. He is turning into Jackie Chan. What do I mean by that? Jackie Chan always makes the same movie. If you've seen one Jackie Chan movie you've pretty much seen them all. But I digress. Enough from me on the subject.
andrew
Friday 28th September 2007 | 07:47 PMah yes rush hour 3 is out now...um a must see i think..lol
Mikey
Friday 28th September 2007 | 08:14 PMAndrew says: "ah yes rush hour 3 is out now...um a must see i think..lol"
NNNOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!
andrew
Friday 28th September 2007 | 11:40 PMknew that would get a comment.......LOL
Miss Teen South Carolina
Sunday 7th October 2007 | 12:26 PMI personally believe that US Americans are able to enjoy die hard 4 because, um, some people in our nation don't have the brains to know they are watching the same movie they have seen before, and um, the internet was represented accurately and um, er, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries to enjoy die hard 4 as well, so we will be able to build up our future for our children to see die hard 4.
R.
Monday 15th October 2007 | 11:30 AMOMG It is a movie... Of course they are going to do a lot of stuff that is off the wall and impossible. I just seen the movie and I thought that it rocked. I would have to say this is my favorite compared to all the other Die Hard movies.
I saw this at a pre screening last year in Australia.
I didnt think it matched the previous three. Some of the stunts were too far fetched compared to the stunts in the previous three.
It was a good brain dead action flick though, couldnt ask for me. Although I can't say it was as great as the first three.
liza bosogon
Monday 6th October 2008 | 09:58 PMi like u as an actor,you are so good actor..........
i love the movie.
Kim OJ
Monday 20th October 2008 | 01:45 AMI just saw the movie and Mikey, you are right about all your points of critique. But I am not sad that I spend two hours of my life on this, for it is rare that a comedy makes me laugh as much as this did, and laughing is supposed to be healthy, so it probably extended my lifetime by at least 2 hours.
Jake
Thursday 27th September 2007 | 09:10 AMAs one of the uninitiated, I found it enthrauling, riveting even!
I wouldn't have the faintest idea of how to hack or crash a site over the net. Nor do I have any more than a rudimentary understanding of the lingo used by those people the movie was depicting.
The Die Hard movie franchise has always been about crazy stunts, plenty of blood and cuts and a few gun shot wounds and barely beleiveable escapes. That is what makes it an action movie.