Live Free or Die Hard - 2 Disc Widescreen Unrated Edition (Exclusive Steel Book Packaging, Digitial Copy of Film and Bonus Movie Ticket)

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John McClane is back!, 2008-02-19
When I heard Willis was going to be back in another installment of the Die Hard Saga, I was immediately skeptical. Why? Well, "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" tells me that this series isn't exactly flawless, considering how poor of a story that was. Then there's the fact this was going to be rated PG-13. That means McClane was going to have to watch his language. The other part that was working against this for me was that McClane was going to be facing off against internet terrorists, or at least that's how it was described. My friends and I came up with all kinds of joke scenarios that involved McClane yelling at people on forums and making twelve year olds cry about it, because they were the terrorists of the internet! Internet Terrorists just don't seem like something that might be in McClane's jurisdiction or a problem he could easily solve, it's just not his character archetype. Imagine my surprise when this movie more than delivered the action packed follow up that it required! br / br /If you read the above elements, you really can't see how it will all fit together, but the writers of this film really pulled it together really well. It's an incredibly engaging story-line that does leave you on the edge of your seat wanting to know what will happen next. And trust me, these internet terrorists have more than enough mercenary henchmen to keep McClane occupied! Basically because the U.S. is mostly connected to the internet, someone with special knowledge knows how to essentially hold the country hostage by taking away all the elements we depend on, like electricity, finances, etc. It suddenly falls to McClane to take out this guy's entire organization so this country can get back on its feet. br / br /Surprisingly I didn't find Justin Long's character, Matt Farrell, to be nearly as annoying as I thought it might. I didn't particularly like his performance in "Accepted," and the last thing I remember liking him in was "Galaxy Quest" and he wasn't in a major role for that film. I think he's a bit better as a side actor instead of being a star of a film. Olyphant (Thomas Gabriel) presented himself as a very convincing bad guy. I think in his character they tried to create a similar atmosphere to Hans Gruber from the original film. Gabriel was a very hands off bad guy that let a lot of his henchmen do the work, Gruber did this a lot in the first film as well. Whereas his brother Simon Gruber was very hands on and showed he wasn't afraid to do a lot of work on his own as well. I will say that, despite his lack of involvement, Gabriel was a pretty good mastermind bad guy. I wouldn't say I was blown away by Olyphant's performance in this, especially after I've seen Hitman, which he was much better in, but I thought he did the job fairly well. br / br /A surprising addition to the film was the introduction of McClane's daughter, Lucy. In some respects I think her role was slightly unnecessary, but it wouldn't have warranted the block buster ending this film closed with. It sort of seemed written in for the purpose of having a girl to save in the film, similar to the first one again. So it seemed almost too much like they were trying to reclaim the magic of the very first Die Hard, which really isn't a realistic move because it's just not going to happen. Regardless, overall these minor points are overshadowed by the greater story at hand, because it is actually very well thought out. br / br /So in comparison to the other three films, where does this stack up? It's not better than the first, the first is seriously a classic in the action genre and it always will be. It's definitely better than the second, which at this point might as well be deleted from the saga to bring it back down to a trilogy. The part that I'm at a loss for is if this is better than the third. "With a Vengeance" had a spectacular cast that worked magically. Jeremy Irons probably gave one of his best performances in this movie, because it was very different to see him playing a major bad guy and he definitely played a better bad guy than Olyphant. Let's not forget the interaction between Willis and Jackson was just perfect and this film didn't really get that same effect between Willis and Long. So in the end, I think I still like "With a Vengeance" more, but this one is definitely a quality film. br / br /Now for this particular product as being the unrated version, THIS is the Die Hard I was expecting to see released in theatres. For whatever reason they actually deleted out all the swears to give it a wider audience, while this may seem like a great money maker move, it's just very out of character for McClane to look like he's watching his language at every turn. For those of us who wanted to see a more in character McClane you definitely need to buy the Unrated version, the script is fully unedited and all the harsh language is put back into the film. In retrospect I think this was a pretty smart move. Cut out the swears for the IN theater release then have them put back in for the DVD release. I mean realistically the swearing doesn't really make the film; it just seems odd not to have it. If you know they're doing this only for the theatrical release it doesn't detract from the film in the least and when you get it on DVD you get to see more what you were expecting to see and give you something newer to watch. I thought this was actually a pretty good idea, definitely better than releasing the theatrical version and then months later releasing the unrated version. br / br /I'm not sure why this steel case edition is being advertised with the movie ticket, it's long since expired. The movie ticket is for Hitman, which isn't even in theaters at this point. I was given the steel version as a gift, and I was going to be buying the movie anyway and I can't say I'm disappointed with this special collector's edition. br / br /Finally, this movie has what all Die Hard fans wanted to see! We may not have gotten it in Die Hard 2, but we certainly got it here. Now that they have expanded this to a four part series, I'm not sure if I think they should stop here. Part of me is saying don't ruin a good thing and leave the series as it is. Another part of me wants more action packed movies with McClane's character. At the risk of putting out a poor film, I don't think they should resurrect this series anymore and just leave it as is. It's always better to end it on a high note.