Live Free or Die Hard (2007) More at IMDb Pro »

This was a recipe for disaster. A PG-13 rating, Justin Long, a 52 year old Bruce Willis, a plot about cyber-terrorism and an inexperienced director who had only done Matrix-like action films before. I was one of many who didn't even remotely like the concept or the people working on the film. Apprehensive isn't the word to use here, as the Die Hard fan base prepared for the absolute worst. So, does it work?

I'll concede that the plot is a bit silly, but the villain played by Timothy Olyphant manages to be quite fearsome, and a worthy nemesis for our beloved McClane. The biggest fear for most fans prior to the release of this film was whether this would be a true Die Hard film. The trailers and the few released clips made it look very, very stylized, but rest assured that "Live Free or Die Hard" is probably the 'hardest' PG-13 anyone's seen in a long time; it's shocking how much violence they got away with here, and though McClane doesn't swear nearly as much as in the previous installments he is no different here than he was in the last three films: a sarcastic, brutal anti-hero who really doesn't want to be doing what he's doing. Bruce Willis gives an energetic, astoundingly physical performance for a 52 year old man and pulls no punches with one wisecracking line after another. Surprisingly, Justin Long really isn't at all as annoying as expected, and does a fairly good job.

Wiseman's direction is surpsingly good and it's about damn time we got some real (and damn good) stunt-work in a modern day action flick. The score's fairly good too, surprisingly, considering this is a Marco Beltrami score we're talking about.

If you really are a Die Hard fan you don't want to miss this on the big screen. One thing's for sure, it kicks the hell out of "Die Hard 2". Willis' John McClane is one of the greatest action heroes of all time and this is no blemish on his record at all. Against all odds, "Live Free or Die Hard" is definitely a worthy addition to the series.

4/5