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Live Free or Die Hard

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Live Free or Die Hard
(Die Hard 4.0)
Live Free or Die Hard official movie poster
Directed byLen Wiseman
Written byScreenplay:
Mark Bomback
Story:
Mark Bomback
David Marconi
Characters:
Roderick Thorp
Produced byJohn McTiernan
Arnold Rifkin
Bruce Willis
StarringBruce Willis
Timothy Olyphant
Justin Long
Maggie Q
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Edited byNicolas De Toth
Music byMarco Beltrami
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
United States Canada Germany Sweden Estonia Latvia Denmark Russia June 27, 2007
Philippines United Kingdom July 4, 2007
Republic of Ireland Mexico July 6, 2007
Poland July 27, 2007
Australia August 8, 2007
Running time
130 minutes
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Budget$110 million[1]

Live Free or Die Hard (released as Die Hard 4.0 outside North America) is the fourth installment in the Die Hard film series. It stars veteran actor Bruce Willis as John McClane, the hero of the first three films. The film takes place some 19 years after the first film, and sees McClane face a gang of virtual terrorists. The film's American and Canadian release date was June 27, 2007.[2] The film was based on the 1997 article A Farewell to Arms written for Wired magazine by John Carlin.[3]

Plot

The movie begins with criminal Mai Linh (Maggie Q) collaborating with unwitting civilian hackers, exchanging payment for algorithms and code. The hackers are then killed in their homes by explosives set to go off when a certain button (Delete) is pressed on the keyboard of the hackers' home computers. Linh's computer screen shows that only one hacker, Matthew Farrell, has yet to be killed.

Meanwhile, at one of the Rutgers University campuses, Lucy McClane (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) holds off her aggressive boyfriend. Her father, John McClane (Bruce Willis), who was secretly parked nearby, breaks up the party. Lucy tells him to back off, then storms off to her dorm, while the boyfriend bolts. The frustrated detective is heading home when he receives a call from his NYPD supervisor to go pick up a suspect in Camden, NJ, since an FBI system has recently seen a breach and is taking hackers into custody.

The hacker, Matt Farrell (Justin Long), answers the door, and despite humorous attempts to conceal his identity, McClane comes in to apprehend him. A van full of henchmen arrive, and when they see that the computer has not detonated, they go up to investigate. Rand (Cyril Raffaelli), an acrobatic villain, uses a sniper rifle to rake the apartment with gunfire; McClane kills one man by detonating a fire extinguisher in his vicinity, kills another back in the apartment, but is then cornered with Farrell behind a wall by an armed thug. Fortuitously, the computer detonates when an action figure falls (in an ironic twist, a figurine of the Terminator) atop the Delete button, killing the thug. McClane and Farrell escape the fiery apartment, and drive off in the vehicle, subduing (but not killing) the two surviving thugs, including Rand. They explain to their leader, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) that Farrell has escaped with an escort.

The next morning, McClane brings the hacker to an FBI division overseen by Assistant Director Bowman (Cliff Curtis), in the midst of a shutdown of Washington D.C.'s traffic system initiated by the terrorists. (A "humorous" video clip, consisting of various U.S. Presidents' speeches edited together, is played on television meanwhile, stating that all hope is lost for America.) FBI Agent Johnson (Yancey Arias) commands McClane and Farrell to be taken into protective custody, but the terrorists ingeniously locate the car by monitoring radio broadcasts and, with Mai posing as a dispatcher, redirect the car to the site of an ambush. Farrell recognizes her voice, and McClane has a brief discussion with Gabriel, but a helicopter arrives to finish the job. Most of the agents escorting Farrell and McClane are downed, but they flee the scene in a police car. McClane drives over a fire hydrant, which sends a jet of water into the chopper and knocks out one of the shooters; he then drives into a tunnel for safety. Gabriel initiates a clever attack by opening the gates on both sides of the tunnel so that traffic approaches from both directions in all four lanes. Also, to make it more chaotic, he switches off the lights, causing a massive pileup and some explosions. The duo just barely makes it to cover behind a stone pillar; a frustrated McClane hops back into the police car, drives straight at the helicopter, and jumps out of the speeding vehicle right before it ramps up a tollbooth and smashes into the chopper. Rand jumps out to safety before impact and reports back to Gabriel, believing that the two men were in the car and thus claiming that both men are dead.

File:Bruce willis justin long.jpg
Bruce Willis as John McClane and Justin Long as Matt Farrell

McClane tries to re-establish contact with the FBI when the hackers broadcast a TV spot of a "fake" explosion of the Capitol building, creating panic throughout the United States. McClane asks Farrell what the next logical move by the terrorists would be; they opt to drive to the Eastern United States power hub in West Virginia. After Farrell convinces a BMW Assist technician to start up a stolen vehicle, the two head off.

Once they make it to the hub (after some heart-to-heart conversation) they discover that the terrorists have indeed arrived. McClane kills one thug on a stairwell, but the martial-arts trained Mai turns out to be a challenge. She throws McClane through a window down a few levels before forcing Farrell to undo the damage he did to her plans while she was distracted. McClane strikes back by stealing a Ford Expedition from the parking lot, driving up up the ramp and into the office, colliding with her. The car ends up falling headfirst into an elevator shaft, held with its bumper lodged between two beams. McClane and Mai scuffle precariously when the remaining henchmen shows up to help. Farrell knocks him down the shaft from behind, and as soon as McClane escapes to safety through the trunk, the car plunges to a fiery doom with Mai still inside.

After finding out what happened from a wisecracking McClane, Gabriel plans revenge by redirecting the local natural gas lines to the hub. McClane and the hacker barely escape with their lives as the pressure of the gas lines results in them exploding and destroying the hub, knocking out power across the Eastern U.S. Seemingly out of options, Farrell convinces McClane that they should pay a visit to the Warlock (Kevin Smith), a hacker friend of Farrell's, in order to get information on Gabriel.

After McClane successfully flies a helicopter to the Warlock's home, they meet the Warlock, a thirty-something man who lives in his mother's basement, or as he refers to it, his "command center". After Farrell is unsuccessful in persuading the Warlock to help, McClane threatens to kill the Warlock and he decides to help. The Warlock discovers that Gabriel designed a new, more secure, security system for the US after 9/11, knowing all the ins-and-outs about it. Gabriel then learns of a hacker inside his systems and he confronts McClane, via web cam. Gabriel tracks down Lucy, who was trapped in an elevator shaft using cell phone signals and shows McClane that she will be kidnapped. The Warlock tracks down Gabriel's location, which turns out to be an NSA building and the location of high powered supercomputers containing all the country's backup financial information. McClane and the hacker set out to rescue his daughter and shut down the leader.

McClane and Farrell arrive at the base just as Lucy is being dragged in. Farrell tries to re-route the system while McClane fights off a couple of thugs in one of the freezers used to cool the hot computers, one by breaking his neck and another by freezing his arms and dropping him in a fan. Gabriel shows frustrations with McClane's persistence. They eventually find Farrell and bring him in to custody, although he has set up a security code preventing the leader from accessing social security accounts to access their money. They eventually move to a truck, with McClane not far behind. He jumps onto a tractor trailer that is carrying the mobile hard drives with the bank information, and successfully takes it over and gives chase.

Gabriel, not appeased with the code lock-up by the hacker or McClane's pursuit, masquerades as Marine ground controller and commands a F-35 Lightning II jet to deal with his pursuers. The jet fires off missiles and gun attacks to stop McClane and the truck, but to no avail, however it does blow up a great deal of the freeway. McClane eventually escapes the damage of the truck, landing on the plane and jumping to safety. He sees the leader's truck making off to a nearby warehouse and follows after it.

At the warehouse, Gabriel orders Farrell to stop the decryption system. Losing patience, he shoots him in the leg. Before the decryption begins, however, McClane shows up and kills Trey (Jonathan Sadowski), Gabriel's lead hacker, and a couple of thugs before taking a shot in the arm from another assailant. While the guy holds his daughter hostage, the leader picks up McClane and holds him from behind, wanting him to watch the death of Farrell and Lucy. Meanwhile, Farrell has picked up McClane's gun. Gabriel says that on McClane's grave, it will mention "Always at the wrong place at the wrong time," and taunts the cop by prodding his wound with a gun. McClane corrects him and suggests that it will instead read "yippie ki yay, motherfucker!" (the end of which was drowned out by gunfire), and fires the gun, causing a bullet to go through his shoulder and into Gabriel's heart, killing Gabriel instantly. The thug releases the daughter to fight back, but Farrell shoots him several times from behind with the pistol McClane had dropped earlier. Peace is restored, as the FBI finally arrives.

Afterwards, Farrell sits in an ambulance while McClane asks him how he feels after being shot. After a few words, he goes back to Lucy, who seems romantically curious about Farrell. However, McClane jokingly threatens Farrell to not proposition his daughter. The picture closes with the three going to the hospital.

Cast

Crew

Len Wiseman, best known for his work on Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, was announced as the director.[4] In an August 3, 2006 interview in USA Today, Wiseman said none of the characters (McClane excluded) from the earlier movies would be returning.[5] It was previously believed that John McTiernan, the director of the original Die Hard and Die Hard with a Vengeance, would return to direct, however, he is currently facing jail time for perjury.

Cast Info

McClane's daughter has a prominent role in the film (an idea previously considered for Die Hard with a Vengeance; and the idea implemented in the video game Die Hard: Vendetta). It was speculated that Bruce Willis' real life daughter Rumer, who was born the same year that the original Die Hard was released, was a prime candidate for the part of Lucy McClane. Jessica Simpson, Wafah Dufour and Britney Spears had previously auditioned for the role; Paris Hilton had been considered for the role, as had Taylor Fry, who played Lucy in the original Die Hard movie in 1988. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was eventually cast in the role of Lucy McClane in this sequel.

Production

The film's plot is based on an earlier script entitled WW3.com by David Marconi, screenwriter of Enemy of the State.[6] Using a Wired article entitled "A Farewell to Arms"[7] by John Carlin, Marconi crafted a screenplay about a cyber-terrorist attack on the U.S.[8] After the 9-11 attacks, the project was stalled, only to be resurrected several years later and rewritten into Live Free or Die Hard by Doug Richardson and eventually by Mark Bomback.[9]

Willis said in 2005 that the film would be called Die Hard 4.0, as it revolves around computers. IGN later reported the film was to be called Die Hard: Reset instead.[10] 20th Century Fox later announced the title as Live Free or Die Hard and set a release date of June 29, 2007 with filming to begin in September 2006.[11][12] The title is based on the state motto of New Hampshire, "Live Free or Die," which is attributed to a quote from General John Stark. International trailers use the Die Hard 4.0 title,[13] as the film was released outside America with that title, most likely because international audiences would be unlikely to recognize the New Hampshire motto reference.

Filming for Live Free or Die Hard started in downtown Baltimore, Maryland on September 23, 2006.[14] Willis was injured January 24, 2007 during a fight scene, where he was kicked above his right eye. The injury was regarded as "no big deal" and Willis saw a doctor and went home for the rest of the day.[15]

Bruce Willis' stunt double, Larry Rippenkroeger, was seriously injured when he fell twenty-five feet to the pavement. He suffered broken bones in his face and fractures in both wrists. Production was temporarily shut down. Willis picked up the tab at area hotels for Rippenkroeger's parents and visited him a number of times at the hospital. Rippenkroeger also doubles for James Caan in his TV series, Las Vegas.

Rating controversy

The past three installments in the Die Hard series have all been rated R by the MPAA. However, Live Free or Die Hard sparked controversy because it was edited to obtain a PG-13 rating. Bruce Willis was upset with the studio's decision and had to say “I really wanted this one to live up to the promise of the first one, which I always thought was the only really good one.” to Vanity Fair. “That’s a studio decision that is becoming more and more common, because they’re trying to reach a broader audience. It seems almost a courageous move to give a picture an R rating these days. But we still made a pretty hardcore, smashmouth film.”[16] Willis later confirmed that it was PG-13, but claimed that if you didn’t know it wasn’t rated R you wouldn’t suspect it because the action and intensity is still there, even though there was one usage of the word "fuck"[17] He even claimed that this film was the best of the four by saying “It’s unbelievable. I just saw it last week. It’s better than the first one. I personally think, it’s better than the first one.”[18]

Reception

As of July 3, 2007, the film had a score of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 134 reviews (103 Fresh, 31 Rotten)[19] with the consensus being it is "an efficient, action-packed summer popcorn flick"[20] and a score of a generally favorable 69% on Metacritic based on 32 reviews.[21] The movie has also been subjected to generally favorable reviews in The Washington Post[22] and IGN (who scored the movie as a four out of five stars).[23] On Ebert and Roeper, film critic Richard Roeper and guest critic Katherine Tulich gave the film "Two Thumbs Up", with Richard Roper claiming it to be the best of the Die Hard sequels. [1] As of July 1st, it has scored very highly on IMDB with a rating of 8.3 out of 10, and #165 on the Top 250.[24] Dan Hall of Mansized.co.uk scored Die Hard 4.0 just 2 out of 5 stars, stating that "Willis should have hung up his gun after episode three."

Live Free or Die Hard made $9.1 million in its first day of release, the best opening day take of any film in the Die Hard franchise. On its opening weekend Live Free or Die Hard made $33.4 million ($48 million counting Wednesday and Thursday) [25]

Trivia

  • McClane and Farrell are escorted to DHS by FBI Agent Johnson, a reference to the two Agent Johnsons from the first film. It can be assumed he, much like his predecessors, has 'no relation'.
  • The trailer featured a rock version of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Ode to Joy). This is the same song that was heard in the original Die Hard when the terrorists first entered the Nakatomi offices.
  • The popular video game Gears of War is shown two times in the movie. The game is first seen when the first hacker is killed; it is seen again in Warlock's "command center".
  • Bruce Willis talked about possible sequels on The Daily Show.
  • The fighter jet seen in the movie was mentioned to be an F-35C. The F-35 Lightning II has yet to be commissioned and is scheduled to be in 2011. Also, the F-35C was designed for the navy and does not have vertical flight capabilities, only the F-35B does as it was built for areas with little room to takeoff and land. It was the first[citation needed] appearance of an F-35B in a major motion picture and dramatized the aircraft's hovering ability using the lift fan.[26] A full-scale model was used in the filming,[27] and Bruce Willis claimed in an interview that it was the only use of CGI in the film.[28]
  • Also, the call sign of the fighter jet is "AV-81," a possible reference to the designation of its predecessor, the Harrier, which was designated the "AV-8."
  • The firearms used in the film are: Sig P220R, HK45, Beretta PX4 Storm, HK UMP, HK USP, HK G36C, HK MP7A1, Colt M4A1, HK MP5A3, and Jericho 941.
  • The movie prints were shipped to cinemas under the name "New Hampshire."
  • There is a scene with Matt Farrell and Lucy Gennero where Farrell possibly references the continuity error in Die Hard (where Holly's maiden name is spelled both "Gennaro" and "Gennero") and asks which way Lucy's last name is pronounced.
  • In some versions of the US theatrical release, the title screen of the film reads "Die Hard 4.0" rather than "Live Free or Die Hard"
  • In the film, Lucy McClane is attending Rutgers University. However, the pictured University is the University of Southern California. Her dorm is also the campus Library.
  • The police radio in John McClane (Bruce Willis)'s car was actually just a standard ham radio on a ham radio frequency.
  • Despite being set in Camden, New Jersey, Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland there were a number of scenes that were filmed in Los Angeles, California. The climax scene was filmed in Los Angeles (where the first Die Hard film was set) as a California State Highway shield can be seen in one scene, palm trees can be seen throughout, the freeway viaducts are built to California standards, and mountains that are typical of Los Angeles can be seen in the climax scene. In addition, in the Camden, New Jersey scenes, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority low-floor buses can be seen in the background. In Camden, New Jersey Transit operates bus service and does not have low-floor buses, or CNG buses for that matter.
  • The scene where John McClane talks to his daughter at Rutgers University was actually filmed at the University of Southern California. After this scene, McClane travels to Camden, New Jersey, but this scene was actually filmed in downtown Los Angeles, a few miles north of USC, showing continuity in both the setting and filming locations.

References

  1. ^ "Live Free or Die Hard (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  2. ^ "Release dates for Live Free or Die Hard (2007)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  3. ^ "Full cast and crew for Live Free or Die Hard (2007)". Internet Movie Database.
  4. ^ Stax (May 31, 2006). "New Die Hard Helmer". IGN. Retrieved 2006-03-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Breznican, Anthony (August 3 2006). "'Die Hard' series coming back to life". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-08-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Petrikin, Chris (January 27 1998). "Fox eyes 'WW3.com' as tentpole for 1999". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Carlin, John (May 1997). "A Farewell to Arms". Wired. Retrieved 2007-05-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Besson To Develop WW3.com". Sci Fi. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  9. ^ Fleming, Michael (July 26 2004). "The 'Die Hard' is cast for scribe Richardson". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Stax (July 31 2006). "Long Shot for Die Hard: Reset". IGN. Retrieved 2006-06-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Live Free or Die Hard on June 29, 2007!". ComingSoon.net. August 3 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Willis Confirms 'Die Hard 4' Nearly Ready To Roll". Internet Movie Database. May 22 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  13. ^ Merrick (February 15 2007). "The International LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD Trailer Calls It DIE HARD 4.0!?!?". AintItCool.com. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Filming of movie to close numerous city streets". Retrieved September 22. Numerous downtown Baltimore streets will be closed this weekend and on future days for filming of the movie Live Free or Die Hard, featuring Bruce Willis. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Ain't That A Kick In The Head: Bruce Willis Injured". Access Hollywood. January 25 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  16. ^ Sciretta, Peter (May 2 2007). "Live Free or Die Hard to be cut for a PG-13 Rating?!". SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2006-06-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Sciretta, Peter (May 7 2007). "Confirmed: Live Free or Die Hard is Rated PG-13". SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2006-06-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Sciretta, Peter (May 4 2007). "Bruce Willis says Live Free or Die Hard is better than Die Hard". SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2007-06-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "Live Free or Die Hard". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  20. ^ "Info & Tidbits on Live Free or Die Hard". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  21. ^ "Live Free or Die Hard". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  22. ^ Hornaday, Ann (June 29 2007). "Live Free or Die Hard". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ http://movies.ign.com/articles/799/799604p1.html
  24. ^ http://imdb.com/title/tt0337978/
  25. ^ McClintock, Pamela (June 28 2007). "'Die Hard' debuts with $9 million". Variety. Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Die Hard 4 F-35 Clip
  27. ^ Gray, Simon (July), "One-Man Riot Squad", American Cinematographer, 88 (7): 32 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  28. ^ Interview with Bruce Willis for Live Free or Die Hard
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