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My TV & Movie Review's

I found Die hard 4 as we know it in the UK or as in the US Live Free or Die Hard to be a very entertaining movie. So many of the CGI driven, simulated action fantasy films just don’t meet expectations but this movie hit the spot for both myself and the better half.

A fourth iteration of any movie in a series is asking for trouble, for that matter so is number three and number two, they so often disappoint in their attempt to recreate the theme that the first movie established, but some how miss the point totally, Die hard 4 did’t for me.

The lead character John McClane is carried forward but he’s older, wiser and seems to carry less baggage. The annoying character of Holly (his ex wife) is served by just the odd mention. There are loads of high action stunts involving collapsing bridges, shattering glass, helicopters, jet fighters etc. My but it all took me back to the halcyon days of the 1980’s when the world was new and there were so many pubs left to crawl for me and so many buildings to trash for John McClain and his ilk.

The movie is rated PG 13 and things had to be shoehorned a bit to squeeze it into that rating, it suffers for it but only noticed it in retrospect. When your there watching it for the first time it doesn’t show. Amazingly while watching the general lack of swearing and naked torsos went unnoticed. Plenty of bodies are lying on the ground by the end of the movie, but nasty things like graphic representations of death guts and twitching etc are skirted around.

There are plenty of one-liners which are humorously executed. Lots of birds (lady’s) as well as a rather obnoxious but well portrayed female villain. Johns daughter presents as a feisty young lady that possesses a lot of Johns old style kick ass antics.

The Director Len Wiseman did a sterling job, controlling the action and stunts in masterly style. I look forward to more of his work, I am told that some of his previous stuff wasn’t so good, but I can’t at this time make a comparison.

As a techie I appreciated the presence of all the computer stuff, but where do they get their software from?. Every movie has to come up with some unnecessarily graphic execution of some very minor applications, but I suppose a command line and courier font just no longer does it for most people. Oh and no the techie character in the basement is not based on me.

You must disconnect your cynicism before watching any move of this type and no less for this movie. That shouldn't’t detract from the entertainment experience though and in this movie it didn't for me. Things such as knocking a helicopter out of the sky with a car and the Semi trailer hanging from a collapsing bridge were taken in my stride. As was John climbing through a car suspended in a lift shaft they were all grist for the mill. I walked out a happy man it was well worth the entrance fee.

A second viewing may have me thinking differently but these movies are too enjoy the first time you see them.