403 replies to this topic

[Simon]

And be sure to tell us what you think.

[stamper]

The difference between the unrated and the PG-13 version would be like seeing Dirty Harry with Harry renamed "Happy" Harry, and his famous line going

"Did I eat six hot-dogs, or only five ? I kinda lost track myself. But this being the most famous hot-dog restaurant in the world, you have to ask yourself one question, do I feel lucky ? Well do you, Pal ?"

[dinovelvet]

Finally saw Live free or die hard, which just showed up on cable.

Absolute piss.

Nothing remotely in common with the first three films in the series, Bruce Willis seemed to be playing a completely different character who just happens to be named John McClane. Instead of the everyman, vulnerable cop from the earlier movies who cries while he picks glass out of his feet, here he's an indestructible superman who just comes across as plain unlikeable.

All the usual Bad Action Cliches of the 00s are present - poor CGI backgrounds (even one where Bruce and Justin Long are driving through fields in West Virginia?! What, it was too expensive to just go out and drive around outside??), wire-fu stunts, parkour (if CR made parkour cool this film successfully made it uncool again) and yep, we even briefly got a little bullet-time. Then the ridiculous, loud, ugly finale where McClane fights a harrier jet. What the hell is this? This isn't anything to do with Die Hard! McClane might as well have transformed into Optimus Prime or something, for all the sense the film was making at that point.

Aw, OK, got to mention the two really dumb things in the final scene. All throughout the film, every single bad guy fires entire machine gun clips at McClane. But then right at the end, the last henchman left alive finally decides its time to conserve bullets, you know, right when McClane is standing a few feet in front of him, so he shoots him once, giving him the classic Action Hero Shoulder Wound ™ from which he will quickly recover in order to defeat the bad guy. Second dumb thing, Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy. I'm gonna write that again just so I'm sure I haven't gone completely insane. Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy, but Willis is ok. Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy, but Willis is ok.Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy, but Willis is ok. Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy, but Willis is ok.

Gaaaah sorry about that, don't know what happened there. I think the point is that the movie was not good. I actually rooted for the bad guys to win. I loathed the fact that we were supposed to think Justin Long and Kevin Smith were "cool" characters. You can just picture the coked-up studio execs saying "Hey, the 18-34 male demographic likes geeks, right? Yeah, geeks are cool! Let's put some geeks into this!". I eventually started fantasizing about a much cooler action movie where Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, and Cyril Raffaelli (badass dude from District B13, shamefully wasted here as Generic Henchman #234. Though it was kind of funny how he only speaks French, yet everyone in the film talks to him in English) were the heroes.

Anyway, it sort of sucked, yo.

[Scottlee]

you know, right when McClane is standing a few feet in front of him, so he shoots him once, giving him the classic Action Hero Shoulder Wound ™ from which he will quickly recover in order to defeat the bad guy. Second dumb thing, Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy. I'm gonna write that again just so I'm sure I haven't gone completely insane. Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy, but Willis is ok. Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy, but Willis is ok.Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy, but Willis is ok. Willis shoots HIMSELF and the bullet passes straight through him and kills the bad guy, but Willis is ok.

Best single paragraph in a review I've ever read. Brilliant. That will stick with me for a long time

[dodge]

It's enough to send one screaming from the theater to see Rambo...or even Monster's Balls.

[Loomis]

McClane is back!

http://splashpage.mt...mics-announced/

I actually think this sounds pretty cool, and I love the artwork. I'm not expecting DIE HARD: YEAR ONE to be a comic book masterpiece to rival WATCHMEN, but it's safe to say it'll blow away the underwhelming LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD. Can't wait to get this graphic novel.

[Harmsway]

McClane is back!

http://splashpage.mt...mics-announced/

I actually think this sounds pretty cool, and I love the artwork. I'm not expecting DIE HARD: YEAR ONE to be a comic book masterpiece to rival WATCHMEN, but it's safe to say it'll blow away the underwhelming LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD. Can't wait to get this graphic novel.

DIE HARD does have surprisingly great artwork, given those samples. I might check it out as well.

[Safari Suit]

Good lord, now there's even going to be a Die Hard prequel Will these comics deal with the origin of his dislike of married women who use their maiden names?

[Tarl_Cabot]

Please,make it stop...this artistic canabalisim is too much to bear.

[Professor Dent]

The artwork looks good & I'm a big fan of Die Hard but I'm getting to the point where I'm prequeled & rebooted out.

[Harmsway]

Well, the reboot craze is ridiculously overdone. But this is a comic book, and not a full-blown flick, which allows it to be just a lightweight, harmless, purely-for-the-fans outing, so complaining about it seems pointless. It also allows for much greater creativity on part of the creators thanks to the absence of the studio system. My bet is that it'll be a fun read.

I wish more franchises would get on board with comics. It's just an easy way to expand upon characters with less financial strain, and therefore more creative freedom. I understand that Clint Eastwood's legendary Man With No Name has been enjoying new life in the format.

[Loomis]

DIE HARD does have surprisingly great artwork, given those samples. I might check it out as well.

I love this pic of a longhaired McClane with Daniel Craigish killer's eyes:

http://splashpage.mt...diehard2-lg.jpg

I wonder whether they had to pay Willis for using his likeness.

[TheSaint]

I was wondering why this thread was awake again. I'll flip through it at the store then decide whether I want to get it or not.

There's already a prequel to Die Hard. It's The Detective by Roderick Thorpe. It was made into a film starring Frank Sinatra as Joe Leland. Thorpe then wrote a follow-up called Nothing Lasts Forever. That was turned into Die Hard starring Bruce Willis as John McClane.

Besides paying Willis for his likeness, I'm wondering if Thorpe is seeing any money?

[DamnCoffee]

DIE HARD does have surprisingly great artwork, given those samples. I might check it out as well.

I love this pic of a longhaired McClane with Daniel Craigish killer's eyes:

http://splashpage.mt...diehard2-lg.jpg

I wonder whether they had to pay Willis for using his likeness.

That looks more like one of the blonde terrorists from Die Hard, rather than McLane.