Well I just got back from AGDTDH. Let me start off by saying that the original Die Hard is my fourth fav film of all time. Right behind JAWS, Star Wars, and Empire. It's one of my perfect films. Everything is done rigt. THe direction, the acting, the script, the look, the score. Hell even lines like "Dar I seeee Him" are things I love.
LFODH in MO is easily the second best. I thought it had the feel of a Die HArd movie and seeing Bruce in that role and doing it well was great. Love the baddies and I liked his Daughter. Hell I thought Justin Long was better then Sam Jackson as far as Sidekicks go.
DH3 is OK but I always hated that McClane Never got to fight the bad guys. He was always just chasing bombs. Not a great Die HArd film but still a good movie with some minor flaws.
I really don't like DH2. Now I thought it was OK when I saw it years ago. But even then I knew it was a very flawed film but hey it was a Die Hard movie. Time has not been kind to that film. The Cheese and poor directing and corny script is just to much to handle. Bruce is good in it and thus it's not a total failure.
Which brings me to AGDTDH.... I can't believe I am going to say this and remember how I feel about the second film, but DH2 was better
. Now while I did not HAte it I sure did not like it. I found myself asking "Am I being too hard on this film because it's Die Hard or am I giving it to much of a pass because it's Die Hard?" Either way that is not a good question to be asking yourself. I agree about the plot, the bad guys, the boring action, etc... I pretty much agree on everything.
But here is something I thought I would never say about a Die Hard film. Bruce Willis was the worst part. His acting was awful. Sure the lines he had to say were not the best but he coould have delivered them better. This was not a crises he was in. It was a good time.
He reminded me of Karen Allen in KOTCS were no mater how bad things got he thought it was fun. Never is this more apparent then in the truck chase scene. From the first shot when he is yelling at his son and people are shooting at him he just acts like nothing is wrong. Then all his little jokes and yells during the chase "Jack I'm not done talking to you!" Blah!!!
Then he finds out his son is in the CIA and he continues to act like an *** hole. Basically making fun of his kid. WTF. He stands around while others are ducking, he never ever looks like he is acting in a movie he just looks like he accidentally showed up in the middle of a shot.
If Bruce was better in this I would have been able to forgive a lot. But with the exceptio of a few scenes he is just not invested in the character. Again it had to be hard to deliver soe of those lines but come on, TRY!!!!
At least in DH2, John McClane is John McClain. I don't know who this guy was. Acting like he was the smartest guy in the world. No wonder his son hated him.
I would rate the films like this
Die Hard - 5 out of 5
Die Hard 2 - 1.5 out of 5
Die Hard 3 - 3 out of 5
Die Hard 4 - 4 out of 5
Die Hard 5 - 1 stinky star And I think it gets that becasue I can't bring myself to give a Die Hard film a worse rating.
I will admit somehow I did not hate it while watching it. I was not happy but I think the fact I was expecting the worst I was able to find some things to like. But as time passes I am starting to see the film for what it is and hate what it did to John McClane. But Bruce does own much of that responsibility.
I am sure as time goes on it will drop down to a 1/2 star. Damn it!!