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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 Finland India June 27, 2007
Hong Kong Philippines United Kingdom France July 4, 2007
Republic of Ireland Mexico Poland July 6, 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 27th, 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 computer hackers, exchanging payment for algorithms and code. The hackers are then killed in their homes by explosives set to go off when the Delete button is pressed on their keyboards. Only one hacker, Matthew Farrell (Justin Long), has yet to be killed.

Meanwhile, at one of the Rutgers University campuses, Lucy McClane (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in engaged in a romantic interlude with a schoolmate, which is interrupted by her father, NYPD Police Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis). Lucy, angered at her father's surveillance of her, storms off. McClane learns that Lucy is using her mother's maiden name, Gennaro, and not McClane, an echo of of the first movie, when McClane learned that his estranged wife was doing the same. McClane receives instructions from his supervisor to pick up a known hacker, since an FBI system has recently seen a breach and is taking hackers into custody.

McClane goes to the home of the hacker, Matt Farrell, and takes him into custody. Five armed men then arrive, and when they see that the computer has not detonated, they go up to investigate. Rand (Cyril Raffaelli), a sniper, sprays the apartment with gunfire, but McClane and Farrell survive, and McClane dispatches most of the armed men in the process, escaping with Farrell. Two of the surviving thugs explain to their superior, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) that Farrell has escaped.

McClane brings Farrell to the FBI, specifically to Assistant Director Bowman (Cliff Curtis), in the midst of a shutdown of Washington D.C.'s traffic system initiated by the terrorists. The terrorists then initiate a stock market crash, wiping out the life savings of countless people. FBI Agent Johnson (Yancey Arias) orders Farrell taken into protective custody, but the terrorists locate the car and ambush it, but McClane again manages to dispatch the villains, at one point driving his car up a ramp and then fleeing it before it collides with the villain's helicopter, destroying it. Rand believes that the two men were in the car and thus claims that both men are dead.

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

McClane asks Farrell what the next logical move by the terrorists would be. Farrell says the major utilities can only be shut down manually on-site, and directs them to the Eastern United States power hub in West Virginia. During the drive, Farrell expresses exasperated disbelief at McClane’s seeming calm, and laments that he’s not like him. When McClane asks him what he means by this, Farrell says that he himself is not a hero, and cannot see himself ever doing the types of courageous things that McClane does.

Arriving at the hub they discover that the terrorists are already there. While Farrell tries to undo the damage done to the computer system, McClane engages the terrorists in hand-to-hand and vehicular combat, killing them. After discovering that McClane and Farrell are alive and that more of his henchmen are dead, Gabriel redirects the local natural gas lines to the hub. McClane and the Farrell barely escape with their lives as the pressure of the gas lines results in the explosion and destruction of 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.

McClane and Farrell arrive at the home of the Warlock, a thirty-something man who uses his mother's basement, as his "command center". After The Warlock had discovered that Gabriel had designed a new, more secure, security system for the US after 9/11, and therefore is intimately familiar with it. Although he claimed that the U.S. security system was not good enough, the authorities conspired to bring him down and spoil his reputation. Embittered, he decided to teach America a lesson, which is the "{{#invoke:fire sale|Use as plot device|fire sale}}" currently in operation. Meanwhile, Gabriel then learns of a hacker inside his systems and he confronts McClane, via web cam. Gabriel has tracked down Lucy, who is trapped in an elevator shaft, and shows a video image of her to McClane. 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 (which Gabriel had designed). McClane and Farrell set out to rescue Lucy and stop Gabriel.

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 Gabriel's thugs. Gabriel and his men capture Farrell, but not before he has set up a security code preventing Gabriel from accessing the stolen financial records with which they amassed their money. Gabriel and his men flee in trucks with Lucy and Farrell, and McClane pursues. He contacts Warlock to ask him to patch him through to Bowman to inform him that Gabriel has left.

Gabriel uses his hacking abilities to pose as a Marine ground controller and commands a F-35 Lightning II jet to attack McClane's truck, which he identifies as a criminal. The jet engages McClane, but McClane manages to escapes the truck, landing on the plane and jumping to safety onto the jet. During this process, the jet is damaged, and its pilot ejects. McClane then jumps to safety before the burning jet plummets toward him and is destroyed. McClane then follows Gabriel's truck to a nearby warehouse.

At the warehouse, Gabriel orders Farrell to reverse his encryption, and when Farrell refuses, Gabriel shoots him in the leg. Farrell then complies. 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 shoulder from another assailant. While Lucy is held hostage by one thug, Gabriel picks up McClane and holds him from behind, wanting him to watch the death of Farrell and Lucy. Meanwhile, Farrell, hiding, has picked up McClane's gun and tries to toss another gun to McClane, but is foiled. Gabriel taunts McClane, prodding his wound with a gun. McClane presses the trigger, firing the gun, causing a bullet to go through his shoulder and into Gabriel's heart, killing Gabriel instantly. Farrell then picks up McClane’s gun and shoots the thug holding Lucy, killing him. The FBI arrives.

Afterwards, Farrell sits in an ambulance. Having been given morphine, he makes a romantic query about Lucy, but McClane discourages him from even considering such a course of action, but recalling their earlier conversation about heroic types during their drive to West Virginia, McClane points out to Farrell that he has now engaged in the exact sort of daring act that he earlier claimed he could never do, and opines that he is now a hero himself. McClane returns to Lucy, who asks if Farrell expressed any romantic interest in her, much to McClane’s chagrin, as the ambulances drive off.

Cast

Production

The film's plot is based on an earlier script entitled WW3.com by David Marconi, screenwriter of Enemy of the State.[4] Using a Wired article entitled "A Farewell to Arms"[5] by John Carlin, Marconi crafted a screenplay about a cyber-terrorist attack on the U.S.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8] 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.[9][10] 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,[11] as the film was released outside America with that title.

Filming for Live Free or Die Hard started in downtown Baltimore, Maryland on September 23, 2006.[12] 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.[13]

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.

File:LucyMcClane.jpg
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy McClane

The involvement of McClane's daughter in the film was previously considered for Die Hard with a Vengeance, and was used 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.

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.”[14] 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"[15] 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.”[16]

Reception

As of July 6, 2007, the film had a score of 78% with a certified "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 153 reviews (119 Fresh, 34 Rotten)[17] with the consensus being it is "an efficient, action-packed summer popcorn flick"[18] and a score of a generally favorable 69% on Metacritic based on 32 reviews.[19] The movie has also been subjected to generally favorable reviews in The Washington Post[20] and IGN (who scored the movie as a four out of five stars).[21] 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 6th, it has scored very highly on IMDB with a rating of 8.1 out of 10, and #240 on the Top 250.[22] 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 (not taking inflation into account). On its opening weekend Live Free or Die Hard made $33.4 million ($48 million counting Wednesday and Thursday).[23]

Trivia

  • There is also an elevator shaft scene in this film that is similar to the first movie when John McClane drops C4 down an elevator shaft killing the terrorists.
  • 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, and during the closing credits.
  • The song Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival is played both during the movie and the credits. Creedence sung the song Down on the Corner, which was used in the opening of Die Hard: With A Vengance (False: The song in the opening of Die Hard With A Vengeance is "Summer In The City" by Lovin' Spoonful.
  • 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".
  • 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.[24] A full-scale model was used in the filming,[25] and Bruce Willis claimed in an interview that it was the only use of CGI in the film.[26]
  • The movie prints were shipped to cinemas under the name "New Hampshire". Its actual title is derived from the motto of that state, "Live Free or Die."
  • 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's (Bruce Willis's) car was actually just a standard ham radio.
  • 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 Los Angeles Center Studios production building stands in for exteriors of the J. Edgar Hoover Building. The climax scene was filmed in Los Angeles, 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 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.
  • Alienware laptops were heavily used in this film, mainly by the terrorists.
  • The Social Security Datacenter exteriors were shot at Diamond Ranch High School[2].***hh
  • At one point, McClane and Farrell steal a car of which the owner is named Dvorak, which could be a pun referring to the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard used by some linux hackers.

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. ^ 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)
  5. ^ Carlin, John (May 1997). "A Farewell to Arms". Wired. Retrieved 2007-05-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Besson To Develop WW3.com". Sci Fi. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  7. ^ 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)
  8. ^ Stax (July 31 2006). "Long Shot for Die Hard: Reset". IGN. Retrieved 2006-06-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "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)
  10. ^ "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)
  11. ^ 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)
  12. ^ "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)
  13. ^ "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)
  14. ^ 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)
  15. ^ 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)
  16. ^ 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)
  17. ^ "Live Free or Die Hard". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  18. ^ "Info & Tidbits on Live Free or Die Hard". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  19. ^ "Live Free or Die Hard". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  20. ^ Hornaday, Ann (June 29 2007). "Live Free or Die Hard". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ http://movies.ign.com/articles/799/799604p1.html
  22. ^ http://imdb.com/title/tt0337978/
  23. ^ McClintock, Pamela (June 28 2007). "'Die Hard' debuts with $9 million". Variety. Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ Die Hard 4 F-35 Clip
  25. ^ Gray, Simon (July), "One-Man Riot Squad", American Cinematographer, 88 (7): 32 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  26. ^ Interview with Bruce Willis for Live Free or Die Hard
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