So today marks the release of "Live Free or Die Hard," the third sequel to my all-time favorite action movie. I probably won't get to see it for a few days, but in the meantime I thought I'd help get people in the mood with a few YouTube links.First, Fox relented a few months back and allowed Guyz Nite to repost their brilliant "Die Hard" music video, sort of the song equivalent of "Sopranos in 7 Minutes." (There's also a new version including plugs for "Live Free or Die Hard," but I haven't watched it because I try to avoid trailers, commercials or videos for movies I already know I'm going to see. Also, if you're a hardcore McClane fanboy, you might be interested in seeing (if you haven't already) the original ending to "Die Hard With a Vengeance" (which is very different in tone from the one they used.) Finally, I'm apparently now legally required to post a link to Ben Stiller's "Die Hard 12: Die Hungry" at least once every six weeks ("Paper or plastic, you son of a bitch?"), and this seems as good a time as any.
Finally, in the spirit of my Saved by DVD column, if you're looking for an old movie to watch to get you in the "Die Hard" frame of mind, I strongly recommend John Frankenheimer's "The Train," by far the most egregious omission from EW's recent list of the best action movies ever. As Matt Seitz forcefully argued back in '94, "Die Hard" and movies like it owe a deep debt to what Frankenheimer and Burt Lancaster did with that movie.
That was probably the funniest thing ever on the Ben Stiller Show. Besides the "Manson" bits. How is it that Odenkirk is the least famous one to come out of that show?
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestions, Alan, but one should never forget this tribute from Team Tiger Awesome: The Ballad of John McClane...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StuihXsyEqU
That was an interesting alternate ending, I hadn't seen it before. Definitely better than the movie's actual ending, especially in regards to the way "Yippe-ki-yay" was used.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the new installment getting some good reviews, because the franchise deserves better than "Simon Says". Now if it's successful, we can sit back and wait for the next chapter, probably named "Old Habits Die Hard", or something.
Anyway, can't wait for #4!
I will see Die Hard 4, but I am very skeptical about the PG-13 rating. It just annoys me that I have to see a lamer movie just so more kids can see it without sneaking in. Someday, the studios will realize that this type of move can hurt certain films. Just as an R would hurt a Star Wars film, nobody would ever go to a PG-13 "Saw" movie.
ReplyDeleteOver at Slate there's a nice consideration of "Yippee Ki Yay" as a movie one-liner. He strains a bit near the end, but I think he gets a lot right, too. Plus there's some other fine movie phrases ("You're the disease, I'm the cure") in the article to boot.
ReplyDeleteAnon
Odenkirk may be the least famous of the four, but he is also certainly doing a lot more (not to mention a lot more quality stuff) than any of the others except Stiller. "Lets Go To Prison" notwithstanding, I think his recent work has outdone anything Garofalo or Dick have done in the last five years.
ReplyDeleteObviously, EW made no such distinctions, so your argument still stands, but The Train is a war movie. Which ought to be different than an action movie. Even if it is largely about one man in said war, whereas most war movies are larger in scope.
ReplyDeleteAnd people should be a lot more worried about Die Hard 4 getting directed by Underworld's Len Weisman than the PG-13 stuff. Though I guess now that it's been out for two days, the time for worry is over.
Except for one massively unbelievable action sequence the movie was great and I place it somewhere behind 1 possibly in front of 2 but I need to watch 2 again to be sure.
ReplyDeleteJustin Long is amazing and hilarious in the movie.