Kamen also went on about how the film was supposed to continue the use of incorporating classical works, in that instance a Brahms symphony. Obviously that idea went out the window late in the game too, because he discussed it at length in an FSM interview we ran back at the time, and none of it ended up in the score.
The only thing I didn't like about LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD is sort of the same problem that plagues modern moviemaking -- the cutting. Every scene is cut the same way so that when something important or integral to the story occurs, it's handled dramatically in the same way in terms of editing as any other.
Thus, everything has a "sameness" to it, indicative of modern moviemaking where there seemingly HAS to be a cut every few seconds, no matter what's going on or how important it is to the story. Not sure that makes any sense, but it's like there's no flow to the film -- it's like watching a 2 hour trailer, which is probably what studios want to keep ADD-riddled kids interested, but to me keeps you at arm's length from really getting involved in the story.
die hard 4.0
One can only imagine what directors like Wyler, Welles, Antoniani, P. Sturges, Stevens and others of classical film style would be put through today. One of the few around today who pretty much lets a scene play out is Woody Allen (watch his masterpiece MANHATTAN for excellent examples of letting the actors and the dialogue dictate the cuts, rather than the other way around), and even though a lot of his recent films are extremely disappointing, I still like the way he lets the characters and the words play out, rather than chopping them up to a fare-thee-well.JDvDHeise
"You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons."-Gene Wilder to Cleavon Little in BLAZING SADDLES
"You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons."-Gene Wilder to Cleavon Little in BLAZING SADDLES
I agree Andy. Good thoughts. I just got back from Brazil and am going to try for the "triple threat" today....DIE HARD (done), POTC 3, then Spider-man 3....LOL...wish me luck!AndyDursin wrote:Well THAT is what a summer movie is supposed to be.
I agree for the most part with Roman -- the film is good fun, evoking the spirit and tone of the earlier films in Willis' laid back performance (the kind we sadly haven't seen much of in his "Shayalaman years"), down to Beltrami's Kamen-esque score. Wiseman drained the color out of most of it, but he nailed the action sequences dead on. Justin Long is alright, Olyphant was alright -- it's obvious they saved the budget on the casting as there's almost nobody of note supporting Willis (hey, a Kevin Smith cameo!), but it ends up working better than you might've thought.
Overall, it is not on the level of DIE HARD or DIE HARD 2 -- the movie really doesn't generate a whole lot of suspense or a sense of danger at all -- but it is in fact much, much better than DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (which I disliked...with a vengeance!), and easily the only summer movie I've watched this year that I wouldn't mind seeing again.
So it gets my vote of confidence right there
Andy, I agree that it is much better than DHWAV- which was mostly forgettable. You also said that it captured the FEEL of the first two films, and I agree with that as well. It was very much escapist entertainment- it kind of reminded me of TRUE LIES towards the ending (with the plane and all). I thought the chemistry between Willis and the computer hacker was great. While I'll still take DIE HARD over any of them, this was a breath of fresh air for me.
I like Bruce Willis (generally) and this was an opportunity for him to revisit an old character, and it works. Dare I say it, but let's hope Harrison Ford's revisiting of Indiana Jones is just as entertaining. I don't remember much about Beltrami's score. Does anyone have it on CD? Is it worth buying? Maybe I should save my money for the Varese releases....
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AndyDursin
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Welcome back!! You started with the best, and you've got the worst coming up. Seriously Michael you may not have the energy left after sitting through POTC!!I agree Andy. Good thoughts. I just got back from Brazil and am going to try for the "triple threat" today....DIE HARD (done), POTC 3, then Spider-man 3....LOL...wish me luck!
BTW I finally posted my thoughts on most of the summer movies on the front page (next week's column), POTC, DIE HARD and 1408 included.
The score CD is full to brim with action. Hardly any quiet moments or some emotions, which was one of the things I thought needed the score. Now after having seen the Film i can appreciate the score a lot more. It may a bit tiresome after 65 minutes, but there are definitely enough really cool exciting action cues worth getting the CD for.
Also it is very nice how much Marco integrated of Kamen`s style into his I ROBOT style.
It is worth a buy, but honestly, he wrote better scores. Apparently the post production time was too short and he had to compose music without any final cut, so I feel like he just wrote music which was easy to recut for the the Editor, which is what happened actually.
It works great in the movie, the CD I would rate a solid 3 out of 5 stars.
Also it is very nice how much Marco integrated of Kamen`s style into his I ROBOT style.
It is worth a buy, but honestly, he wrote better scores. Apparently the post production time was too short and he had to compose music without any final cut, so I feel like he just wrote music which was easy to recut for the the Editor, which is what happened actually.
It works great in the movie, the CD I would rate a solid 3 out of 5 stars.