The second was terrific, the third wasn't so hot, but everything seems retro these days (what with Rocky & Rambo both coming back!), so I'm in.
Will be interesting to see how Len Wiseman adapts his slick visuals for this film.
No Bonnie Bedelia though...or William Atherton! And the title is pretty weak (though better than DIE HARD: RESET, which a few sites "confirned" was the title!).
Die Hard' series coming back to life
He'll be back: Bruce Willis will return as John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard.
By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY
Bruce Willis just won't die — again.
The 51-year-old actor has signed on to a fourth Die Hard movie, 20th Century Fox said Wednesday, returning him to the wisecracking tough-guy character that made him an action star 18 years ago.
The film, titled Live Free or Die Hard, features his John McClane police officer attempting to stop a techno-terrorist from shutting down the nation's computer systems on the Fourth of July. The story takes place around Washington, D.C., and will be directed by Underworld: Evolution filmmaker Len Wiseman.
Willis is the latest leading man to revisit one of his iconic action characters years later. Sylvester Stallone is reprising his boxer for a new sequel Rocky Balboa, and Harrison Ford has been in negotiations for years to make a fourth Indiana Jones movie.
Die Hard has been a lucrative franchise. The first three movies took in $739 million worldwide, and that's not counting DVD sales.
The new Die Hard will be released next June 29, just before the July Fourth holiday.
Wiseman says the character, known for expletive-punctuated battle cry "Yippee-Kai-Yay ...!," will be "doing what he does best, being a huge pain" to the bad guys.
"Our villain is high tech, but the way McClane deals with him is low-tech," Wiseman says. "A fistfight still solves a lot of problems."
Wiseman, known for his icy style and special-effects skills, faces a challenge in resurrecting the franchise with new flair. In the years since the first Die Hard in 1988, many action films have imitated the template of a lone hero who takes out a team of villains all by himself.
"It became a pitching format in Hollywood," Wiseman says, with writers or producers routinely describing their story in shorthand as Die Hard on a bus or Die Hard on a submarine. "It got to the point where, 10 years later, Bruce was talking to some writers and it came back to him full circle. They said, 'What we've got is Die Hard in a building. A really tall building.' He said, Umm ... OK."
That's because in the original movie, McClane fought a group of heavily armed thieves in a Los Angeles skyscraper.
In the second movie, 1990's Die Hard 2: Die Harder, he battled terrorists at a snowed-in airport. He fought a mad bomber in 1995's Die Hard with a Vengeance, with Samuel L. Jackson in the sidekick role as an angry New York shopkeeper.
Wiseman says the fourth outing "will be a more epic movie. It's on a much grander scale. The threat is nationwide."
I don't expect Bruce Willis to pretend he's 30 years old, and as long as things are kept down on Earth...maybe it'll be alright...
Too many shameless sequels and remakes happening, though.
The idea of a Rocky VI is arguably worse than this, imo.
I'm not kidding myself on any of these: These are all shameless attempts to rake in some fast cash.
I don't know, I think Stallone may have some real vested interest in turning out a good movie with ROCKY BALBOA. It's not like he's going to get too many more shots at top lining a film of this kind, and if he can return to some of the more thoughtfulness of the original, it may turn out fairly well.
Either way, I'd rather pay to see that than most of the movies out there right now! EVERY studio movie is an attempt at making some cash.
As far as DIE HARD goes, Fox is trying to set this up to be next July 4th's big film. If Wiseman can capture some of the fun of the original two films, it might be really good. I feel more confident with him handling it than John McTiernan, after SUCKS WITH A VENGENACE and ROLLERBALL.
I don't expect Bruce Willis to pretend he's 30 years old, and as long as things are kept down on Earth...maybe it'll be alright...
Too many shameless sequels and remakes happening, though.
The idea of a Rocky VI is arguably worse than this, imo.
I'm not kidding myself on any of these: These are all shameless attempts to rake in some fast cash.
I don't know, I think Stallone may have some real vested interest in turning out a good movie with ROCKY BALBOA. It's not like he's going to get too many more shots at top lining a film of this kind, and if he can return to some of the more thoughtfulness of the original, it may turn out fairly well.
Either way, I'd rather pay to see that than most of the movies out there right now! EVERY studio movie is an attempt at making some cash.
As far as DIE HARD goes, Fox is trying to set this up to be next July 4th's big film. If Wiseman can capture some of the fun of the original two films, it might be really good. I feel more confident with him handling it than John McTiernan, after SUCKS WITH A VENGENACE and ROLLERBALL.
I don't expect Bruce Willis to pretend he's 30 years old, and as long as things are kept down on Earth...maybe it'll be alright...
Too many shameless sequels and remakes happening, though.
The idea of a Rocky VI is arguably worse than this, imo.
I'm not kidding myself on any of these: These are all shameless attempts to rake in some fast cash.
I don't know, I think Stallone may have some real vested interest in turning out a good movie with ROCKY BALBOA. It's not like he's going to get too many more shots at top lining a film of this kind, and if he can return to some of the more thoughtfulness of the original, it may turn out fairly well.
Either way, I'd rather pay to see that than most of the movies out there right now! EVERY studio movie is an attempt at making some cash.
As far as DIE HARD goes, Fox is trying to set this up to be next July 4th's big film. If Wiseman can capture some of the fun of the original two films, it might be really good. I feel more confident with him handling it than John McTiernan, after SUCKS WITH A VENGENACE and ROLLERBALL.
Personally, if Stallone were going to try to add on to a series of films he's made, I'd be more apt to see a fourth RAMBO than a sixth ROCKY. After all, Stallone was part of the original Contender show on cable, and to me that show was more Rocky-ish than ROCKY V. Rambo is silly but I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed all of them (even RAMBO III).
Well, you're in luck, because Rambo IV is next on Sly's dance card (and the poster is rather great). I do like the idea of the new Rocky, which sounds like it's going back to Stallone's original concept of the series around 1980 as following the character every ten years. Mind you, I hated Rocky III so much I never saw any of the others, but this might be interesting all the same.
I thought the trailer for ROCKY 6 was god-awful... seriously, who needs that? There seems not one new idea to be in it... where is Adrian btw? I guess Talia Shire looks so hideous nowadays, that they rather keep her out of the picture (wasn't she always the ugliest wife an action-character ever had???) ADRIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! lol
and Bonnie Bedelia has probably the same fate of being too old for DIE HARD 4... well, I hated it already that she wasnt in part 3 and had the same divorce thing going on again... DIE HARD 3 was really lousy and proof already that McTiernan shouldn't do any further movies. Still Im surprised how many people like DH3 and still think McTiernan should return and think he is a great director. I guess on PREDATOR and DIE HARD 1 it was more the producer who took care of the movie than McT did...
Len Wiseman is a good choice in my opinion... hopefully he bring Marco Beltrami along... . Hm, it is FOX... so it may be... or John Powell...
Still Im surprised how many people like DH3 and still think McTiernan should return and think he is a great director. I guess on PREDATOR and DIE HARD 1 it was more the producer who took care of the movie than McT did...
I can't imagine why anyone liked DIE HARD 3. I went to a preview screening and there were dozens of people gabbing on phones, getting up and walking around, and talking all through it. Very leaden and poorly directed, with that lame abrupt ending.
DIE HARD 2, meanwhile, was THE real deal As much as I love the first film, there's just something about the second one that's even better (and don't forget it was #5 on Gene Siskel's list of the Best Films of 1990!).
Last edited by AndyDursin on Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Still Im surprised how many people like DH3 and still think McTiernan should return and think he is a great director. I guess on PREDATOR and DIE HARD 1 it was more the producer who took care of the movie than McT did...
I can't imagine why anyone liked DIE HARD 3. I went to a preview screening and there were dozens of people gabbing on phones, getting up and walking around, and talking all through it. Very leaden and poorly directed, with that lame abrupt ending.
DIE HARD 2, meanwhile, was THE real deal As much as I love the first film, there's just something about the second one that's even better (and don't forget it was #5 on Gene Siskel's list of the Best Films of 1991!).
I don't even remember DIE HARD 3, except that it starred Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons. I was never a big fan of DIE HARD 2, though it may be time for me to revisit it soon. I am a big fan of the original film and find it just as entertaining now as it was then.
WIllis has kind of stuck closely to his DIE HARD-type role. His excursions into other film genres are hit or miss....though here's a question for you:
mkaroly wrote:Which was better: DIE HARD 3 or HUDSON HAWK?
If I had to watch one of them again, I'd pick HUDSON HAWK. It's at least 30 minutes shorter and has a better score (As memory serves most of Kamen's original ideas for DIE HARD 3 were tossed out (he was going to use a Brahms symphony originally) and the resulting score was hideous).
Go back and check out DIE HARD 2 sometime Michael. A bit leaner than the original but just as much fun.
but what happened to Renny Harlin? I just saw the trailer for COVENANT and was shocked to find out that it is his new movie? Is he back on Teen-Horror-Territory now? I mean, come on, he is/was one of the best action directors out there and all gets offered now is cheap Teen-Horror? Is he drinking or anything?
so far I think I liked all Harlin-movies... ok, MINDHUNTERS was pretty bad and way below his league...
before you let Michael Bay sink another 200 million dollars, Hollywood could at least give Harlin some 80 millions and make a kick-ass-action-movie. He was supposed to that comic-adaption about Werewolves on the Moon, which sounded quite cool... whats up with that?
HUDSON HAWK is fun! Love Ralf and Minerva Mayflower... they crack me up everytime time!
romanD wrote:but what happened to Renny Harlin? I just saw the trailer for COVENANT and was shocked to find out that it is his new movie? Is he back on Teen-Horror-Territory now? I mean, come on, he is/was one of the best action directors out there and all gets offered now is cheap Teen-Horror? Is he drinking or anything?
so far I think I liked all Harlin-movies... ok, MINDHUNTERS was pretty bad and way below his league...
before you let Michael Bay sink another 200 million dollars, Hollywood could at least give Harlin some 80 millions and make a kick-ass-action-movie. He was supposed to that comic-adaption about Werewolves on the Moon, which sounded quite cool... whats up with that?
HUDSON HAWK is fun! Love Ralf and Minerva Mayflower... they crack me up everytime time!
It's true, nearly all of Renny's movies are entertaining. Hell I liked EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING a good deal, and preferred it to the over-rated Schrader version too. (MINDHUNTERS was, however, pretty tepid).
Hadn't heard of THE COVENANT until you mentioned it. Looks like alow-budget Screen Gems in-theaters-one-week-on-DVD-the-next deal. The cast is pretty much a group of no-names as well!
And the title is pretty weak (though better than DIE HARD: RESET, which a few sites "confirned" was the title!).
