John McClane (Bruce Willis) is out to bring his son Jack (Jai Courtney) who is being held in jail in Moscow, but when he arrives there John discovers that his son is a spy and has a mission to save Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch) . The two McClanes eventually meet Irina (Yuliya Snigir) and her crew, who have been hired by Viktor Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov) to extract Yuri and obtain a file that he has had in possession. The McClanes are now on the loose and looking to get Yuri and will do whatever it takes.
It has been a 6 years since Len Wiseman delivered Live Free or Die Hard (Yes, that PG-13 Die Hard movie), so naturally we thought no more Die Hard is a good thing. Well not so fast because John Moore’s new entry to the franchise is here, A Good Day to Die Hard. The studio did its part and marketed the movie like never before. There was an onslaught of trailers left and right telling the audience that John McClane was back along with the seemingly path of destruction and action that has come to represent the series. Indeed, A Good Day to Die Hard took about 10 minutes for John McClane to set the ground for what was to come in the rest of film. In essence, everything that we saw prior to release pretty much was on point, we were promised action, explosions, and everything in between and the movie delivered its promise.
I was excited to see John McClane back in action at least one more time; however, I found this new iteration of Die Hard to not really resemble well Die Hard. I am sure I am not the only one that feels this way. The film was far from its roots and even Bruce Willis gave us a very bland McClane, this isn’t the McClane we all love to see fighting bad guys and destroying everything that gets in his way. The script really didn’t do Willis justice, it was lacking, for better or worst perhaps is time to force this character to retirement. Also, one thing to mention is that Jai Courtney was decent as McClane’s son, but he really didn’t offer enough to help the film. However, I have to say that there are sequences in the film were these two just simply offer some great action. I suppose when you really sit down and over examine the film we’ll find out that even the bad guy, who at first is hard to really tell who the main villain is, offer much of a fight which is truly a big shame.
As briefly mentioned above, John Moore’s entry isn’t so much as bad, is just far from being was it is expected from a Die Hard film. However, he employs some serious over the top actions sequences that are simply entertaining. The first part of film features an incredible car chase that culminates in some incredible crash that you just simply wonder if that’s it, but behold McClane escapes the grip of death once more. We can pick many more scenes and we can possibly all agree that overlooking the plot, we’ll find ourselves with a great action sequences that are simply entertaining.
A Good Day to Die Hard arrives on Blu-ray with 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The film looks good plain and simple, A Good Day to Die Hard looks really good. The colors are very accurate and well defined throughout the film. Skin tones are well balanced and very lifelike. Black levels are well balanced and never overwhelm the picture. Detailing is superb! From the clothing of the actors, to their rugged faces and right down to the streets of Moscow, A Good Day to Die Hard looks absolutely fantastic! On the panned out shots you can see at a distance and look at how detailed the surroundings are and not to mention during some of the explosions where dust and particles can be clearly seen across the screen without any issues. The film does feature a rather gray tint, but it is fitting to the gritty look of the film. Even the thick layer of grain fits quite nicely. A Good Day to Die Hard looks fantastic!
Can we count this towards one of the best high definition audio track in 2013? A Good Day to Die Hard is presented with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track and it is fantastic! It is exactly what we expected for a Die Hard movie. The dialogue is clean and clear throughout and it doesn’t get overwhelmed by the action on the screen. The dynamic range is excellent and directionality is very accurate. The rears offer great support as well as the surrounds. The LFE output is thunderous and you’ll often hear the bullets pierce through the soundstage with great power. This audio mix is excellent and absolutely delivers!
Audio Commentary – featuring Director John Moore and first Assistant Mark Cotone.
Making it Hard to Die – This section is split in several different smaller segments: Introduction, Stunts, Helicopters and Aerial, Special Effects, Motion Base, Armory, Russia and Budapest, The Look of the Movie, Chernobyl, Camera Work, Editorial Los Angeles, Color Grading, Visual Effects, Film Scoring, and Wrap up.
Anatomy of a Car Chase – See how the filmmakers put together the incredible car chase at the beginning of the film.
Two of a Kind – The actors and filmmakers talk about how closely alike the two McClanes are in the movie.
Back in Action – The filmmakers and Bruce Willis talks about returning as McClane and talk about the franchise.
The New Face of Evil – This featurette talks about the bad guys of the film. Features some commentary by the actors about their characters.
Pre-Vis – This section is split in several different smaller segments: Cold Opening, Desert Heist, and Truck Chase.
VFX Sequences – This section is split in several different smaller segments: Helicopter Shoots Up Hotel Ukrania, Helicopter Shoots Up Hotel Ukrania 2, John and Jack Jump Through Window, Helicopter Shoots Barrels, John and Jack Fall, John Climbs Into Helicopter, John Drives Truck Out of Helicopter, Helicopter Being Pulled Down, View From Helicopter, Helicopter Swings Towards Building, Truck Crashes Into Building, Truck Crashes Into Building (Zoom), John Hanging From Truck, Truck Falls, Helicopter Approaches Rooftop, and Explosions at Chernobyl.
Maximum McClane – A montage on John McClane over the years from across the different Die Hard movies.
Storyboards – This section is split in several different smaller segments: Cold Opening, Courthouse, Car Chase, Ukrania Fight, and Chernobyl.
Concept Art Gallery
Theatrical Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Go in without high expectations and you will be thoroughly satisfied with John Moore’s relentless action sequences. If you stop over think about the movie you’ll see that John McClane is far from the John McClane we were accustomed before. The film forgets a solid story in favor of nonstop action, but that seems to really satisfy the entertainment factor at the cost of forgetting about everything else in between. A Good Day to Die Hard is everything we have come to expect from most action films now days, full of action sequences, explosions, gun fights, and just plain old tough guys being well tough. In that aspect, the movie doesn’t disappoint. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic! I can’t really complain what Fox has done with this transfer. There’s also a good amount of supplements if you want to stick around after the film is over. If you are yearning for a true Die Hard film just pop in 1 and/or 2, but if you are just simply in for some serious action, this one is for you!