Die Hard Trilogy (Collector's Edition) > Reviews > No-one Dies Harder than John McClane

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Good
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	Thrilling, Bruce Willis, Special Features .
Disadvantages:	Simplicity, Picture quality of early films .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

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Die Hard: Yippee…Ki…Yay
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◊^^^Synopsis^^^◊

On Christmas Eve, when only a few cops are working, crisis strikes high above the city of Los Angeles where a faction of terrorists has apprehended the sky scraper office building Nakatomi Plaza, taken hostages, and proclaimed unreasonable terms. One man, in the wrong place at the wrong time waiting for his wives office party to finish, has managed to escape detection… an off-duty cop, New York City Detective, John McClane (Bruce Willis). He’s alone… exhausted… and the only hope anyone has of survival. He takes it upon himself to single-handedly, armed with only a service revolver and his cunning, overthrow the terrorists, lead by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), and rescue his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia). A cracking thriller from beginning to end, Die Hard explodes with heart stopping suspense.

◊^^^Opinion^^^◊

The first thing that really comes to mind is the pure simplicity of the plot. Now most films require a complex script for the movie to work as it usually has to be the films best feature for the overall production to be a success. This is for many reasons including: acting, picture, sound and special effects. In a standard film the script would hold the whole thing together because some of the areas I have mentioned are not up to scratch as it were. But with Die Hard, this is not the case. Although the script is very basic, it is still a good idea. The film would be, to be blunt, awful without the high standard it produced in the other areas in order to keep the finished piece tight, neat and held together. The script is, in this case, abnormal as it seems to be the basic outline the film will follow. Now in the large majority of films the script will be stuck to pretty much word for word, not to mention events happening in the film. Whereas with Die Hard I get the feeling that they had the basic plotline and then they just turned up on set and improvised a reasonable proportion of the film, say 30%. This in essence is similar to other films such as Anchorman. Never the less, this isn’t to say that the story is bad, because it really isn’t. It is a perfect example of simplicity prevailing over complexity. Before Die Hard, if someone had said to you a bloke running round a building full of terrorists with a gun trying to kill them is the best movie they had scene ever, you would be likely to dismiss everything they just said. That is really how simple the plot is but it is transformed into something brilliant with dialogue, acting and many other aspects of the film.

It goes without saying that Die Hard is filled to the brim with excitement and explosive nail biting action, but for its time and even now, the precision in which this is employed is astonishing. There is very good use of quick camera work, acting, dialogue, sound, props and special effects that make this possible. I shall discuss each one in more depth in their individual sections.

The special effects, i.e. pyrotechniques, were simply phenomenal for its generation. The use and accuracy of the explosives used in the film was incredible and introduce a further, more realistic, dimension to a film that otherwise wouldn’t be so believable. The use of props also added to the films credibility, the guns certainly looked very threatening and real and the way that they were handled enforced this. The actors had obviously been trained well in how to handle and use the weapons in the film, as they had been with ordinary hand to hand combat, I often wonder whether they even bothered with “stage fighting” or if they are just method acting. The use of makeup and costume in the picture also added to this new found realism the film offers. Makeup wise, the cuts, bruises and blood was brilliant! There is no question in your mind when watching the film whether the blood is real or not, it just looks totally true to life, as do the cuts and bruises. Moving onto costumes, Bruce Willis’ vest was brilliant and at the same time must have been hell for the costume department, makeup and mainly the continuity officer. Now those of you who have had the privilege to have been on a film set will know straight away exactly what I am talking about. In all films, a huge deal is made of continuity which is basically making sure everything is in the same place and looks the same as the previous shot otherwise things will randomly start jumping around back and fourth all over the place as the camera angles change. So when applied to Willis’ vest this is a huge achievement. On entering the building it is totally shiny white and clean. It then gradually gets dirty and bloody throughout the film until it is totally black. Now imagine the difficulty of keeping track of exactly how it looked over hundreds of scenes and thousands of shots… yep, and as an audience member, I didn’t even notice a thing so that’s an achievement! All of these are crucial in successfully adding to the degree of realism the film depicts on a rather abnormal, slightly unrealistic and basic script.

I was pleasantly surprised by the use of subtle humour flowing throughout the film and there are several laugh out loud comic moments which is a rather nice forte to this sort off action movie and lighten the mood in a picture slightly in danger of becoming overly violent and slightly shocking. Another clever and useful technique!

◊^^^Acting^^^◊

The collective acting performance in retrospect was pretty average which is strange as there were many impressive individual performances. A young Bruce Willis (with hair!) is very convincing and the film would have struggled without him. He is in-fact a very, very good actor. All of his expressions were very realistic and was totally credible in the role. Not once did I question one of his expressions and felt he was unrealistic or didn’t depict something successfully. Come to think of it, he is almost faultless in all the films I have seen him in. He does make the movie, I can’t really tell whether it would have worked or been as successful if Willis hadn’t played McClane. I think to be honest, without Willis there is no Die Hard.

Acting wise I remember the film mainly for its individual performances. Alan Rickman was especially good at being a sinister, clever and slightly insane terrorist although some of his acting in parts was rather dodgy and somewhat wooden. I felt he didn’t quite get in to his character fully and consequently some gestures and expressions appeared quite abnormal.

There was also a colourful and versatile performance from Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt.Powel, the first cop on location. Powel establishes a strong bond with McClane talking to him throughout the film via radio. He expresses moments of humour, sadness, patience, panic and seriousness extremely convincingly all the way through in what is a lively and impressive performance.

There is one final individual performance I would like to mention for its merit. De'voreaux White’s cameo role as the young and energetic rookie limo driver, Argyle, who picks McClane up from the airport and drops him off at the Nakatomi tower. He is on screen for a matter of minutes but makes a lasting impression that gives the whole movie a lighter and humorous feel to it. A truly wonderful little piece of acting!

The hostages were probably the weakest in terms of acting, which is understandable as they were no line parts or “extras” if you wish. They were reasonable, but not convincing enough for my liking. They ran frantically and screamed but they didn’t really seem very scared as if they were finding the scene a little tedious as this was the 20th take or so. Although they did a reasonable job they didn’t depict the intense fear someone would go through when taken hostage by terrorists with guns who are likely to kill them all. That would be truly terrifying and they were close but they didn’t quite take that extra step to a new level of portraying their total despair and terror that they would feel in a real life situation. Although I must mention that the original panic when the terrorists first enter the building was very plausible and effective.

The acting, in conclusion, was very good but is considerably better when considered individually rather than as a whole as there are some aspects that let the overall production down. Although, unfortunately the acting will inevitably be viewed as a whole, rather than in isolated cases.

◊^^^Picture and Sound Quality^^^◊

The general picture quality is, to be perfectly honest, quite poor. The aspect ratio is widescreen and very good but this doesn’t account for some shots being sort of fuzzy. Although the actual quality of the picture is nothing to desire the cinematography is advanced and makes up for it. There is brilliant use of camera techniques that are effective in building atmosphere and a personal quality to the film. This is done by making you feel more directly involved. It is achieved by moving and tracking shots. It is noticeably effective and helps top create a stronger bond to main characters making the whole viewing experience more exciting. It could although have been achieved much more effectively with hand held shots. So to sum up, even though the quality of the picture isn’t very good the cinematography makes up for it.

The sound quality was reasonably good but nothing noticeably special. You can hear all the dialogue and that’s all you really need. The music was used very effectively throughout the film mainly to build tension. Beethoven’s 9th symphony is used perversely in moments of extreme gratuitous violence to great success. It is interesting, peculiar and at the same time total genius. It is a perfect and unusual choice for the theme tune.

All in all the picture and sound is respectable and although I have mentioned negatives you should not let this put you off watching the film or adding it or the box set to your collection.

◊^^^Film Summary^^^◊

The film is simply revolutionary! It is the beginning of the best action movie franchise ever! It’s truly outstanding! Although the plot is very basic, it doesn’t matter because in this case the simplicity was very effective. The acting was probably the best feature, with many memorable individual performances. The subtle use of humour running throughout was brilliant and made the whole experience more enjoyable. Very good use of special effects, pyrotechniques and makeup added to the films realistic feel. Although I have mentioned negatives in my review I urge you not to let this put you off watching the movie or adding it to your collection as you simply must see it. It’s a great film that is very worth watching if you have or haven’t already scene it.

◊^^^Special Features^^^◊

If you’re a special features enthusiast oh boy do you want to add this to your collection, it isn’t the “Collectors Edition” for nothing! Each film comes with a bonus disc dedicated purely to special features relative to the film.

DISC 1 (FILM):

• Brilliant animated DVD menu.
• Movie screenshot scene selection.
• Large language selection: Audio – English & English (DTS restored sound quality for improved sound). Audio commentary from Director John McTiernan. Audio commentary from the Visual Effects Producer and Production Designer.
Subtitles – Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Dutch & English for the hearing impaired* Also Text Commentary featuring Cast and Crew.
• Special Branching Version: View the film with a deleted scene reinstated!

DISC 2 (SPECIAL FEATURES):

• FROM THE VUALT:
- Outtakes: Hundreds of outtakes over the duration of the film, with or without sound.
- Newscasts: Original footage of the news reports in the movie, including longer takes, alternative takes and bloopers.
- Magazine Articles: Rather self explanatory, articles from: American Cinematographer & Cinefex.• THE CUTTING ROOM:

• Scene Editing Workshop*: This amazing feature allows you to actually begin editing parts of the film yourself by throwing clips together in different orders and creating sequences. It allows you to appreciate the amazing art of editing on a minor scale.
• Multi Camera Shooting*: Multi camera shooting is a technique widely used in extreme sports video industry in order not to miss a trick. Although it is also used, not as often but, extremely effectively in proper movies such as Die Hard to capture the same shot from different angles to save time and avoid any continuity mishaps. This feature allows you to watch the same take from three different cameras and hence, angles.

• INTERACTIVE SLIDE SHOW:
This is comprised of publicity photos and on set photos.• AD CAMPAIGN:
This is an Ad Campaign featurette and three theatrical trailers.

• THE SCRIPT:
Exactly what it says on the tin! You can read the script from start to finish although I have a feeling as this script is extremely true to the movie that it may have been written when the movie was complete.

• Miscellaneous:
Glossary.
Audio Mixing: Manipulate sound effects, music and dialogue of a scene.
“Why Letterbox?” Featurette.

◊^^^DVD Summary^^^◊

The DVD case is fairly well presented with plenty of information on the back. The sound quality the DVD supports is very good (DTS 5.1). Both discs are simply overflowing with the most interesting, exciting and original special any DVD has to offer. I don’t know about you but I have never come across a DVD that lets you re-piece scenes of the film so they go to your liking. This is an exceptional film with exceptional DVD’s and special features to match.

◊^^^Technical Details^^^◊

Certificate: 18
Duration: 126 mins
Year of Release: 1987
Genre: Action / Crime / Thriller
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 or 16:9 (Widescreen)
Region: 2

Director(s): John McTiernan
Writer(s): Roderick Thorp (novel)
Jeb Stuart (screenplay)

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Die Hard 2 – Die Harder: Take that Twinkie out your mouth!
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◊^^^Synopsis^^^◊

On a snowy Christmas Eve in the nation’s capital, a team of precarious terrorists, led by Col.Stuart (William Sadler), has seized a major international airport and now holds thousands of holiday travellers hostage. The terrorists, a renegade band of crack military commandos and computer hackers have come to rescue a drug lord from justice. They’ve prepared for every contingency except one: John McClane, an off-duty cop gripped with the despairing feeling of déjà vu.

◊^^^Opinion^^^◊

Let’s start with the fundamentals, the script. The script is very clever and intricate. Although the plot is very unlikely it is still represented on screen in a very believable and exhilarating manor. The whole plot is much more complex and is therefore very effective in making the film interesting. The script sets up the film for success. This sort of plot can hold a film together even if other aspects of the film are weak, luckily the other aspects aren’t and there is no need for holding together as the film expresses itself fully. The script is a noticeable improvement from that of the previous film, Die Hard. This is not the only reason for the considerable improvement but it is a substantial reason, I will explore the others in due course. Now I was quite shocked by this as the usual trend is for sequels to gradually get worse until, lets face it, they tarnish the entire series. But I can truthfully announce that this is certainly not the case and Die Hard is a series that matures and improves over time. Like a fine wine perhaps.

There is a large improvement in realism. For such a rare event to happen and be depicted convincingly, that is the terrorist take over of an entire New York airport, is quite an achievement. Many cinematic aspects contributed to transforming this somewhat unrealistic script into a terrifyingly authentic work of genius.

First of all the combat is very realistic and the actors were obviously well trained in both hand to hand combat and weapon combat which is vital in such a gripping action movie in which violence obviously plays a major role. The next stage of realism was provided by the special effects, make-up and pyrotechniques team. Make-up was used very effectively for wounds which, I might mention, there was no shortage of. The pyrotechniques and special effects equally as impressive and offered a wide range of realistic effects from gunshots penetrating the body to large scale explosions all contributing to making the rather unrealistic script into a gripping, tense and most importantly credible film. The sets supply a further level of realism as, simply, they look like an airport or are actually an airport, which always helps. The only real negative aspect that I can recall is the snow. The snow often appears very fake, Reminiscent of the snow you get at a Christmas celebration and there is no natural snow so a machine attempts, often poorly, to compensate. The snow on the ground is either real or considerably realistic prosthetic stuff. But the falling snow is a different matter, I can’t quite describe it, but I can tell that it must be fake.

I feel that it is necessary to mention all aspects of the film both positive and negative in order for you to make the best buying decision but I would certainly not allow yourself to be put off from adding this wonderful box set to your collection for the pure reason that the snow is less than satisfactory or for any other negative I may mention as it would be madness.

◊^^^Acting^^^◊

As always there was a near faultless performance from Bruce Willis and at the same time although he was superb in the first film, somehow, he is even better in this film. He executes his lines with precision and wonderful timing. He shows new variety to his acting and I particularly enjoyed the way he perform some humorous lines with great understanding as it often made me laugh. The humour is very subtle throughout, as it was in the previous film, but Willis does a better job this time and there are several more laugh out loud moments.

There are two other memorable performances that deserve mentioning. William Sadler was very convincing and sinister as Col.Stuart, an ex-mercenary gone bad and leader of the terrorists organising the freeing of drug baron Esperanza. The other performance is the Commander of the Army squad team sent to deal with the terrorists. Unfortunately the actors profile was unattainable and you will have to watch it to see him.

There was an impressive cameo performance by Tom Bower as the airport maintenance man Marvin. He was convincing in his isolation and slight madness.

◊^^^Picture and Sound Quality^^^◊

The picture quality, although an improvement from the previous film, wasn’t very good. I would describe it as slightly below average or maybe just about standard. The film is still more than watch able though so don’t let it put you off. Besides, the cinematography makes up for any short fall in the picture quality. The cinematography is very involving and makes good use of hand held shots and moving shots allowing the audience to build a stronger relationship with the characters and become strongly drawn in to the film. This is a very useful and intelligent technique which the film greatly benefits from. There was also great use of wide angle shots to show vastness of the airport, sky and runways etc.

As for the sound, the quality was reasonably clear although I did find that the whole film was quite quiet. This obviously slightly hinders the viewing experience. Having said this though, my speakers are quite old so maybe it is time for some new ones. The music in the film is used effectively in order to build tension and increase the urgency of scenes of intense action.

◊^^^Film Summary^^^◊

In conclusion the film is an incredible improvement from the previous film which was already phenomenally good. This is likely to be down to progression of cinematic equipment and the new director Renny Harlin. Unless you faint at the site of blood and you are against violence in all circumstances you are bound to love this, quite literary, nail biting masterwork.

◊^^^Special Features^^^◊

DISC 1 (FILM):

• Brilliant animated DVD menu.
• Movie screenshot scene selection.
• Large language selection: Audio – English & English (DTS restored sound quality for improved sound). Audio commentary from Director Renny Harlin.
Subtitles – Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish & English for the hearing impaired*

DISC 2 (SPECIAL FEATURES):

• TELEVISION & SPECIAL FEATURETTE:
- The making of Die Hard 2 for Fox. 23:05
- Featurette “making of” for publicity. 4:00

• TRAILERS:
There are four original trailers from before Die Hard 2’s release to the cinema. They are interesting to watch although I can’t really see why we need all four.

• DELETED SCENES:
There are several interesting deleted scenes that are definitely worth a look obviously after you have seen the film. They are all reasonably short so they don’t get boring. I usually find after watching a movie I can’t be bothered to watch deleted scenes because they are usually long and there are lots of them, but these were short so are worth a go. It only takes about ten minutes.

- “Merry Christmas” (:46) A choir sings in the initial airport sequence.
- “Down the Rabbit Hole” (:55) O’Reilly rubs out a couple of painters.
- “Marvin” (2:50) This scene builds the character of Marvin further and his relationship with McClane.
- “The Boiler Room” (3:47) A different take on how McClane gets to the skywalk.

• INTERVIEW & PROFILE:
Interview – There is an insightful interview with Director Renny Harlin.
Villain’s Profile – An interesting compilation of behind the scenes video, interviews and movie footage that focuses on the “villain’s” of the film.

• BEHIND THE SCENES & STORYBOARD:
Behind the Scenes:
- “Breaking the Ice” (4:07) Snowmobile Sequence.
- “Chaos on the Conveyor Belt” (7:50) This highlights the stunts that went into the conveyor belt sequence.

All the behind the scenes footage is very exciting and worth watching if you are interested in how these hart stopping action filled scenes are filmed especially for the special effects and stunt side of things. It is fascinating to see how the stunts are coordinated.

Storyboards – Shows the storyboards (drawings of the shots) in relation to the final video product.

• VISUAL EFFECTS:
Visual Effects Breakdown:
- “Ejector Seat” (3:06) This sequence compares the story boards with green screen then finally composite.
- “Airport Runway” (1:45) This sequence compares the stages of the runway matte panning with the final composite shot.

◊^^^DVD Summary^^^◊

The DVD case is fairly well presented with plenty of information on the back. The sound quality the DVD supports is very good (DTS 5.1). Both discs are simply overflowing with the most interesting, exciting and original special any DVD has to offer. This is another exceptional film with equally exceptional DVD’s and special features to match. What else do you want? At this price it’s almost movie piracy.

◊^^^Technical Details^^^◊

Certificate: 18
Duration: 118 mins
Year of Release: 1990
Genre: Action / Crime / Thriller
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 or 16:9 (Widescreen)
Region: 2

Director(s): Renny Harlin
Writer(s): Walter Wager (novel)
Steven E. de Souza (screenplay)

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Die Hard 3 – With A Vengeance: Got any Aspirins? I have had a bad f***ing headache all day!
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◊^^^Synopsis^^^◊

In New York City, McClane’s newest foe and leader of a terroristic faculty (Jeremy Irons) wreaks havoc in downtown Manhattan and threatens more destruction if his demands aren’t met. Caught in a twisted game of hide and seek, McClane and both an unfortunate and unlikely accomplice (Samuel L Jackson) race against time and frantically attempt to end the “games” path of destruction. Dodging unforeseen danger at every turn, Willis and Jackson take non-stop action and narrow escapes to a new level in this intensely exhilarating thriller that will blow your mind.

◊^^^Opinion^^^◊

As the last instalment of this astonishing action franchise you would imagine that unfortunately it would follow the trend of movie sequels. The first film is the always the best and then the following gradually decrease in quality, sometimes rapidly. But fear not for this is not the case. Once again the film is better than its predecessor!

The script is extremely complex and intricate but at the same time, not confusing. It keeps you hooked as it is very difficult to anticipate what is coming next and it eventually all pieces together as the riddles unfold. It’s obviously very well planned and would be likely to be a success if it were a book, without the film ever have being made! Once again the dialogue is very realistic, tense and contains lots of humour which is executed precisely with wonderful timing throughout. In fact, the film does possess laugh out loud qualities and is hilariously funny in parts.

There are also more serious underlying messages in the film as it boldly explores racial issues and divisions still in place in New York in the 90’s. This is depicted in an interesting yet fearless and truthful manner and therefore very insightful and a “nice touch” to the film.

It obviously goes without saying that the film is quite simply action packed. In fact action packed is both a cliché and a total understatement for this deeply breathtaking brisk work of genius. The film pushes the boundaries of action and sets the peg for the next generation of explosive films. The special effects and pyrotechniques once again were amazing in creating a breathtaking, terrifying and most important realistic air to the film. Without them the film wouldn’t have been such a success and no where near as realistic. If the picture wasn’t believable it wouldn’t have been thrilling and frightening and therefore likely to be poor. They deserve huge credit for nurturing the brilliant script onto the screen as a credible depiction. They were also better than the previous films but I imagine this is partly down to the advances in technology as well as skill.

◊^^^Acting^^^◊

The overall acting performance was simply brilliant and very difficult to put down. The cast as a whole did a spectacular job and contributed enormously to making the film such a success. Although there were a few dodgy American and German accents here and there it wasn’t harmful to the film in a unconstructive way.

Bruce Willis as always was totally superb, extremely convincing and very humorous in parts; dare I say it he may have improved with the script and film from the previous movie. Samuel L Jackson (Zeus) was also very convincing and notably funny as a racially persecuted, strongly religious, black American. His resentment for white men and for McClane landing him in the wrong place at the wrong time situation is portrayed in both a believable and amusing manner. There was an alarming, nevertheless remarkable performance by Sam Phillips as Katya, a dangerous and agile bloodthirsty German woman who seems “close” to head of the terrorist organisation.

◊^^^Picture and Sound Quality^^^◊

The actual quality of the picture was for the first time, reasonably good. This is obviously mainly down to the advancement in technology as the trilogy progressed. The cinematography therefore no longer has to try and composite for its delinquent brother and is able to shine exposing awesome qualities that wouldn’t have been observed otherwise. The cinematography once again, like its predecessors, is very involving using tracking and POV (Point of View) shots especially effectively to help the audience build a closer bond with the characters and adds hugely to the personal effect the film provokes from the audience.

The individual quality of the sound is clear but not noticeably brilliant or anything special. The music itself on the other hand was used very effectively to increase tension and speed in scenes of intense action.

◊^^^Film Summary^^^◊

Once again the improvement from the previous film was substantial and the whole movie experience improves with the improvement of picture and sound quality. The film is thoroughly enjoyable as it allows for plenty of audience involvement and participation as you will desperately try to solve the riddles in your head in the allotted time as well as McClane and Zeus. A great film that you must watch.

◊^^^Special Features^^^◊

DISC 1 (FILM):

• Brilliant animated DVD menu.
• Movie screenshot scene selection.
• Large language selection: Audio – English & English (DTS restored sound quality for improved sound). Audio commentary from Director John McTiernan.
Subtitles – Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish & English for the hearing impaired*

DISC 2 (SPECIAL FEATURES):

• BEHIND THE SCENES: Behind the scenes footage that allows you to get a grasp and greater understanding of how the film is made. Isn’t long winded so is therefore reasonably easy to watch as well as being worthwhile and exciting.

• DIE HARD 3 FEATURETTE: Basically the making of, once again allows you as an audience member see the film in its naked foundations and watch it being pieced together.

• STORYBOARD SEQUENCE: Storyboard sequences allow you to see how the original storyboard compares with the actual outcome of the shot. The storyboard is basically lots of preliminary drawing of shots and from the storyboard the camera crew then film the particular shots that have already been drawn straight from the mind of the creators making the overall picture more accurate, planned and tight.

• ALTERNATE ENDING: Really self explanatory, a different and equally exciting although slightly unbelievable and out of character different ending to the intense action thriller.

• INTERVIEW: There is an insightful interview with Bruce Willis that is very worth watching as it offers inside opinions about the film and more personal experiences from a very successful and compelling actor.

• VILLIANS PROFILE FEATURETTE: Once again there is a featurette dedicated to the main villain or “baddy” in exploring his character. This is a combination of behind the scenes footage, actual movie clips and interviews with many substantial members of the cast and crew.

• VISUAL EFFECTS SEQUENCES: Once again there is a selection of “making off” sequences that explore how some action/stunt sequences in the film were created. These mini making offs combine a selection of behind the scenes footage, actual movie shots and interviews with the cast and crew (namely pyrotechniques/special effects) members involved.

• THEATRICAL TRAILERS: There are several trailers from before the movie was released dedicated to advertising the film for cinema and consumer release.

• EASTER EGG REEL: This section is basically a "Easter Egg” gag reel exposing many funny outtakes of acting blunders and bloopers. It’s quite entertaining and worth a quick watch.

◊^^^DVD Summary^^^◊

The DVD is once again suitably exploding with hours of special features to match the equally explosive film. I assure you that you will not be bored nor disappointed, it’s definitely worth adding to your collection and you should really take a look at the special features the additional disc has to offer.

◊^^^Technical Details^^^◊

Certificate: 15
Duration: 131 mins
Year of Release: 1995
Genre: Action / Crime / Thriller
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Region: 2

Director(s): John McTiernan
Writer(s): Roderick Thorp (certain original characters)
Jonathan Hensleigh (written by)

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Die Hard Trilogy Collectors Edition Box Set: Simon says: “Buy this box set!”
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◊^^^Synopsis^^^◊

Bruce Willis stars as New York City Detective John McClane in the most successful action franchise of all time. The Die Hard Trilogy is presented in this special Collectors Edition box set which includes all three Die Hard films in incredible Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, a Collectors Booklet. The combination of theses three mind blowing movies will keep you on the edge of your seat for the full 400 minutes!

◊^^^Opinion^^^◊

The box set is quite simply brilliant. It’s a must have for any movie collection and I strongly recommend you purchase it, particularly as it is reasonably cheap now. This truly is the definition of collector’s edition. The amount of other insightful bonus material the set possesses is miraculous. There is so much to watch that I can guarantee, unless you know you don’t like Die Hard, you won’t get bored and all of it is good for a second maybe third look-in. There is one thing that does stand out for me, the 18 certificate on the box set. This is because of the earlier two films made in the 80’s and therefore there certificates aren’t necessarily up to date. I feel that therefore the box set is suitable for a 15 certificate and that the current certificate is out of date.

I really can’t reiterate anymore my positive opinion of the films, the special features and the box set as a whole otherwise I would be repeating much of what I have already mentioned throughout the review so I will leave it here with my strongest recommendations.

◊^^^Value for Money^^^◊

From £14 this box set is phenomenal value for money and all the more reason to buy it. The average new release of most films often costs more than these 6 wonderful discs. Just to demonstrate the sheer value for money it works out at just over £2 per disc, £2.20 to be precise. Now I also guarantee that if you go onto the internet or in store and try to find any of the Die Hard Trilogy new and sealed for £2.20 you will have terrible difficulties.

◊^^^Presentation^^^◊

The box set although presented both basically and simply is very effective. The front is similar to all the films in that it has a picture of Willis looking animated and the title in bold block capitals for dramatic effect. The back on the other hand is much simpler than the individual films or any other DVD cases I have seen for a long time. There is a picture and the blurb, that’s it! The individual films on the other hand have more detailed information including special features and runtime etc. All and all, the box set, although presented simply is successful in both a helpful and interesting manner.

◊^^^Special Features^^^◊

Along with films there are three additional discs that are simply exploding with special features including: Directors commentaries, Interviews, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Storyboards, Alternate Endings, Behind the Scenes footage plus much, much more!

◊^^^Price & Availability^^^◊

Amazon.co.uk: New and Sealed – £13.97 – 33 Used/New from - £11.66
eBay.co.uk: Avg. Buy it Now - £15 – 12 Results

◊^^^Technical Details^^^◊

Certificate: 18
Duration: 400 mins (Films)
Year of Release: 2004
Genre: Action / Crime / Thriller
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Region: 2

Director(s): Varies for certain films, check individual films technical details for the director(s) relative to that film.
Writer(s): Varies for certain films, check individual films technical details for the writer(s) relative to that film.

Cheers,

© Guy Davies (www.freewebs.com/firelightphotography) 2007