Die Hard With A Vengeance (DVD)

...previous review for the original Die Hard movie, Willis is the ideal person to play the tough action, quick witted cop. Willis has adopted and moulded the role of John McClane into the perfect action hero, and it is now difficult to imagine anyone else in the role.

Samuel L. Jackson takes on the role of Zeus. Whilst Jackson was already an established movie actor, with titles such as Patriot Games, True Romance and Jurassic Park on ...
...actors as villians, and the Die Hard movies are no exception. As you might expect, with Jeremy Irons in the position, he carries the role with finesse and style.



Die Hard: With A Vengeance is directed by John McTiernan, who also directed the first Die Hard movie.
John McTiernan, prior to directing the original Die Hard, was already established as a great director following his work on "Predator".
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When a Screenplay titled ''Simon Says" landed in a Hollywood film producer's 'in-tray', it immediately started attracting peoples interest.
The screenplay was about a psychotic criminal who appears to be seeking revenge on a white cop in the form of playing a game of ''Simon Says". The cop must complete a variety of tasks set by 'Simon' - a failure would result in the deaths of innocent civilians. During one of these challenges, he is assisted by a woman who, in turn, becomes an unwitting participant in the game.
The screenplay was originally considered as a stand-alone movie. Then producers thought that the story would be a great third sequel in the "Lethal Weapon" series, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover - where the role of the woman would be replaced with the retired Sargeant Murtaugh.
When this suggestion was rejected, the idea that "Simon Says" could become the third installment of ''Die Hard" was born.

As the movie opens, we're treated to some fantastic views of New York coming to life on a summers morning, accompanied with "Summer In The City" by Lovin' Spoonful. It's during one of these inconspicuous shots of a city street that a large department store, Bonwits, is suddenly rocked by a huge explosion, throwing debris, cars and innocent passers-by into the street.
The scene then cuts to a busy downtown police department, which has been thrown into chaos by the mornings events. Inspector Walter Cobb relieves a call from a man claiming responsibility for the bombing, and demanding to speak to Officer John McClane. Cobb informs the caller that McClane is currently on suspension and is therefore unavailable, however the caller insists that McClane is tracked down as he wants to play a game with him.
When McClane is located he is in a real state - his marriage is on the rocks, his future with the police is uncertain and he has the 'mother of all hangovers' - but his day is about to get one hell of a lot worse !
As in the original screenplay, 'Simon' has prepared a number of challenges that McClane must complete in order to prevent the further loss of human life. It is during his first task, which involves wearing a sign in Harlem that is designed to provoke an unwanted reaction, that McClane is assisted by Zeus - a paranoid, racist African-American.
Upset that Zeus has interferred with his plans, Simon then demands that he assists McClane with all his further life-threatening challenges.

As the story develops, it becomes apparant that there is more to Simon and his plans than originally thought - and you are a passenger in this rollercoaster ride !

Cast -

Being the third installment of the series, the role of John McClane is played, of course, by Bruce Willis. As mentioned in my previous review for the original Die Hard movie, Willis is the ideal person to play the tough action, quick witted cop. Willis has adopted and moulded the role of John McClane into the perfect action hero, and it is now difficult to imagine anyone else in the role.

Samuel L. Jackson takes on the role of Zeus. Whilst Jackson was already an established movie actor, with titles such as Patriot Games, True Romance and Jurassic Park on his resume, Jackson was probably best known for his portrayal of Jules Winnfield in Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (which also starred Bruce Willis).
Jackson handles the, perhaps contraversial, role with style and humor. In a way, Zeus is the inverse version of a stereotypical racist, as an African-American who hates white people and thinks that they are all "out to get him".
A great example of this is when McClane hands Zeus a gun...

McClane - "You know how to fire one of these ?"
Zeus - "No."
McClane - "No ?"
Zeus - "Hey, all brothers don't know how to use guns, you racist m*****f****r !"

It is obviously a role that needs to be handled carefully, which Jackson accomplishes with the precision that only he can !

The lead "baddie" on this trip, "Simon" is played by Jeremy Irons. Hollywood seems to have a fascination in casting well spoken English actors as villians, and the Die Hard movies are no exception. As you might expect, with Jeremy Irons in the position, he carries the role with finesse and style.

Die Hard: With A Vengeance is directed by John McTiernan, who also directed the first Die Hard movie.
John McTiernan, prior to directing the original Die Hard, was already established as a great director following his work on "Predator".
His vision and ability to translate a paper screenplay onto the big screen can only be described as "genious" ! Watching the special features, you will see how dedicated he is in creating celluloid greatness.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

This Special Edition comes with two DVD's - the first carrying the main feature, along with a commentary by the director, John McTiernan.

The second disk is packed full of special features, as detailed below...

Featurettes -

The DVD has three featurettes, or short programs designed to promote the main feature.
The first is a "Behind The Scenes" look at the production of the movie, with a running time of nearly twenty two minutes.
Along the same lines is "A Night To Die For", although this is presented by the co-star Samuel L. Jackson, and is a look at the whole Die Hard pheonomen. With a running time again of around twenty two minutes, it was broadcast in the U.S. prior to the network premier of Die Hard 2.
The final featurette is a short four minute look at the film.

Behind The Scenes -

This section looks at three of the most dramatic scenes from the movie, and how the successful (and sometimes unsuccessful) shots were made.
This was a particularly interesting section, as it really demonstrates the amount of work and planning that goes into a few short seconds of film.
The scenes analysed are the Subway scene, the chase through Central Park and the Blowing Up of the Bonwit department store.
What also comes across very clearly is the amount of co-operation provided by the city of New York and it's residents. Much of the movie was actually shot on location in Downtown New York, which created a lot of disruption from everyday life - however the results show that this was all worth it !
With a combined running time of over twenty minutes, this really is a valuable and fascinating feature.

Commentary by Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh

This is a fairly interesting commentary, as it compares the screenwriters view of the film, and how it was translated onto the big screen.

Interview with Bruce -

This is where you get to watch "the man" himself... Mr Bruce Willis in an interview about the Die Hard movies. Most of the interview is focussed on this latest outing.

There is also a brief look at the villians in this movie, studying their profiles.

Visual Effects

During much of Die Hard: With A Vengeance, Bruce Willis insisted on performing his own stunts (as was the case in the earlier movies). There were some scenes, however, that were just too dangerous to allow a lead actor to perform. This is where the visual effects department stepped in, and in this section you can see the magic that they conjour up !
Again, this picks several key sequences from the film, and shows the different levels required to make the shot ready for cinema audiences.
Again, this is a very interesting section, and gives the film a bit more depth and appreciation, knowing what goes into a particular shot.

2 x Trailers

There are also two cinematic trailers for Die Hard: With A Vengeance included on this DVD.

Easter Eggs

The DVD also has some hidden features - commonly known as Easter Eggs. These are accessed, usually from the menu page and will require a bit of exploration. You would normally need to find hidden menu items, but you are rewarded in the form of these hidden features.
The Die Hard: With A Vengeance Easter Eggs include an outtake reel, and an alternative ending.

Overall Opinion -

The whole DVD is presented really nicely. The plastic case is enclosed in a black cardboard slip-sleeve. The animated menus are all based upon the New York metro system, so choosing an option will quite often result in a train coming screaming out of a dark tunnel, or a tannoy announcement being heard.

The film itself is truly a great action thriller movie. Despite being critisised by some reviewers at the time of it's cinema release, Die Hard 3 does live up to expectations, and is on a level par with it's predessors when it comes to a great action film.
Brucie is, as always, on top form with his one liners - many of which are ad-libbed - and this is helped along by some great interaction with Samuel L. Jackson's character.
There are also some great visual gags - for example when a "baddie" is hit by a razor sharp cable, you see both McClane and Zeus look down at the body. "You take his feet" McClane says, as they prepare to remove the body. However after a few short seconds, the duo are walking side by side - each carrying half a body that had been sliced in two moments earlier.

If you already own the previous DVD release of Die Hard: With A Vengeance, then I would seriously recommend upgrading to this version if you are a big fan. The special features are well worth viewing, as they give you a better insight and understanding of the film.
It is also nice to see the film in the original "Widescreen" format - this is how the Director intended you to see the film, and it's good to see it without the actors images being shrunk and warped to a standard "t.v." size.

My only critism is that some of the effects look slightly dated now - some scenes are clearly performed in front of a blue or green screen, and the results show this. Bearing in mind, however, that this film is already ten years old, this can be easily forgiven.

An observation that I recently made shows that Die Hard is evolving, and growing into bigger spaces. In the original Die Hard, the action was consigned to an office block. In Die Hard 2, the action had spread to an airfield and the surrounding area. In this movie, Die Hard: With A Vengeance, the action is throughout New York.
With Die Hard 4 in pre-production as I write this, and with a proposed subtitle of "Die Hardest", who knows where the "fourth in this trilogy" will take us next...
 

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