No doubt Die Hard still is an incredible action-thriller after all of these years and has great replay value, also reminding me of Bruce Willis’s charisma of being an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances (something forgotten in the later sequels).
Die Hard
(1988)
Genre(s): Action, Suspense/Thriller
Fox | R – 132 min. – $24.95 | May 15, 2018
Date Published: 05/29/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 4.5/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: New York City policeman John McClane (BRUCE WILLIS) is visiting his estranged wife (BONNIE BEDELIA) and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for. But the festivities are interrupted by a group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (ALAN RICKMAN), who take over the exclusive high-rise, and everyone in it. Very soon McClane realizes that there’s no one to save the hostages, but him. Quick Hit Review: It’s amazing to think about, but Die Hard came out 30 years ago and transformed cinema with numerous knock-offs and, sadly, poor sequels (though I did enjoy Die Hard 2). It’s a classic action/thriller that propelled Bruce Willis to stardom and previously he was mainly known for the drama-comedy, Moonlighting. Having seen Die Hard probably 20+ times over the years, it’s still one hell of a thrill-ride where I never felt the 2+ hour running time thanks to fast pacing and two amazing performances from Willis and the late and great Alan Rickman portraying perhaps one of the best villains of all-time (ranked #46 on the AFI Heroes/Villains list). |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.25/5 |
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This release comes with a semi-glossy slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Disc 1 (4K UHD):
Disc 2 (Blu-ray): Along with the above content, this disc also includes The News Cast (7:59; SD) which is just uncut footage/outtakes from the news featured in the film; Interactive Still Gallery (9:27; SD); and Trailers and TV Spots (4:42; HD). |
VIDEO – 4.0/5 |
| Fox releases Die Hard as their latest catalog on the 4K format (HEVC / H.265 codec) and although it doesn’t look great as I couldn’t tell a huge difference over its Blu-ray counterpart, it was at least a bit sharper and at times colors were somewhat more vibrant, especially the explosions towards the end. Other than that, I can’t say it’s a significant improvement. |
AUDIO – 3.75/5 |
| Where other older titles get an upgrade, it would seem this studio just ported over the old DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. This doesn’t sound too bad, outputting clear dialogue and the action sequences do show off some depth, but as with the picture, it’s nothing extraordinary. |
OVERALL – 4.0/5 |
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No doubt Die Hard still is an incredible action-thriller after all of these years and has great replay value, also reminding me of Bruce Willis’s charisma of being an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances (something forgotten in the later sequels). As for this 4K UHD release, it’s about of average quality for the format and sadly, the features were still lackluster. |
The screen captures came from the Blu-ray copy and are here to add visuals to the review and do not represent the 4K video.