Die Hard 4.0 is the best Non-Stop Action flick I’ve seen for 2007. The film has a good balance of imaginative story telling, fantastic action sequences, witty humor and seamless CGI.

The film’s storyline begins when a terrorist plot is in set in motion to take down the entire computer and technological structure that supports the economy of the United States.

Through a series of fortunate or unfortunate events (depending on how you view it), "old school" hero and police detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is assigned to pick-up for questioning one of the suspected civilian hackers, Matt Farrell (Justin Long) who is unknowingly an accessory to the terrorist plot.

As the virtual doomsday starts to take over and threaten the U.S. stock markets, traffic systems and network infrastructure, it’s up to the heroism of John McClane, aided by young hacker Matt Farrell, to stay ahead of the cyber-terrorists and put a stop to the impending downfall of the world’s biggest economy.


• Imaginative Self-Contained Story. The way the story was presented was very straightforward and the viewer/s need-not-see the previous Die Hard flicks to be able to understand this fourth installment. Each scene was beautifully stitched together leaving no room for any story loopholes.
• Fantastic Action Sequences. The fight choreographies for this movie may not be at par with other great Kung-Fu movies but most of the fight scenes were definitely entertaining. The fight scene between Maggie Q and Bruce Willis seem awkwardly funny but it has a certain coolness to it in terms of choreography.
• Spectacular Stunts & CGI. There are tons of great stunts in Die Hard 4.0 but I found it difficult to tell which ones where made with real stunt men, practical, CG or miniature effects. My personal favorite scenes are: (1) Bruce Willis crashing a car into a helicopter and (2) John McClane versus an F-35 Lightning II Jet. These action sequences may be unrealistic but the film execution was definitely jaw-dropping that you tend to suspend any disbelief you have and just enjoy the awesome-ness of it all.
• Muted Colors. I loved the way director Len Wiseman desaturated the colors of the movie. It definitely heightened the doomsday feel of the impending cyber-terrorism threat.
• Kevin Smith. If you’ve seen Mallrats, Dogma, and Clerks then you’ve probably seen Kevin Smith. He actually plays the role of Silent Bob opposite a dope-sniffing partner named Jay. He’s also a comic-book writer for a couple of Marvel titles which include Marvel Knight’s Daredevil. Kevin’s role as “Warlock” in Die Hard 4.0 may not be big but seeing him in this flick just added a smile to my comic-geeky persona.


• Unrealistic Plotline. The root cause of John McClane’s dilemma in this film is the Cyber-Terrorist Plot referred to in the film as a “Firesale”. The terrorist’s goal was to cripple the entire computer-based network of America, which happens to automatically back-up the entire U.S. economy on a single super-computer at NSA headquarters in the event of a nationwide Firesale. However, while it is true that the whole process of backing-up data automatically is technologically viable, the film’s premise of the U.S. government having a single back-up computer for everything is far-fetched and utterly idiotic. If this is how the U.S. really stores their data and the government does not have any redundant back-ups then I guess the idea of a “Firesale” threat would really be imminent.


This film definitely paints a scary picture of our growing dependency on computer-based systems. The impending threat that a “firesale” poses to society is so massive that it makes us feel like we’d want to go back to the Stone Age. But of course, this is just Hollywood telling a story and we just have to take everything presented based on its entertainment value. Despite the unrealistic plot, I could honestly say that I was totally entertained by Die Hard 4.0. I highly recommend seeing this flick in widescreen view to be able to appreciate the spectacular stunts and effects it has to offer. Five Bottlecaps on my book!