Review of Die Hard

Video

This film is crying out for an anamorphic print, and unfortunately it doesn`t have one. For what little of the screen is used, quality is good, contrast is nice, colours are fine. But these days we really shouldn`t expect anything less, and I hope to see a time when these get a re-release in a true anamorphic format.

Effects wise, everything is mainly stuff being blown up, including most of the building. It`s hard to fault any of these live effects, and since not much else wasn`t done straight to camera, the whole visual appeal of Die Hard is great.

Audio

The soundtrack is great, surround channels are well used, and the best thing is, so will your subwoofer. I`ve had this on VHS in the past, and bass has always been far too obtrusive and over the top, even in quiet scenes. The Dolby Digital track suffers from none of this, and uses all channels well.

Orchestral backing is great, and adds plenty to the atmosphere, not suprising considering this is one of the early modern action masterpieces that started off the whole business of a summer blockbuster. Gunfire is very well spread across the soundstage, and explosions effectively use the subwoofer track nicely.

Features

The menus are nicely animated, and bizarrely the title one is in anamorphic widescreen despite the rest of them and actual video during the film not being. The featurette is the usual self-advertising documentary you see on second rate television stations, but the chapter selection is nice and there are a decent number of spots well placed all over the film. Thats it really, shame but true.

Conclusion

Its an action movie, if you hate them you`ll hate this. I like them if they have believable lead characters, and Bruce Willis is very good here. He gets hurt a lot, but wins through mainly by cunning and good fortune. Alan Rickman is brilliant as the lead terrorist, adding a level of class to the whole procedings. Playing hide and seek in a skyscraper gives Willis` character the chance to pick off bad guys one by one, and also adds a claustrophobic feel to the movie. Crawling through air ducts, falling down elevator shafts, and jumping of plastic-explosive laden rooftops, they are all punctuated by wise cracks from Willis.

The supporting cast of mainly foreign accented players is fine, they have nothing taxing to do other than look angry and talk funny. Naturally the police are made to look like asses en mass, but then in what action movie aren`t they? Die Hard has an excuse though, as it was one of the earlier films to do this, and anyway it gives Bruceys character one more thing to get upset about.

Overall then, this is one of the good non-silly action movies, with believable characters in difficult situations. The story is well paced, and unlike most 90`s releases there is tension in there to boot. I`d recommend it to anyone, even those like me who find it hard to put their brain completely on hold whilst their watching.