Review of Die Hard: Double Pack Special Edition (4 Discs)

Introduction

This contains the Special Editions of Die Hard and Die Hard 2. The one obvious hole in this package is the abscence of Die Hard With A Vengeance, which, due to different distributors in the UK, means Buena Vista have released a 2-disc edition separate of this 20th Century Fox package.

Die Hard
An action classic. It is carried completely by Bruce Willis, and he does the job convincingly. The script is good, giving the whole movie a `claustrophobic` effect: as it is set in one building. The supporting actors are led by Alan Rickman, who gives another good performance. The effects are handled well (this is a Joel Silver movie after all), so when all of these factors are put together they combine to make an excellent 126 minutes.

Die Hard 2
An OK movie. It is no way in the league of the first installment, but again Willis gives a sound performance as cop John McClane and the effects are also good (perhaps even better - the production crew are the same)...but the one flaw that spoils the movie in a way is the directing. It is directed by Renny Harlin, where as the first was directed by John McTiernan, so this movie doesn`t really `feel` Die Hard...it feels like a different movie. Some cast return, and there are some new ones, but overall this is no way as good as Die Hard but is an OK movie in its own right.

Video

Both movies are presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and the palette is used to good effect throughout both movies. There are no compression signs, and the visuals are deep throughout.

The original was made in 1988, and its sequel in 1990, so its good how the picture quality is good even though they are over a decade old.

There is also a lot of action in both movies, and the print reproduces it well.

Audio

A DTS soundtrack is supplied with both movies, backed up with a DD 5.1 track. It is used extremely well, as good audio is one of the prime needs for an action movie, and the two Die Hard flicks are no exception. The sub-woofer is given a good workout, and all the speakers contribute to the overall feel that you really are being shot at.

Features

There are 4 discs in this package, 2 for both the movies, and the other 2 for the extras.

The movie discs also contain commentaries, and they are all insightful. The menus are constructed very well, and animated flawlessly.

The extras themselves though are a disappointment. Especially Die Hard, as all it really contains is needless extended scenes and bloopers. Die Hard does though have a scene editing workshop which is good, and is one of the things that only DVD can do. This is fun for about 15 minutes, but soon gets boring. The best extra (not counting the commentaries) on Die Hard is probably the 7 minute featurette that was on the original DVD, offering an (although brief) insight into how they made the movie.

Die Hard 2 is much better - it has 2 featurettes, a making-of documentary, an interview with the director, deleted scenes, storyboard comparisons and 4 trailers.

Overall, a slight disappointment.

Conclusion

Good content, great picture, great audio, OK extras...it`s a mixed bag.

I bought mine for £33 (from Play) so it was quite a good deal, but I certainly wouldn`t pay anymore for this, especialy as it doesn`t contain the third installment. The benefit of the R1 version is that it has all three for arouund $50, which works out much cheaper.

There is one flaw I have spotted, in the packaging itself: the chapter listings for Die Hard 2 states it has 40 chapters, yet when I watched it it only had 29. Nothing was missing, as it still had an 118 minute running time (as the box stated) so I don`t know what the explanation for this was. Oh well...