So the other night I finally got around to watching Live Free or Die Hard. This was not a bad movie. It had guns, and explosions, and bad guys, and bad one-liners, and all the other things you’d expect from an action movie. It even had a message about how technology was making the old, badass "cowboy" hero less relevant. Except maybe there’s always place for "that guy", even if the new generation doesn’t crash cars into flying helicopters.
Unfortunately, the movie was about 30 minutes too long. While I really don’t wish I could have sat in on the studio conversation, I imagine it went something like this:
Studio Exec: I finished the script. Loved it! I’m sure we’ll have Bruce on board.
Writer: You don’t think the message about old action heroes in a modern age was too blunt?
Studio Exec: What? No. I didn’t even catch that highbrow stuff. It’s great! Only…
Writer: What? (*Here it comes.*)
Studio Exec: Well, there’s lots of action here, but I think it needs to be… more.
Writer: More? McClane drives a car into a helicopter!
Studio Exec: Yeah, I loved that part. But this is a sequel. The public expects everything to be bigger and better. What if later he drives a car into a fighter jet?
Writer: …
Studio Exec: Nah, you’re right. That’s too repetitive. But what if a fighter jet is chasing him down the freeway? And McClane bails out on an overpass, ONTO the jet, rips open the cockpit, beats up the pilot, and steals his jet? THAT’S the kind of action the public want to see.
Writer: … Wow. I’m speechless.
Studio Exec: I know. I get that all the time. Sometimes these sparks of genius just come to me. Now, I want to see 30 another minutes on the end of this script by tomorrow morning.
Although he didn’t actually steal the jet, that whole scene reminded me of a similar scene in True Lies. This (and that) otherwise fair action movie was sent way over the top by a stupid fight on a moving jet. Now that we’ve scene this level of stupidity repeated, I’m hereby dubbing it the "True Lies Effect". That’s when a movie studio just can’t leave well enough alone and HAVE to throw in one (or two or three) more totally unnecessary, over the top action sequence that utterly destroys any semblance of believability.
It was still way better than the last three or four movies I’ve rented. I really did enjoy watching McClane beat up on bad-guys. I just hated how they pushed it so far over the top. Next up in my Netflix queue is a movie I’m very much eagerly anticipating: Fido.
Genius. Pure genius. That was my impression of the movie as well. Just a bit too much.
Nobody has ever topped the first DIE HARD. The action was even sorta believable in it. It was extreme, gritty, etc. The hero bled and suffered and you really didn’t know if he was going to make it.
They’ve been trying to one-up it ever since.
We just mailed Fido back on Monday! It was funny in a really, really messed up way.
Ya’ll are whacked! I loved it. I think it was the best of all the Die Hard movies and I really liked the jet scene! At least there was no corny “chick” moments. Only thing that would have made it better would have been some half-naked chicks running from bullets and bombs.
That was pure good man movie goodness. But then, I know Kyle was a big fan of Brokeback…..
:O
Ed
I just said I was to not hurt your feelings, Ed….
Didn’t I see a picture of you on the AP wire, crying in front of Ledger’s apartment? The Texan’s jersey was a giveaway, despite all the makeup….
…and the assless leather chaps….