A Good Day to Die Hard

This time he brought you a Mercedes... The only thing that didn’t drop in quality was Beltrami’s music. Otherwise, this is like falling painfully on your face. For me, this isn’t another episode of that excellent series that I grew up on. I’m not treating it as one of them, so that I can be at least a little objective. I don’t like Moore, he already ruined Max Payne and he isn’t much good at making movies. Here at least he tries to push the action to the forefront (I have to admit that there really is a lot of it) because any switch to “father and son talking" equals catastrophe. I would be surprised if Skip Woods’ screenplay was any more than five pages long, it’s completely off any qualitative scale. It has some sort of story, but too few snappy lines and hogwash about the holidays soon gets boring. Bruce doesn’t give a damn about anything and he seemed to me to be overacting. And what else can he do, it’s a parody on Die Hard after all! I’m not going to have a dig at the illogicality of individual scenes, but several times I had a really surprised look on my face. Especially on the trip to Chernobyl. That reminds me of the days when I used to watch Seagal movies with my dad (e.g. Under Siege 2) and he always went on about what a pile of baloney it was, that it didn’t make any sense. Who on earth thought up such a load of tripe? Well, now I’m following in my dad’s footsteps. Wanna cuddle? (03/17/2013)

A masterful funeral of the best action series of all time that can only be accepted at this symbolic level. Putting this material, which for three decades reflected and pushed the possibilities and the nature of Hollywood action films in an original way, into the hands of an average B-movie director like John Moore, with a script that suppresses, if not downright ruins everything that made McClean fun was an idea worthy of immediate defenestration. I can’t be bothered to describe everything that irritated me and I don’t even know why it shouldn’t end at 1*. Maybe out of respect for Willis’s best role and for a couple of solid action scenes, but it’s better to quickly forget about it. (01/18/2020)

A crazy day to die hard. When writing this script, Skip Woods occasionally forgot that he was writing another installment of an established series and often broke its established rules – unfortunately, including the traditional showdown with the villain. However, even so, I mostly enjoyed it in spite of myself. Because right from his first glance, Bruce Willis proves that he has missed his iconic role and relishes every shot or argument with the senator. Besides, John Moore, no matter how many flaws he has, simply knows how to handle action; he just needed a little push. I understand that McClane's adventure shouldn't focus on family values, but currently, the universal reactionism really disappoints me. That's why I will add an almost invisible plus to the solid 70 percent. But I want the sixth installment to be more personal in a completely different way. (05/31/2013)

McClane gives up everything that is so great about him so he can go save his son's ass. That is, he gives up everything so he can spend his vacation trying to get his son to quit selling drugs... And what a great vacation, because of course daddy and son kiss and make up, share a laugh, get a little moist, get a little radioactive. Just a great vacation in the former Soviet Union that can make you go blind. (12/30/2015)

A bad director and a bad screenplay can turn even a good series into a disaster. What's the problem? Well, actually, it's probably everything. It doesn't work from start to finish, unfortunately even from the side of the cast. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/07/smrtonosna-past-opet-v-akci-2013-30.html (07/31/2013)