Die Hard Collection (Blu-ray, including Die Hard, Die Hard 2 – Die
Harder, Die Hard With A Vengeance
and Live Free Or Die Hard)
Picture:
B/B/B/B+ Sound: B/B/B/B+ Extras: B/C-/B-/C- Films: B/D/B-/D
For
starters we have previous reviewed all four films to date. You can access each review as follows:
Die Hard Trilogy DVDs
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5661/The+Die+Hard+Collection+(DTS+DVD
Live Free Or Die Hard Theatrical
Review
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5623/Live+Free+Or+Die+Hard+(Theatrical
Live Free Or Die Hard Unrated DVD
Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6244/Live+Free+Or+Die+Hard+(DVD-Video
The joke
with the Star Trek films from Roger
Ebert has been to only watch the even-numbered ones. For Die
Hard, it is turning out to be the odd-numbered films. For the new film, the poorest yet, it feels
very thrown together and in retrospect, going forward and treating 9/11 lightly
trivializes that event, the event that killed production of such films for a
while.
So that
leaves the performance of these Blu-ray discs. All are in 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High
Definition transfers and while the first two were shot in real anamorphic
Panavision, the latter two are Super 35mm.
Though the first three show their age and are as problematic as the
recent DVD reissues, they still look better than their DVD counterparts and
Extras on
the first film include an audio commentary by McTiernan and Jackson De Govia,
scene specific commentary by Richard Edlund, cast/crew subtitle commentary, featurette,
Interactive Still Gallery, Cinefex Magazine Interactive Article,
cinematographer Jan de Bont Interactive Article, screenplay, three trailers and
seven TV Spots. The second offers commentary
by Director Renny Harlin, deleted scenes, HBO First Look featurette, The Bad Guys (villain's profile,) Breaking The Ice (Skido sequence,) Chaos on the Conveyor Belt, on camera interview
with Renny Harlin, Visual Effects Breakdowns, four trailers and two TV spots. The third offers commentary by McTiernan and
Writer Jonathan Hensleigh, alternate ending (that might not work as well) with
Optional Commentary by Writer Jonathan Hensleigh, HBO First Look, CBS "A Night To Die For” featurette, on
camera Bruce Willis Interview, Villains
with a Vengeance, Visual Effects
Breakdowns, Storyboard Sequence, gag reel, two trailers and ten TV spots.
Note that
these are all the extras from the out of print double sets, many that were
missing from the new trilogy DVD set. The
fourth film repeats the DVD’s extras, then adds The Black Hat Intercept Game
which has simple graphics, is unintentionally funny and can be amusing, but
don’t expect PS3 performance. The
trailers for all four films are in HD and some other Fox releases are also
included.
All four
films have DTS MA 5.1 mixes, the latter two films of which are originally 5.1
films. Sound is disappointing for the
first three films, while the fourth even has the D-BOX function for that
specialized subwoofer component.
However, like the picture, the sound could be better on the trilogy and
if the idea is for the films to have some kind of “grunge” look to match the
new film that is a very big mistake. If
you liked the early films, you might be disappointed, though there are some
people who are surprisingly impressed by this mix. We are not.
I can
tell you that the mixes for the first three films here would have never made
the grade for 70mm blow-ups, while I doubt the fourth would have been mixed
like this for 70mm at all. Fans will
want this whole set, but if you only like some of the films and can tolerate
flawed transfers, you might want to by the films of your choice, all sold
separately.
- Nicholas Sheffo
