Here we are with the fourth in the Die Hard saga, and I only recently learned that these movies are based on books.  Please note the use of the plural.  The first in the series is inspired by Roderick Thorp’s Nothing Lasts Forever (1979).  Have you ever read it?  Neither have I.  The others come from various detective stories.  By this installment, I guess they ran out of novels because the script for this one came from an article in Wired magazine titled, “A Farewell to Arms.”  I am not sure what to make of any of this, but I thought I would fill you in on what popped into my brain as I sat down to write this review of Live Free or Die Hard (2007).  The randomness of these sources speaks to the frenetic action throughout these films, this one being no exception.  Yet, could there be something to the insanity?

Speaking of insanity, as all these movies seem to do, Live Free or Die Hard begins with an explosion.  You know what they say about doing something over-and-over and expecting a different result?  Anyway, the blasts are designed to kill computer hackers being coordinated by a woman named Mai Linh (Maggie Q), and they all have to do with providing ways of accessing infrastructure on the East Coast of the United States.  Next, the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ (FBI) cyber division is seemingly attacked when all their computers go down at once.  The department’s head, Deputy Director Miguel Bowman (Cliff Curtis), immediately wants names of all known cyber criminals on the Atlantic seaboard.  Once that is provided, local law enforcement is asked to pick up all the suspects.  One of those who escaped a fiery fate is Matthew “Matt” Farrell (Justin Long).  His New Jersey residence is within reach of Lieutenant John McClane’s (Bruce Willis) location.  John is checking up on Lucy Gennero-McClane (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), his daughter who is not on speaking terms with dad.  It does not help when he shows up unannounced and threatens a guy with whom she is making out.  After she angrily returns to her apartment, John gets the call to bring in Matt, to which our favorite New York Police Department (NYPD) cop agrees.  Waiting outside Matt’s abode to make sure he presses the correct set of keys on his keyboard to set off a bomb in his place is a group of assassins sent by Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant).  This former United States Department of Defense (DOD) analyst is the brains behind this nefarious operation.  When Matt does not do as expected, Thomas’ cronies open fire on the flat with John inside.  They are able to get away, and from there John is instructed to bring Matt to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  During the ride to Washington, D.C., Thomas initiates his plan to take down the United States government and get rich in the process.  This is my second time seeing it, though admittedly my first in eighteen years, and I am still not entirely sure all the particulars of the scheme.  There are power grids, traffic lights, and financial institutions, all controlled remotely thanks to the hacking jobs done by the geeks seen in the film’s opening.  With all these resources at his disposal, it does not take long for Thomas to find Matt and send more killers after the young man.  Because John is who he is, he repeatedly risks life and limb is protecting Matt, including my favorite moment when he uses a car to take out a helicopter because he “ran out of bullets.”  It makes John into quite the nuisance for Thomas.  With the use of his technological wizardry, Thomas is able to learn John’s identity.  At the same time, because Matt had theorized about a similar wholesale cyber assault, he knows what will be Thomas’ next move.  With that knowledge, John and Matt travel to the hub for the East Coast’s utilities.  They encounter Thomas’ main subordinate and lover, Mai, killing her in the process of temporarily stopping Thomas’ plan.  Angered by Mai’s loss, with a few keystrokes Thomas flows the gas lines back in the facility’s direction, causing a massive explosion.  He also sends a couple of his goons to abduct Lucy.  Realizing that they need more computer know-how, Matt turns to a fellow hacker friend who goes by the handle “Warlock.”  His real name is Frederick Kaludis (Kevin Smith), and he lives in his mother’s basement.  He is not keen on visitors, even Matt, and especially a cop.  Reluctantly, Warlock agrees to help, given an extra boost in doing so when they witness via closed circuit television Thomas showing John that the officer’s daughter is in the hands of a terrorist.  At the same time, John and Matt pinpoint where Thomas is operating from, a secret government facility run by the National Security Administration (NSA) that backs up all the information Thomas has threatened.  Though John and Matt get there and do Die Hard things, Thomas is still able to get away.  The mastermind also captures Matt and brings the plucky hacker with because he has installed something on Thomas’ computer that is making them not work.  John pursues in the semi-truck Thomas had been using to get around, and Thomas responds by electronically making an F-35 fighter fire upon the vehicle.  Unlike previous iterations in the series, John calls for reinforcements, mainly for the protection of Lucy should anything happen to him.  Anyway, bang bang bang, John saves the day with an assist from Matt, and everyone except for the bad guys goes home alive.

Earlier in Live Free or Die Hard, the guy that Lucy had been kissing probably feels lucky to also be going home alive.  In this scene, Lucy refers to her dad as John, indicating the degree of their estrangement.  By the end, she goes from using her mother’s surname to referring to herself as a McClane.  Their interactions gave me pause to think as a Catholic.  Lucy appears to be an adult, but she has not been communicating with John.  That is worrisome for a parent no matter the age.  However, John is no ordinary parent.  Later, Matt asks what motivates John to endure beatings, being shot at, and throwing himself off buildings heedless of the danger to himself.  John’s first response is to claim that he is no hero, but clarifies that if he did not do it, no one else would.  A father or mother thinks along the same lines about their children.  They have a duty to go above and beyond for their offspring, and God sees us in the same manner.  Why else would He send His only son to die for our sins?  To speak of mere duty, though, might seem commonplace.  Nonetheless, as I sit here watching the ridiculous stunts found in these breathless action flicks, I began to try and find explanations for them as if they are real.  People do perform extraordinary feats because they feel they have to, but there is more to it.  In pondering this predicament, I am reminded of the lives of the saints, particularly the martyrs.  Though they did not have to deal with car chases or shoot people, they faced their own deaths willingly.  Indeed, the Church does not consider one to be a martyr without knowingly giving their lives.  The film and the martyrs can be seen as extreme, but we can be martyrs in our own, smaller ways.  Dying to self is one instance, denying certain things that are contrary to God’s wishes and lead us into sin.  After all, sin is the ultimate death, more dangerous than any terrorist attack in these movies.

Live Free or Die Hard marks the penultimate entry in the Die Hard movies.  There is not much more to say about this one, other than it felt like a step backward from its predecessors.  This one, at least, is rated PG-13, which means some aspects of the story are slightly toned down from the others.  I give you this bit information for its own sake, and not as a judgement on its content.