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Die Hard - The Ultimate Collection

Die Hard - The Ultimate Collection

List Price: $49.98
Your Price: $37.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Action packed movies.
Review: These three movie are some of the best action in any movie u will ever see.5lovely stars all the way

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: Okay, the Die Hard series is bread and butter for Bruce Willis (Armageddon, The Sixth Sense) and he plays it to the hilt. I enjoyed all three movies but the first is the best, even thirteen years later. If you don't know the plot by now Bruce Willis is thrown into a situation, Bruce Willis reacts to the situation, Bruce Willis kills the bad guys, then the credits roll.

The key to the ultimate set is the collateral material and any Die Hard fan is going to love it. Yes, you get the film with various subtitles (or dubbed in French) but you can watch the entire film a second time with commentary by director John McTiernan (Hunt for Red October, The Thomas Crown Affair) and the art director of the film. This is extremely interesting as it sheds a different light on many of the scenes. For example, the Christmas party is held in a replica of Frank Lloyd Wright's Running Water house in Pennsylvania, as if the Japanese had bought it up and moved it to L.A.

The deleted scenes and goof-up reel is your standard stuff, but the production stills leads into a series of movie clips, set design diagrams and other additional footage that explains events in the movie. For example, one still of the helicopter crashing from the top of the building in Die Hard takes you to a home-made video of the special effects guy learning to fly the remote controlled helicopter model, landing it on the building, test various explosions and camera angles, then shows the scene, first in preproduction shot on video, then the final production scene from the movie so you can see the difference between what was shot and the final look of the film. Remarkable!

I have never been a big fan of alternate endings (did you like Clue?), but the alternate ending for Die Hard III is interesting. It does not ruin the film, but you can see why the film seemed to change dramatically after the explosion on the boat. Definately a must have.

Please note: The "Ultimate Collection" is actually three previously released DVD's combined into one box. I already had Die Hard III but wanted the entire set.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: No kidding- this IS the Ultimate!
Review: Just when I thought the 'Rambo' and 'Lethal Weapon' flicks were the ultimate expressions of loud, super-fast-paced, unbelievably over-the-top American action/adventure fare, I decided to take a closer look at the 'Die Hard' saga, and got thrown for a loop! When it comes to ridiculously implausible moments of heroic bad-guy-slaying acrobatics, near-nuclear explosive detonations, and really cutting- yet corny- wisecracks, 'Die Hard' is in rare company. For violent action-flick gore, only a few of Steven Seagal's celluloid kills & maimings and just about any shoot-em-up directed by Paul Verhoeven are on a higher visceral plane than John McClane's ballistically-challenged body count. Featuring 25% bigger exit wounds with 30% more meat flyin' outta them than your average action flick! Thanks to this revelation, the LETHAL WEAPONs and parts of the RAMBOs now seem kinda tame and a bit too feel-good in comparison.

The extra features of the DIE HARD Ultimate DVD Collection alone puts most other 'fully loaded' Special Edition DVD sets to shame. Although not quite as extensive as the extras available in such Fox Five-Star Collection offerings as 'The Abyss' or 'Independence Day', 20CF has made quite an effort to include whatever trailers, teasers, TV spots, 'making of/behind-the-scenes' specials & featurettes, cut scenes, director/designer/etc commentaries (3 different tracks on the first movie alone!), and other floor sweepings available to throw onto these discs. Then there's the most interesting feature- the 'cutting room floor', where you can re-edit key scenes of the first Die Hard, using alternate camera angles and such! This is the kind of thing the DVD format was made for!

Then there's the ultimate feature, which I consider to be the greatest feature on any DVD- the ability to skip and/or fast-forward thru the FBI/Interpol warnings and the Coming Attractions ads! Thank you 20CF for being so considerate, and please be sure to include this feature on all of your future video disc releases!

Warner Bros. take note- THIS is how the 'Dirty Harry', 'Lethal Weapon', & 'The Fugitive/U.S. Marshals' flicks- heck, even the 'Superman' & 'Batman' mo-pics- SHOULD be released on the digital format! Now, hop to it!

'Late

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hollywood has never done action better
Review: There has never been a better action movie series than the "Die Hard" films. For technical expertise and complexity, these films have never and probably never will be beaten.

Each of these films is its own story adapted into a Hollywood formula picture -- Roderick Thorp's novel "Nothing Lasts Forever" became the original "Die Hard," Walter Wager's "58 Minutes" became "Die Hard II" and Jonathan Hensleigh's original script "Simon Says" became "Die Hard With a Vengeance." That's not an insignificant point--unlike many of today's would-be blockbusters, the story existed first! So the special effects were made to service the story, not the other way around. Hollywood, take note.

Of course, each of these films is far from perfect. In every instance, the authorities are as trenchantly dumb as the average Hollywood stereotype. Can't we have *SMART* cops for once, or at least ones who are willing to listen to the hero? Let that be a lesson--if a bloody, battered Bruce Willis comes rushing up to you on the street, do what he says. He knows what's going on.

There are also quite a few plot problems--some things are too convenient, as in almost any thriller, and the hero makes some deductive leaps that could leave you scratching your head. But each of these three films deliver where it counts--the thrills come early and often, and even if you're familiar with them, they're just fun to watch because they're so well done. As for the set, you can't beat having all three of these movies in a single and quite reasonably priced package. The bonus features are plentiful, the presentation--both audio and video--is first rate, the menus are attractive (if tedious after the fourth or fifth time). If action is your thing, you simply can't beat this set. This will be a favorite part of my DVD collection for a long time to come.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: DIE HARDEST
Review: The original DIE HARD helped to redefine the action film and brought a whole new catch phrase into the discussion about every action film since. An example of what I mean by this is that when SPEED came out everyone said that "it is DIE HARD on a bus" I can tell you that seeing the film again, and its 2 sequels, they haven't lost much of their edge. This is largely due to how Bruce Willis plays the reluctant hero. Indeed, Det. John McClane is so likeable that I found myself still rooting for him, even though, I have seen the trilogy many times. The new DVD collection has something for everyone. However, the 2 disc set for the first film has that extra something-the script that you don't need a computer to access. A great example of the difference between widescreen and pan and scan and why widescreen is better for your viewing pleasure. It also comes with an editing excerise that gives viewers a chance to re-edit their favorite scenes. The highlight on the second film's 2 disc set is the deleted material. The mega highlight on the third film's 2 disc set is the alternate ending! I actually thought that ending would have made for a better conclusion. The commentaries on all three films are also well done by Directors Harlin and Mctiernan Sit back, relax and let trilogy blow you away again!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Improved but far from perfect - NOT "The Ultimate"
Review: Let's start with the good news: Die Hard one and two - the first two movies - come in the best shape they've ever been available to own. The image quality - particularly in regard to the 16x9 enhancement - is a big improvement over the previous release, which I also own. It is now quite satisfying, considering the age of the movies. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the third movie - Die Hard with a Vengeance. The image is very blurry and greatly lacks detail - so much that in the wide shots it is sometimes difficult to identify the characters (!). To compensate for this, Fox have added heavy artificial edge enhancement which is apparent throughout the movie and is EXTREMELY distracting. This is the worst case of of artificial sharpening I've seen in over 500 DVDs. It is so bad that in scenes where characters are photographed in front of a bright background, they appear to have a black halo around their heads! Of course this does not add any more detail or true sharpness, as becomes obvious on a cross reference to the old letterbox transfer of the previous release, which is considerably more detailed (but unfortunately suffers from heavy noise and artifacts, so it's no real alternative). It is very annoying that the "youngest" of the three movies comes with the worst image quality by far. On all three DVDs, the difference between the DD and DTS soundtracks is completely negligible. It is my guess that the DTS soundtrack was only included to justify breaking the extras out on a second DVD, which is a great promotional asset. Without it, the extras (which are not that comprehensive after all) would have well fitted on the same disc. The dynamic range, particularly of the second movie, leaves much to be desired. Especially the big explosions ask for a lot more LFE and volume than there actually is. In the third movie, the dialogues often sound muffled and are sometimes difficult to understand. Fox have missed the opportunity to remaster the sound to a modern standard while producing the DTS track. Too bad. All things considered, the box is a nice one, an improvement, but certainly not "The Ultimate" as the title would have you believe. In the case of the third Die Hard movie, it is outright disappointing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sweet Dreams are Made of This
Review: This collection is what DVD technology was made for. The cutting room feature is worth the price tag alone! I had loads of fun fooling around with it, trying to make Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber look and seem even more maniacal. It really shows that editors have a good deal to do with the movie making process.

Another hilight is the alternate ending to Die Hard With A Vengence. Am I glad they didnt use it, even though the original ending wasnt too great either, it made the original ending look better. The menus are clean and swift moving, nice and short too. There is so much added footage to all these discs that it would take you more then a day to get through them all and thats not including watching the actuall movies!

I originally bought the Die Hard collection 2 years ago and was disapointed with the lack of extras. This collection has made up for it tenfold.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good things come to those who wait...
Review: Being tempted to pick up the last DVD collection of "Die Hard" some time back, I held back. I can't be sure why, but after hearing about this new "ultimate collection", I think I know why. There's some interesting stuff on these discs, so here's a quick breakdown of what to expect: DIE HARD=Some interesting commentary, deleted scenes, and a few other things add nicely to this great action film. Good presentation all around. DIE HARD 2=A fact-filled commentary, breakdowns of special effects and stunt sequences, and deletd scenes make up the extras for this all-out sequel. DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE= Some interesting commentary, a alternate ending (interesting, but grim as hell), and more makes up this seemingly last run with John McClane. The picture and audio are tip-top, so if you got the popcorn and the time, pick this up and enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, but should have been great
Review: Director John McTiernan's commentary during "Die Hard" reveals him to be a true film artist. Too bad the supplementals with this set don't measure up. Given 20th Century Fox's dynamite Special Edition DVD releases of "The Abyss" and "Aliens", I was expecting a lot more of the "Die Hard" trilogy. And this may sound petty, but the artwork on the discs themselves looks amateurish and homemade. The first movie dates back to 1988, and the transfer already looks old. This movie could stand a bit of a clean-up job with the picture. The trilogy is worth adding to your DVD library, but don't expect to be overwhelmed by the extras.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: super!
Review: really worth ur cash! great scenes and great actors make this a great buy. i garantee it.


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