Product Description

Disc 1: **"Die Hard" Widescreen Feature with optional Commentary by director John McTiernan and production designer Jackson DeGovia **Additional scene-specific commentary by special effects supervisor Richard Edlund **Subtitled commentary by various cast and crew **Branching version with the extended power shutdown scene **DVD-ROM - script-to- screen comparison

Disc 2: **"Die Harder" Widescreen Feature **Directors commentary

Disc 3: **"Die Hard with a Vengeance" Widescreen Feature **Directors commentary

Disc 4 Bonus Disc: **Inside Look: LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD **Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time: A Look Back At Die Hard **The Continuing Adventures of John McClane

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5421 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2007-06-19
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, German, Italian, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 387 minutes

Features

• Disc 1: **"Die Hard" Widescreen Feature with optional Commentary by director John McTiernan and production designer Jackson DeGovia **Additional scene-specific commentary by special effects supervisor Richard Edlund **Subtitled commentary by various cast and crew **Branching version with the extended power shutdown scene **DVD-ROM - script-to- screen comparison Disc 2: **"Die

Amazon.com
Die Hard is the movie franchise that made a movie star out of TV star Bruce Willis, and created an entire action-movie genre of its own. In the original 1988 film, Willis plays wisecracking New York cop John McClane, who arrives at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles to meet up with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonny Bedelia), at her office Christmas party. As luck would have it, the company ends up in the middle of a terrorist plot led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his gang of expert killers, and with little help coming from outside, McClane has to pick off his enemies one by one. Thus was born the "Die Hard genre," epitomized by such films as Under Siege ("Die Hard on a ship"), Passenger 57 ("Die Hard on a plane"), Speed ("Die Hard on a bus"), and Cliffhanger ("Die Hard on a mountain"). But few measure up to the explosive brilliance of Die Hard. Director John McTiernan develops the action at a fast and furious pace, culminating in some fantastic set-pieces on the top of the building, in the elevator shaft, and in the building's outer plaza. Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza's script, based on Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever, is smart, funny, and full of memorable lines (among them "Welcome to the party, pal!" and of course "Yippee ki-ay, motherf*****"), and the cast is perfection, especially Rickman as the cunningly evil villain, and Willis, whose McClane character--bloodied, beaten, bruised, and barely breathing, as he battles both bad guys and bureaucrats--is someone audiences could genuinely cheer for.

Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, Die Hard 2 (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), doesn't match the level of the original, but it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action sequences. One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport when he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, including all the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert Patrick as terrorists, and future politician and Law and Order actor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control.

The third film in the series, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), was again directed by John McTiernan and uses a different concept. The villain (played by Jeremy Irons) claims to have planted bombs all over New York City and gives John McClane (Willis), now alchoholic and separated, a series of clues to try to track them down. Along the way, he's aided by, and eventually teams up with, a Harlem shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson). The interplay between Willis and Jackson is engaging, but better suited to the Lethal Weapon franchise it was previously considered for, and not till the end does the movie return to the familiar McClane-vs.-villains-showdown format.

The 2007 Die Hard Collection is a four-disc set that comes up short when compared to the previous six-disc Ultimate Collection , which is now out of print. That 2001 set had two discs for each film (plus, Die Hard was a Five Star Collection release). This set does away with all of the second discs, though it retains the features that were on the movie-only discs, including director commentaries and the seamlessly branched version of the first film with a scene added back in. There's also a brand-new fourth disc, but it's pretty minor. "Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time" is a 40-minute retrospective of the original movie. Wide-ranging but rather dull, it collects interviews with director John McTiernan, cinematographer Jan De Bont, screenwriters Jeb Stuart and Steven E. De Souza, other crew, and actors Reginald Veljohnson, Hart Bochner, and William Atherton. Also from 2007, "The Continuing Adventures of John McClane" looks at the second and third movies in the series. It's a mere 13 minutes and only interviews the two directors, Renny Harlin and (in new and old footage) John McTiernan. Last, three trailers for the 2007 film, Live Free or Die Hard, make this set look like something that was released merely to have something on the shelves while the new film was in theaters. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

What is people's problem?
The Die Hard films are the greatest action series ever made. This is a small collection of the trilogy. It does not have all the extras of the six disc ultimate box set that was released a couple years ago, but you get what you are paying for here. For $30 you get the three films. You can look at it as only getting half of the old box set, but you are getting it for half the price as well.

This is a Die Hard set for people like me who don't care about a million extra features and just want to enjoy the movies at an affordable price. Don't get me wrong, it isn't like I dislike extras, but to be honest I only watch them once or twice, so to me it isn't worth the extra cash.

Fantastic value for people who don't own the movies yet
Let me start by assuring you that, no, I am not employed by Fox or the production or development teams behind the Die Hard franchise, nor am I one of the actors / actresses involved. I'm just a regular movie buff like most everybody else who surfs the movie pages on Amazon. Now that that is out of the way . . .

After seeing all (and I mean ALL) the other reviews trashing this product, I feel it is necessary to bring attention the positive side to this product (and yes, there is one). The fact of the matter is that, for those movie enthusiasts who don't yet own the Die Hard films in their libraries and/or who have little or no interest in the usually excessive "extras," this package is an excellent value.

For $28.00 you get three great actions movies with some extras (the ones that are probably actually worth watching anyways), a preview of the upcoming fourth Die Hard, as well as a voucher to see it for free when it comes to theaters. It is beyond me how anybody could call this a bad deal.

Comparatively, the previous boxed-set everybody else keeps mentioning is around $10.00 more in price, doesn't include the free movie ticket (a $10.00 or more value in some areas these days), and has fatter cases that will hog more of your precious shelf-space. Sure, they have the infamous "second" discs flaunted by movie studios, but unless you are seriously obsessed with the movies, these second discs usually amount to junk anyways - usually thrown together to give the studio an excuse to inflate the price and bulk up their own profits.

In the end, for the vast majority of movie-watchers, this new edition of the Die Hard collection amounts to a more than ample package and experience, and at a price to "die" for.

**UPDATE** Upon acquiring and opening my copy of this Die hard boxed-set, I have found that the "free" movie voucher is good up to only $8.50 (not $10.00 as I previously mentioned in this review). This is still a sufficient discount, and should cover the majority of one admission - if not all - in most theaters around the country. While this won't affect my score, I do feel readers are entitled to know exactly what they will be getting, and to know that I had no intention to mislead anybody with my previous comments on this feature.

**SECOND UPDATE** Be forewarned, AMC Theatres really don't want to take the Die Hard movie vouchers. I attempted to use mine at the AMC near me recently, and succeeded only after taking my case to the guest services counter. Employees there claimed AMC doesn't honor the vouchers, but nowhere on the voucher or in the theater or its box office was there any form of disclaimer stating so in writing for customers to see freely. So, if you are planning on using your voucher at an AMC, don't be surprised if the cashier turns it down, and be prepared to stand your ground. It's amazing to me that a movie theater would be so reluctant to take a coupon (one for which they get completely reimbursed) issued directly from the very studios that are keeping them in business.

Don't waste your money
How can one not love the "Die Hard" films? As most would agree,the DH films are some of the best and most influential action films of all time (don't forget to add successful,something that has been proven). But,as exciting as "The Die Hard Collection" may appear to be,don't waste your money. Sure,you do get the original three "Die Hard" films("Die Hard","Die Hard 2:Die Harder",and "Die Hard with a Vengeance")here,alongside a bonus disc that goes behind the scenes into the making of the forthcoming(as of this writing)DH film,"Live Free or Die Hard". But,unfortunately,this set recycles the previously released box set of the "Die Hard" films,omitting half of the bonus feautures that were on the original box set of the DH films ("Die Hard--The Ultimate Collection")and keeping half of the original ones,with only a few new bonus feautures being present for the original DH films (the disc for the forthcoming DH film is only an inside look into the making of the film). Do yourself a favor--pass this up,buy "Die Hard--The Ultimate Collection",and wait until "Live Free or Die Hard" has been released on DVD. You will be happy that you did,as unfortunately,this is just a last minute attempt to earn some extra $.

P.S. Check out my "So You'd Like To..." guide on how to learn more about the first "Die Hard" film.