Live Free or Die Hard!
Live Free or Die Hard
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Live Free or Die Hard Plot summary
Live Free or Die Hard Spoiler warning Plot and ending details follow
In the past few years, aging police officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) has spent his time in and out of Alcoholics Anonymous and is divorced from his wife. He is no longer employed by the police department, but has found a position with the United States Department of Homeland Security chasing dangerous computer hackers. On his way to turn a young hacker named Matt Foster (Justin Long) into custody, he experiences a modern version of a terrorist attack first hand when he gets stuck in traffic. A group of hackers, headed by Greg Pope (Timothy Olyphant), have struck at the vulnerable United States computer infrastructure and are systematically shutting it down, beginning with the traffic light system. As they move on to crash banking networks and the stock market, the indices plummet and America's economy becomes crippled. As usual, McClane gets caught up in the middle of the excitement. It turns out that the recently captured Matt seems bright enough to understand exactly what the terrorists are doing and what steps they are taking to achieve their mission. The sophisticated criminals have a nearly foolproof plan to bring the country to a halt, but they didn't count on an old-school cop and his computer-smart buddy to figure things out. Soon, the crime-fighting duo of McClane and Foster are pulling out all the stops and matching wits with the terrorists, hoping to figure out the motives behind their actions and to stop them before the entire nation collapses.Live Free or Die Hard Cast and crew
Bruce Willis as John McClaneJustin Long as Matt Foster
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy McClane
Timothy Olyphant as Greg Pope
Jeffrey Wright as Victor Pope
Maggie Q as Mai Linh
Yancey Arias as Agent Johnson
Jack van Landingham as FBI SWAT Team Leader
Tim Russ as Agent Summers
Zachary Quinto as Agent Murphy (attached)
Kevin Smith as The Warlock
Yorgo Constantine as Russo
Cyril Raffaelli as Rand
Len Wiseman, best known for his work on Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, was announced as the director. In an August 3, 2006 interview in USA Today, Wiseman said none of the characters (McClane excluded) from the earlier movies would be returning. It was previously believed that John McTiernan, the director of the original Die Hard and Die Hard: With a Vengeance, would return to direct, however, he is currently facing jail time for perjury.
McClane's daughter will have a prominent role in the film (an idea previously considered for Die Hard: With a Vengeance; and the idea implemented in the video game Die Hard: Vendetta). It was speculated that Bruce Willis' real life daughter Rumer, who was born the same year that the original Die Hard was released, was a prime candidate for the part of Lucy McClane. Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears had previously auditioned for the role; Paris Hilton had been considered for the role and Taylor Fry, who had played Lucy in the original Die Hard movie in 1988. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was eventually cast in the role of Lucy McClane in this sequel.
Live Free or Die Hard Production
Bruce Willis as John McClane and Justin Long as Matt FosterThe film's plot is based on an earlier script entitled WW3.com by David Marconi, screenwriter of Enemy of the State. Using a Wired magazine article entitled "A farewell to Arms" by John Carlin, Marconi crafted a screenplay about a cyber-terrorist attack on the U.S.. After the 9-11 attacks, the project was stalled, only to be resurrected several years later and rewritten into Live Free or Die Hard by Doug Richardson and eventually by Mark Bomback.In a 2005 interview with Willis in Empire magazine, the film was to be called Die Hard 4.0, as it revolves around computers. Although he said that, IGN later reported the film was to be called Die Hard: Reset instead. 20th Century Fox later announced the title as Live Free or Die Hard and set a release date of June 29, 2007 with filming to begin in September 2006. The title is based on the state motto of New Hampshire, "Live Free or Die," which is attributed to a quote from General John
Stark. International trailers are using the Die Hard 4.0 title, suggesting that the film will be released outside America with that title, most likely because international audiences would be unlikely to recognize the reference.
Filming for Live Free or Die Hard started in downtown Baltimore, Maryland on September 23, 2006.
Willis chose to forego a hairpiece to show that his character has aged since the previous films.
Willis was injured January 24, 2007 during a fight scene, where he was kicked above his right eye. The injury was regarded as "no big deal" and Willis saw a doctor and went home for the rest of the day.
Willis' stunt double, Larry Rippenkroeger, was seriously injured when he fell 25 feet (8 metres) to the pavement. He suffered broken bones in his face and fractures in both wrists. Production was temporarily shut down. Willis picked up the tab at area hotels for Larry's parents and visited him a number of times at the hospital. Larry also works on the TV series
Las Vegas and was visited by that show's star, James Caan; Larry later said that he was glad when Caan finally left the hospital room because he hurt himself laughing at Caan's jokes.
Certain scenes were filmed at the LA County Fairplex in Pomona and Avon Lake, Ohio.
