Everything I’ve learned about terror attacks, I’ve learned from watching the Die Hard franchise.

I know that when terrorists perpetrate elaborately orchestrated attacks on the U.S., they can expect a few things. First, there will be some bureaucrat in charge of the local PD or federal law enforcement agency who will initially respond arrogantly in the face of overwhelming cicumstantial evidence and deny to take any actions which might easily and immediately halt the terror attack. Thank God for that, because if these guys did have any common sense early on, they’d extinguish the terror plot and we’d be left without a Bruce Willis movie. Clearly though, we can’t count on any of the people who are supposed to protect us to be the first line of defense.

The terrorists also know this, and it allows their schemes to unfold in highly dramatic waves of attack. First, send an unmistakable warning, which will be mistaken. Next, knock out the authorities’ infrastructure. At this point, the good guys will scramble to actions which play into the hands of the bad guys. Terrorists also always have an inside man or former employee of whatever agency is investigating them. Finally, as terrorists’ actions become increasingly ruthless and they show complete disregard for human life, we ultimately find out that all terrorists are motivated by money, not ideology or power. The one comfort that keeps us all from heading to doomsday bunkers in Montana is that terrorists never plan on a tough guy falling into the wrong place at the wrong time.

And so we enter the fourth (or is it fifth) movie in the Die Hard series. Formula aside, I think I enjoyed this Die Hard almost as much as the original. It doesn’t have the raw edge, shock value, or desperation that the first one had, but this might have been the most entertaining. The script is faithful to John McClain’s character without spewing too many catchphrases (although you’ll find one or two familiar ones), and it shows a pleasant evolution. All in all I can say that I would go see a lot more sequels if all of them were this good.

*********NO MAJOR SPOILERS, ONLY GENERAL DISCUSSION OF THE BASIC MOVIE PLOT *****************

In LFODH, a rogue hacker cell conspires to shut down the country. This time, McClain is completely out of his element. He’s older and a bit out of touch with his daughter’s generation, and as a complete technology newb, he’s way out of his area of expertise. But his values and instincts are dead right, and he also has the help of a gray hat hacker, “Mac guy” Justin Long, who helps him understand the changing world of technology and culture. 

Much of the subplot involves him finding common ground and common values with the younger generation — his daughter’s generation — as typified by Long. The sensational film plot also plays to America’s real and imagined fears of new technology and the growing power of those who understand it at the expense of those who don’t. These fears manifest in imaginary scenarios of technology gone awry (including films like Terminator, War Games, and LFODH) as well as in everyday fears of job outsourcing/elimination, identity theft, and online child predators.

Typically, we’re asked to swallow a lot in a Die Hard film. In LFODH we learn that hackers can overtake everything from traffic signals and electrical grids, as well as break into any individual cell phone, elevator camera, or private military communication. We also learn that government server rooms look more like the tractor beam room on the Death Star, and less like any server room at any company you’ve ever worked at. The film also introduces the term “fire sale” to describe a large-scale hack attack that shuts everything down, i.e. “everything must go”. To the best of my knowledge, this term is completely contrived, but it does put a brand name on the attack and make it sound a little more tangible and a little more sinister to novice techies watching the film.

I had no problem swallowing this, but there is a scene with a fighter jet that was just too much. It’s the hallmark of the Die Hard series that there is at least one sequence that is just too much, and typically it’s a much smaller detail. In Die Harder, we could believe that a rogue drug could mastermind a total shutdown of a major airport, but we cried foul when the payphones at Dulles Airport had Pacific Bell stickers on them.

That being said, this is a great movie. Bruce Willis is as blunt, witty, and approachable as he’s ever been. The filmmakers went to great lengths to avoid hackneyed dialogue and just let Bruce be Bruce. On or off screen, Bruce has the same bluntness and charm. Gotta love the guy. “Mac Guy” Justin Long is an outstanding sidekick and really brought this film series to a new generation. He’s a bit of a hacker stereotype, but much more developed, more approachable, and a lot funnier than anyone that films like the Matrix gave us. This should be a good boost for Long and it comes at a good time, as Mac insiders have indicated that he will no longer be featured in their ads.

One last thing that my friend Josh and I were very appreciative of was that the combat scenes with arch villains were mercifully truncated. In typical Die Hard fashion, good guys and bad guys survive a series of near-fatal blows before meeting in a final showdown. In the past, these final fights could go on for ridiculous lengths, but to my delight, they shortened quite a few of them this time. I credit this to the filmmaker’s undoubtedly focus-grouping this one to appeal to the iGeneration’s core demographics of ADDHD teens amped on energy drinks (or meth), constantly text’ing each other while pirating popular music, engaging in casual acts of promiscuity, and tagging each others Facebook pages.

Again, a great entertaining movie. I find myself wanting to sit down with both Bruce and Long and have a beer.