Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
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A weary detective must team up with a skilled hacker to stop a cyber-terrorist from dismantling the nation's infrastructure.
The story
Following a brief blackout at the FBI Cyber Division, Detective John McClane is tasked with transporting a high-level hacker, Matt Farrell, to safety. However, they are immediately ambushed by assassins working for Thomas Gabriel, a mastermind who has orchestrated a 'fire sale' cyber attack. The goal of this attack is to compromise the nation's critical infrastructure, including transportation and the stock market. As McClane and Farrell navigate through various locations, they must evade Gabriel's henchmen while trying to stop the escalating cyber-terrorism before it can cripple the United States' essential systems.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being ambushed by assassins while transporting hacker Matt Farrell, John McClane and Farrell team up to stop Thomas Gabriel's 'fire sale' cyber-attack. The duo travels through New Jersey, Washington D.C., and West Virginia, where they face off against Gabriel's henchmen and his second-in-command, Mai Linh. They eventually discover that Gabriel, a former DOD employee, intends to steal the nation's financial data from an NSA facility in Maryland. During the infiltration of the facility, they are separated, and Gabriel kidnaps McClane's estranged daughter, Lucy, as leverage. The climax occurs at a hangar where McClane confronts Gabriel. After a tense standoff involving a hijacked truck and a pursuit by an F-35B jet, McClane and Gabriel face off. McClane manages to wound Gabriel, and in a final confrontation, McClane fires a shot that kills Gabriel. Farrell then eliminates the remaining henchmen, and the pair is reunited with Lucy.
- Original title
- Die Hard 4.0
- First release year
- 2007
- Runtime (minutes)
- 128
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Len Wiseman
- Writers
- Mark Bomback · screenplay; Mark Bomback · story; David Marconi · story
- Cast and characters
- Bruce Willis · John McClane; Justin Long · Matt Farrell; Timothy Olyphant · Thomas Gabriel; Maggie Q · Mai Linh; Mary Elizabeth Winstead · Lucy Gennero-McClane; Kevin Smith · Frederick "Warlock" Kaludis; Cliff Curtis · Miguel Bowman
- Genres
- action; thriller
- Themes
- cyber-terrorism; father-daughter relationships
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; high-stakes
- Premise and plot tags
- cyber-security; hacking; government conspiracy
- Source material / true-story basis
- A Farewell to Arms (Wired magazine article)
- Franchise connections
- Die Hard
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, who described it as an efficient, action-packed popcorn flick with strong performances.
- Production trivia
- The film's title is based on New Hampshire's state motto.; It is the only Die Hard film to be theatrically released with a PG-13 rating.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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