Movies - Live Free or Die Hard

J was particularly excited about this release. He's long been a Die Hard fan and after 12 long years, it was released on his birthday. So given the choice between a romantic birthday dinner in a swanky restaurant or sitting in a dark room full of strangers watching things explode, we spent J's birthday with Bruce.

I wasn't perturbed in the slightest. I had stomach bug that morning so going to a restaurant would have been a waste of money. I had low expectations, (I was still smarting from the embarrassment of Spiderman 3 - c'mon people, there was a musical number!!), and maybe that, combined with J's child-like delight at watching a car take out a helicopter, was what made the whole thing so enjoyable. The stunts and action scenes are impressive (I've since read there was very little CGI used), the humour is tongue-in-cheek, the villains are thankfully not Arab terrorists (rather a smart white, middle class hacker with a chip on his shoulder). All of this contributes to a good, blow 'em up, save the world blockbuster that we remember seeing as kids with such fondness. Not bad at all. Now how am I going to top that for his birthday next year.

Matt Farrell: You just killed a helicopter with a car! John McClane: I was out of bullets.