Bruce Willis ponders his luck in the enjoyably silly "Die Hard 2", which gets a Special Edition two-disc DVD release that's got the film looking better than ever.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture The 2000 DVD release of "Die Hard 2" had a reasonable enough transfer, but for this new Special Edition, Fox have really gone to work on the picture quality. Sharp and fresh looking, you'd think it was a brand new movie were it not for the fact that Willis is sporting a bad catalogue sweater that clearly belongs to a past decade.
Sound You consumers like choice so there's a Dolby and DTS 5.1 mix for you to frighten the neighbours with. The DTS version should get their chandeliers rattling with its superior bass control, but the Dolby mix has plenty of tight effects to convince them that your house is now an international airport.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary (Disc One) Renny Harlin is one of the few directors who provide a good commentary. His emphasis is often on the technical and by the end of the film, there isn't a single scene that you won't know how it was set up. He reveals he was to direct "Alien³", but producer Joel Silver wanted him for "Die Hard 2". Renny was handed a tight schedule that was further hampered by an unusually mild winter that meant there was nowhere in America with snow. Given the film takes place in a permanent snowstorm this presented many problems. A nice touch is that he's often able to identify minor actors in various scenes, some of which turn out to be people that Harlin has used before in his low-budget 80s flicks.
TV Special (Disc Two) You'd honestly think that the crew of "Die Hard 2" were trying to save the world by the unashamedly sensational tone of the voice-over actor used to describe this behind-the-scenes footage intercut with short interviews. "The challenge seems overwhelming and devastatingly difficult to accomplish", explains the dramatic voice-over. What he reveals next is even more incredible: "The story of the making of "Die Hard 2" is a saga almost as exciting as the movie itself". Clearly this is not suitable for those with a heart condition.
Making of Featurette This is the same five-minute featurette that was on the 2000 DVD release and is as cheesy as you'd expect.
Trailers We wouldn't normally mention trailers, but these four have all been restored and re-mixed into 5.1, which is a rarity for old titles on disc.
Deleted Scenes There are four scenes trimmed from the movie, with one offering an alternative version of events as to how Willis gets to the new airport Skywalk. It's quite exciting, but clearly just not high octane enough for Harlin's tastes.
Renny Harlin Interview Conducted during the filming of the movie, there's little new to learn here, but there is some behind-the-scenes footage including miniature model work used for the airport scenes.
Villains Profile Here we get interviews with the bad guys including William Sadler, again all done on set.
Behind-the-scenes and Storyboards Three key action scenes are broken down with B-roll footage and interviews. The third also features storyboard shots.
Visual Effects Another three action sequences are broken down between b-roll and finished footage, but this time presented side-by-side.
Region: 2 and 4
Chapters: 28
Ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1
Extra Features: Scene selection, animated menus, multiple languages and subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.
