Live Free or Die Hard

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Either Live Free or Die Hard will go down as the summer's best action blockbuster, or it's going to be one exceptional summer.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Easily the best in the series since the first one.

Slate Dana Stevens

Though the movie's at least 20 minutes too long, it's deeply satisfying, full of old-school buddy banter and the kind of action sequences that make you burst out laughing at their sheer audacity.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

It's simply old-school stunts and movie magic.

Variety Todd McCarthy

The sheer quantity of often outrageous stunts should help overcome franchise mustiness to entertain.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A slick and efficient piece of action entertainment, fast moving with energetic stunt work and nice thriller moves.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

This fourth iteration of a series that first burst upon the world in 1988 turns out to be terrific entertainment, and startlingly shrewd in the bargain, a combination of minimalist performances -- interestingly minimalist -- and maximalist stunts that make you laugh, as you gape, at their thunderous extravagance.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Does it herald a renaissance in the action genre? Not really, but it's a welcome throwback to good old-fashioned, '80s-style lunkhead violence, and no one takes a punch, kick, elbow, or bullet quite like John McClane.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Provided you don't think too long or hard about it (and why ever would you?), Live Free or Die Hard is infectious good fun, and a tremendous encouragement to the middle aged.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Surprisingly effective, rousing entertainment, which boasts plenty of old-school, at times jaw-dropping stunt work done the manly way.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

An enjoyable pop projection of post-9/11 anxiety.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The action in this fast-paced, hysterically overproduced and surprisingly entertaining film is as realistic as a Road Runner cartoon.

Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves

Early in LFODH, a villain taunts our hero, calling him "a Timex in a digital world"; McClane, characteristically, takes the dig as a compliment. Two hours, countless butt-kickings and hairbreadth escapes later, we know why.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

The film's action doesn't disappoint; if anything, it ups the adrenaline ante considerably.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Willis, who at 52 looks great in an intensely physical role and can still spit out wisecracks and insults with the best of them.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Director Len Wiseman, confidently stepping up from the smallish budget "Underworld" films to mega-budget Hollywood mainstream.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

At a time when the action genre has come to be dominated by sleek, matte surfaces and set-'em-and-forget-'em computerized effects, Live Free or Die Hard seeks to remind viewers of the simple, nostalgic pleasures of watching stuff get blown up and bad guys get smoked.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

Bruce Willis is ready to earn our love again by performing the same lovably violent, meathead tricks as before.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Willis' John McClane, with that sly, sideways smile, is like an old acquaintance you don't mind running into. He may be older and balder, but he's none the worse for the wear. And he can still take a punch.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Superior in every way to 1995's "Die Hard With a Vengeance," Live Free or Die Hard's goofy generation-gap gambit pays off decently and proves, again, that nattily dressed terrorists are no match for Willis, the once and future Patron Saint of Bang.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Directed in workmanlike style by Underworld: Evolution's Len Wiseman, has its share of wild stunts and spectacular carnage, but it feels pokey and predictable, too.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Take away Bruce Willis and this is straight-to-video material.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

I can safely say I've never seen anything as ridiculous as Live Free or Die Hard. I'm not saying my 10-year-old self didn't enjoy a lot of it.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Gets the action job done and you better believe that Bruce is still the man.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The key to enjoying the fourth installment in this testosterone-fueled franchise is accepting that it's a live-action cartoon that makes no effort to conform to the laws of gravity, plausibility or common sense.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

In the moments at his disposal, Smith almost steals the flick. He's so wittily government-phobic that I found myself hoping for a climax that would blow Bruce Willis away and promote Kevin Smith to saviour-of-the-free-world. Now that might be a sequel worth rooting for.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Sorry, boys. After two decades, the first film still does more with one skyscraper than Live Free or Die Hard does with an entire country.

Premiere Aaron Hillis

An unexpectedly retro throwback to '80s actioners and '90s hacker movies, totally preposterous in both its heroic near-death escapes and abstract tech-jargon explanations for how anyone with geeky inclinations can remotely override any computer system with a few easy keystrokes.

Empire Angie Errigo

Yippee-ki-yay! Willis still has the goods.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

A middling contender in this summer of gigantoid sequels.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Willis does everything short of donning a cape and reversing time by orbiting the Earth at light speed, and the air of cheerful ridiculousness recalls Luc Besson-produced action films like "Transporter 2" or "District B13."

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

The physical stunts by Maggie Q as a lethal martial arts expert and Cyril Raffaelli as a Eurotrash sniper who rappels buildings are more thrilling than the over-the-top chase sequences, so contrived as to verge on self-parody.

Village Voice Rob Nelson

Maybe McClane, in '80s action parlance, is too old for this s---.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Diverting enough if you want to see plenty of fast-paced action sequences, some heart-stopping chase scenes and plenty of things blow up.