By Curt Schleier

Yippee-ki-yay, uh, you people.

The latest installment in the DIE HARD franchise proves that the AARP is right. Older people can live useful and productive lives. In fact, they can even save the world. I refer, of course, to Det. John McClane (Bruce Willis). It’s been 19 years since DIE HARD, and while the old gray (bald, actually) McClane ain’t what he used to be, he still does OK. LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD lives up to the previous outings — and in many ways out-DIE HARDs them.

This time around, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) is a former Defense Department consultant who tried to warn officials that the nation’s computer structure is subject to cyber-attack. Did they listen? Of course not. They forced him to resign, so in retribution, he hatches a plan to run a fire sale. That is computer lingo for everything must go; he plans to shut down all the nation’s computers.

Because it’s 4th of July weekend and everyone is off on vacation, McClane is asked to bring a young computer hacker, Matt Farrell (Justin Long) to D.C., where he can be questioned by the FBI. But, when he gets to Farrell’s apartment, he’s joined by machine-gun-toting baddies who intend to eliminate the geek.

Despite the obstacles and bullets thrown in his way, McClane gets Farrell to D.C., to Gabriel’s consternation. Gabriel tells him, “You’re a Timex in a digital age.” There’s more truth to that than Gabriel suspects, because McClane really takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. A lot of lickin’.

Every single one of Gabriel’s people seems to be a king fu master, and McClane is getting his rear end kicked at one time or another by all of them, including Gabriel’s girlfriend, Mai (Maggie Q). But, nothing puts him down for the count.

As Gabriel ups the ante and more of the nation’s computer systems crash, McClane increasingly relies on Farrell for advice and technical expertise. Farrell and several other hackers inadvertently helped Gabriel set up the fire sale. Gabriel always stays just out of reach, but he makes a mistake when he kidnaps McClane’s daughter. Instead of slowing the detective down, it just makes it personal.
   
The movie goes from one action-packed sequence to another. And, it at least seems real. CGI special effects are limited in favor of live action. There are also numerous doses of McClane’s humor. In one of the most exciting scenes, McClane somehow manages to launch a car skyward into an enemy helicopter, impressing young Farrell. 
   
“You killed a helicopter with a car,” he says.
   
“I was out of bullets,” McClane explains.
   
There are several references to previous films, including a scene in an elevator shaft where McClane battles Mai in a car hanging by what seems like a thread.
   
It’s not perfect. There are several gaffes. Long after all air traffic is shut down, a shot of an airport shows planes still moving around. Traffic is blocked for all but the bad guys, who seem to move around the area with impunity. The stock market is impacted — but what stock market is open 4th of July weekend? What stock market is open any weekend?
   
The film is so exciting, no one but a nitpicker like me will notice. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a theater where people actually applauded the hero’s small wins. The ending is a surprise that is dead solid perfect. LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD is the first great summer movie of 2007.