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Live Free or Die Hard: 4.0 Edit (Released)

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So, I just finished watching the Unrated version, which is of course not out until Tuesday so any real work on this would have to wait until it’s officially on the shelves, but I wanted to put it out there. I don’t have any editing tools myself, but I wouldn’t be averse to learning, either, if anyone wants to offer their help.

In any case, the Unrated is much more than just added salty language here and there, it is a fairly alternate cut of the film. Now, some of the language that’s been “reinstated” is clearly alternate takes, but I think Fox went back to the dubbing studio and overdid it a little, not to mention a few of the things I liked about the theatrical version are missing. What I want to do is create an edit that covers the best of both worlds, which seems like it would be fairly easy. Again, I have no editing tools myself, and even if I did this would be my first time, but I could easily either take direction from someone else on how to do it or provide a list of what I think could be changed for the release.

If anyone is interested, let me know – although, again, it might be understandably until Tuesday and everyone else has gotten a chance to see the Unrated version before I hear back.

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peeps here use final cut, adobe premiere, womble, etc.
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Any chance of a few examples of what to look for in the alternate cut?

The first thing I checked was the scene just after the power plant explosion, and much to my dismay, Justin Long's rant is the same badly sliced up scene it was before. Half the shots of him do not match the dialog comin' out of his mouth.

But I'd be grateful for any pointers on scenes I can compare. (I only saw the PG version once, so I don't remember it vividly.)
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A German site has done a comprehensive list of differences, together with screencaps - http://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittberichte_special/diehard4.php

I see what droidguy1119 means - though the Unrated cut obviously restores the blood and profanity (and cuts out that stupid line about fitting the entire country's bank records onto a portable hard drive), some better lines were left out as a result (namely "I ran out of bullets" in the helicopter scene). I've only seen the theatrical version, and think there are problems with the film that a fan edit can't really cover (mainly to do with the script), but I'd love to see a cut that, as he said, covers the "best of both worlds".
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Cheers for the link. I think the ran out of bullets line is the only thing I'd bother keeping from the PG version. Everything else seems pretty dispensible to me.

The blood in the unrated version seems to be a mix of alternate takes in some instances, and composited blood in others. Thankfully, the "added" blood is done a lot better than it was for AvP.
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Originally posted by: Uncanny Antman
The blood in the unrated version seems to be a mix of alternate takes in some instances, and composited blood in others. Thankfully, the "added" blood is done a lot better than it was for AvP.


According to the "Schnittbericht" the blood was originally shot, and only digitally erased for the theatrical cut. So I assume most of the time it's the original versions of the shots.

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Funny, I thought "I ran out of bullets" was a bit lame. But you could easily include both.

The thing is if you watch it several of Bruce's "fuck" and "motherfuckers" are probably dubbed in after the fact -- don't worry, it's Bruce -- but still, it's kind of obvious. Like when Maggie Q falls down the elevator shaft -- I hope people who are reading this thread have seen the movie -- there is an added "Fuck you, bitch!" that detracts from his triumphant yell a moment later.

And I'm really nitpicky, but I also am not a huge fan of the "motherfucker" at the end, the big one -- I think you could easily dub in a louder, more enthusiastic "motherfucker" from one of many of Bruce's movies and it would be better. But these are just suggestions. It will probably all mean more once you've seen the Unrated version.

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Originally posted by: Laserschwert
Originally posted by: Uncanny Antman
The blood in the unrated version seems to be a mix of alternate takes in some instances, and composited blood in others. Thankfully, the "added" blood is done a lot better than it was for AvP.

According to the "Schnittbericht" the blood was originally shot, and only digitally erased for the theatrical cut. So I assume most of the time it's the original versions of the shots.


I've been noodling with the two versions, seeing if I can be bothered merging them, and the unrated cut really is a hodge-podge of originally shot stuff coupled with new CG tinkery.

For instance, when Mai kills the technician on duty at the power plant, the shot of him slumped in his chair was shot with blood on him, and CG'd for the PG-13. (They erased the blood on his forehead and coat, and for some odd reason, moved his ear slightly.) A moment later, Mai wipes blood off the console, which is obviously shot live. But then in the very next shot, when she opens the case, the consoles are clean, but have had blood composited into the shot. It's almost as though they shot for coverage, but misplaced the 'bloody' take of the case opening.

Same with the swearing. Some of it seems to be putting back what was supposed to be there, but most of it is looped after the fact, especially McClane's line as he prepares to jump from the speeding squad car, and his "Fuck being a hero" when driving to West Virginia. The 'hero' looping is also terrible because they've had to trim a shot of McClane very short to hide the fact that his mouth wasn't moving. So it cuts from Matt, to McClane's profile for a microsecond, then right to a C.U. on McClane's face.

I almost wanna edit it just to see if I can straighten it all out.



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Also some of the dialogue could easily be just plain removed from Matt's spiel after the plant blows up because the dubbing is so bad, and it's mysteriously still bad here. All he's saying during one of the worst cuts is "Huh!?" and I don't know why they kept it in since it just looks awful.

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1 The Guard | 2 The Tree of Life | 3 Another Earth | 4 Drive | 5 Contagion

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^In my WIP, I just took the scene out altogether. He never says anything essential, so it was an easy lift.
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Me? Yeah, I finished it ages ago, actually.

I haven't bothered to release it yet as there was another edit of it doing the popular rounds at fanedit.org

I've been meaning to put it online for a while now, I should really get on that.

I'll let you know here when I get around to it.