Die Hard 2: Terror Storm

Really? I felt that it was the worst bit of the entire film.

yep. personally I felt (while a bad FX shot) its the most iconic image of the film.

I personally felt the ending bit when McClane blows the plane up using a lighter was the most iconic bit.

I do have one more question about the edit though: Why delete, "Another basement, another elevator. How can the same shit happen to the same man twice?" I thought it was a great line. I guess it comes down to opinions I guess but I thought it was a good reference to the events of the first film.

Like you said, its just personal taste. While I could buy "John McClane" saying something like that, I felt it was just too self aware, like one step away from him winking at the camera.
If you decide to watch the edit, I'd love to hear your thoughts after

No, its still in there.

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I think you're right to keep that scene. I didn't find it offensive at all.

Die Hard 2 - Terror Storm by Elbarto1

review by boon23

Prologue:
For completion of the series I once bought DH2, but must confess that I haven't watched it in years. Until DH4 this was to me the worst part of the series, created by one of my least favorite directors (and unforgettable killer of Carolco) Renny Harlin. I think whatever he touches becomes superficial. So it was a welcome ooprtunity to watch it again with a fresh mind and, well, some expectations, because of Elbarto's first and well done fanedit: Running Scared - True Crime Edition.

As for all my reviews: this is just my personal opinion of this fanedit. I cannot tell anybody else, if he or she will experience it in the same way or the opposite. So my review is not objective and does not reflect the opinion of fanedit.org.

!!!!This review contains heavy spoilers!!!

The edit:
It was nice after some years to meet with the young John McClane again and to watch an action movie from 1990. I know, I enjoyed this edit a lot more than the original with this annoying reporter. All the changes were very well executed and are not noticeable. And they all serve the greater good of this movie. It's still not a masterpiece, but for what it is, it's the best version of Die Hard 2 I have ever watched and if I have to watch it again, it would be without a doubt, this fanedit.
So far, so good, BUT there is still a lot that I don't like about this movie, especially the over-the-top scenes and the unbelievable parts. So they are on an airport with hundreds of people working there and it always is John McClane and John McClane alone, who does the cool stuff? What are the other guys doing all the time? What's so hard about putting some electric light to guide the planes or at least help them a bit? Where is the airport staff? Why don't they line up cars?
The sequel to Die Hard was supposed to put John McClane into another situation where he is the lonesome cowboy, but with the airport they really picked a stupid idea to make that happen.
As for this fanedit, I would have loved it,if it went further and some more stuff got deleted, for exampel John McClane waving the torches, before the plane blows up and various other stuff.
The already mentioned inconsistency about the terrorists being known to Holly is true.
Still this was a vast improvement over the original and shoudl be ackowledged as that: the best version of Die Hard 2 ever available.
editing: 9 of 10,
entertainment: 7 of 10 (original 5 of 10)

Image and video quality:
The video quality suffers a bit from a slight stutter in camera drives. Other than that it is perfect. Image quality is sharp and colorful. Very well preserved.
Video quality: 9 of 10

Audio editing and audio quality:
The audio editing was perfect. I did not notice anything disturbing. Sound quality is great.
audio editing: 10 of 10
sound quality: 10 of 10

presentation:
This fanedit comes with a nice animated menu, beautifully animated scene selection and good cover art. The movie credits were partly self created (which unfortunately shows a few times through change of font, but is not too distracting). There is no additional bonus material.
DVD menus: 9 of 10, cover art 9 of 10, extras: 0 of 10, existence of menus, chapters and cover art: 10 of 10

This results in a 7 of 10 rating from me for presentation.

Final result: 8 of 10 (if you sum up the numbers you'll get to 9 of 10, but as it is my mean style I never differ more than 1 star from my entertainment of the main feature, which is good for fanedits with a very bad presentation, but high entertainment, and bad for fanedits with incredible presentation and editing quality, but a lack of entertainment).
Recommended.

Thank you boon for that nice review. I am glad you enjoyed my edit and appreciate the feedback.

So far, so good, BUT there is still a lot that I don't like about this movie, especially the over-the-top scenes and the unbelievable parts. So they are on an airport with hundreds of people working there and it always is John McClane and John McClane alone, who does the cool stuff? What are the other guys doing all the time? What's so hard about putting some electric light to guide the planes or at least help them a bit? Where is the airport staff? Why don't they line up cars?

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In the films defense, Col Stewart did advise the airport staff that if they interfered, the terrorist would crash the planes. Thats why they didnt attempt to light up any runways. They did do what they could by contacting the planes on the outer marker radio beacon.

the best version of Die Hard 2 ever available.

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:shock: That quote is aching to be added to the dvd cover art at some point :smile:

Thanks again!

woot! terror storm makes it to the main FE page!
thanks for that great honor

it is among the highest rated pure action fanedits. So it is simply "well deserved."

:smile: Well deserved or not, it feels good to be featured on the main page (for the first time) amongst so many other highly regarded edits and editors. Thanks to all that voted it into such a respectable position!

boon23 said:

it is among the highest rated pure action fanedits. So it is simply "well deserved."

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I agree. Really great work, IMO, elbarto1! I can't wait to see some more goodies from you!

thanks throw! True Lies is for the most part finished, I just need to give it another viewing for errors and then knuckle down and actually create the real DVD and possibly re-record my commentary for the deleted bits.

elbarto1 said:

thanks throw! True Lies is for the most part finished, I just need to give it another viewing for errors and then knuckle down and actually create the real DVD and possibly re-record my commentary for the deleted bits.

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good to hear. I am really looking forward to that one. I always liked True Lies, despite its ridiculousness, and I am eager to see your take on it.

Hopefully I can help out with the double arnie month, but work has been kicking me in the ass lately. I will be uber-busy until mid month, but hopefully I can get T2 out by the end of June.

Hopefully I can help out with the double arnie month, but work has been kicking me in the ass lately. I will be uber-busy until mid month, but hopefully I can get T2 out by the end of June

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.

Sounds like a plan!

I've just downloaded this edit and am super excited to see it. However, the aspect ratio is quite off, and, as I'm quite anal about aspect ratios, it's preventing me from watching the film. Is there a way I can fix this for free or could you release a corrected version or what?

what version did you get (DVD or AVI). I watched the DVD version, and there were no issues with incorrect aspect ratio. I cannot comment on the AVI though.

I've downloaded the DVD version. I'm currently playing it through VLC and switched the aspect ratio to 16:10 and it looks correct.

I had no problem with the AR on this one as well.

strange. I am super anal as well and I am certain the AR is correct.

the only instance where their may have been a shift is during the intro and closing credits where I shifted the frame up to allow room for additional text. ("Terror Storm" and "Elbarto One")

I am glad that VLC allowed you to correct your issue but I know there's no issues on my end when watching on a DVD player.

regardless, I hope you enjoy the film despite these issues.