Die Hard (film series) memorable." James Berardinelli wrote that the film "represents the class of modern action pictures and the standard by which they must be judged." Critic Desson Howe wrote that "Willis has found the perfect vehicle to careen wildly onto the crowded L.A. freeway of "Lethal Weapons" and "Beverly Hills Cops"." Willis was also called "perfect as the wisecracking John McClane" and "an excellent casting choice as a sardonic action hero." Alan Rickman's portrayal of villain Hans Gruber was described as "marvelous" and "a career-making performance." Gruber also ranked 46 on the villain side of AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains. In
Live Free or Die Hard movie was featured in the "Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza" boxed set, which featured the unrated cut of the film on Blu-Ray for the first time in the US. In 2017, the movie was included in the "Die Hard Collection" Blu-ray set with all 5 films in it. Though unlike the DVD, the Blu-ray doesn't contain the branching error during the airbag scene. The DVD for the film was the first to include a Digital Copy of the film which could be played on a PC or Mac computer and could also be imported into several models of portable video players.