Live Free or Die Hard (2007) - 7 questions

Question: How did the emergency operator start the car when Matt tells them to start? And why did Matt do so when McClane was ready to start the car with just the wires?

Answer: The on-board assistance system that Matt was using to contact the operator is specifically designed to allow for emergency usage in just such a way. They usually require a password to verify the user, which is exactly what Matt was trying to BS his way around. However, even though McClane is willing to hotwire the car, there are two problems with this. First, cars in recent years have become much harder to hotwire. Second, even if McClane was able to do it, the on-board assistance would have been triggered and it would assume (rightly so) that the car was being stolen and authorities would be alerted. With a likely GPS in the system, it'd be hard to get away from that one. By using and fooling the system, they now have the ability to get around unencumbered.

Question: You'll have to forgive my ignorance regarding a comment made by Matt Farrell. He said that it took FEMA five days to get water to the Superdome. What exactly was he talking about?

Answer: In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans with many of the residents temporarily housed in the Superdome in Houston, Texas. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) was highly criticized for their response (or lack of), including how long it took to supply the Superdome with adequate water and food.

Question: Why is Kevin Smiths' character called Warlock?

Answer: Warlock is his computer name just like Keanu Reeves' character in The Matrix is called Neo even though his "real" name is Thomas Anderson.

Question: Throughout the film, Thomas Gabriel is shown be to an extremely intelligent and talented computer hacker with enormous resources at his disposal as well as an equally talented entourage of computer hackers. My questions are, why did he hire other hackers to write code for him and then kill them? He must have realised that this would draw attention? Couldn't he or any of his colleagues have done it themselves instead?

Answer: First off, from the time they started killing off their hired hackers, there wasn't much anyone could do about it. They weren't worried about calling attention to themselves because they were doing plenty of that with their fire sale. Secondly, the number of systems they would have to hack would require lots of different methods and directions of attack. Way too much man power for Gabriel to let them all in on the plot without risking exposing their plans way too early. The idea of one hacker breaking into all of the systems they need is a nice Hollywood cliche, but rather unrealistic. People spend hours, days, or even weeks trying to hack one single system. Gabriel doesn't have that kind of time. The reason his one "extremely intelligent and talented computer hacker" is able to do everything he does is because all of their hired hackers had already passed off all of the programs and algorithms they needed. That's why he appears to have "enormous resources at his disposal" at all.

Question: The movie takes place on the July 4 weekend, so why is Lucy living at her dorm at Rutgers University? Wouldn't the university normally be closed during the summer months?

Answer: Nope. Most universities offer classes year round.

Question: Near the end of the film, when McClane, his daughter Lucy, and the hacker Matt Farrell are about to leave in the ambulance, there is a sign with the number 5 hanging out of a warehouse in the background - does this mean there will be a Die Hard 5?

Answer: Looks like a standard 5 mph speed sign to me. You can't read too much into that. In addition though, Bruce Willis has already stated in a few interviews that he'd be more than happy to do another one.

Question: Is the "Fire Sale" procedure used in this movie a real-world idea or just a movie creation? Could it ever happen?

Answer: It is strictly hypothetical and most likely couldn't happen without having many, many insiders and the best hackers in the world, but even then, who knows if that could be probable in a "Post 9/11" climate.