Dave on the PodTo mark today’s release of A Good Day to Die Hard on DigitalHD™, DVD and Blu-ray, we got to attend a rather fabulous event at Mercedes Benz World at Brooklands race circuit near Weybridge experiencing just what John McClane would have gone through while making the movie.

Throughout the course of the day, we were guided by Bruce Willis’ stunt double (Larry Rippenkoeger) who was responsible for most of the stunts that you saw John McClane perform in the movie. He guided us through the use of the ‘pod’ that you may well have seen on DVD / Blu-ray extras in the past for car stunt movies. It’s a relatively simple idea which allows the stunt performer to sit on top of a vehicle while the actor is in the car making it look like they are driving when in fact the man / woman up top has complete control of the vehicle!

Larry Rippenkroeger and Alex KingWe got to have a go at this amazing piece of kit which A Good Day to Die Hard Vehicle Co-Ordinator Alex King had built especially for use on this driving experience day. Although he didn’t design the pod originally, he tells us that the technology has been used for quite a number of years now and it’s become commonplace in movies where a car stunt sequence is used to make the action look as authentic as possible but without risking the actors inside the cars.

A Good Day to Die Hard DVDLet’s start of with an interview from Mr. Rippenkroeger who talks us through working on A Good Day to Die Hard. His story is rather amazing after he was seriously injured in Die Hard 4.0 after falling 25 feet to concrete. After a miraculous recovery, he’s back for the fifth installment of the Die Hard franchise and was pleased to put the past behind him. Larry also talks about the extended cut version of the Blu-ray as it has a longer sequence from the G-Wagon and armoured car as they shot it for 2 months but he was rather disappointed when they didn’t use so much of it in the original theatrical version of the movie. We also try and get some info on Die Hard 6 but Larry knows just as much as we do at this point!

Larry Rippenkroeger Interview – Bruce Willis’ Stunt Double

Our Turn to Drive the Pod!

The final part of the day was all geared around driving the G-Wagon that we get to see John McClane drive through the streets of Moscow smashing through anything in his path. We got to speak to A Good Day to Die Hard Vehicle Co-Ordinator Alex King whose job it is to source every single vehicle that you get to see in the movie. He works very closely with the art department to make sure that all the vehicles that they use in the movie are fit for purpose. He talks about the huge armoured vehicle that they use in the movie. The real-life version if 30 tonnes with a maximum speed of 30mph which doesn’t make for a great chase sequence so in the end they decided to build 4 of them from scratch to fulfill the purpose as required from director John Moore and to make the sequences much more fun and entertaining to the viewer.

Alex King Interview – A Good Day to Die Hard Vehicle CoOrdinator

Our Turn to Drive the G-Wagon

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After a fantastic day at Mercedes Benz World, we now feel equipped to take on the world of stunt driving and feel like we could give  even John McClane run for his money!

A Good Day To Die Hard out on DigitalHD™, Blu-ray and DVD.

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