Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Enemy of the State (1998)
0 Plays2 seconds ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris pay homage to the late Gene Hackman by discussing his co-starring role with Will Smith in the 1998 Tony Scott thriller, Enemy of the State.
Smith plays Robert Clayton Dean, a labor lawyer in Washington D.C. who inadvertently comes into possession of evidence of the NSA Assistant Director Thomas Reynold (Jon Voight) overseeing the murder of a congressman. When the NSA believes Dean is hiding the tape from them, they put him under surveillance and destroy his life, forcing him on the run. He eventually finds help in Brill (Hackman), an investigator Dean previously contracted, a former NSA agent now living off the grid. Zach and Chris discuss Jon Voight's star-studded team of goons, including Jack Black and Seth Green; the pivotal importance of an NEC TurboExpress console; sci-fi video manipulation software; how the movie could be a pseudo-sequel to The Conversation; and more.
You can buy or rent Enemy of the State on platforms like AppleTV, Prime Video, and Fandango at Home. Next week, we're heading underground with Stallone in Daylight, as the disaster movie is getting a 4K release.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
Also, subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, & Spotify.
Check us out on Twitter (@evaction), Facebook (www.facebook.com/everything.action), Bluesky (everythingaction.bsky.social), Threads (@everything.action) and Instagram (@everything.action).
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Everything Action Cast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the podcast week of March 3rd, 2025. I'm your host, Zach. I'm your co-host, Chris. And this week we are under surveillance talking about Enemy of the State, the 1998 Tony Scott movie.
Tribute to Gene Hackman
00:00:33
Speaker
Obviously, kind of in memory of Gene Hackman who passed away last week. And as this recording, you know still and details are still coming out about that, but we're not going to really dwell on the strangeness or sadness of his death. We're going honor one of his fun ah performances alongside Will Smith.
00:00:57
Speaker
And also, it's it's it's it's kind of a, if you could think, it's sort of like a pseudo-sequel to one of Gene Hackman's probably, like, most beloved and critically acclaimed movies, like The Conversation. Right.
00:01:07
Speaker
He's kind of the same thing. character, yeah. It's basically, if his character from The Conversation kind of, like, even more paranoid and just became, like, a you know crazy ah crazy hermit who, would like, lived out the grid. I mean, that's what he would do, i think, after that incident.
00:01:21
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:01:24
Speaker
But yeah, of those things I didn't know about that. I didn't i didn't see the conversation list until like way later. And I was like, whoa, this is like definitely like feels like a prequel to Enemy of the State to some degree.
Enemy of the State & The Conversation Connections
00:01:34
Speaker
Yeah. One of the trivia things is that theyre when they're looking up his ah like NSA file later in the movie, they use a picture from the conversation as like his file photo.
00:01:44
Speaker
So cool. I guess maybe they couldn't secure the rights. That would have been nuts it was actually it like it was like actually a like a sequel to Conversation. like um What was it? It was color The Color of Money and was it The Hustler?
00:02:00
Speaker
Were the two sequels? Yeah, Soda sequels. It was supposed to be the same Paul Newman from both. Yeah.
00:02:08
Speaker
But I think it was like an accidental. Like, oh, hey, we just make it a sequel. But here, it's like In this day and age, that would be like a whole big fucking Hollywood secret of like, did you know it is? Oh, like secretly tie in big, like zoom at the end. It's just sort of like, where'd you learn to do that stuff? Like I did it in the past or something. It'd be it'd be like split.
00:02:29
Speaker
and this yeah yeah Oh shit, it's in the ah ah Unbreakable Universe. It's a spiritual sequel. Connected Universe. who like I feel that some people when they write those stories, they don't want to revisit those worlds. but like This is one of those things where because it was like a ah shadow war of secrets and stuff, that it's fine. because It makes sense why this guy is like way more paranoid and way more prepared for what's going on.
00:03:00
Speaker
So I enjoy it more because of that. like it's Maybe some people don't like care about the backstory about Gene Hackman because he's more mysterious, but in this, it's like I like that he basically kept seeing the craziness of technology, and it's just like it's gotten worse since his time.
00:03:17
Speaker
I can't even imagine what his character would be thinking now. Because that's the thing about this movie. For some of the stuff, it's... pretty like it's pretty like cutting edge. like it's It was like a couple years off.
Surveillance Themes and Real-World Parallels
00:03:29
Speaker
Because the whole setup is that there's this surveillance a legislative bill that wants the NSA, like you know John Voight, wants to get passed.
00:03:41
Speaker
ah like the like the The corrupt congressman wants to get passed, which is basically the Patriot Act, which would let you know but obviously would get like you know signed into law like couple years later after this but then no one foresaw smartphones and how people are just like giving up their location to like mcdonald's on a daily basis so and you everyone everyone everyone's being tracked all the time now and that no one cares oh it's like in order to use this app and to get saved like three cents you basically sell your data to a company that wants to know where you've been at these hours yeah
00:04:18
Speaker
So weird, right? But it's like, today today, day and age. Also, it's so much like, I always think about it, so much white noise that, like, it's hard for one, for the government to care about, like, one person, unless it's, like, you give them weird reason to.
00:04:35
Speaker
yeah You know, keywords, or the if, like, you're, like, searching for weird stuff, or... Yeah, yeah. I mean, they kind of, they point it out where it's like, yeah, that's just fun. And it's like, Jerry Bruckheimer and, um, who was the writer of this one?
00:04:51
Speaker
Uh... It was... David Marconi. Marconi, yeah. And it's like, he just saw, like, David Marconi's writing definitely has, like, a theme. Because even, like, Live Free and Die Hard, his follow-up after this is, like, the same concept, but, like, way worse. Mm-hmm.
00:05:12
Speaker
So he definitely has a thing about um the don't trust the government. um If you like actually look through his feature film lists, one of them is the foreigner.
00:05:25
Speaker
So it's like another like don't listen to the government, they're listening on you. Be a rogue person. But I guess they couldn't get Jackie Chan to be believable hacker.
00:05:38
Speaker
Yeah, so I think the um the the kind of like the legislative part of it and like the surveillance, like a little bit like it doesn't completely fall into like you know the like level of like the Nets, where it's just like ah totally laughable... like it's oh oh didn't in the Net, like she broke a secret file or something like that, and that's what makes her more dangerous?
00:06:02
Speaker
it was It was something that was like, I'm sure the time was like, oh shit, computers could do that? And now it's like, yeah yeah it's not like no yeah no. This is a little more believable because they do explain that there there has to be like all these things they need to do in order to record data back then.
00:06:20
Speaker
They have like surveillance teams, then like, oh, the signal, and it's all black and white still, like or green. Yeah. and' still And there's still like surveillance satellites. They're so still using like those you know those parabolic microphones. so Yeah, but yeah i mean even how they hide it. It's it's only it's funny, um because some of the real other things are just, like by today's standards, like nanny cam equipment.
00:06:45
Speaker
Yeah, like like a ah giant, like by by today's standards, like a giant camera that is like in like a button of a jacket where it's like, oh my gosh, it's so small and hidden. No could notice it.
00:06:57
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah. um But i think the only detection is that like the the radio waves is pretty much the same. That hasn't like not like it's really hard to fake that the transmission in the air.
00:07:11
Speaker
Unless there's something even crazier they got going on that the government doesn't want to let us know. Where it's like... It's like, we don't use radio waves. We have, like, psychic stenographers.
00:07:24
Speaker
I mean, they would see, I always do all this crazy stuff for, like, the... um Project MK. Yeah, MKL Tron stuff. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it didn't work. It was just, like, a bunch people tripping out.
00:07:35
Speaker
um But yeah, now that's what like about this one, is that there's a lot of source material that they pulled and they did like the best of for a common audience because like even as a kid I watched this movie it was little almost a little young hard to understand like the repercussions of like what the government surveillance was but I like the intensity of just like Will Smith like freaking out and doing whatever but it's like yeah because like Even though he's a lawyer, he's smart. He doesn't get like how like technology like this is out of control.
00:08:04
Speaker
you know It's not like he gets it too. He's just sort of like, oh shit, this this is a camera? I should make a call? like It's a lot of what we know today of what not to do. I do like that Will Smith in this is not like he's not like a former military. He's not a former cop.
00:08:19
Speaker
he's just like He's just a lawyer who doesn't doesn't understand any of like the world he's getting sucked into. He doesn't even understand how like to buy lingerie. so I'm fine with
Character Analysis: Will Smith's Role
00:08:29
Speaker
that. but yeah excuse He's constantly screwing up. um yeah like yeah He's like he's doing like he see it calling people he should be calling. He's ah you is not aware of the tracking devices that are on him. which and then luck luckily like Luckily, when he finally meets Gene Hackman, he's just understanding a little little bit.
00:08:51
Speaker
but yeah yeah so It takes a while.
00:08:56
Speaker
It takes a while for him to kind of make all these mistakes first, and I do appreciate that, um just because it's spaced out. like You get enough Will Smith alone that if you are big Will Smith fan, he does carry it, but then it gets better when G. Hackman shows up.
00:09:14
Speaker
yeah so I'm trying to think... um I guess he wouldn't have been okay if he never gave Jason Lee his business card. that kind of like that's successive like yeah That's kind of like the thing that destroys his whole life.
00:09:27
Speaker
He just gives Jason Lee or he runs it to him the laundry shop like his business card. Jason Lee's like on the run. It's weird because it's not like Jason Lee is high-profile client or or someone that, um like,
00:09:44
Speaker
Will Smith saw on TV and was like, ooh, I want to get his business or like, want to defend you. They went to college together. He's like, oh, hey, it's you from college. And then Jason's like, help me. He's like, okay, here's my card.
00:09:58
Speaker
True, but it's like when you see something like that, you know, his like he's Will Smith works with like criminals. he's ah He's a labor lawyer. lawyer Yeah, but I mean. He works like unions. Yeah.
00:10:13
Speaker
No, one one was blatantly the mob, and he kind of knew. Well, he's he's he's like, he's up against, like, yeah, he's like, trying to, like, his clients are like, want him to, like, know, go after the mob, which is led by Tom Sizemore.
00:10:26
Speaker
one of the many One of the many, many that guys in this movie. so But it's not like Jason Leigh was being beat up by like a lever. He wasn't being chased by like a lever force or something. Or like a hobsters. It was just sort of like, Jason Leigh just screams, help me, and then runs out the door. And and then Will Smith is like, anyway.
00:10:43
Speaker
yeah it He doesn't think about it. He doesn't tell his wife, like, oh, I saw my friend from college. like He looked like kind of in panic. I gave him my business. He doesn't even review it with like his wife.
00:10:54
Speaker
Well, he just mentioned it because he also got hit by a fire truck. Well, the fire truck part is more important, but doesn't mention he gave him his business card. Yeah. like Oh, anyway, I met this guy and he got hit by the truck. But it's like, oh, I think that's what stands out more as the truck part, not like he screamed help me and then ran out then got hit by a truck. like Well, Smith would have way more questions as a lawyer going like what happened? Why did this happen? Who was he running from?
00:11:20
Speaker
didn Didn't even question that. He's just like, all right. That was weird. He doesn't even tell the police he witnessed him. He doesn't even tell them the police he he was one of the last people to meet him in like the shop.
00:11:34
Speaker
Yeah, then... Because they have surveillance footage. I guess they would eventually... John Voight and his crew of... Which we have to talk about. John Voight's crew. um they would have They have footage of him in the shop. with just leaves that Eventually, would I guess they would have honed in him anyway at some point. But...
00:11:50
Speaker
If he didn't give him his he would have had a little bit more time to not be... Assault on the other Yeah, yeah. I mean, here's the chance, too. I like how they they they come up with some fake...
00:12:03
Speaker
um The only reason why they think Will Smith has it is they have this like future AI algorithm that predicts shadows. We don't even have that today. don't even think we have that today. like that No.
00:12:14
Speaker
that was That's nonsense. That's absolute nonsense. See what I mean? It wasn't like they saw it There wasn't an agent chasing after him. they just They did a scan of the bag before and after or something like that. and then After? No. They did like a...
00:12:27
Speaker
no yeah they did like a um like ah they they they can make like a 360 rotation of like it's because it's a static security camera, but then the computers can do an algorithm like rotate the the image even though there's not a camera on the other side of the image. How would it know the other side look like? No idea.
00:12:46
Speaker
Well, Jack Black explains that it can like it predicts it uses algorithms to predict like what it looks like. But that's AI. It can't be like algorithm. you know It's just like, but what algorithm knows that? Weird.
00:12:57
Speaker
The way it rotates and and how it looks is like it's like Minority Report. It's like future tech. We were talking about like everything else is kind of like um you realistic 90s kind of like you'd expect the United States to have this kind of technology.
00:13:11
Speaker
This is just like sci-fi like yeah like Tom Cruise rotating with his hands with hand gloves on holographic screen tech.
00:13:23
Speaker
Yep. That's why I'm like, i I guess, like, this is the crux. Like, they could explained it better where they one agent was there, runs in, sees the camera, and then says, we got to go after him.
00:13:35
Speaker
or Or, like, you know, they they do something else. Something a little more convenient. But anyone in that but almost looks like a sex club lingerie store could have taken the photo thing or anything.
00:13:48
Speaker
Or taken the card. Mm-hmm. So, I don't know. I always felt like that was the one weak gimmick point, but they they glance over real quick. it's I'm only making a big deal because it's just like they spent a lot ah visual tech that just didn't exist. yeah The other weird thing about Jason Lee, too, is that he kind of he feels like he should be like a straight-up hacker. like he should Like he hacked into the NSA and like got this secret foot or something. That makes sense. But then but but he's a biologist. He's like a bird scientist that's studying birds. Ornithologist.
00:14:20
Speaker
Ornithologist, yeah. Yeah, he's not. He's just like, he looks like ah the typical hacker's den. and you Yeah, he has like yeah say a custom like operating system with like a custom like loading bar for like his when he's downloading like the footage to his ah disk.
00:14:36
Speaker
Mind you, that is a custom OS yeah or like a Facebook lift of it, like a facelift of a system, right? right Yeah. um That's before the internet.
00:14:48
Speaker
So he built that shit and like, or like, you know, At home? What?
00:14:56
Speaker
And it's not even his, like, main, you know interest. His interests are, like, Canadian geese.
00:15:03
Speaker
And it's not even the hacker thing played into ah the camera. It's not like he hacked into the camera feed, then downloaded the camera feed into his home. He he physically drove there, picked up the thing, and then, i don't know, it was the most, like, complicated...
00:15:18
Speaker
video card I've seen? It looked like a cassette tape? Or is that like a hard drive he's got? Like an SD card? I think the the camera had like some sort of like mini cassette. I don't think it was a VHS. It was sort like 90s mini disc or something.
00:15:33
Speaker
But then he doubt downloaded the footage to his computer and then he copied the video file to like a some sort of was yeah i was They didn't have SD cards back then. No, it's just like um state first yeah like a a ninety late 90s floppy disk.
00:15:50
Speaker
So yeah, it's just like weird tech that, I don't know, was maybe very niche at the time. um well he he does't he He does have a Turbo Express like ah portable game console. so Which, I feel like this is like the only movie in history where a TurboGrafx-16 Express is one of the pivotal parts of the movie.
00:16:11
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of forget that. That it's like the same size as the disc where you can just put it in. It's just like, they definitely had some excess turbographic like discs left. And then they used it as a movie prop.
00:16:23
Speaker
And then they were trying to maybe this will hopefully sell more turbographic things. i think I think it was dead by that point. they're paid but They probably were able to like, at the time there was probably like, you know, no one's buying these things, but they're cheap. We can just get one and like scrap it for a prop.
00:16:38
Speaker
Maybe. now Now they're like, now they're like, i'm sure they're like I don't know how much the TurboGrafx Express goes for now, but I'm sure it's playing 400. Yeah. yeah I mean, depend on the condition, but yeah, those aren't like cheap pieces of shit, even though they're not amazing.
00:16:52
Speaker
At least I don't think so. I didn't grow up with it. i also didn't like a lot of ah I don't know. like once i Once I heard about console gaming, I was like in 1998. Yeah, PS1 all the way.
00:17:04
Speaker
no No more handheld for a while.
00:17:08
Speaker
Where am I going? staying home playing Resident Evil 2. and
00:17:15
Speaker
but um yeah the 1998. Speaking of consoles, like the PlayStation makes an appearance in this. You saw that? Playing Jet Moto 2, I think? but Yeah, whatever. whatever order to do yeah whatever yeah It's surprising that it was like an actual game and not just like some bullshit made up.
00:17:36
Speaker
Yeah, it it just didn't... like Are they also going to find another disc inside Jet Moto? Like some sort of other part 2 of the footage? It's like... I forget what show it was. i think I think it was that show Life.
00:17:49
Speaker
you but like What's his name from like Billions and Band of Brothers? like like So they had to play Prince of Persia to unlock the secret like criminal file. Oh my god, I think you're right.
00:18:02
Speaker
It's like... gotta to and then i we unlock the secret code. The secret file.
00:18:13
Speaker
And this was that era where like nerds weren't really paying attention to how movies were representation, like the the hobby and the art. And then you you get away with shit like that. hmm.
00:18:25
Speaker
i do I do appreciate that there's, um when Will Smith comes home after he sees Jason Lee getting it like run over by a firetruck, the subtle, like his son is like asking about the Christmas presents, which you you don't like clock at time, or you might clock it a little bit, but then it it becomes like, it reveals like so much later, where it's like, oh, his son snooped and stole the TurboGrafx-X-X Express. That's why it wasn't there. That's why it was in the bag of like all the toys he bought.
00:18:54
Speaker
Because if they did, this would have been actually lot faster. The NSA people would have been like, well, okay, good job, and just left.
00:19:02
Speaker
They wouldn't need to steal his blender and stress his house. Also, if they didn't steal the blender... You know what's even funny? I thought the blender would come back as ah like an irony thing, where like Will Smith uses the blender, the blender's Chuck Pit, like one of the villains...
00:19:18
Speaker
Yeah, you should smash over someone's head or like you know grind someone's hand in it or something. oh my god There's so much like so much blender talk. He's like, I love that blender. Well, okay, what makes sense later is um if they use the blender, because they're making like drinks out of it, they throw the blender into the surveillance camera to turn the system down or something.
00:19:40
Speaker
Because for, like, all the surveillance equipment, and they're having a shitload of liquids next to it. You know, it's, like, still 1998. There's this, like, coming out of the rain, like, wearing raincoats, like, right next to this, like, probably sensitive equipment, all wet.
00:19:53
Speaker
And also drinking blending, like, juices right in there. I'm just like... Ew. Also, there's no sink, so where are they washing that? Yeah.
00:20:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's fucking Jamie Kennedy Seth Green just, like, in that van, just, like, drinking... Just, like, not watching the blender, just drinking juice. And then... Don't forget, Savannah's is, like, a long-term thing. So they're, like, on a stakeout. That is eight hours of them in this blender that's even older.
00:20:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:22
Speaker
Gross. Uh... But... yeah ah I was going to say, we we should... might Like, so, like... like i so I want to run down, like, just, like, John Floyd's team, because he's kind of, like... Yeah, okay. So... So John Foy is the main bad guy. He's like the deputy director of the and NSA or something. And he's like you know he he kills a congressman, played by Jason Robards, who is my congressman in the reality of this world like because he's from Syracuse.
00:20:49
Speaker
So I would be in his congressional district. so they murdered my congressman.
00:20:55
Speaker
Because he's he's not going to sign, he he's not, ah like, for this bill or this legislation that would, like, give the and NSA, like, way more power, way more surveillance powers. Okay, but you're just excited because you get to get a Syracuse congressman area, like, check.
00:21:10
Speaker
Because most of the time it's, like, someone from another state, completely, like, different. But it's so random that it is Syracuse. its It wasn't, like, Syracuse is known as an anti-piracy, like, state.
00:21:22
Speaker
And just like, it's just like constantly saying like, he's from Syracuse, New York. He's from Syracuse, New York. They were trying to make it happen. They were just like, come to Syracuse where we won't spy on you.
00:21:35
Speaker
Well, Syracuse comes out like, but Unica is like very rare. Like, it's like only the Simpsons. Simpsons in like, yeah office. Yeah. Like, Unica. Yeah. It's like I said, like, it's just this weird, like, let's just try something different.
00:21:48
Speaker
But Also, they want it, maybe, okay, in a dumb way, they want it like a state that's close to D.C., but isn't, like, Delaware or something Maryland, so John Voight isn't, like, I don't know, ah traveling to the West Coast.
00:22:02
Speaker
Mm-hmm. But... Everyone's only traveling in Washington, D.C., or Baltimore, so... No no one's, like, going out of state, and really, in this movie. No, they're all, like, thank God everything is within here.
00:22:16
Speaker
Like... like You know how much of a big area net to do a national manhunt, but it's just like a city hunt? Okay. When people say enemy of the state, they don't mean just one state.
00:22:30
Speaker
They usually mean all the states. But it just seems like Will Smith is the enemy of Baltimore. or Washington, D.C. Is the enemy of the states? Is the enemy of... District of Columbia.
00:22:42
Speaker
yeah so I'm like, okay.
00:22:46
Speaker
But yeah. I just found that everything was drivable.
00:22:53
Speaker
But yeah, John Boyd's team. so He kills the senator, and then he has his crack team includes Jack Black, Scott Kahn, Jake Busey, Jamie Kennedy, Seth Green, um... Is there... you seen anybody? There's there's like's like... like his is so Oh, Pepper.
00:23:17
Speaker
That's his main henchman, though. Well, his main henchman is... ah ah it's not It's not like a... Oh, shit. it's like a like and like It's like I think he's been in stuff, but he's not really at the level of like... Oh, it's oh shit. it's It's like Jack Black.
00:23:35
Speaker
I get it. But yeah, that would be a reversal fortunes there. Lauren Dean...
00:23:41
Speaker
was he in before? i think ah he's been on, i think he was on Bones after this and a couple other things. But he's like, he's like John Voight's like the main, like, he's like main like, like henchman in like NSA, like, we yeah like constantly running in, like giving up phone calls and stuff.
00:23:57
Speaker
No, but that's his like business manager guy, because that guy is sort of like, yeah, yeah, he's just the secretary to John Voight. I think Barry Purpose the one who's like his like killed person, like his assassin.
00:24:10
Speaker
Well, they hired... Jake Busey and Scott Conner mercenaries they hired from army? No, no. They're um military discharge. They wanted outside help. or my Moralities are like weird.
00:24:22
Speaker
Because they want to basically say, we're going some crime. They're like, yeah, we we're for crime. It's a training operation. i think that's what they tell Seth Green and Jack Black.
00:24:34
Speaker
think everyone else is in on it.
00:24:40
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it's it's it's kind of it's hard to tell, like, are they all, they like, 100% in on it? Yeah. Are some of them just kind of like, oh, this is just like a like ah like a super realistic training operation?
00:24:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's not clear, but you're supposed to just maybe assume that Seth Green, Jamie Kennedy, there they they're just training and not, like,
00:25:10
Speaker
thinking this is a super real thing. Okay, this is little spoiler alert. Does Seth Green die the movie? That's what I was going to bring I feel like he just disappears and then we don't know what happened to him. like somewhere like Because he doesn't go to the shootout or the raid on Gene Hackman's building.
00:25:34
Speaker
i feel like i feel like before the building explodes, he's already vanished. We don't really know where he's going. He's just like, screw this. This is too real for a training.
00:25:45
Speaker
I have to have to go ah ah join like Mark Wahlberg's ah crime group. but Crime beef ring.
00:25:56
Speaker
yeah We got a job in italy to do
00:26:02
Speaker
Italy to do. That grouping is just is ah is a nuts. like all All those guys on one team in the same movie. Mm-hmm. They really want to, like, too much young guys involved. All, like, white, funny people.
00:26:16
Speaker
I guess they, like, John Voight just assumes have, like, no technology, maybe, or something. He's like, I don't understand technology. These young guys do. even though I run the NSA, I'm like, yeah what a top-tier NSA guy.
00:26:29
Speaker
yeah I feel like he should be more aware of how, like, spying is done, because that's his job. That's why he can't be a director. I think Gene Hackman is like, oh, he's...
00:26:40
Speaker
He's not an operative. He's a politician. He doesn't understand anything. He doesn't know what's going on. or like He doesn't really understand the game he's in. Maybe. Maybe that's why. But for a guy who's been playing the political game and not ignoring a lot of technology game, it just it just seems weird.
00:26:59
Speaker
At least know your product. you know It's not like it's just the CEO who doesn't understand his product. It's like, every day you're getting reports about spying using various techniques like this. And it's just like, there's a camera on there? Like, it says a mic
00:27:13
Speaker
on it? The other thing about this movie, too, is like so along with like all those guys in that one team, like it's like every five to ten minutes, there's like another person shows up who's like super recognizable. you're just like, oh!
00:27:24
Speaker
Alright, this person's this movie. Like, which example? Like, Philip Baker Hall is, like like, Will says boss. like Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Gabriel Byrne is the fake Gene Hackman who shows up to, like, meet Will Smith, he's like, hey, I'm Brill. I'm getting you out of here.
00:27:42
Speaker
You know, it's funny. If you've never seen this movie before, you don't think Brill is the main person yet. It's not like Gene Hackman is Brill, and just as you know, you just... you just kind of are introduced to like, yeah, I guess Gabriel could be Brill and then it's like Gene Hackman could be the true partner or whatever. It's like, well, I'm not the real Brill.
00:27:59
Speaker
it It is a little suspension of belief. it It would make sense that Gene Hackman would hire ah hire a guy yeah to play hit, like to like weed people out. Yep. thats I thought that would could happen too.
00:28:12
Speaker
So to find out that no, straight up, that's just like an NSA agent who's really good at acting and and and sort of like Well, good at acting if if the person you're interacting with is not, and it if he's just like ah like ah ah a lawyer and not an NSA agent or like a spy.
00:28:31
Speaker
an extremely trustworthy, trusting lawyer whose life is ruined. Well, at that point, you're looking for any help. So it's just like, yeah, i recognize the symbol. Yeah. Come here. I do like that. It's like a neo-noir twist to that, you know? It's just like the the fact that Even as the viewer, you could believe that this could be grill for like a minute because we don't know any better. There's no like Gene Hackman silhouette image or something or like... because of him The first time we see Gene Hackman is so hilarious where it's like that freeze frame of him like in the truck going like, huh?
00:29:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's almost like a commercial for like a car insurance thing. But he's he's like tracking them in like his ah like pickup truck Jeep. And then but yeah there's a Will Smith guy that sees him.
00:29:25
Speaker
And then it's just like this like like to you you typical Tony Scott, like super like like ah stylized slow motion. And Gene Hackman's face is just like, huh?
00:29:38
Speaker
It could be a little more like... I don't know, knowing nod, or even just like an angry face, and then it's just like, that stands out, but Evan Gene Hackman looked like he just, he accidentally hit this person, you know, like this wasn't a planned thing, this was just like a complete, legit car accident.
00:29:54
Speaker
Oh shit, I have no insurance. Yeah. I live off the grid. I'm out here. on that You know what would funny in a weird version of this movie? It's like, Gene Hackman actually happens to be ah another hacker, but it's good he's, he like, the other guy is actually the real grill.
00:30:12
Speaker
But Gene Hackman is, like, secretly the better hacker, but because of this car accident, he, like, has to then join them or something. Like...
00:30:21
Speaker
You owe money for my car. Yeah. It's like, ah, can pay you in, like, exile money? Because Gene Hackman is just sort of, like, living off the grid. I can hack into the slush funds.
00:30:35
Speaker
Yeah, now, there definitely is going to some dumb version. I could see this nightmare now of them trying to remake Enemy of the State from the modern times, and it's like... They can really do something dumb, where it's just like, oh, it's like, do you have any cash? And don't believe in cash. I i have ah crypto, and it's just like... Schmeckles or something.
00:30:57
Speaker
Because another thing in this movie, like, they... They don't threaten money over Will Smith. This movie's all about, like, threatening people with, like, fake relationships and like the like classic scandals where it's like check out who he's talking to maybe they're doing it maybe they're doing it like that's what's holding will smith a little bit like he's more pissed about that yeah they they they make it seem like he is he's been like doing illegal activities at his job with like ah a mobster like setting up some sort of uh i don't know like a a bank account or something like in like doing like like
00:31:32
Speaker
feeding this guy, like, money or something. And then, ah yeah, then they they freeze his, all his money, and then they they do they do the, ah like, fake story about him and Lisa Bonet having an affair.
00:31:46
Speaker
Which was true, like, couple, guess they had an affair a couple years ago, but then they, like, they worked it out, but then they brought it back up be like, oh, look, he's, Washington lawyer, like, is having an affair.
00:32:02
Speaker
yeah what are the odds that this just worked out for them as like a story? It was so convenient. they're like, yeah, no, these two people who are obviously an affair people, but they still work with each other professionally because they care. Or she cares.
00:32:17
Speaker
She's the intermediary for his ah investigator he's never seen.
00:32:23
Speaker
and he's never actually heard about the investigator's name until now.
00:32:29
Speaker
I mean, i get it, but it's like
00:32:33
Speaker
It definitely worked out that all this was, like, a line for him. and That this investigator guy happens to be like, the godfather to this girl. and Yes.
00:32:46
Speaker
They really made a mistake by killing her. And she's killed off, like... Just so, like, hey, anyway, she's dead. Alright. Like, you know, it should have been, like, the big breaking point where he gets introduced or something.
00:32:59
Speaker
what Another plot. It's weird, because it's after... the initial Gene Hackman at intro where yeah he he finally, he finally, they they finally come to face to face. He finds most, he like helps Will Smith get all of his like surveillance equipment, but like stuff off, except for like like the belt's the one left.
00:33:17
Speaker
But then he's like, they're on the roof. He's like, get away from, like, just run, get away from me. Like,
00:33:24
Speaker
like, I don't, ah I'm already like, I'm already, I'm off the grid. I'm off the grid again. So, yeah, it's a different introduction. I feel like it's like two introductions they do in this.
00:33:36
Speaker
But it's fine, because by then by the second time, like they really build trust, and then it's it's sort of like they're definitely complete opposites, which I like. um And they're them teaming up is just them trying to figure out like why it's happening, and it it gets some classic like detective story from there.
00:33:53
Speaker
the Completely two different lifestyles, and and sort of like the dynamics, but it would have been funny if Will Smith was like, we have to tell the law, like, and then, you know, way more crazy, like pro surveillance. And then like, Will Smith is, still not believing or something like that.
00:34:14
Speaker
Well, they were, the reason they killed Lisa Bonet is because they wanted to make him look like a murder suspect. And it would be like even easier for them to find him because then the cops would be after him along with them. they could they They could do like a a bolo for like a murder suspects.
00:34:28
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So that makes them the enemy of just Maryland. This movie probably was called Enemy of Maryland, and they're just like we gotta to call them the state. ah But, yeah, it's smart. It's ah it's definitely like a... canpi It's a smart... and oh It's a clever conspiracy thing to put the pressure and then use, basically, like this hidden government that hides behind like other...
00:34:49
Speaker
like crimes, I guess. but crazy It's crazy how fast they work, considering it's the federal government, because like they destroy his life in a day. like it's it's all It's all one day. like He loses his job. but all his All his money's gone.
00:35:04
Speaker
They freeze all his bank accounts. He gets kicked the house because Regina King thinks he's having an a affair. And then today it's yeah like it's all one day. He's like, well, my life is destroyed now.
00:35:16
Speaker
Yeah, no one wants to be his friend.
00:35:20
Speaker
And then I wonder if he gets his job back later in the future. where she' like Anyway, the treason charges cleared up. i i didn't I didn't read. there's like a There's a newspaper thing at the end where I think it just says like washington like ah Washington lawyer cleared of all charges or something. But I don't know if it said he got his job back or not.
00:35:38
Speaker
yeah I wouldn't walk walk work back there because pretty much your company was just like, we can't have you here. yeah I feel he also burned the bridges pretty good. I'm just like, well, he basically just said, oh, fuck you. Like, you're not going to back me up.
00:35:52
Speaker
That's true. and they're like, and Fulbright girl's hill like, no, we're not.
00:35:58
Speaker
You're fired.
00:36:05
Speaker
But yeah, but yeah, ah
00:36:09
Speaker
so, like, oh, there's, there's a crazy, ah like hotel sequence. That's out of a different movie.
Action Packed Escapes and Chase Scenes
00:36:19
Speaker
After Gene Hagen helps him like get all the all this the tracking stuff off, he like he still has there's his belt still has a tracking device.
00:36:28
Speaker
And then there's the whole crazy sequence where he he's like Barry Pepper and Scott Conner after him. it's also It's also crazy because Scott Conner got bit by Bosa's dog. There's this runner where he's like his hand is all swollen up. He's like, I have raies but think i got rabies. I have rabies.
00:36:44
Speaker
So he can't use, like, he open the door because has giant bandage on it.
00:36:49
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of forgot that because ah it's sort of like the the thriller tension, but then they kind of break it up with, like, a comedy scene where Will Smith is stripping for a Chinese couple. Yes, that's what he did. So he breaks into the hotel room that's like Mr. mr and Mrs. wu and he just starts ripping his clothes off, and the Mrs. Wu's like, yeah, yeah!
00:37:13
Speaker
This is a great time in America. Woo! Like, man, I remember seeing that, and that's just so stereotypical, but it's out context because this is a nice hotel, and it's not like this just happened. Unless this woman's like, I don't know, like, not all there.
00:37:31
Speaker
And Mr. Woo's just sort like, ah hey, don't do this for my wife. i don't care who you are. Like, don't... Did Mrs. Smooth think like is her husband ordered her like a stripper or something? If it was more of a comedy, she would say, thank you for this gif of giving me like a private stripper in this like our romantic getaway you yeah into D.C.
00:37:51
Speaker
ah But it's not. It's just sort of like, hey, hey, like this is a well. It's not like they're at a Holiday Inn. They're at some sort of like everyday people. I think everyone there is a business person in that hotel or something.
00:38:02
Speaker
Oh, yeah. It's it's it's like a ah very, like, it seems like an upscale kind of, like, Washington, like, is it, is is that the same hotel that the senator goes to, and like later?
00:38:15
Speaker
Wait, is it? if If it's not, it it looks very similar. Well, and it's like another one. they're like very It's like copy-paste, nice hotel. but yeah yeah But, you know what I mean? like it It's just an excuse to get, ah like, Will Smith in a bathrobe.
00:38:31
Speaker
Which, if you remember the trailers, they really promote that scene. Yeah, that that the whole the whole scene of hit yeah like him running in the sewer, like running down the street in bathrobe, that's like super... It's like all over the promo shots, over the trailers. like It's like very like, why is Will Smith running around bathrobe?
00:38:48
Speaker
Although, I don't understand his plan. guess I kind understand because he gets out, because the paramex him out. But he sets a fire in the Jader's closet, and then he almost burns alive. Yeah.
00:39:01
Speaker
It's such a dumb plan because he essentially could have just blacked out from the smoke, which he does, and then has to hope that the ambulance gets there and, like, opens the door. Or that, the like, the it's like the firemen or the paramedics get in that but room before, you know, the kill crew comes in.
00:39:21
Speaker
ah and But, yeah, but it's like, the the fire gets so out of control so fast. Like, like it It kind of seemed like he was just going to like try to set this so the smoke alarm off. that Yeah, I thought so too. But then it just becomes like an inferno.
00:39:35
Speaker
He's just in there and he almost almost killed himself. This would have been like only an hour long then. Mm-hmm. But yeah, it works out. He he steals a like he steals like a cop's gun and the ambulance runs out.
00:39:49
Speaker
There's a whole crazy chase in the sewer where like, uh, Harry Pepper's got, like, like like i they're driving a car into like this this like sewer system because there's an entrance to get in there. Yeah, that that whole sewer system thing almost could have been its own movie of him trying to outrun a sewer and the, like,
00:40:09
Speaker
court authority people or whatever, like the high the tunnel authorities, like, doing civilians.
00:40:20
Speaker
But yeah, he just yeah just so but he just managed to get out and then he finally then he finally gets home and he finally figures out that his son has termographics express that he needs.
00:40:34
Speaker
And the good thing the son didn't, like, throw it away or put it back or just sort of, like, knew it just was crappy. He just has it. he's always He just has it in his bag. Ready to go.
00:40:47
Speaker
But it doesn't work. it just It just comes up like it it just comes like really but like distort is like it's broken. It just comes like weird like blurry images.
00:41:00
Speaker
it have been funny if like somehow he was able to play that movie on the TurboGrafx. Oh jeez, yeah. like some Like some weird... um Like if you do the Konami code or something, it starts playing it. It's like, what is this?
00:41:19
Speaker
Also, Willis' Nanny also seems like very like fine with like her boss... her boss ah like forcing her to like drive her him around, in the back like hiding in the back seat.
00:41:33
Speaker
She is super loyal to the like job. The deans, yeah. And then is ah only not only that, also putting her own son in the car. like She just doesn't understand really what's at stake.
00:41:46
Speaker
because I think at that point, like all the news is on the online, like the Bolo's, right? like i don't think he I don't think he's a murder suspect yet, but there is like like this the news that he's like he's like a corrupt like he's working with criminals, like he might be like ah like a corrupt, like he's working with like mobsters, he's having an affair. Okay, okay. we I don't think like that story that they were going to to put out of him killing Lisa Bonet is out there yet, but...
00:42:18
Speaker
He's still he stills acting very shady, and then it's like, alright. Yeah. but Why does she have like a like a like a police cage in the back of her car, though? maybe Is that a dog cage or something, maybe? Because there's like a wire cage that like we specifically is like behind. He's like in the but But she has like a like a like ah it's like a dog cage kind of set up in the back. You know what I think it is?
00:42:46
Speaker
Like, Will Smith has the dog cage in his house. Because he has a dog. So, did he make the maid? But it's not... it's not most He's not in a dog cage, though. It's just like... It's kind of like you know how like ah ah like a police car has... like the all like a barrier?
00:43:02
Speaker
Like a barrier kind of thing? It's just like that's like in your car. But...
00:43:09
Speaker
yeah was saying, maybe, like, Will Smith has it, and somehow he made his maid do it, so that he can do that. You know, like, weird choice.
00:43:18
Speaker
and don't know, maybe she also is a dog sitter on the side? We don't know. There's a whole side plot this movie that got edited out. Oh, you know who I could never figure out, too, is... i think it's I think it's Regina King's friend who hates Will Smith.
00:43:32
Speaker
Oh, I thought she was gonna, like... Something's gonna happen to her. But yeah she's just, like, even... even i think it's even before... but guess i guess simply it's, like, when the affair stuff comes, he's like, you son of a bitch. And then, like, when when he called when he calls her from, like, the gas station, and she's just, like... She's just, like, fuck you, Will Smith. I hate you. like Well, they definitely, like, she was the best friend, and then she was part of that, like, affair.
00:43:58
Speaker
So, like, she knew. so she just was super untrustworthy of Will Smith.
00:44:05
Speaker
But that was another, like, Will Smith's mistake of calling from the the gas station and not realizing that they would bug bug every person. Basically, every person he they would bug at their phone. Yep.
00:44:19
Speaker
And also, I feel like Gene Hackman in that gas station... Like, you know, he's, he's like this, like, you know, expert NSA former, like agent he knows everything about surveillance. He gives them the most crystal clear head on shot into that security camera.
00:44:35
Speaker
It's like, it's almost like he, like he, it's like he, it's's it's like he deliberately did it, but like he clearly did it because that's how they track him to like his building. But it's just like, he's just like, shit like he's basically waving at the camera.
00:44:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think, like, if he had some sort of tinfoil on his face, or a hat, that would be nice. I feel like he would recognize where all the cameras were and just, like, be able to avoid them because that's what he does on, like, the roof with, like, the satellites, because they're like, oh, man, he's not looking up. he We don't we can't we never can't tell who he is. but you just gives them, like, the absolute perfect shot so they can do, like, the facial recognition and figure out who he is. Yeah.
00:45:18
Speaker
And then they have they track him to is is like his secret bunker with like the Faraday cage. and then he And then he has to blow it up. Which is, I think, an iconic moment from this movie. It almost is like a Darkman thing.
00:45:32
Speaker
at Like the the self-destruct in the... your paranoid hacker cave. That's cool. like I like that it's complicated and that Gene Hackman's cat is like his priority sometimes.
00:45:49
Speaker
But they ask and but his his getaway car is also... I don't know what's going on in that car, but like it gets bumped once and it erupts in flames. Oh, yeah. He did not take care of his equipment.
00:46:01
Speaker
know Gene Hackman's only good car was the Jeep, so his backup car was some piece of shit. like Yeah, it's like an El Camino. But then I think he mentions... It's like, oh, I think the gas line got ruptured or something.
00:46:14
Speaker
and Then like he's like, put it put it out, and then he opens like the glove box, and he gets set on fire.
00:46:22
Speaker
Which also causes like the ah their their evidence tape to get burned up, they have like no evidence anymore.
00:46:31
Speaker
Which I do like i do like that that that leads into them basically NSA-ing the NSA. like They get to like do like the surveillance and like ruin their lives
Turning the Tables: Hackman and Smith vs. NSA
00:46:40
Speaker
now. it's like It's like a fun like can i twist. It's like fuck with John Voight and like all the other guys.
00:46:48
Speaker
I do like that because basically now you got a guy who basically invented how hack and how to surveillance like covertly. He created like the the tracking devices and everything.
00:47:00
Speaker
So I do appreciate the like the next act is basically the plotting revenge.
00:47:09
Speaker
Yeah, they they they film they film like the evil senator having an affair. They like they they put John Voight on his own TV. And I feel like it's mostly Gene Hackman.
00:47:20
Speaker
they they like ruined They ruined John Voight's credit cards like they did to Will Smith's.
00:47:27
Speaker
They did the like ah romance hinting.
00:47:32
Speaker
ah But do you think that's just Gene Hackman doing all that? like It's just Gene Hackman going to these places and installing the equipment because Will Smith couldn't. I think they were, I mean, it looks like they were doing it together. Although he, and think she happened to himself to John Foyt's house because he's like, Oh, is there something wrong with your electricity? And the maid's like, Oh yeah, there is. come in.
00:47:50
Speaker
they put the name, like it's also the stuff.
00:47:54
Speaker
But then for a NSA guy, he doesn't go, Oh, so like you let in a cable guy into the house. random electronic repairman who we weren't having any like like electrical issues.
00:48:06
Speaker
Didn't get a call about, didn't get like a we didn't call him. you know like Maybe the maid didn't tell him, that maybe that's why the maid. ah He used to Spanish, so that's why the maid. Well, he's trustworthy.
00:48:19
Speaker
I mean, it seems like the maids are the heroes and villains of this movie.
00:48:24
Speaker
They're your downfall. Mm-hmm. or yourre Or your salvation, depending on who it is. Who it is, yeah, yeah. Because ah John Voight would have been like, oh, okay, like now that I know I got hacked, someone put bugs in my house. like How did this happen? It's like, you have NSA working for you.
00:48:44
Speaker
They can find out. You find out from insane things. like You couldn't find out? Use your crazy 360 camera and do a projectile. ah projected algorithm of who entered your house. You know what's even funny, though? like Eventually, then Will Smith just straight up calls Jon Voight.
00:49:04
Speaker
He's like, ah, did you have enough time figuring this out? Well, it's me. Like, oh, okay. Which I don't... Yeah, um like, Gene Hackman, it seems like he has... He's like, oh, alright, the final step of a plan...
00:49:17
Speaker
And he's going is he's trying to like negotiate with John DeVoy to, like, they're trying to, blu I guess, bluff, record him saying something incriminating so that they have, like, actual like evidence of him saying he committed a murder yeah because they don't cause he a tape anymore.
00:49:31
Speaker
But then Gene Hackman's plan falls apart and then Will Smith has, like, improvised the backup plan that Hackman has nothing about. Yep.
00:49:42
Speaker
I thought maybe like later on they would agree to like another plan, or if things go south, we do this. It's not even that. Yeah, it kind of seems like that was like da like... Their plan was make their original plan look like it failed, but then the actual plan was to yeah lure them to Tom Sizemore's restaurant. Yeah, I thought it was that. but But that that's just like like... Will says being like, oh shit, I gotta come for something.
00:50:03
Speaker
What can I do? G-Han was like, what? fuck What the fuck are you... Why are we here? like
00:50:12
Speaker
But yeah, luckily i mean luckily it all works out. ah Will Smith is able to bluff them, and then John Foy and Tom Swanson are so mad each other. its And Jake Busey is so trigger-happy. Yeah. like It worked out perfectly, because it could have not happened.
00:50:34
Speaker
Everyone's dead. Someone had a grenade.
00:50:41
Speaker
it is it's it's ah It is such a crazy ending where it's like every villain is dead, basically. Like, one shot. Where it's like, wow, that worked out well. It's something that like nowadays would be like a Family Guy skit.
00:50:56
Speaker
Or it's like wrapped up tightly. No... no so it's so It's almost like... do you remember... um the end of, like, Bad Lieutenant, Port-A-Call New Orleans where, like, Nicolas Cage, like like, everything works out somehow, and this game is like, good work!
00:51:11
Speaker
Yeah, and you realize you didn't learn from that at all. But, like, Nicolas Cage didn't do anything. It's kind of like, this is like, Will Smith's tied to the table, and it's like, wow, that worked out well. let' written in Well, okay, to be fair, we did say that Will Smith is not supposed to be, like, a soldier. He's not supposed to be, um...
00:51:32
Speaker
Any type of like physical hero, because he just runs around a lot and points. No, yeah, he's not he's not in the final shoot he's not in this like final action. He was just like, shh, cutting guys down. It would make sense for Will Smith, but not for like the story. If you swap Will Smith to someone else, it's like it kind of makes sense that he wouldn't be ready to be an action star.
00:51:49
Speaker
However, i like that basically Will Smith was egging them on with like a little bit of the law stuff. So that was different like to kind of amp up what's at stake. and kind of saying the like crazy, not the crazy thing, but like the triggers to make these people like panic.
00:52:05
Speaker
well You should have started quoting labor laws at both of them. Well, it was another great callback to all the way to the movie where Will Smith had that tape of Tom Sizemore talking to, like like you know, spoozing with like union guys that he's not supposed to.
00:52:22
Speaker
So then it's like, he's got your tape. And then it's like, oh, Tom Sizemore's like, you'll never get that tape. And John DeVoy's like, think And it's like, well, i'm going to buy your tape. He's like, no, you can't buy my tape.
00:52:34
Speaker
Yeah, it works. It's a clever plan. ah i definitely, as a rewatch, I forgot how it all ties in together. Like, there's sort of hinting towards it, but when you see it all come together, just like, realize, improvise plan. It's crazy.
00:52:51
Speaker
Like, Thank God it was a tape and not just a photo. And then also, yeah, then they also like, I feel like it's barely mentioned, but it's like, it's kind of like, it's like a really quick thing in the beginning too, where it's like, the oh, the FBI is like watching this restaurant too, because they're like, you know, they're monitoring Tom Slashmore's like criminal like activities.
00:53:07
Speaker
Right, right. So then that's how they can, that's what they busted at the end to like, you know, arrest anyone else who survived and get what was put out there. Which is, Jack Black and Jimmy Kennedy are like the only survivors
00:53:23
Speaker
Apparently. Unless Seth Green just sort of, like, walked out. which which Which I think we mentioned, like, yeah, Seth Green just disappears. we We have no idea where for Seth Green went. it And then Jack Black ah record, like, I guess maybe, like, he's sensing it going downhill and he he records in the car, John Voight, like, saying he killed everybody. i mean, smart plan, because holy shit.
00:53:51
Speaker
But then it doesn but it't doesn't really go anywhere because like the cop's like, why'd you record it? He's just like, I don't know. like i Because they're like they're like stalling or stonewalling them even though their boss is dead. everyone everyone everyone Everyone's dead. And you don't really get like you don't really get a resolution. like the like They know they're... The cops and the FBI are like, they know their boss is dead, right?
00:54:16
Speaker
I don't know why, though. Maybe they're just to... don't want to get caught more or it's like... They don't want to be like the only guy, like the like the fall guys for everything? Yeah. Because there are only like living guys left.
00:54:27
Speaker
Could be they're afraid the senator could like... Or like whatever of the pro-civilians guy can come back.
00:54:36
Speaker
Well, the bill the bill is defeated ah because... because um Did they reveal the senator has is having affair or there's like blackmailing, it's like, hey, like kill this bill. like all they know is back um Or will show your sex tape.
00:54:52
Speaker
I think it was that, but it's never resolved either because the bill, they did that to make Jon Voight more nervous about like how he'll get thrown under the bus by the senator.
00:55:04
Speaker
But is the senator like the big, big bad guy? he was i think he was the one pushing for like you know this proto-patriot act.
00:55:16
Speaker
And then James Robards was like ah like the and whatever but whatever like committee you're trying to like block it. So so I think Stuart Wilson, who is you know like but like the bad guy from Mask of Zorro and stuff, is the evil senator. And he he is...
00:55:38
Speaker
he's like the main guy trying to push to pass it like working with Jon Voight or maybe not working with Jon Voight just like Jon Voight is like also like hey I want this bill to pass so we'll help this guy. Yeah their relationship isn't quite like defined.
00:55:55
Speaker
Yeah yeah the the Stuart Wilson he's not he's not like a um like Ron Silver in Time Cop level like he's not like manipulating everything. He's just like, i'm a I believe in... so I want a lot of surveillance.
00:56:09
Speaker
Yeah. We're at war with ah you know everybody.
00:56:17
Speaker
And then I guess Will Smith kiss gets cleared.
Themes and Final Reflections
00:56:21
Speaker
We don't know if he gets his job back or hes if he's just going to find another job as a lawyer somewhere else. And then the really like the weird ending where Gene Hackman has left surveillance equipment in uh wilson's house and you like hacks in and it's like hey i'm on the beach see ya yeah
00:56:44
Speaker
it was it's a nice nod to say i'm still alive i guess and then um was there was any question he was like don't think it was a question i think they both knew he was like they were like because like she had was outside the entire time like it's not like he's like oh oh shit she had me got shot and killed in there like yeah Nah, he just wanted to check him in and also maybe to say, I'm watching you. Yeah.
00:57:07
Speaker
I can watch you anytime I want.
00:57:13
Speaker
And then Will Smith is like, instead of being like horrified the GM is surveilling him and watching his house, he's like, oh, like that crazy son of a bitch. like I can't stop you.
00:57:27
Speaker
And he's like talking he's like he's like he's like talking to TV. But it's like a commentary on that, like, even though this is this is the okay surveillance Will Smith's fine with. It's like only if Gene Hackman watches them.
00:57:39
Speaker
As long as their friend's doing it.
00:57:43
Speaker
But he so he's like talking to TV too, and i which I don't know if Gene Hackman can hear him. He's just like, oh man, I wish... Gene Hackman is like, wish you were here in the sand. Will Smith's like, I wish I was there too, buddy.
00:57:55
Speaker
it Didn't Gene Hackman, like, He had to send like a pre-recorded thing about the sand thing, right? like Yeah, I don't... There's no way in the late people would have brought guys live from the Bahamas, wherever he is, to Will Smith's house.
00:58:14
Speaker
God, it'd be like a satellite phone to a satellite laptop. Mm-hmm.
00:58:23
Speaker
there's there There's a lot of taking over people's TVs, which I don't know if that's like a... If you can... That was like ah possible 90s. I mean, it's not so much... like Unless it's like a cable or satellite, it's weird because cable is pretty hard to hack into. Satellite is easier because it's just like an airwave, so it's just picking up little frequency, but... don't know. I feel like the senator would have like premium cable, unless you splice the cable line. But cable lines aren't input.
00:58:53
Speaker
It's a hotel, too. Yeah. Well, in John Voight's house, guess we really know, daughter's just flipping through channels, and she's like, we're on TV! Before I know, she put it on, like, you know, AV mode, and it's just like... He's got a webcam on top of
00:59:19
Speaker
but I do appreciate the, like, twist. It's like, what what the movie goes one way with how Will Smith's life is turmoiled, and then, like, now the villains kind of get their comeuppance of what it's like to be civilians.
00:59:32
Speaker
ah And, yeah, for NSA, they are terrible at, like, I don't know security. Because there's one part and the near the middle where whoever's in charge in the NSA is, like, grilling everyone in that room of, like, how all these leaks and... and orts coming back and they're like gonna find out who
00:59:52
Speaker
yeah i that guy I think I because he's like um and this is a this was ah like a genuine op which I don't think it was if it was whatever but but yeah if if it wasn't someone's getting fired yeah so they're just mad that they didn't think of this yeah or there's there's mad that they have a senator yelling at them about like like They're recording me having sex with my assistant. like Yep.
01:00:22
Speaker
He's more mad about that. Yeah. ah But yeah, that that's secretly enemy this day. It's all about like sanctity of marriage.
01:00:32
Speaker
Oh, and and we forgot. It's also a Christmas movie. So like add this to your holiday, you know, rotation next year for this coming year. because it takes place around Christmas time and there's decorations, there's talk of Christmas, there's my Christmas presents.
01:00:47
Speaker
It is very Christmas-centric. I'm surprised Gene Hackman didn't dress up like Santa at the end. Oh my god, yes! there Instead of like his cop uniform he wears, like he's like a... ah mall Santa? Like a... A bell ringer? salvation army guy in the street, yeah.
01:01:07
Speaker
That would have been like the ultimate, like, wow, this is an intense Christmas movie.
01:01:13
Speaker
They're both with Angie Hackman in Santa outfits.
01:01:22
Speaker
But yeah, put it put it alongside Die Hard and Carry On and Lethal Weapon. Sneak it in first. I feel like it's like you don't warm... This isn't the big holiday movie. This is something you watch leading up towards Christmas.
01:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's not it's not like... Yeah, there's it's there's holiday all along the edges of it.
01:01:44
Speaker
I think there's even like, there's like, Chris is usually playing guy in the background too, I didn't paint it in that one, but I'm sure it's there.
01:01:53
Speaker
Alright, so any last thoughts? You know, it's fun watching it again. know, it's fun to pay homage to Gene Hackman. Yeah, I would agree. It's a great like, equal opportunity see Will Smith kind of do his thing where he's not like the typical funny guy, but he's got some chops.
01:02:14
Speaker
He plays strengths in this movie. There's a couple scenes, especially like the lingerie store scene, where it's just like, alright, let Will Smith just go off. like Let him do his Will Smith thing.
01:02:27
Speaker
And then I like that Gene Hackman is essentially one of his best characters, so he's just that, but amplified from the conversationalist. But yeah, no, he I don feel like it's an equal steal to show.
01:02:39
Speaker
ah i just enjoy Gene Hackman's like stern figures, where it's like, even though he's a good guy in this one, he still sounds like a bad guy.
01:02:51
Speaker
Yeah, he's not is that like ah you he's not cracking a lot of jokes, or it like he's he's not abused by Will Smith's antics. No, he's like beast's charming. Gene Hackman's charming in his own way in this Yeah, I mean, he does like like there's a whole scene where it's like, what you blew up the building? It's like, yeah, because you made a phone call.
01:03:13
Speaker
And he loves his cat. Yeah.
01:03:17
Speaker
know, I'm surprised Gene Hackman didn't have any, like, i'm I'm glad he didn't. He didn't have that, like, what modern movies where he'd be a hacker and a, like, a marksman. Oh, jeez. He's straight up, like, a hacking guy. He can't fight.
01:03:29
Speaker
He can only drive a car into things. He can run. He ran like three miles with Will Smith to the train. Yeah, neither neither of them are like, you know, guns blazing, like fighter guys. They're both just like oh old kind of spy surveillance guy and lawyer.
01:03:52
Speaker
Yeah, and it's even. mean, there's at one point Will Smith is like firing a shotgun for no reason, but but yeah he breaks like a chain. I think he managed to kill one of the guys in the truck, maybe? Or cause the truck to flip?
01:04:07
Speaker
I think the guy just falls out. like They just like ram the truck and it perfectly hits like the dead zone that kills whoever's driving the car.
01:04:16
Speaker
So that was just like a bonus. And then he has he has the gun that he stole from the cop. He fires it like a little bit at the car, but doesn't hit anything. Yep.
01:04:27
Speaker
But... It's still like, it' it's like a nice mix. It's really like a thriller than an action movie typical. Yeah, and it's it's it's always great to like go back watch like a Tony Scott movie too, because you could you can just, you can tell, like Tony Scott movies have like that distinctive Tony Scott like look and feel to them. yeah The music, the like ah cut it the the the quick cuts, the style, like Like and And especially this one this one, he definitely was like, we're going to use surveillance footage. Like we're going to use satellite surveillance footage. That's but the gimmick for this one.
01:05:00
Speaker
Even though, I mean, I haven't seen like a Blu-ray 4K of this, but like but I kind of like that it looks like that green tint blur. So everything looks like it's been like kind of like blurred. Like, you know, it's not sharp, all the the watching, because that's how they used to do it back then, was just stare at like,
01:05:19
Speaker
sorta crisp video fees. As crisp as, like, that you could get in the 90s, like, 98. But then, okay, like so they have that, but then they have bullshit shopping bag 3D modeling algorithms. Yep. So it's a confusing mess to, like, a techno tech nerds like us.
01:05:35
Speaker
Mm-hmm. It's still fun. ah i just Yeah, Jack Black just, like, he even does, like, the enhance, enhance, rotate, rotate, zoom, like,
01:05:48
Speaker
Anyway, anyway, stay, check it out. It's it's fun. ah Check out some other Gene Hacken movies if you want to, like, you know pay homage to him. The Conversation is is great. um If you want a classic one, obviously... it right after this.
01:06:01
Speaker
French Connection is obviously a classic. Crypt of Tide, I think it's another one. i think is that I think it's also a... Was that Tony Scott one, too? Crypt of Tide? Yeah, it was.
01:06:16
Speaker
if If not, it was, like, very, like... ah ripping off his style.
01:06:24
Speaker
ah But yeah, Gene Ackman, you know, once in a lifetime kind of actor at the moment. I really hope that, um you know, people appreciate more of his movies.
01:06:36
Speaker
Oh, Chris, yeah, Chris Tide was Tony Scott, so that's how they work, that's how you need Gene Ackman to work together before. Hmm.
01:06:47
Speaker
But ah yeah, so that'll do it for Amiga State. Come back next week, we're going to be heading underground for Daylight, the Spencer Stallone disaster movie, because it's getting a four k or release for the first time.
01:06:59
Speaker
um So we'll head underground, check all the flooding cave-in action of Daylight. no It's like mountain climbing, but reverse.
01:07:14
Speaker
yeah it's like It's like cliffhanger, but you're going down and into the earth instead of up the cliff.
01:07:20
Speaker
And there's no there's no like yeah John Lithgow bad guy. there's just you know The bad guy is... Holland Tunnel. The unstable conditions in New York City.
Conclusion and Social Media Plugs
01:07:35
Speaker
So yeah, so that'll be next week. come back Check that out. Head on our site, check all of stuff out. We got news, reviews, trailers, all kinds stuff on everythingaction.com. And yes, for Chris. I'm Zach. And we will see you next time.
01:07:47
Speaker
For more for every action, head to www.everythingaction.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action and follow us on X at Evie Action.
01:08:01
Speaker
We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find more episode episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast app of choice. And be sure to rate and subscribe.