Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Everything Action Commentary: Blast (1997)
25 Plays2 months ago
For the latest Everything Action Commentary, Zach and Chris help you deal with any lingering Olympics fever by watching the 1997 Die Hard knock-off, Blast, starring Johnny Cage himself, Linden Ashby.
Set during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the US women's swim team is taken hostage by terrorists led by Omodo (Andrew Divoff). The only hope for the hostages inside the pool facility is Jack Bryant (Ashby), a former Olympic bronze medalist in Tae Kwan Do, who became an alcoholic janitor and whose ex-wife is one of the hostages. Outside the facility, Rutger Hauer is Leo, a Native American (?) hostage negotiator with a personal vendetta against Omodo. While watching the movie, the guys realize the pool facility in the film is a literal prison and discuss Andrew Divoff's constantly shifting accent, if Rutger Hauer chose his character backstory and wardrobe, a surprise Tommy Jarvis appearance, and more.
You can watch Blast on Prime Video, Tubi, and The Roku Channel, or you can watch here on YouTube courtesy of PopcornFlix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R2UGNR0L2M
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to [email protected]. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
Please subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. You can also find the podcast on YouTube.
Check us out on Twitter (@evaction), Facebook (www.facebook.com/everything.action), and Instagram (@everything.action).
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:05
Speaker
The.
Introduction to 'Blast' and Olympic Context
00:00:31
Speaker
Hello and welcome to another Everything Action Commentaries, or commentary for August 2024. I'm your And I'm your co-host Chris. And yeah, ah early this month, the Olympics wrapped up over in Paris. But in case you still have Olympic fever, we are watching in the 1997 Olympic-based, I guess, ah Die Hard ripoff blast this month.
00:00:54
Speaker
uh which takes place unknown movie yes but it is it's a limbic theme it takes place at like during the uh or supposedly it takes place during the alanta olympics back in 1997 or around you know whatever that was that was 1990 like eight years i think it was like it was like the year after oh it was the 96 yes this is like it's the year after but it's supposed to be like like oh remember the olympics in alanta
00:01:22
Speaker
So it's a period piece. Yes.
Plot Overview and Available Platforms
00:01:24
Speaker
And yeah, it's basically, it's die hard in a swimming pool training facility where the the the US swimming team gets taken hostage. um And then Johnny Cage himself, Linen Ashby, has to rescue them. And yes, Lautlyn and also Rucker Howard's there.
00:01:44
Speaker
ah Andrew Tivoff, one of the you know the greatest villain character actors of all time, is there, so. You need a bad guy who can be either Hispanic or Russian. Yes, he's both, yeah. And yes, we're watching, it's ah it's all over the place. It's on um like Freevie and Prime Video and Udo, Pluto, we're we're watching on YouTube. ah it It's in full thanks to Popcorn and Flix, which is a, they have a lot of great like kind of like schlocky Uh, actually movies and horror movies. But yeah, we, so we're positive zero. Um, there's no studio logos. I mean, I checked prime video to the, that version has no studio
Syncing Instructions and Opening Sequence
00:02:24
Speaker
logos either. It goes, it just jumped right into, uh, the opening text of the movie. So, uh, if whatever copy you find, just like positive positive zero. And then, uh, I'll get the countdown here and we'll get started. So five, four, three, two, one, play.
00:02:57
Speaker
Is that a true fact? Is this based on a true story? yeah
00:03:10
Speaker
Yeah. Oh my god. What would i have happened? This is basically, this is the OJ book, like, if I did it. This is the, like, Olympics what if? Yeah.
00:03:27
Speaker
Oh, now the logos come up. That's okay. Wait, what? This is backwards. Yeah. Also, I spelled work wrong.
00:03:40
Speaker
Filimwix.
00:03:47
Speaker
That sounds like a medical condition to have. solder Oh, yeah. yeah think no you The late, great Albert Pune, director of this movie, director of Cyborg and ah ah Nemesis and a bunch of other like, you know, just awesome schlock. So one thing I've noticed about this movie is that it's colored weird at times, but like it has that cinematic look for what probably was a made for tv movie i think i think it was i think it was like directed by direct to video or something i don't think it's got like a theatrical no i i think that's an another reason but yeah direct to video but 1997 they just got the bhs what i mean that's the thing about like even like direct to video 90s movies are still they still are like shot in like film a lot of times they still look they still look like actual movies not like today where it's like people are filming like garbage on tubi under iphone like
00:04:52
Speaker
I don't know what country of origin that is.
00:05:00
Speaker
I like how they don't want to show you a news reporter, they just want to show you a pool. They couldn't afford not even a news anchor. Not even like the team like practice swim team practicing, just like, look at the water.
00:05:22
Speaker
All right, so you got a roll certificate, junk mail. Booze, just liquor. That's like a bourbon bottle.
00:05:46
Speaker
That's our hero? Yes. Johnny Cage is falling in hard times post Mortal Kombat.
00:05:52
Speaker
You know, if this movie keeps being like this plotline, we can say this is Johnny Cage after Mortal Kombat, where he came back and tried to- Yeah, if you retcon Armageddon out of- or like, uh, I had an isolation out of it, where he got his next naps.
00:06:14
Speaker
He has a single egg in his fridge.
00:06:24
Speaker
Cookings for losers.
Character Backgrounds and Villain Introduction
00:06:30
Speaker
Yeah, so I think he was like a Olympic like Taekwondo ah competitor. Well, and then they played at Barcelona. Yeah. I'm assuming that was the one in like, I mean, two. I love how every, every, literally everything is just like so like specifically like laid out in this, in this like club. man Yeah. then And then he sold his medal for a pawn shop and a cigarette. He leaves everything just laid out perfectly. Oh, and anyway he, wait, he's a third place. He sold it for a hundred dollars. His bronze, uh, Olympic medal. Yeah. It wasn't even gold. No.
00:07:18
Speaker
Did he purposely like um decorate his his house like a hotel?
00:07:31
Speaker
I guess he's better. Don't need you today, Cain. Oh, wow.
00:07:47
Speaker
Yeah, man. No one was thinking about Munich until you start talking about it. That's break a neck by breaking his vocal cord.
00:08:20
Speaker
You know badges have come a long way since the 90s. It's just like a ah like ah shitty like printed off paper like photo image. Oh yeah. In like a plastic sleeve. And lanyards also came a hard way.
00:08:48
Speaker
Wait is this like their first day? He's that suspicious. Yeah, I know. That's bad guy energy right there.
00:09:10
Speaker
I don't know if they get paid or this is like a volunteer position to still like work the Olympics.
00:09:22
Speaker
Also it's like, it's not a career. It's a once in a four year thing. It's like a seasonal worker. There's a seasonal hire.
00:09:38
Speaker
Also, if you were a bad guy sneaking into like a highly watched organization, like don't look like a bad guy. Just scowling everybody. Yeah. Don't have an evil ponytail.
00:09:52
Speaker
where it's like, it's long enough to be a ponytail, but not long enough to actually be like a tail, you know, like it's just the man bun.
00:10:06
Speaker
Hey, this is an open channel. We all heard that. what Yeah.
00:10:18
Speaker
that is the sharpest like carabiner yeah just to pull out this there's got there's had to be a better way to like hide that like you could ingest it spit it up hide like hide it in your shoe or something like you could have hit it in the key yeah They didn't scan the D. In the carabiner. You can have it like in the carabiner. And it opens up. And unravel it. Yeah. I guess to show you that basically this is hardcore. Hardcore, yeah. They're true believers. But they're just like, now that guy just has an open wound. He has to deal with it. Yep. Because he used to go back out to the office and like, hey, man, your arm's cut. It's like, yeah you're not going to go outside bleeding on your uniform. In the pool center.
00:11:10
Speaker
Yeah, oh my god, yeah. Blood in the pool, like, I don't know. no Yeah.
00:11:23
Speaker
and it this is This is a very secure aquatic center. This is the world's most neutral pool. Is it a secret water? What are they hiding here in this center? Yeah, because they're just they're training. but is Is this like the main like pool for the competition, or is this this like a side pool? like We'll find out, man. because yeah being like you know They're repurposing buildings for the Olympics, because that's what you do. But why would you put the Olympic swimming pool in the jail?
00:11:49
Speaker
this yeah This looks like a jail or ah like a power plant. Why was there a pool yeah why was there a pool in this like like there's like yeah this's like prison-looking facility?
00:12:13
Speaker
He says transfer, so this is a jail.
00:12:21
Speaker
Wait, he was in prison?
00:12:28
Speaker
Explain faster, lady. We need to know his backstory. I was in this crazy martial arts pyramid this island. I had to fight bit fight a murder and to punch a giant monster guy in the dick. No one believed me. And then, you know, I had that injury.
00:12:48
Speaker
Yeah, man, they're out of jail. they're They're literally at a prison pool that they're like... Do prisons have pools? No!
00:13:01
Speaker
We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the prisoners, uh, this part of the therapy is like the aquatic, the the aquatic center. Oh my god, they couldn't put a better banner for an aquatic center?
00:13:15
Speaker
Maybe, maybe it's not even, maybe it's not this isn't even the pool. It's just like all this is fake. It's all part of the plot. We're at the, we're at the, we're at the quote unquote pool.
00:13:36
Speaker
It's like what weird stares like security and then like look right at each other like, uh, you good. I'm not a terrorist.
00:14:03
Speaker
She wanted to be sober. I wanted to be drunk. It seems like they know each other, but then like, like, uh, Johnny's like, I can't lay on his entire, like, life for the first time. Yeah, it's like they just met. Yeah, but it seems like they've been friends for a while. But it's weird because she was excited to work this event. She was like, oh man, can you believe? It's like- It's the lipics!
00:14:33
Speaker
I feel like she's having chemistry moments right now. yeah Karate move. Tengli Taekwondo move.
00:14:48
Speaker
This building screams prison. Like everything about the architecture just screams yeah prison. Then I can't get over and it's just like they couldn't rent out a YMCA. Yeah. This is the Olympics.
00:15:08
Speaker
They couldn't even dust it up. Is that Michael Dudukoff? Looks like it, right? it It definitely looked like him, yeah. Holy shit, what kind of a man's, like, Star Trek computer did they have? Those those had microchips in them?
00:15:35
Speaker
This looks like the facility from T2. right Like this is yeah the hospital that the terminator breaks into.
00:16:16
Speaker
I mean your event staff.
00:16:29
Speaker
Well, she's frozen. Was that a computer? Did she lock up? Braid malfunctioning. I thought there should be like a panic button you're supposed to hit. or Oh, she's in on it? I think she's in on it.
00:16:49
Speaker
There's always inside man.
00:17:29
Speaker
So the more I think about this movie, the more I don't think the Olympics
Official Approval and Technology in 'Blast'
00:17:33
Speaker
like gave the approval to them. So they can't yeah show Olympic like logos and whatnot. Oh, I'm sure they were not like that. Whoever made it is like, hey, we're going to make a movie about like a like what might have happened if terrorists took over the labels. And they're like, I don't know. like Like, it doesn't have to be the Olympics, right? could kind world kind of like yeah World games or like make up some some up some bullshit. Yeah.
00:17:59
Speaker
Because half the terrorists seem like they're American. Yeah. So it doesn't need to be international. It's not like the big selling point. But I mean, it is to them, but to us, it's just like, all right, it's just a pool gets taken over. A pool with like insane security. Mm hmm. I mean, breachable security, obviously.
00:18:24
Speaker
This building is just meant to do a practice pool. Holy shit. This is an aquatic center.
00:18:34
Speaker
Oh yeah. i think and I think we're talking like before we started recording Chris, but like these like outfits, I mean, I know we're trying to blend in like with like the, like Olympic staff, but like these are the most like least intimidating terrorist outfits ever. It's not even fully black. It just, it's like best by employees from the night. Or like Walmart employees back when they said sky blue.
00:19:01
Speaker
They all have they've been matching sneakers, too. It's just like the one war like everything is the same. It's also like they're not really blending in it because they're but like bok bok kavas and stuff. So it's like why just wear like tactical gear? Like why half asset? Yeah. It's not like this is places filled with so many civilians that you have to blend in or stand out, but they're trying to both. They're trying to stand in with like the shirt, but then stand out with the gear.
00:19:29
Speaker
Also, what's the point of even trying to stand in because the whole security like monitors are now terrorist controlled?
00:19:43
Speaker
Johnny Cage. cage
00:20:00
Speaker
Jack cage it is it's so weird cuz cuz like she could be like Sonya blade dudes. This is it just a weird like It was broke out of the the dial it could be like still going with that cover story. Yeah, I Missed you in the outer world
00:20:26
Speaker
What is this like? Was this like Spanish guitar playing in the background? It's supposed to be romantic music. Yeah. But we're like, it's like a Robert Rodriguez like gunslinger. They're going to show up. like Well, if you think about it, the El Mariachi and that series came out in 93, so it's still relevant here.
00:21:15
Speaker
I don't and understand women.
00:21:22
Speaker
Is she like his like Al Powell? yeah we're argyle Yeah. And a cliche, but essentially. um His assistant, like the voice of reason is there already, they're establishing the diehard trope. Yeah, and it's its it's his ex who gets like captured.
00:21:45
Speaker
Like Holly, come on, we can make this work. All right. So now I'm just waiting for the one scene transition where they have to go to the pool somewhere in this building.
00:22:06
Speaker
So I'm thinking, was this prison like in need of money? They just need it was just empty this year and they're just like, all right, we could film this movie in it or. Was this, like, a tax write-off?
00:22:20
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, like, where- Yeah, where we in the land- Is this even- Did you even film it in Atlanta? I don't know. I thought I saw a Arizona plate, so this might be just Arizona. so Some random, like, abandoned prison in, like, Arizona. Oh, no, it was a Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.
00:22:45
Speaker
Okay. So it's, it's some sort of, yeah, it is like an actual, it's a prison in Los Angeles.
00:23:00
Speaker
What accent is that? It sounded like he was doing an Arnold impression. Yeah. Got the police and stuff.
00:23:30
Speaker
That was just a PC, right? Just powered on a PC.
00:23:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's just a gateway.
00:24:08
Speaker
He's wearing, yeah, he's wearing like terminator glasses too, it's just like... Is Andrew Kimball trying to be like, trying to be artled? He does not have the size, I'll tell you that. No.
00:24:26
Speaker
Holy crap, what kind of interface system is this?
00:25:02
Speaker
Oof, that's brutal.
00:25:11
Speaker
Yeah, this is an oral depression. Yup. But it's like, but now he's British, or something, it's like... Yeah, it just like it it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, you could just like...
00:25:30
Speaker
um Or like Hans Gruber. like Well, it kind of makes sense that if he's got like a European accent, but you can't pinpoint which part of Europe. Yeah. I'm just gonna be all of them. I'm all of Europe.
00:25:48
Speaker
But mainly like the like upper parts.
00:25:55
Speaker
It's not like he throws like a random Irish accent. I'll be i'll be hilarious. We're just the rest of the movie. He just like every every CD is like a new accent.
00:26:17
Speaker
Yeah, just in case you think that's a different location. Same location, apparently. See, that's what I mean. like they They had to explain, and that's what I was waiting for. ah They're like, hey, by the way, here's the aquatic pool. For the aquatic center that we put like a a shitty banner on, not this prison.
00:27:09
Speaker
like guys yeah That guy is definitely like, yeah I don't think he's Michael Dutecoff, but I feel like it's he's super familiar. I don't know, but I don't know where he's from. Michael Dutecoff's brother. Yeah. Fred Dutecoff.
00:27:34
Speaker
Like this movie could have just taken place in this place, you know, in this building.
00:27:40
Speaker
Well, it's all the same building. Right, but I'm saying in this relocation.
00:28:00
Speaker
Hey, you're not supposed to do that like an Olympic village.
00:28:17
Speaker
So usually the Olympic swimmers are supposed to be like younger. Yeah. Am I supposed to believe these are like 17 year old girls and like 20 year olds? Like they all look a little older. At least from like the graininess. I can't tell. That's the weird thing about nineties movies. Someone could be in their twenties, but they look way older based on like their hair. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just everything about this style.
00:29:12
Speaker
Who's Leo? Oh, you'll find out.
00:29:25
Speaker
Oh, OK. The one star who's not showed up yet. Yeah, it makes sense. Boy, howdy is his intro kind of. Kind of weird.
00:29:55
Speaker
So are these janitors cleaning the whole building for just the swim team or?
00:30:05
Speaker
And it does seem like it's the practice pool. It's not like the like Olympic pool that's going to be on TV or whatever. It's just like. That's a close practice, but they're televising it. Well, the dude sees there, but they're not supposed to be there, I guess, or something. Hmm.
00:30:29
Speaker
All right, this is definitely a fetish happening right now.
00:30:49
Speaker
Who they shooting for? Like, are they trying to kill the swim team? Oh my god, the camera was in on it. Everyone's in on it.
00:31:38
Speaker
The chocolate commander. The chocolate was all tight, yeah. He's dead. yeah
00:33:16
Speaker
So this is still the AOL 2.0 era. Or maybe 3.0 1997. That's why they had to bring their own like satellite, their satellite internet. ah DSL. like Was it like Netscape was the main provider?
00:33:39
Speaker
Oh yeah, this guy. Yeah, remember?
00:33:45
Speaker
I've been here for like five hours in this room. So is most of the staff all in on it? Cause except for the two janitors. Well, I don't, where, where, yeah. Where's the rest of the people that were like in that briefing? Cause like the terrorists all came in together and there's they the cops. That was a completely different crew. They all had the same team meeting, but then. Yeah. Is that channel Elizabeth? Okay. This is, this is our first movie ever. Holy crap.
00:34:21
Speaker
But yeah, that that other staff crew was just like the outdoor attendees. Yeah, they're going to different like ah buildings or something. And Johnny Cage and his friend are the only ones that cleaned this pool hall. Even though I'm pretty sure, is this Atlanta? Is this still not LA? I'm pretty sure this is like the other area of that prison. It's Nakatomi Tower.
00:34:51
Speaker
We're in Atlanta, so I have a very southern accent.
00:35:13
Speaker
All games venues, just the one venue. Just bobs the track. Just bobs the... bike racing course bombs in the discourse the disc throwing bombs and the horse the horse race the horse the equestrian field i mean look at what's a like absolute like olympic sport that they got rid of for the guy stuff oh man rucker hower
00:35:57
Speaker
Man, there so I'm looking at all the discontinued events. They're way more than you think.
00:36:06
Speaker
But they they still do stuff like handball and stuff. Like that that this year's Olympics. In 1906, they had dueling pistols. um
00:36:28
Speaker
Uh, so fun fact in 1996 was the last event for walking, ah walking, walking was the last event they had.
00:36:42
Speaker
But in 1996 was the first year they introduced softball as an Olympic sport.
00:37:02
Speaker
but Stop talking about Munich You get it, it's just like Munich But then like speed gets involved because yeah like the same outfit from speed Their Interpol, yeah
00:37:46
Speaker
He's also, like he's also Native American. Ooh, red face is a hard one to pull off. Not even Johnny Depp got away with that. Hunter Howard had no chance. I feel like, like, I feel like Rooker Howard just like came up with all of that himself. Like he showed him on site. He's like, this this is my character.
00:38:08
Speaker
Is he supposed to be sort of like what the true American was? Like, because he's i don't native American. I don't think they ever explained like why he has like, you know, his hair that way and stuff.
Character Development and Missed Opportunities
00:39:04
Speaker
Oh, you don't care something is cool anymore. He's got to do a grain gesture.
00:39:19
Speaker
God, these girls are so dirty. Whoa. They were there for maybe like an hour? why Why is it so like? Somebody's sweet house. Yeah. They didn't even swim yet. Yeah.
00:39:54
Speaker
Also as I mentioned, chosen, that was chosen before. Oh, was it? Yeah, same actor. So this kind of ties into Karate Kid, where it's like after he lost in Japan, Okinawa, he got an FBI. fbi
00:40:14
Speaker
The universe are crossing, we're all combating Karate Kid.
00:40:19
Speaker
So Sonia Eddie, that's this actress right here. She's doing a lot of like scene building and tension, right? She's like she's the only one who ran away and like is out running terrorists. And she's not an athlete.
00:41:50
Speaker
great for some tactical towel use. Thank God there are so many towels. lady Wait, what?
00:42:13
Speaker
This is that bronze medal winning martial arts
00:42:20
Speaker
Seems like bar fighting. Yeah. Wasn't some cool like pulls and throws. I mean, the towel thing was cool, but he gave up on that immediately. Then he did a Johnny Cage sidekick.
00:42:37
Speaker
Which is probably not good for that, like leg injury. Yeah.
00:43:02
Speaker
but but he's also like like he's not like a soldier he was a soldier is a p like he was a like he was an Olympic Taekwondo guy so I I noticed that too because I in the trailer they didn't mention it special forces training or anything
00:43:34
Speaker
He's still wielding.
00:43:39
Speaker
He's called Full John Woo.
00:44:34
Speaker
Who wants to be an American pie? One of you will be an American pie.
00:44:51
Speaker
You're going to die for us.
00:45:04
Speaker
If you don't score a 10, you're dead.
00:45:37
Speaker
Rucker Howard does not care.
00:45:41
Speaker
It's like my coffee's cold.
00:46:05
Speaker
Damn, they actually spent some good like effects for this. And then they were gonna show you the body.
00:46:14
Speaker
You see, there's sort of beats to this that actually are good so far. But there's no like asshole character yet. oh yeah
00:46:52
Speaker
ru howard like i' just like in a fit like
00:47:15
Speaker
Where is Rugger Tower? Just like a- Just like in a van. What a downer.
00:48:21
Speaker
wait so his other superiors and like Leo's co-workers are staring at him like from a small window but it's like he' yeah it's like he's like a ah clip like ah but criminal that they're like behind bars right like yeah
00:49:36
Speaker
Oh yeah, the president's involved. And all like a bunch of world leaders are coming.
00:49:56
Speaker
Oh, sure it is. like They know.
00:51:34
Speaker
that evil guy's gotten a real ponytail like
00:51:59
Speaker
See, that evil guy's got a real ponytail. There's a fire? Ever get out of here. All right, we got to do a fire drill.
00:52:20
Speaker
Yeah, that that was easily resolved. They said like that like the news newspaper such just said his last name means dragon's fire. What? Amado Kalal.
00:52:35
Speaker
I want language.
00:52:53
Speaker
Just because you're a Taekwondo champion. You can't you can't dual wield guns.
00:53:19
Speaker
There's no way he anticipate us cutting the power.
00:53:43
Speaker
Did he drop his guns? He tossed them as soon as he saw them. Oh, okay. you right am but
00:53:55
Speaker
Wow, he got injured already? I mean, he's already injured from his leg. Yeah. So he's got a limp, he's got a wounded shoulder, he's got to lose his shoes next.
00:54:57
Speaker
Stair combat. o that man grun kick that would be a pure drny cage move
00:55:28
Speaker
Wait, were these the same guys that were doing the stair combat? Like two of them were. They'll hit so many extras. Put back on the mess then.
00:56:04
Speaker
Oh, is that supposed to be a generator or that PC? Oh, wow. That's not even gas power or anything. like it It's just sitting there in a room. wait It's pushing electricity through the air.
00:56:23
Speaker
They must have like an like ah a Hewlett Packard in there.
00:56:40
Speaker
It's just like a lone PC just hanging out there. It's not even plugged in. It's just like they set it there in their room.
00:57:27
Speaker
How does that guy also know where the cameras are placed so they can do all this? I mean, it hit med temp. It didn't work.
00:57:45
Speaker
Now he's got to wait for him to repeat the whole pattern. Yep.
00:58:31
Speaker
So he circled around because they're they're back to where they put that DC. Yep. I'm getting like a good layout of this business building.
00:58:41
Speaker
Because for an Olympic swim team, it has nothing to do with the pool.
00:59:27
Speaker
He was doing so well.
00:59:42
Speaker
I'm the janitor. Was this the gold winner? Taekwondo.
00:59:54
Speaker
That would be a fun, like, oh, they also have them. It's you. Yeah.
01:00:18
Speaker
He has that one kick move. yeah Yeah, like wait till they're like about Neela height and then like kick him in the head.
01:00:37
Speaker
Oh, he's back.
01:00:57
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think Linda Ashby and that guy are the same height, so that was probably easy for him to, like, duck under.
01:01:26
Speaker
Yippee-ki-yay, Mr. Janitor.
01:02:15
Speaker
so it's a Jack has a bum leg, he got shot, and he almost got cut. This gets worse every time you like... Every fight just gets worse, yeah. This makes more sense, where he's not a soldier. He's like a tournament fighter. But he still can like duel with the pistols. Terribly. He should probably practice a little bit. I should have been in the shooting Olympic games. Target shoot.
01:03:13
Speaker
I do admit he looks way more bang up and realistic of trying to, like, stop a terrorist group.
01:03:24
Speaker
God, his personnel file is classified!
01:04:04
Speaker
Oh, here's here's your... Finally. This should have been brought in way earlier.
01:05:37
Speaker
thank you ellis yeah
01:06:01
Speaker
Thank you, Ellis.
01:06:10
Speaker
Great diversion so far.
01:06:17
Speaker
I'm gonna slowly be walked across this platform. It's all going to plan.
01:07:05
Speaker
Oh shit, I just realized that guy, it's Tommy Jarvis. Oh, makes sense. He's uncredited. That's why, like, I was like, what can I do? Like, why it's like, I'm trying to find, we said bill. I'm like, Oh, who's building the credits? I just need to be credited in this weird.
01:07:28
Speaker
But they just did what, uh, like Jason for his credit. Yeah.
01:07:48
Speaker
Did it classify his personnel data because all of that Earthrealm stuff.
01:08:11
Speaker
Wow, he snuck right into this locker room pretty easily.
01:08:28
Speaker
Johnny Cage!
01:08:42
Speaker
You should probably, like, handcuff her. Yeah, something! Learn from the other mistakes you've done.
01:09:36
Speaker
Oh yeah, they haven't met yet. No. The movie's almost over and they're just like finally doing this big reveal.
01:10:01
Speaker
He didn't see that. He doesn't know what's going on in that room.
01:10:41
Speaker
Yeah, also, Jack hasn't talked to anyone outside the building. Like, Rucker Hour, or anyone that's like, they have no idea what's going on. Yeah, he hasn't made contact to say, hey, I'm taking i'm helping, or like, FBI or anything.
01:11:00
Speaker
Did he get more ammo from that person? Maybe. I think he blew up the console, like, if I could have helped, like, open doors or do the lines like yeah you shot it
01:12:07
Speaker
What was the, what was the diversion the coach was going to do? Like, she's like, I'll make a diversion. I'll i'll quietly do whatever they tell me to do. We'll just follow along with the plan. And now we'll be brought to a second location.
01:12:50
Speaker
Diversion. Yeah.
01:13:05
Speaker
and What was that? What was that accent? like
01:13:24
Speaker
I wonder what's going on in the rest of the building.
01:13:42
Speaker
I thought he cleaned this locker. I think he cleaned the men's locker. So I guess this is the women's locker. Well, it's so much nicer.
01:14:00
Speaker
Oh yeah, pull pull out a giant 90's phone.
01:14:09
Speaker
Oh my god! who
01:14:36
Speaker
Call Raiden. Where is he?
01:14:40
Speaker
Call Lou Kang. You need to show up.
01:15:07
Speaker
Oh, your Rucker Howard stole that. Yup.
01:16:02
Speaker
wow a dick
01:16:27
Speaker
Wow. Leo's a dick. Oh, so he did go to prison. Oh. What? It said like, uh, like, like, it was like assault or something.
01:18:06
Speaker
Low battery.
01:18:41
Speaker
escape protocol means opening the door. I've opened this large door.
01:19:21
Speaker
It's like, is this guy being dubbed? Yeah. but Because you never, you're just like cutting away from him when you don't see his mouth moving, just like, I'll cut the power.
01:19:47
Speaker
yeah The FBI are like outside still. Yeah.
01:19:54
Speaker
Yeah, maybe you shouldn't have like an Olympic pool training ground in a prison.
01:20:05
Speaker
God, the most dramatic news bakers of all time. Remember the Civil War?
01:20:26
Speaker
He found the PC!
01:20:34
Speaker
This like, I don't know, future box that can power this whole facility? Yeah. We don't even have that like today. and the This is like gen 7.
01:21:04
Speaker
Alright, this is the real distraction now. He saw the head movement, he's like, I saw that. Whatever you're thinking, don't do it.
01:21:24
Speaker
Man, that was a powerful fuck you, it like, transists into a new scene.
01:21:40
Speaker
What's up with the new sound effects that they just introduced this late in the game? Mm-hmm.
01:21:56
Speaker
I thought Rokohara was in a van, and now they're playing in a different van. He's going from one van to another van. Yeah.
01:22:22
Speaker
Now they're working together.
01:22:26
Speaker
Like, friendly.
01:23:45
Speaker
director They had like multiple like an entire movies worth of conversations and they talked like twice they're trying to cram it in as yeah like motivational slash like last act thing going on
01:24:19
Speaker
Oh no, that's a different guy. I thought that was the same guy that died from his like neck being stuck in a pipe. Is one of the terrorists Cisco? It looked like Dennis Rahman.
01:24:53
Speaker
I guess suddenly he doesn't know how to shoot. Yeah.
01:25:24
Speaker
another like inside person. A UPS worker. Yeah.
01:27:33
Speaker
It was a straight up job move. Yeah. Yeah. But it's like shot really awkwardly.
01:27:46
Speaker
OK, do you think I should afford a president actor at this point? Is that Amy Poehler?
01:28:08
Speaker
Man, everyone's getting strapped with explosives.
01:28:17
Speaker
j He's circling the same room. He's going in circles. He was just in that window room, and he's back in there again. OK, now I'm losing the whole offensive. And the body's gone. The guy shot a guy in that room, and he's gone. Oh, that's true. Is this a video game? The body is integrated?
01:28:39
Speaker
I mean, suddenly he doesn't have a limp anymore. He looks like he's got better health. Yeah. Oh, some of the bodies are back.
01:29:17
Speaker
He's not even here.
01:29:59
Speaker
So Rokkara is like his own like just like special team that is just like super loyal to him. and it's like yeah We'll let you blow yourself up. like That's fine. Is that plan but he's he's ri his He's bringing his real-time explosives. like
01:30:15
Speaker
I'm gonna terrorize the terrorists.
01:30:41
Speaker
Pepsi. yeah
01:31:14
Speaker
and I should have eaten more than one raw egg this morning. Oh, he had bread That's not like he yeah during like the briefing, but it has nothing to do with this anymore.
01:31:34
Speaker
No, that guy should have like blood loss. He's just like tired from that and probably a poor guy. He just he probably party last night with so much alcohol.
01:32:05
Speaker
Did, did Jack get shot again? Maybe. I did both those guys, they like Andrew give up and the other guy gets shot. Yeah. They're just like, just like walked it off.
01:32:32
Speaker
Dude, this guy's like indestructible.
01:32:46
Speaker
Take some bronze level Olympic championship.
01:33:17
Speaker
Is it speeding up? like but one
01:33:27
Speaker
I'm not sure this movie is progressive in a way that like they don't mention that Rucker Power is a Leo American or he decided just like that after work
01:33:48
Speaker
I bet Rucker Howard like no oversight. There's like do whatever you want. We're sapping to have you in this movie. Yeah.
01:34:00
Speaker
It's like, uh, like last, like, uh, with, uh, Gene Hackman last week, last month and Superman, Superman four, just like, it seemed like just let him do whatever he wanted. Mm-hmm.
01:34:20
Speaker
Remember that guy? but What?
01:34:42
Speaker
Remember the towel trick?
01:34:45
Speaker
He still could've pulled the trigger. He still could've pulled the trigger at that point. He was just too amazed. yeah Holy shit, you kicked a gun.
01:35:14
Speaker
All right, Rucker, how are like, is like loss.
01:35:23
Speaker
Full scrapping speed.
01:35:46
Speaker
You probably should have pulled the but get the coach into the water too. Yeah. That was a cool stunt. Wow, that was the worst explosion I've ever seen. he' used to He's like disappeared.
01:36:03
Speaker
There's no body parts, no chunks, just like he became a cartoon. Yeah.
01:36:15
Speaker
how How is Ruckert Howard floating?
01:36:26
Speaker
It seemed like he like got his legs back from Ruckert. It seemed like he leaped out of his chair. Yeah, he's the same height in the water as the woman. Yeah.
01:37:08
Speaker
Oh my god. and This is just a behind the scenes of Rucker Tower. They were filming him during a break like, you good in the water Rucker? He's like, yeah, sure.
01:37:48
Speaker
so they're getting they're getting back or you should have said something more olympically fun like i'm getting the gold this time or yeah oh leo quote me for the first time in person and like hey leo you're new american
01:38:19
Speaker
Blast! Oh, I thought there was like no soundtrack at the end. We couldn't afford to end the credit and create music.
01:38:32
Speaker
oh but I'm gonna ask you what your thoughts are.
01:38:39
Speaker
I mean it's it's an okay diehard knockoff it's definitely it's not this is like a weaker albert pewen movie like it's not nowhere near like cyborg or like ah nemesis or anything like that yeah i think those two movies the common thing is it's like it tries to have a little bit of humor at times or there's like uh some silliness to it that they're very aware of. The action is also like way crazier and like over the top like if you've ever seen Nemesis like the opening where it's just like like a million rounds of machine gun fire fired. Yeah yeah but this is like it's trying to be grounded but yeah they don't go in the right direction you think it's gonna be. i think the I think that one of the big problems too is like the build like the building is boring like the location is like it's just like the same like concrete hallways
01:39:28
Speaker
So there's not like that good like Nakatomi Tower, like you know interesting like floors or just interesting like places for fights and stuff. It's just like, oh, you're in the basement again in this like concrete room? Yeah, i um I was super distracted by just how like of a weird choice this movie could be in a prison. This movie could just be like in a prison. you know Like, hey, we've taken over a prison.
01:39:53
Speaker
or like some sort of special tour and a terrorist is taking over something something to really utilize it or the pool could have been something like they made a bomb in the water or something stupid uh but yeah it's like they figured out oh shit we should do something about that by the like third act no no let me try to swim away ah some way in the pool or like to get away or or anything like that well that's i guess you you want to get away i guess you want to get away that one but Something. Something. that You know, something to utilize the pool. They should have had the final fight in the pool. They should, yeah, they should like, uh, they didn't actually should have fallen into the pool and then like fired up from the pool water or something. And i killed and then like dev up yeah his wife is an an Olympic swimmer. She can hold her breath longer so she could stay down there and like defuse a bomb or, yeah um, like, like choke out the bad guy. Something.
01:40:48
Speaker
Uh, but yeah, like, it's just like a waste of opportunity because the setup is very grand. They, they take over
Final Critique and Closing Thoughts
01:40:54
Speaker
like Atlanta. They, they do a whole thing about the president and it just goes nowhere with that. Chance the Husky guys, a special thanks. What did he make? Like John Wick. Is that the same one they're graduating? Maybe he did stunts. but Yeah, but maybe this is one of his early stunt moves. Maybe he was like the stunt team or something for it.
01:41:18
Speaker
Oh, maybe. It's something. Does he know he made this? The works spelled so correctly. I do like their surprise. There was like a. ah A warning about the movie and then the credits of the production started that I've never seen that before. That that opening text is wild. I was like, hey, terrorist attack, Atlanta. But what if they did?
01:41:44
Speaker
It's like, yeah, man, I know what a movie is. This this isn't true events. I'm fine with that.
01:41:52
Speaker
it based Based on like federal files, it's like so that they like there was there was an actual plan to kidnap the swimming team. There's a diehard. like We're going to do a diehard in the swimming pool. I guess so.
01:42:12
Speaker
um but Yeah, like, Rugger Howard is very underutilized. Like, he's when it makes sense. And when he's in that dark van room, like, I don't like that. But as soon as he's, like, speeding around and making jokes and drinking in a pool, like, he blew up. Yeah, they definitely, they didn't have, he should have been, like, the ale Powell of, like, like, like Jack is talking to the entire movie and, like, they're, like, you know, bonding. And, like, he's, like,
01:42:39
Speaker
He's like, you know, revealing like he's like, I was in prison. I failed everyone is like, no, you did it. You could you could be here now, Jack have to step up. that That should have been the halfway point of the movie. Not not so much the third act and really just the last 10 minutes where it's like, all right, well, we got to shut the power down. And now we're friends. And I feel like Jack accidentally did all those things before like he talked to Leo. And that's like the pacing. It's like.
01:43:09
Speaker
they They really focus then on the setup and the explanation and then the the small details that like really don't matter by this act when it's really just like set off and now like Jack has like a bunch of objectives to do. I didn't mind that like the movie kicks off at that point, but you have to sit through like 50 minutes of everything.
01:43:33
Speaker
Um, I also wish his coworker didn't like die so early. I feel like it'd be cool if he was trying to protect her for a while, but then when she dies, it sets him off more. Like instead of kind of like high, now he's like, now I need to kill, you know, like that, that would have been a, uh, like no, no holds bar at this point, like he can't play fair. So.
01:43:55
Speaker
Cause even like, Die Hard, like, his whole thing is playing fair and trying to be like a cop cop, but like, Jack's not. Jack's like, and anyone, he should just like, really embrace the psych cop, like the craziness. He was in prison for, seems like ah like a, salt like assault, assaulting someone with Peck Wendo.
01:44:13
Speaker
with like a bad leg. So I don't know how much of an assault he did. Maybe that's what put him in the jail. Like he, he salted so bad. He broke his own leg. I think he broke his leg at the, I think he got like interested like at the Olympics. That's why he got bronze. but so I mean, if you got bronze and you injured your leg, that's still pretty good. yeah But then he got into a fight and then with a bad leg, cause his his leg didn't seem to heal until now. It's not enough. So yeah. Um,
01:44:39
Speaker
yeah It's not like you learn anything in prison that really taught him something or like he became friends with like prison people and then that helped to help him in the end kind of like Ant-Man style. It could have been something where he learned he's like, oh, how do you know how to make a bomb? It's like, well, I was in prison and I talked to this guy, you know, something. Yeah. Just where he learned some sort of um thing. And, you know, hey, what luck? He's in a prison. Apparently the building he's in is also a prison. Mm hmm. So.
01:45:08
Speaker
Yeah, uh, blast is fine. I just feel like the title could have been reworked. It should have been called like, uh, like Olympic blast or maybe they probably can't use the Olympics. So they they know, cause they never say Olympics. Something like swimming or something like, like deep trouble, deep trouble. That's already a movie. I think, or, um,
01:45:30
Speaker
the, the shallow end or like the big dive, something, I don't know.
01:45:38
Speaker
But Blast is so generic that basically if you try to look up this movie, you have to put like the year exactly.
01:45:47
Speaker
But yeah, this is definitely like one of those deep cut Rucker Howard movies. I just did not know he's in it. I think we really just see it for Rucker Howard and then Linda Ashby is not bad. like I feel like it's just mostly the script. He's still charismatic, but like, not always in this. He need more like, yeah, the Johnny Cage energy. Like he should be like quipping ah all the time. Holy shit. Yeah. I think this would have been great if it was basically Johnny Cage. And have him in like Andrew Giva have more than like one conversation. Like they should have been like talking to each other the entire time. Like I heard. Yeah. He should have been like making fun of his accent, making fun of the plan. Look at John McClain and Hans. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah. It's totally like you have an actor who can be
01:46:28
Speaker
comedic at times and you have a villain who can just sound very like intimidating but you need to have that that play off of each other but no it's like the first time they meet they're just like oh hey you and then just start shooting at each other actually no ah the the first time they had that full conversation was the monitor thing but he still doesn't know what he looks like no yeah
01:46:58
Speaker
So yeah, blast. Check it out. Definitely maybe with friends or with us. Well, I mean, if you're listening to this, you might watch it probably, hopefully. Hopefully. Watch it again with us. But I don't know how well you could watch this movie silently. Like you're just viewing this movie for the first time.
01:47:19
Speaker
and hopefully And hopefully that fed your any a lingering Olympic fever that you might have had. Post Post Olympics. Yeah, yeah, you're good. You're good for their four years.
01:47:31
Speaker
But yeah, so I think they'll do it for us this month. We'll be back next month with our commentary, head to the site, check out all of our other stuff like news, reviews, ah the regular podcasts ah and stuff over there. And yes, so for Chris, I'm Zach and we will see you next time for more for every action.
01:47:48
Speaker
head to www.everythingaction.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook dot.com slash everything dot.action and follow us on X at Evieaction. We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find more episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast app of choice and be sure to write and subscribe.