Transcript
Brian Clark: seconds.
Seth: Mm -hmm.
Brian Clark: Ah, so I guess we're back now again.
Seth: Again.
Brian Clark: four Again.
Seth: Again!
Brian Clark: For again for another episode only took us what a year and a half.
Seth: yeah oh Lots of break time between.
Brian Clark: I mean, you can't you can't rush art, I guess.
Seth: I guess so, yeah.
Brian Clark: Yeah, you can't rush art. So um bangers and bombs before you were born. And we're back for another episode. um Doing a movie that actually pretty at pretty bad that it's a year and a half. It's our second episode and we're already doing a request.
Seth: Oh my gosh.
Brian Clark: Somebody requested us to talk about Die Hard and
Seth: Yes.
Brian Clark: And even though it's it's the November, I am not going to enter the discussion about whether Die Hard or not is a Christmas movie or not, because we all should admit.
Seth: I believe in it is. I believe this.
Brian Clark: Well, it, I, wait, you said it is or it isn't.
Seth: It is. It is a Christmas movie. It's on Christmas.
Brian Clark: Even though it came out, I think in June.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: Although we also should admit that Die Hard 2 is much more of a Christmas movie. And eventually we'll have to watch that and yell about seeing some guy's ass in the first five minutes.
Seth: Have some decency.
Brian Clark: um This is actually a movie. I do not. I did not see it when it came out because Oh, this is where we do research while we're in the middle of recording. Die Hard release. So Die Hard release, July 22nd, 1988.
Seth: um Seven years old!
Brian Clark: So let's see, I was seven.
Brian Clark: at the time. No, six. I was, I was sick. No, I was six because my my birthday hadn't hadn't come yet. So I was six years old.
Seth: Little baby.
Brian Clark: And I think, I think this is the summer that we moved down from Waukegan.
Brian Clark: So, wait, was, that a long time ago.
Seth: Yeah,
Brian Clark: I don't remember.
Seth: old man.
Brian Clark: this is remember I just remember not seeing it when it came out. um
Brian Clark: Yeah, i I just remember I didn't see it when it came out in theaters. I will say when this movie came out, um a lot of people thought it was weird because at the time, and I do remember this, at the time, Bruce Willis was not looked at as what you would call an action star.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: um kind of like, you're gonna hate me for this comparison, but it was kind of like, do you know how when um they ah casted Chris Pratt for, damn it,
Brian Clark: Guardians of the Galaxy, everyone was like, oh, you know, he's he's just this goofball, he's not any good, you know,
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: He's not going to be able to get jacked for it. And he turned out he was jacked for it and did pretty good.
Seth: And he did a great job.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: We're going to run into the same kind of thing with Bruce Willis when this movie came out, people because ah he did it. He was in a TV show at the time. It's called Moonlighting.
Seth: Hmm.
Brian Clark: And I I think the plot was. I think the plot was he was a private detective.
Brian Clark: um OK, now I gotta look, because it's been so long. um Yeah, he was a private detective and he worked with this woman. And they investigated stuff and it was. um
Brian Clark: There was a lot of comedy in it. It was really funny and goofy and everyone was like, oh, you know, you can't be an action star, but it's a prize to a lot of people.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: So. Yeah, it kind of came out of left field when it came out. And I can tell you from the beginning, from the first five minutes, you can tell this is a movie of the 80s. Because the movie opens, we see Bruce Willis, also known on this movie, he's John McClain. He's on a plane flying to LA. And he's talking to some businessmen telling him about making fists with your toes, which I'm going to have to try that when we go to London to see if it works or not.
Brian Clark: um But you see, Bruce Willis get up and he's got a gun on a plane.
Seth: Uh, yep. Yep.
Brian Clark: it and
Seth: but
Brian Clark: And apparently in the 80s, that was just a thing you could do if you were a cop, was to fly with a gun. um And the guy that he sit next to is all freaked out. And he's like, oh, I'm a cop. you know you know It's no big deal. um you know We see John go through the airport, um get his bags.
Brian Clark: you know every time, you know, people are doing crazy stuff is like, oh, it's California because California is weird and spooky because he's from New York.
Seth: Oh my god.
Brian Clark: Which. I would say New York in the 80s was probably looked at much like people from California look at New York now, maybe i've I don't know what I'm trying to say with that.
Brian Clark: um new york and New York in the was um really different.
Seth: I get it, I get it.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: like and So have you seen the pictures like downtown of um Times Square and, you know, it's there's all these people there and people who like it's a destination.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: In the 80s, Times Square was not a destination you went to.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: unless you wanted to go on watch pornographic movies in a nasty theater with a bunch of other men.
Brian Clark: Because that's what Times Square was before before Disney.
Seth: It is.
Brian Clark: All hail our corporate or corporate or overlord Disney went down and cleaned it up.
Seth: please
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: And We also see as he's walking to get his bags, he's smoking in the airport, which you can't do that now.
Seth: Oh, dang, they take the fun out of everything.
Brian Clark: Oh, yeah, they take the fun out of everything. um And he goes and he gets picked up by a limo driver, which, like I told you the other night.
Seth: Arzio.
Brian Clark: So. This guy we will see in another movie when we eventually get around to doing the Blues Brothers episode, because he's in the Blues Brothers and gets shot at by Ray Charles. Which, I'm sorry, if you don't know who Ray Charles is, you won't you don't you won't know why that is so funny, why Ray Charles is shooting at somebody.
Seth: ha
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: So, our guy picks him up and I do love the 90s. Bruce Willis is like, he's like, so how's this work?
Brian Clark: And Argyle's like, I don't know. It's my first time ever driving a limo. He's like, first time riding in one two.
Seth: Mm -hmm Yeah,
Brian Clark: So he rides up, he rides up front and Argyle is just, he is, he almost seems out of, is it me or does he seem out of place?
Brian Clark: Like he seems like he should be in the, like he's more 90s.
Seth: he's like a little a little more like hip feeling
Brian Clark: Um, yeah, he he just, he seems out of, it's out of place weirdly. Um, but they, they roll up to what they call Nakatomi tower, which, um, as, as you know, when I watch movies, half the time I'm sitting there on IMDB, I like to read about all the behind the scenes stuff.
Seth: Yep.
Brian Clark: Cause I'm a nerd.
Seth: Nerd.
Brian Clark: I earned that. I earned that. So this building was owned by Fox Pictures. And when they were looking for where they were going to film this, somebody came up to probably, hey, we own this building. It's not yet done. We haven't moved everybody in. Let's just use it. So they actually Fox charged themselves to use this building in filming the movie, which is kind of fun. gets back to and There's a lot of stuff with movies where
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: You know, actors get paid based off of a movie being profitable. And it seems like the movie studios only exist to try to find ways to make sure a movie is never profitable, even though it makes a crap ton of money.
Seth: but
Brian Clark: And this is stuff like this is one of the way these ways they do it. um I think it was. um
Brian Clark: I think it was the very first James Bond movie they filmed in this house in Jamaica I think it was Jamaica. And in order to get around paying for the filming, they just gave the woman who owns the house apart in the movie.
Seth: Oh my god.
Brian Clark: So that's that's that's's how this works. um So John, you know, I'll go back and forth between calling him John and Bruce Willis, because that's just, he's Bruce Willis, um, shows up, goes in and oh, it's, it's technology.
Brian Clark: It's spooky because he goes to look for his wife and the guy's like, you got to use the monitor thing.
Seth: Ooh.
Seth: Gotta stop being old and use technology.
Brian Clark: And he goes, yeah, which, you know, The funny thing is, you know, back in 88, this was spooky technology. Now it's like, yeah.
Seth: Ha ha ha.
Brian Clark: um So he goes to look for his wife and
Brian Clark: it's not because there therere It's not stated. that ah You kind of have to figure this part out as the beginning of the movie goes along. But um he goes to look for his wife. And it's not under his last name. It's under her maiden name. So he goes up to the party. And the party is very 80s, champagne, classical music.
Brian Clark: um John gets kissed by some random guy.
Seth: oh
Brian Clark: You did cut you caught that, didn't you?
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: When that guy caught it, he was like, Merry Christmas, Evie.
Seth: Mwah.
Brian Clark: And wait I waited for him to say something different. And I'm like, I'm pleasantly surprised he didn't use a slur.
Seth: Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Ha ha ha.
Brian Clark: um And we meet. Takagi, who is the president of Nakatomi. I think it's a trading company. They do like business trading. It's never said exactly.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: And I like this interaction because it puts a real human face on this guy.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: Because I mean, he's not in the movie. Spoiler alert, he's not going to be in the movie for very long.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: As a matter of fact, he's not going to make it out of the movie alive.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: hes He's not walking out of this movie under his own power. ah And introduces himself, and he's gushing about Holly, John's wife, and like you know how good she's doing and everything.
Seth: yeah
Brian Clark: um And he's like, oh, you know, let's go find her. And they go into her office and we meet the most punchable man that walks the face of God's earth, Ellis.
Seth: I'm just going to call him Punchable Space Guy.
Brian Clark: Yeah. And so I never caught this until recently. And this is just a shade of me being a social worker. i When I watch movies now, I catch a lot of stuff like this that I never did before. So you caught what Ellis was doing in Holly's office when they walk in, right?
Seth: ah Not particularly.
Brian Clark: um He was snorting cocaine.
Seth: Oh my god! Is that a noogie?
Brian Clark: He was snorting? He was snorting cocaine off of all.
Seth: ah
Brian Clark: So they they go in, and um Ellis is sitting at Holly's desk, and he's got his face like down in her desk. And he gets up, and he's all freaking out, i mean like a coke fiend would.
Brian Clark: And I did catch this as Ellis and John are meeting for the first time. He points at something on Ellis's suit jacket and he goes, you missed a spot.
Seth: Oh my god. Cause I know, I know he does it later in the movie again, but like I didn't see that first part.
Brian Clark: Yeah, yeah, he was he was he was doing rare doing reels of cocaine off of Holly's death.
Seth: Oh my god.
Brian Clark: um And then we meet Holly for the first time. um
Brian Clark: Uh, played by Bonnie Bedelia. I, okay. Now I'm blanking on what she has been in before. She's been in a bunch of movies.
Brian Clark: Um, now I'm going to look just cause I, if I don't, it's going to, well, that's just, that's just how I roll.
Seth: Nerd.
Brian Clark: She's been in a lot of stuff, but I'm looking at it, and not a lot of it is stuff that I have seen.
Seth: Mm -hmm Obviously
Brian Clark: I mean, because she's in the second die hard.
Brian Clark: You hear her in the third one.
Brian Clark: Did you and mom ever watch? Oh, no, you haven't watched Salem's Lot. She's in Salem's Lot.
Brian Clark: Yeah, I look through, i none of this stuff is stuff I've seen.
Brian Clark: but um And you get the full understanding of kind of what's going on between them. Holly is working in LA. She's a high powered executive, it seems like, at Nakatomi.
Brian Clark: and John is still back in New York because he's got a huge caseload of creeps he's trying to put in jail and he can't just walk away from that mood because i that's exactly how I am at work.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: like I counted the other day think I the other day and it's like
Brian Clark: a bunch of people I have to deal with. And it's just like, I can't walk away from this because I have all these people to take.
Seth: Well, ah wilson I will say, I feel like he's being a little sexist, a non -believing in his wife.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: Yeah. um Because the big thing she talks about is because he's like, he's like, she's like, I miss you. And he's like, oh, you don't miss my last name. And she's like, it's a Japanese company.
Brian Clark: married women, don't fit in. it's It is a culture thing.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: I don't know how accurate that is now or if that was accurate at the time, but I mean, there's cultural considerations to be made. And and they end up breaking out into a fight.
Seth: Indeed.
Brian Clark: And I watched that fight and I'm like, I've been through fights like this before.
Seth: a
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: And we kind of break away from this to see the gang start to show up.
Seth: Oh, beautiful.
Brian Clark: um And I have to say that the casting that they do for all of the goons in this movie is fantastic.
Seth: I have.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: So we get Theo and I don't remember the guy's name, Carl. It's Theo and Carl come through the front door and walk up and just obliterate the guy in the front door in the front door.
Seth: and but
Brian Clark: And start taking over stuff and everybody else shows up. The scene where, yeah, the the scene where they open the back door of that box truck and they all walk out
Seth: All bad ass like
Brian Clark: And especially, because movies around this time, like if you would get um like terrorist movies, like the terrorists were always in shabby clothes or they they didn't look polished.
Seth: Yeah, no, these guys are these guys got stuff going on for him.
Brian Clark: Yeah. And when especially when you see our favorite, Favorite, favorite person.
Seth: Oh my God.
Brian Clark: OK, oh, God, now I'm now I'm blanking on his name. um God, I'm going to have to look because I cannot.
Seth: Which one?
Brian Clark: Snape.
Seth: Oh my god, it's uh... Oh my god, what is his name?
Brian Clark: Alan Rickman.
Seth: Alan Rickman as Hans...
Brian Clark: Yeah. um Hans Gruber.
Seth: Hans Gruber!
Brian Clark: um And it's it's also funny too that, because like now in a movie with a terrorist, you would get an Arab guy or a Chinese guy or some, you know, so um
Seth: Yeah, I know these. so
Brian Clark: Because you've probably never heard of the Red Army faction, have you?
Seth: Mmm, yes I have.
Brian Clark: You have heard of the Red Army faction?
Seth: Yes, I have.
Brian Clark: Oh.
Seth: I think I'm stupid.
Brian Clark: That was actually a big thing in the 80s and 90s was German terrorists.
Seth: Mm -hmm.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: And the other funny thing is
Seth: and army faction was Ulrich Meinhof, wasn't it?
Brian Clark: I don't think this is, now I'm going to look and see if, I don't think this was his first movie. I think he had done other stuff before this, maybe.
Seth: Yeah. Yeah, Ulrich Meinhof.
Brian Clark: Yeah, the, the, the, um, Bader mine half gang, which if you've,
Seth: Yep.
Brian Clark: There's a great episode of Linesled by Donkeys about the Botter -Meinhof gang. It is wild, the stuff they did.
Seth: and
Seth: Oh my god. I love - I love our selection of terrorists in this show.
Brian Clark: Yeah.
Seth: In the old movie, not show.
Brian Clark: because Because we've got Alan Rickman, who walks in, looks like he is the CEO of just about any business.
Seth: I've got Carl and Tony Vresky.
Brian Clark: um
Seth: Which is, yeah.
Brian Clark: Carl, who's, I just call him Fabio.
Seth: Lucius Malfoy and you got Tony of risky fucking Jeffrey
Brian Clark: um Marco, although he dies, um is it Uli Uli? I like him for something that you that he does later in the movie. It's hilarious.
Brian Clark: um so
Brian Clark: So they all start to work. I also love, so Carl is trying to remember who Carl's brother is. Is it Tony?
Seth: Carl is Tony, yeah.
Brian Clark: Yeah. So um which they don't look anything alike.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: um I love that the whole thing where Tony is trying to like cut a bunch of the phone lines. And Carl just walks up with a chainsaw and just like, oh, I'll take care of that brother and just cuts through him.
Brian Clark: And you can see he's he puts his head in his hands. He's like, i can't go I can't go anywhere with this guy.
Seth: like god
Brian Clark: I can't.
Brian Clark: um So. They all go upstairs to the party. And um before they get up to the top, somebody else that works with Holly comes in and is like, hey, you know, Takagi wants you to make a speech, you know, get out here.
Seth: Oh my god.
Brian Clark: She's like, I got to go do this. John, I'll be back. and She walks out and i I love it when she walks out and John walks over to the wall and he starts hitting us and he's like, stupid, stupid, stupid.
Brian Clark: I'm like, yeah, you are. You screwed that up.
Seth: ah Yeah, um we all been there.
Brian Clark: Like I've been there. I've been there doing that stupid, stupid, stupid. Oh, yeah. um And they announce their arrival at the party because they get up to the top and open them, walk out and they start shooting and you hear the screams.
Brian Clark: Um, which, and that's the other thing too, is that whole scene where they start shooting and everybody starts screaming at the time, I imagine that had a different feeling for people than it does now because
Seth: yeah
Brian Clark: Oh, excuse me.
Brian Clark: I don't imagine I'd be wrong. I could be wrong. I'd have to go back and look at the the statistics to see.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: I don't think there were as many like mass shootings then as there was now.
Seth: Mhm.
Seth: And it was before like terror like terrorist attacks were like as regarded as they are now, considering something very big that happened a couple years later.
Brian Clark: Oh, yeah. um Because yeah, because it ah in 1988 terrorism was that was stuff that happened somewhere else that didn't happen here.
Seth: Yeah, that was i wasn't an American thing.
Brian Clark: Well, even if it was an American thing, it was an American thing, as in. It happened to Americans in other places, it didn't happen in the United States.
Seth: Mm -hmm
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: Like there was, I want to say it was, well, I know this was a reason when um for one of the deployments that my dad was on.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: In the early 80s, the Iranians blew up a Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon. and the United States ended up sending a carrier task force over for that.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: There was also, like I think there were some disco bombings in like Germany in the 70s and the 80s. But yeah, that didn't happen here.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: um I think the, well, and in the first major terrorism attack, I remember growing up wasn't even it wasn't even a foreign terrorist. It was a it was um a terrorist from here in the US. It was the Oklahoma City bombing.
Seth: Oh my god, yeah.
Brian Clark: you know That was people from here. um So that that scene, I think, has a it may have a different meaning to people now than it did then.
Brian Clark: But that whole scene, I think, really sets it sets the scene that sets the stage for the how the rest of the movie is going to go. um
Brian Clark: Because Alan Rickman, I love his speech he gives when he's he's standing up there. And he's like very polished and
Brian Clark: There was not a lot of, I'm trying to think how to describe this. Like in movies that you watch now, you know, the terrorists would be up there screaming and yelling and pointing fingers and and going crazy.
Seth: He's very, very calm and collected.
Brian Clark: Yeah. um
Brian Clark: And while all of this is happening, John, who we all remember, has a gun because we saw it on him when he got off the plane, freaks out and is like, I've got to get out of here.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: So he books it up the stairs.
Brian Clark: And we see a couple of things like guys wheeling around missiles, which is kind of crazy.
Seth: my God.
Brian Clark: And um I wish I could play it now for you.
Seth: Oh my God.
Brian Clark: I have a ah drop that's just called Weird European Noises.
Brian Clark: Because those two guys that are wheeling them up, they make they would just make the strangest noises like, oh.
Seth: oh
Brian Clark: it So.
Seth: Stop eating!
Brian Clark: John's like, okay.
Seth: You're too loud or on purpose?
Brian Clark: What? No, not.
Seth: Go on, go on buddy.
Brian Clark: I had to have a little something in my mouth. My mouth was getting dry. So John is like, I'm going to go up to go up to the root, you know, go up and try and figure out how to get somebody's attention. And the first thing he thinks of is I'm going to pull fire the fire handle and not thinking that you know somebody else is going to be figuring out that he's pulling the fire handle. Fire trucks start to come and Hans
Brian Clark: They radio Hans like, Hey, somebody pulled the fire handle. And he's like, call 911, tell them the the business, the building code. There's no fire. And, you know, John's watching them come down the street and he's like, yeah, come on, come on. I'll kiss your damn Dalmatian. They turn around and we get within one of the first big fights of the movie when and I'm just going to call him Jeffrey Dahmer. Cause that's what he looks like.
Brian Clark: He gets up, gets off the elevator, and first, I have to say, his outfit is flipping ridiculous.
Seth: Oh my god.
Brian Clark: I mean, my man looks like he just got out of bed, sweatpants and a sweatshirt,
Seth: Mhm.
Brian Clark: But he's got a gorgeous MP5 submachine gun.
Brian Clark: and And he's telling John, he's like or whoever is up there, he's like, you know come out. I won't hurt you. And I love how, um as he's walking around and he's you know loading the gun, and he slaps the charging handle on the gun, and you hear it click.
Seth: Mmm.
Brian Clark: You're like, oh, this guy means business.
Seth: He does.
Brian Clark: But I also I think he kind of betrays himself because like, you know, come out and I won't hurt you. And he turns a corner and he he shoots the floor.
Seth: He's idiot.
Brian Clark: And then he hears a noise. And he goes to investigate it and he doesn't clear his corners very, very good.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: And I do love the line. ah John comes up behind him, puts a gun up behind his head. He's like, you won't shoot me.
Seth: Oh
Brian Clark: You're a policeman. Policemen have rules.
Seth: my God.
Brian Clark: John's like, yeah. so like So my lieutenant keeps telling me he just starts beating the crap out of him.
Brian Clark: um So
Brian Clark: I guess, what what is your, fee you know, what are you, what on this first fight of the movie, what do you think about the fight between Jeffrey Dahmer and John? What do you think about it?
Seth: I'm kind of sad that he dies, like like he dies so casually. He falls down the stairs and like, if we're gonna die, at least time we're like gracefully not falling down the damn stairs.
Brian Clark: to be they do they go back and forth for a while just beating the tar out of each other um it's it's a great fight but it's just yeah he does kind of go up bitch made going down the stairs and I think he snaps snaps his neck um
Seth: And it's beautiful.
Seth: I love how he's like, his shoes are too small cause he's trying to find shoes.
Brian Clark: but
Seth: That was funny.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: So John's trying to figure out, it's like, OK, I need to send a message. And this is my sick. One of my ah favorite parts of this movie is he puts Dahmer onto an elevator and grabs his bag and grabs all this stuff. And he gets the idea and he writes something on his shirt and you send him down. He sends him down. and
Brian Clark: um The elevator doors open and that lady starts screaming. And it's funny because when that lady starts screaming, and Alan Rickman, like, or Hans, I should say, goes over to find out what's going on, he's pointed to that lady, he's like, go move her and shut her up.
Brian Clark: And when he walks in and he sees the guy and he he reads, he goes, now I have a machine gun. Ho, ho, ho.
Seth: Oh. Oh.
Brian Clark: And I still think it's a good scene because in another movie, in any other movie, Hans Gruber would have been like, you know, I'll find him, I'll kill him, I'll destroy him, blah, blah, blah.
Seth: That's really.
Brian Clark: And he's just like, OK.
Seth: Whatever.
Brian Clark: Whatever, we'll figure this out. like Somebody called call his brother and tell him to come down here. um
Brian Clark: And the other crazy thing is, so John's on top of the elevator, and he rides it up as it goes up the stairs. that's He actually did that stunt. That's actually him.
Seth: I would be absolutely terrified.
Brian Clark: Yeah, i that would be a no. No.
Brian Clark: I don't like elevators as it is. And that's inside an elevator.
Seth: ae I hate elevators, like like one of my biggest fears is being on elevators. I yeah i hate elevators.
Brian Clark: um So they call Carl down, who I love Carl. I love him to death because he is so unhinged.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: where he flips over the desk. Ah, I want blood.
Brian Clark: So from here on out, John tries to figure out, okay, I need to call the cops and he finds the radio and he starts calling the police on the radio. And I love the lady on the on the on the radio from the police and she's like, you know,
Brian Clark: you know You're breaking FCC laws, you know and he's like, well, come down here and arrest me.
Seth: And arrest me!
Brian Clark: She's say she like, this is just for emergencies. I don't think he's like, do you think I've ordered a pizza?
Seth: Oh my god, that was really fucking funny.
Brian Clark: So they sent down our other person we love to see, Al Powell.
Seth: Oh, I love him so much, he's my favorite.
Brian Clark: which I wish it was Canon. So the guy that plays Al Powell, i don't I don't think you're gonna know the show.
Seth: Mm -hmm.
Brian Clark: did you Have you ever heard of heard of a show called Step By Step?
Seth: No.
Brian Clark: Wait, now I gotta look, because now i got now I'm freaking out thinking I've got the name of the show wrong. No, Family Matters.
Seth: Oh my god, yes.
Brian Clark: So do you remember Family Matters?
Seth: Yes, I do.
Brian Clark: He is in Family Matters.
Seth: Hmm.
Brian Clark: He's a cop in Family Matters.
Seth: Oh my god.
Brian Clark: I wish it would have been canon that in Family Matters, because in Family Matters his name was Carl Winslow, but it would have been awesome if awesome if his name was Al Powell.
Brian Clark: And they would drop little hints like, oh, yeah, I used to be a cop and in LA, but it got too crazy and I moved to Chicago.
Brian Clark: But oh that works. So he shows up, looks around, you know checks things out, and he's like, there's nothing going on.
Brian Clark: And while he's doing this, um oh, I forgot to skip the part where
Seth: But.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: Because the part where where John shoots this one guy, I forgot that um we skipped over the part where ah Alan Rickman takes Takagi up to this boardroom, and he's like, I need the codes for the computer, and you're going to give it to me. And he's like, you know.
Brian Clark: I'm not going to give it to you because, you know, whatever you want, you know, if you want my computers, you know, they are just going to change the codes in Tokyo. You'll never get in. He's like, no, I want in your fault. He goes, I'm going to give you the count of three. And he has Alan Rickman has a gorgeous welfare PPK with a silencer that he just slowly takes a silencer off while he's counting and he just absolutely just destroys this guy just shoots him and that was a ah wicked scene too because you don't see you you see a shot where it's from baha it's from behind Rickman where he's pointing the gun at Takagi and he says three and then it goes to reverse shot from the other side of the doors
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: and you just see the doors just turned red
Seth: Yep.
Brian Clark: and hear a thump. um
Brian Clark: So John goes back down to that floor to try to figure out what they were doing. And this crazy guy gets up on top of the table while he's under it. He's like, he's like shooting at him.
Brian Clark: And he's like, next time you have a chance to shoot somebody, don't hesitate.
Seth: Oh my God.
Brian Clark: And John just blows them away.
Brian Clark: and to get the attention of Al Powell as he's driving away, he drops this dude through a glass window on onto his police cruiser, which I'm sorry, if I was a cop and a and a body fell on my police car from a height, i would have the exact same ah I would have the exact same reaction as as he does.
Brian Clark: ah And then this is also where we get introduced to Dick Thornburg, the the um TV reporter, which i whenever we get around to Die Hard 2, I have an unpopular opinion about him in that movie.
Seth: Hmm.
Seth: Hmm.
Brian Clark: But in this movie, he get what he gets what he's he gets what he deserves. So he hears is all this over on the radio. He's telling us, like, I got to go down there. I got to go down there. And I love the um the interaction between him and the other reporter.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: And think I think his name is Harvey. And he's like, eat it, Harvey. um So he goes down there. All the police in the world show up. And every all the other terrorists are freaking out because he's like, you know, this is this isn't the way we planned it. And I I still love how Hans is like, it's OK. It's just a little change in the plan. It's no big deal, you know.
Brian Clark: We'll figure this out. He's like, but we need to find the detonators that he has or the plan's not going to work. And I love he's Hans never. You never hear him get angry.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: It's just, you know, we'll figure this out. And this is it's weird for um trying to think of a good movie.
Brian Clark: that I'm trying to think of a movie that does this differently. um well like look okay I know it's not exactly the same thing.
Brian Clark: Look at some of the Jurassic Park movies where stuff starts going sideways and people just instantly go into freak out mode.
Seth: yeah
Brian Clark: And you know that they just instantly go into, You know, we're gonna freak out. Everything's going south. We don't know what else to do.
Brian Clark: Can we pause for a second so I can get some something to drink? I'm sorry, my i am my mouth is like dries.
Seth: Yeah.
Seth: the
Brian Clark: Dizzy, why?
Seth: I don't know, I just feel dizzy.
Brian Clark: So we get basically all of LAPD showing up, which is dangerous in itself.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: and
Brian Clark: And... Oh, shoot, now I'm trying to think... God, it's... My brain is just totally spaced today.
Seth: myself.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: um I'm trying to think of what happens after the police show up. Oh!
Brian Clark: um The SWAT team tries to go in.
Brian Clark: and um
Brian Clark: i i do so I do think this is one of the few scenes in the movie that just I think could have done differently. I don't want to say necessarily better, but differently. Because was trying to get my attention and was trying to destroy my chair just a little bit more than he already has, or she already has.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: Because.
Brian Clark: They go to try and get into the building, the SWAT team does. And the goons that are down on the bottom floor, this is where Uli, I love him because they're waiting for him to to show up and he's behind this news desk. um That sounds like candy and stuff in the lobby of the building. And.
Brian Clark: He's behind the counter, and before stealing a candy bar, he looks to see if anybody's watching, and then he does it.
Seth: me
Brian Clark: I'm sorry, that's golden, because it's like, you know there's nobody else around.
Seth: um
Brian Clark: Plus, you have a machine gun.
Brian Clark: You have a machine gun.
Seth: shoot anyone who dance to him
Brian Clark: Yeah, go for it. Steal that candy bar. Nobody's going to stop you. um
Brian Clark: But both those guys, they take out a bunch of swag eyes and then they come and try to get in with. um
Brian Clark: Like some army vehicle. Which probably was a thing back then, too, like it is now. And you get the two year um European guys that make the weird noises.
Brian Clark: go and they shoot it with a rocket launcher, which that's that's something was like, OK, this is just. Everything up until that point was.
Brian Clark: and And this is a problem for me because. Like, I watch a movie and I like to pick it apart and like, that's not right, that would never happen, that's not right.
Brian Clark: even though you know I myself would just go, yeah, but it's just a movie. But when they pull out a rocket launcher, I'm like, OK.
Seth: you
Brian Clark: If you're going to plan as kind of a heist, why do you show up with a rocket launcher?
Seth: You never know when you need it.
Brian Clark: It just doesn't make any sense. Well, I mean, better to have it and not need it and need it and not have it.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: but stay I mean, because maybe they could have used that to get into the vault, although that would have blown everything up inside the vault.
Seth: Perhaps. Been awfully destructive.
Brian Clark: Yeah.
Brian Clark: But when when they blew up that police car or or the police vehicle, it was like, ah, this is a bit stretched in the imagination. Also, too, I'll get there. There's a scene later where um John is he's up on the roof of the building and he looks up over this thing and there is just probably 30 or 40 pounds of C4 explosive and I'm like are they trying to put this building into orbit or are they just trying to blow the roof up?
Brian Clark: its which alert, they're just trying to blow the roof up. You don't need that much plastic explosives to blow up a roof ah the roof of this building.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: So anyways, the LAPD gets owned, based, and um
Brian Clark: Theo, who's um one of the guys from the beginning of the movie who is in charge of getting into the vault. He talks to Hans and he's like, hey, you know, I've I've gotten through all these locks, but one and you're going to need to come through with something. Or I'm not going to be able to get it done.
Brian Clark: And Hans is like, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. And
Brian Clark: Hans sends.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: I'm just going to call him Fabio.
Seth: Bob in.
Brian Clark: Oh, shoot. Now I got to look and see what his actual name was. Carl, he sends Carl up after John.
Seth: i mean
Brian Clark: He's like, he's got the detonators I need for all that plastic explosives. You got to go find him.
Brian Clark: And they go up, trap them in the elevators. And the other big nope of this movie is the only way he can get out is to climb down an air shaft in the middle of the building.
Seth: Oh hell no, I just want to say I do not think that that would be That would be possible for to do in real life in my opinion No
Brian Clark: e No, I think you're right. For a couple of reasons. The other one of the big ones is. Have you ever like seen how that sheet metal ductwork is put together?
Brian Clark: um So that sheet metal ductwork. Is. Like where the. where it meets other sheet metal and there's flaps of it and stuff that like go over each other. That stuff is sharp as hell.
Brian Clark: So even if he was able to grab onto the lip of that vent when he caught it, that was going to cut the hell out of his hands.
Brian Clark: But even at that, like I said, it's I know it's just a movie and I know I have to throw f throw a little bit of disbelief out, but still I'm just like, yeah had that's a little bit far even for me.
Brian Clark: Just wait till we watch Air Force One, because I'm going to be a mile a minute. I'm like, that would never happen. That would never happen. That's not accurate. That's not accurate.
Seth: We did watch that.
Brian Clark: That's not going to happen either. Well, I know, but when we get around actually doing an episode about it, it's just going to be, it's going to be, and it's going to be two hours of me going like, this isn't right.
Seth: and
Brian Clark: This isn't right.
Seth: And...
Brian Clark: That would never happen.
Seth: ha ha ha. Nerd.
Brian Clark: Sorry, it's my touch of the tism.
Brian Clark: We all got a little touch, and that's my touch. um
Brian Clark: So at this point, the FBI show up. And I i love that you guys come in, um one of whom is, shoot, now I got to look and see what. Ow. Dagnabbit.
Brian Clark: ah Robert Davi, which you you have seen him in other movies.
Brian Clark: ah because he was in Do you remember The Goonies?
Seth: Oh my god yes.
Brian Clark: Yeah, he was in The Goonies.
Brian Clark: try like if he was in I'm looking to see if he was in anything else that you've seen. He's also been in a lot of absolutely um terrible like direct to DVD movies. like You can tell he's he only did that movie simply because he needed to get paid.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: I haven't seen anything else that he's been in that you would know.
Brian Clark: Yeah, nothing else that I can see. He did a voice in Grand Theft Auto Vice City.
Seth: Wow.
Brian Clark: So they show up, turn the power off to the building, they're able to get into the vault.
Brian Clark: um And I will say, because I remember looking this up at one point, I don't even remember why. Because bearer bonds are actually a thing.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: So it says from Wikipedia, bearer bond or bearer note is a bond or debt security issued by a government in or business. um It is unregistered. No records are kept of the owner or the transactions involving ownership. Whoever physically holds the paper on which the bond is issued is the presumptive owner of the instrument.
Brian Clark: So it's an actual thing that they get these bonds. No one's going to know that they stole them.
Brian Clark: And it's easy money.
Seth: Mm hmm.
Brian Clark: um So they're grabbing all the money because they're going to go upstairs. Because while they're all doing this, the rest of the terrorists are taking everybody upstairs to because they told the the FBI, you know, we want all these different terrorists released.
Brian Clark: And then we'll take. The hostages to the airport, and then we're going to fly from there, which. That's kind of pretty much how a lot of terrorist stuff happened back then. um So they get all these. All these bonds.
Brian Clark: And John goes up to the roof because he's trying to find Holly. And ah this scene is my other scene of absolutely not. I would never do this. um He gets up there and all these hostages are up there and he's like, where's Holly? Where's Holly? And like they took her to the vault and he's trying to get him to go downstairs. So he starts shooting.
Brian Clark: The FBI see him shooting like, oh, he's a terrorist. So they tried to shoot him. And he goes and jumps off the um helicopter pad at the top of the building.
Brian Clark: And while this is happening, Hans blows the roof after everybody goes downstairs. Oh, wait, no, I'm skipping this.
Brian Clark: Because before this, I'm skipping the set because before he goes upstairs, he fights Karl.
Brian Clark: And that is that whole fight scene is the best fight scene of the entire movie, bar none. i i What do you think about that whole fight scene where they just absolutely destroy each other?
Seth: That was like Really messed up I don't think I could get that out of my head for a little bit
Brian Clark: yeah
Brian Clark: Yeah, its I mean, it's it's brutal. um
Seth: Oh hell yeah, those made it so amazing.
Brian Clark: But.
Brian Clark: I like how they they. They tie that off because it's just, you know, that the entire movie, they have been wanting to murder each other and finally somebody does.
Brian Clark: um But they go and blow the roof up.
Seth: and
Brian Clark: And John has to get off the roof and he ties a fire hose around his waist.
Seth: Oh.
Brian Clark: I love why he's like, John, John, what are you doing? What are you doing? I'm like, yeah, what are what are you doing?
Seth: feet
Seth: You're being seen.
Brian Clark: ah
Brian Clark: And I was like like, God, if you get me through this, I swear I'll never go up in a tall building again. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I would agree with that. I will never go in a tall building ever. And he jumps over the side of the building as it the top blows up. um Funny part is that explosion was not where they blew the they didn't actually blow the top of the building off, but You know how they saw they did that like kind of long shot of it, where you could see the top of the building blow up?
Seth: Mm -hmm.
Brian Clark: Yeah, that was real. They really did that.
Seth: Oh my God.
Brian Clark: um Because there was a couple of different explosions they did on this movie. They really did it, um which is fun because they could blow the building up and then charge themselves to fix it.
Brian Clark: um So he goes back and crashes through the window as he comes down. And I love how he, because when he lands on the window, you see his feet are all bloody because he's been all through all that glass. And then he has to do where he shoots through the glass, goes through, and you see and you hear that hose reel just go with and past the window.
Brian Clark: falling down and you're like, oh, that's got to be heavy. And it starts to pull him out the out the window. um
Brian Clark: And then. John goes down, finally finds Holly and we get the final standoff of John. and hall John, Holly, Hans, and I forget who's the other guy's name?
Brian Clark: Now I'm going to look and see. I'm going to see if I can find out what his name is. Oh,
Brian Clark: oh it was James. Was it James?
Seth: I don't
Brian Clark: No, that's not him. I remember that guy's name. But anyways. The one dude that has the. um Southern accent.
Brian Clark: And I love how you see before the before John goes in there, he goes and he checks his gun. And he's got exactly two bullets.
Brian Clark: And you can see him trying to work out in his head like, how am I going to do this? I've only got two bullets. I've got to make them count. And he fakes them out because he's got the machine gun. It's empty. And he tapes the his pistol to to his back.
Brian Clark: And it's just it's such a good scene where John walks in and he's like, Holly!
Seth: Mmm.
Brian Clark: Holly!
Seth: Mmm.
Brian Clark: Cause you could tell he is just, he's broken.
Brian Clark: And he confronts Hans and he's like, you know, it's over. You know, you're not making out of this. And Hans has got a gun to Holly's head and he's like,
Brian Clark: It's like, no, you know you're not going to just walk away from this. This is how this works. And John just starts laughing maniacally. And everybody else starts laughing, well, not Holly, because she's still freaking out because she doesn't know what the heck is going on.
Brian Clark: and I love the last minute John just yells at Holly, like Holly get down and she gets down and he just blows them both away.
Seth: Heh.
Brian Clark: And I think it's also fitting too because you can see that Hans is like, he's got Holly by the arm. He starts to fall out the window and he's like caught on that wristwatch.
Brian Clark: that Ellis was so keen on her, and I was like, it's a Rolex, it's a Rolex. um
Brian Clark: And John's like trying to get her out of it. ah So this that whole scene where Hans starts falling backward, you knew about how they filmed that, didn't you?
Seth: Hm.
Brian Clark: So, They had Alan Rickman like suspended from this rig that he would, they would drop him and get the shot of him falling. And they told him, much like he told everybody else in the movie is Hans Gruber, I'm going to count to three. They dropped him on two.
Seth: Mmm.
Brian Clark: So his reaction was genuine fear.
Seth: Fear.
Brian Clark: And then they do the long shot of that person falling. That was a practical effect. They actually dropped a guy from that height, but they had them rigged on this thing.
Seth: Oh my god.
Brian Clark: And I'll have to see if I could send you a picture of it eventually, because it's it's really strange. But it's like this big drum that on one end, it's got a um like ah big almost like a fan blade. And it's got the the cable spooled around it so that as you fall, that fan blade as you fall, the it's spinning.
Brian Clark: Air resistance like slows it down and it slows you down.
Seth: Mmhmm.
Brian Clark: And also, it's got a brake system that's built into it so they can slow you down as you get to the bottom. And they also had one of those giant airbags. So they literally dropped a guy from high on this thing with the airbag just in case.
Brian Clark: So we get to the end of the movie and John and Holly get down to the bottom of the building. They're walking out. They get to meet Al, who has been talking to John through this whole thing. And I have to say, I will.
Brian Clark: I guess when this movie came out, this scene probably didn't play this way, but now it plays differently to me.
Brian Clark: Earlier in the movie, John says something to Al. He's like, you know, you know, you know, oh, you're not you're behind a desk. He's like, you know, why, you know, why aren't you on patrol anymore? And Al says, I shot a kid and he goes on and he goes, oh, you know, he had a ray gun. It looked. He said,
Brian Clark: He goes, it looked real enough and he shot and killed this kid.
Brian Clark: And Al's vindication at the end of the movie is, you know, he meets John and Holly and, you know, they're talking and Carl pops up, you know, with his machine gun and Al.
Brian Clark: Because Al had said earlier in the movie, no you know, i I just can't draw my gun again. Al pulls out his gun and wastes him.
Brian Clark: And I'm like, that's kind of disingenuous a little bit to be like, you know, he feels bad because he made a mistake and he shot this kid. And the way he's gonna get past it is to have to shoot some guy.
Brian Clark: and And like I said, maybe in the 80s when this movie came out, it came across different. But now, today, it just it comes across in a really different way. I don't know if you feel that way or not.
Seth: Hmm?
Brian Clark: so
Brian Clark: how How do you feel about, you know, Al, you know, his is big redemption being, you know, he shoots this guy after he had shot a kid.
Seth: That was...
Brian Clark: and that's like
Seth: that was awesome. Like, I liked that... I like characters who have, like, that... that good... like, that redemption at the end.
Brian Clark: Yeah. um Maybe it's just me that I just felt weird about it.
Brian Clark: but
Brian Clark: And that's the end. That's Die Hard.
Seth: It's die hard indeed it is I mean like
Brian Clark: So what did we, how do, what do you think about this movie now, watching it now? What do you think about it? How do you feel about it? How do you feel about the movie?
Seth: I feel like the first couple of times I watched it, I was very confused as to what was happening. But like I feel like you have to watch it a couple of times for you have to like understand it. I do feel like it's something that definitely could not be pulled off today just because of like other social things.
Brian Clark: Yeah, I feel like there's well and it Like you couldn't You couldn't pull off a movie today with your terrorist villain being you know this sharp Sharp dress guy from Germany. It just it wouldn't it wouldn't make any sense but um
Brian Clark: crap I went to go look and see because I know we were doing ratings on the movie and I don't have a list anymore. Where did it go?
Seth: Ha ha.
Brian Clark: OK.
Seth: We have, yeah.
Brian Clark: I think it was casting. How do we think the movie was the casting was, which I think it was phenomenal all the way through.
Seth: I honestly think so too, yeah.
Brian Clark: I don't I don't think. Just looking at the cast, I don't think there's anybody that is a mess the entire entire way through.
Seth: Mhm.
Brian Clark: if If the only complaint I would have is,
Brian Clark: so dwaye Dwayne Robinson, the guy that's the like assistant chief of police, I get he's supposed to be a little goofy.
Seth: Mhm.
Brian Clark: but I think he's a little bit too goofy, but that's my only complaint. Everybody else is just, everybody else is spot on.
Seth: Wonderful.
Brian Clark: a I know we also talk about um how the movie is shot. I think it's like all of it, all the camera work, all the angles, the effects are spot on. I don't think there's a miss in this movie.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: And like I said, the only the only thing, and it it's just a minor thing for me, the whole, where they blow up the ah police car with a missile, that's like, yeah, that's a little bit stupid, but that's minor.
Seth: Yeah.
Brian Clark: um
Brian Clark: I know we also talk about soundtrack, but There's no, there's music in this movie, but it's, there's not a lot.
Seth: It's really good though for like like the moments that it does have it in it.
Brian Clark: Yeah.
Seth: i Like it fits the movie and it's not it's not stupid.
Brian Clark: Yeah.
Brian Clark: Yeah. um I think there was some something else.
Brian Clark: i Basically, my my biggest thing about watching a lot of these movies is, You know, after we watch it, it's like, you know, is this a movie that we could watch, you know, over and over again? And. And of course, we can watch it over and over again. I think I've probably seen this movie a hundred times.
Seth: Is that one of your good favorites?
Brian Clark: It's one of my favorites. um It. There's a I think it's a BBC radio show.
Brian Clark: It's called Desert Island Discs, where they bring people on. And it's like the whole the whole point of the show is you have to talk about if you were marooned on a desert island with only five albums, what would those be? And this is one of those movies where like if you had to pick only five movies to watch the rest of your life, this is one of the movies that would be in that list.
Brian Clark: So we come to the end. And I know we've already watched some movies, but I feel like we should go ahead and spin for another one and see what we're going to watch next. So here we go.
Brian Clark: I just hope we get something, I hate to say strange, but I hope we get something kind of weird.
Seth: Oh, hell yeah. I still need to watch that one that was filmed in Greensburg. My Greensburg, but...
Brian Clark: Yeah, it was filmed in Greensburg.
Seth: It was, yeah.
Brian Clark: Well, it was filmed in Greensburg in Waldron.
Seth: I thought it was.
Seth: Mmm, yeah.
Brian Clark: I had to spin again because the first movie it gave me was a sequel.
Brian Clark: Huh.
Seth: Wow.
Brian Clark: Have you ever heard of the movie A Few Good Men?
Seth: No.
Brian Clark: ah Tom Cruise. um and ah Jack Nicholson.
Seth: I've never heard of it.
Brian Clark: um It's a great movie. It's a courtroom movie, but it's a great movie. um It's where, have you ever heard, seen the ah clip from the movie where Jack Nicholson's like, you can't handle the truth.
Seth: but No I have not.
Brian Clark: Yeah. Oh, it's a, It's a fantastic movie.
Seth: We'll have to do that one then.
Brian Clark: Okay, then we'll do A Few Good Men. So that that's a show and I guess we will see.
Seth: and
Brian Clark: We're definitely gonna have to not go a year and a half before the next episode.
Seth: Oh my gosh.
Brian Clark: oh All
