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F/X (1986)
23 Plays1 month ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris use some movie magic and discuss the 1986 action thriller F/X, which came out 40 years ago this week.
Bryan Brown stars as Rollie Tyler, a movie special effects artist who is recruited by the Department of Justice to help fake the murder of a mafia informant in witness protection. Rollie pulls off the job, but the DoJ tries to kill him, and they murder his girlfriend, Ellen (Diane Venora). NYPD detective Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) investigates Ellen's death and starts to figure out that there might be some corrupt government agents behind everything. Zach and Chris discuss how it's a bit odd for the movie to take place in New York City and not Los Angeles, the clunky nature of 80s special effects technology, Rollie getting a bunch of innocent people killed, using special effects as weapons in the finale, and more.
You can watch F/X on Tubi and Pluto TV. Next week, we've got a Broken Arrow as we discuss John Woo's 90s classic for its 30th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your movie suggestions for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Everything Action Cast
00:00:19
Zach Sheets
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast podcast week of February 2026. I'm Rio i'm yo zak
00:00:25
Chris Prime
I'm your co-host, Chris.
00:00:27
Zach Sheets
And this week we're using some movie magic and talking about FX, which is celebrating
Discussion on FX as a Cult Classic
00:00:31
Zach Sheets
its 40th anniversary. It came out on February 7th, 1986. And this is the like cult classic kind of action thriller that is all about the world of special effects and makeup. It makes like a special effects artist like the the action star.
00:00:50
Chris Prime
Yeah, this was sort of like, there are more people that go behind the scenes in a movie than you think. Like, it's cool that a movie is meta, where it, your action star or, like, the hero isn't the the actor, it's the, like, crew member.
00:01:11
Chris Prime
And I thought, I think this is also a time when, like, special effects were getting better, so, like,
00:01:16
Zach Sheets
Oh, definitely, yeah.
Special Effects Evolution Post-Robocop
00:01:18
Chris Prime
you know, in this like post Robocop world of, of like effects now, like now they're integral parts of storytelling. but ironically, it's not as much as you think in this movie.
00:01:33
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I think we we were talking beforehand, like, like the second, I think, you were saying, like, the second one is kind of more of, like, what you kind of imagined movie like this would be, where he's just, like, constantly using special effects to do things. Like, could you kind of imagine that he's, like, a Mysterio, where he's just like you just, like, using special effects constantly like, do illusions and, like, like wearing masks and, like, causing explosions stuff like that, but not really in the first one.
00:01:58
Chris Prime
You know, it's funny. I didn't think that he should be more Mysterio guy. it's It's because, like, I just can't take Brian Brown, like like a more theoretical, like, what's behind this mirror?
00:02:07
Zach Sheets
ye
00:02:13
Chris Prime
who it It does not translate for me.
00:02:17
Zach Sheets
but this with a
00:02:17
Chris Prime
I mean, he probably could do it.
00:02:19
Zach Sheets
say With his Australian accent, like an Australian Mysterio.
00:02:21
Chris Prime
Yeah. Well, it's because like I this also was like on the heels of like Crocodile Dundee. So it's like the 80s was like introducing to Americans to Australians.
00:02:34
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:02:35
Chris Prime
And.
00:02:35
Zach Sheets
I think, also, like, like this the same year I think the Fall Guy wrapped up, so that was kind of like, I would say that's kind of a predecessor to this, where it's like, oh, this guy who works it works on movies gets caught up in, you know, actual things.
00:02:46
Chris Prime
But like, I think for a while, though, people were understood that the stuntman made sense. You know, it's like if it's not the main actor, the stuntman's like a good runner up. Now it's like, what about the makeup artist?
00:02:56
Zach Sheets
Okay.
00:02:58
Chris Prime
And then, you know, like, I'm surprised we haven't done like a follow up where it's like, what about the hairdresser?
00:03:07
Zach Sheets
The best boy.
00:03:09
Chris Prime
I still don't know what that is.
00:03:10
Zach Sheets
gaffer.
00:03:12
Chris Prime
Gaffer, I knew. Gaffer was like a sound person.
00:03:16
Zach Sheets
like i thought this is the gaffer do the tape? Does he like tape things?
00:03:20
Chris Prime
I don't know anything about production now.
00:03:23
Chris Prime
have to wait for the movie to explain it to me.
00:03:26
Zach Sheets
Oh, he's he's the gaffer's the chief lighting technician.
00:03:30
Chris Prime
We're both wrong, see?
00:03:31
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:03:32
Chris Prime
So why do they call it gaffer's tape?
00:03:32
Zach Sheets
So... yeah so Someone someone someone like does tape. It's all their job is just taping it down, I think. but Anyway, FX.
Spotlight on Brian Brown's Role
00:03:40
Zach Sheets
yeah so So Brian Brown, who I think probably best known for Cocktail, which is which was like two years after this,
00:03:48
Chris Prime
And I think along came Polly. Those are the two that like a lot of people can easily recognize.
00:03:54
Zach Sheets
Yeah. But yeah, he, but he's special effects superstar Raleigh Taylor in this movie. Who, my first question is, he operates and lives in New York, which do you find it it's a weird choice, Chris? Because like, would you think this movie would take place in Los Angeles?
00:04:11
Chris Prime
Yeah, I mean... There were some Hollywood departments in New York that like are studio-based, but...
00:04:16
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I was, I was, Yeah, i was they filmed they film movies in new York City, but it's not like a... I don't think that you're going constantly be getting work as a special effects artist if you live in new York City. Maybe.
00:04:26
Chris Prime
You might, but I feel like it's a specialty shop, but I don't i don't know if I don't know enough about special effects studios, at least his level, where like he can test out the effects like a magician and then like bring it to...
00:04:27
Zach Sheets
Maybe.
00:04:41
Chris Prime
Like, the set that's, like, constant. You know, I feel like special effects artists are either, like, always in demand or, like, have lulls.
00:04:52
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Well, he has he has his apartment, his apartment is filled with stuff. that His apartment is kind of his workshop slash apartment. He has all of his like old monsters and like just a bunch like body parts and stuff laying around.
00:05:06
Zach Sheets
But in this movie, he's working on a movie. It's kind of like a mobster movie where a guy kind of comes to this restaurant and shoots a bunch people with a Tommy gun and blows up fish tank. Yeah.
00:05:19
Chris Prime
You know, it's funny. It's like that scene hasn't really aged well where that already looked like such a fake movie to me in the quality I was watching it.
00:05:27
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:05:29
Chris Prime
Because the mobster guy looks like he's something out of like a like a party city kind of like generic costume you put together.
00:05:37
Zach Sheets
Yeah, it's the most generic, like, trench coat, like, brown trench coat, like, suit, and then he comes in with a Tommy gun.
00:05:44
Chris Prime
And then I think he has like a hat.
00:05:45
Zach Sheets
Yeah, he has a hat, yeah.
00:05:47
Chris Prime
So it's like a full ensemble of like, what do you think like a Chicago gangster from like an Al Capone era like gangster would be?
00:05:53
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:05:56
Zach Sheets
And what's hilarious, like, not spoil things too much, but, like, that' that that's, like, the outfit that Raleigh uses in his when he becomes the assassin later on. like i feel like he just stole that from the set. It's just like, I'm just wearing this.
00:06:08
Chris Prime
yeah It's also kind of interesting that like that's sort of like the Chekhov's gun, I guess, like check out this effect. It's going to come back.
00:06:17
Zach Sheets
Well, there is, yeah, mean,
00:06:18
Chris Prime
even though later on the Tommy gun isn't like a thing later.
00:06:22
Zach Sheets
Yeah, it's not Tommy Gunn, but it is it is like like a like attacking like a mob guy in a restaurant. His girlfriend, Ellen, who's the main actress in that scene, also gets shot in that scene. And then something happens later to her that is basically the same thing that happened scene.
00:06:40
Zach Sheets
But yeah, but he does this whole big stunt in that scene. Everyone's like, yeah, awesome job, Raleigh. That was a great special effect.
00:06:49
Zach Sheets
Which, some of that was special effects, some of it's like stunts. i like his His job is kind of like very ambiguous. so just like he does like He does makeup, he does special effects like squibs and stuff, but he also does like stunts, kind of.
00:07:04
Chris Prime
Yeah, you really get your money out of Raleigh because like I feel like there's an actor's union and I don't think the the makeup artist gets to like be in the movie.
00:07:14
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:16
Zach Sheets
well hes said he's not He's not acting in that movie, whatever that movie is that
00:07:20
Chris Prime
Oh, that's true. yeah that I mean, they... I feel like
00:07:26
Chris Prime
he really put himself out there to be part of it. That kind of like is the issue. He's like, oh I'll be a rock star. Like I'll be part of this thing. i mean, that's, it doesn't seem like he has the personality where he wanted to be center stage, right? He's cocky, but like, he's only cocky in his effects.
00:07:45
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:07:47
Chris Prime
I don't think he's like, I mean, it, it, It only makes sense for this movie where this effects artists like kind of becomes a fugitive.
00:07:57
Chris Prime
Instead of like. I don't know, like fighting back in a like. like working with the police and doing like FX tricks like I thought it was because like from the from like the marketing hype and the things I remember about the movie, I always confuse this and the sequel like together.
00:08:19
Zach Sheets
know
00:08:19
Chris Prime
And then it's like two different movies.
00:08:22
Zach Sheets
and And or the series, because there's also a TV show, like a Canadian TV show that ran for like one season.
00:08:28
Chris Prime
I don't remember that show. Like it's so funny to think.
00:08:29
Zach Sheets
I've i've never um've never seen the show. Oh, it was two seasons, actually. So that that show lasted a while.
00:08:36
Chris Prime
Was FX ever on, like, FX the channel?
00:08:41
Zach Sheets
i don't i don't know if it aired in the US. s I think it was just like it was on its like CTV in Canada.
00:08:48
Zach Sheets
So maybe maybe maybe feel like maybe you could live like close to like the Canadian border. you maybe got Maybe you got it over like over the airwaves. I know like we like my family used to have a camp near the Canadian border, and you you could get like Canadian TV shows like on the on the antenna.
00:09:05
Chris Prime
Back in the day,
00:09:06
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:09:07
Zach Sheets
But basically, after this scene, they shoot the scene. ro He gets approached by a guy who says he's a producer, but then you find out later, it basically the next scene, that he is a guy who works for the DOJ.
DOJ's Unusual Request to Raleigh
00:09:23
Zach Sheets
Lipton, who is like instantly suspicious. Like he just acts suspicious, like basically for like those the get go. But he he basically so is like the the DOJ needs Raleigh's help because they want to fake an assassination. They have this a big gangster, Nicholas DeFranco, who's put by Jerry Orbach.
00:09:43
Zach Sheets
in Like he's in witness protection and they want to make it, they want to like fake his death so that he can yeah like like people assume he's dead and then he like kind of like get out of, get out of witness protection and be like, sorry to life.
00:09:56
Zach Sheets
Which, apparently, i i was reading, like, so the actual, like, special effects, like, supervisor on this movie, John Steers, who's, like, a he worked on Star Wars. He worked on like, tons of stuff. Like, he's, like, a special effects legend.
00:10:09
Zach Sheets
Like, apparently, he's, like, he said that the he's been approached before about government agencies, like, telling like him, like, hey, help us, like, use your use your skills to help us, like, do, like, stuff like that, kind of.
00:10:20
Chris Prime
I wonder if it was for like live events or more like mock photos. Cause know that was a thing.
00:10:26
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:10:27
Chris Prime
I know when they wanted to bait things or like fake evidence, that's when you need like kind of like an effects artist to do it. I mean, that's just, doesn't matter if it's like a movie or like, I don't know, some other kind of thing you want to make convincing like fantasies.
00:10:47
Zach Sheets
hu
00:10:47
Chris Prime
It totally makes sense to get like an effects team. You don't want them to just like in-house that where you get like, like government agents just like figuring out how like makeup works.
00:10:57
Zach Sheets
But then you get, like, a racer. Where it's like Arnold just shows up, like, squirts ketchup on a guy. He's like, you're dead.
00:11:05
Chris Prime
Yeah, yeah. Totally makes sense for like an effects person to show up and me like, okay, well, this is supposed to be how old of a blood. You can't just throw fresh bread on this, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, Also, this was the 80s where like, I don't know, you just there were loose regulations.
00:11:25
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:11:27
Chris Prime
I think this movie shows you that as long as you're like in charge, you don't need to like have like a judge to grant anything. You can just do things.
00:11:41
Zach Sheets
Their witness protection, like, it's it's super secretive. They can just do whatever they want.
00:11:45
Chris Prime
I guess, but not really.
00:11:47
Zach Sheets
but
00:11:50
Chris Prime
yeah the Jerry Orbach is it's so funny because I think around this time, I think NYPD Blue was just like in its second season, first season.
00:12:01
Chris Prime
Whatever the like law and order comes later.
00:12:04
Zach Sheets
Law and Order was like six years that later, because that started in 1992. Yeah.
00:12:08
Chris Prime
Okay.
00:12:10
Chris Prime
And like I didn't see this.
00:12:10
Zach Sheets
so i yeah who Yeah, I think it's definitely probably still around this time, like more of like and like a movie like character actor, and then Law & Order like blew him up.
00:12:11
Chris Prime
I've never seen this movie like in theaters. It was something I saw like whenever it played or like I saw in like movie stores. So I don't know who Jerry Orbach was. But like I think later on I think everyone kind of figured out Jerry Orbach was from just like his TV appearance. But
00:12:35
Zach Sheets
It was like everyone knew who he was after Law & Order.
00:12:39
Chris Prime
Wasn't he like some parent in some 80s movie?
00:12:43
Zach Sheets
he was He was in the Dirty Dancing.
00:12:45
Chris Prime
That makes sense. Yeah, like he was just.
00:12:47
Zach Sheets
His baby's dad.
00:12:49
Chris Prime
Yeah, that's I'm like, OK, he was always like the stern father figure. And now you watch him be a mob informant in this one.
00:12:55
Zach Sheets
Yeah. who i mean I don't even think he's trying to be Italian. like He's even doing any sort of Italian accent. or doing He's just like, Hey, it's me, Jerry Orbach.
00:13:03
Chris Prime
I think he's just Jerry Orbach.
00:13:07
Chris Prime
I got secrets. I'll tell it to you
00:13:12
Zach Sheets
But yeah, but they cop so there's this it's this elaborate scheme where, which I love the technology where it's, so Raleigh has these like kind of radio frequency, like the the gun triggers a like a radio signal to detonate the squibs. But it's a giant, like like it looks like an old like tape deck, basically stretched like, during my stomach.
00:13:36
Zach Sheets
that And that triggers the squibs.
00:13:40
Zach Sheets
And then then the I think the person shooting has to also wear one so that the the radio transmitters transmit to each other.
00:13:46
Zach Sheets
but It's it's it's like so it's a so insane. like Say it would just be like a a little like like Wi-Fi thing. You clip on like your your belt or something. It'd be like super tiny. But in the 80s, it's like this giant clunky thing. And then i don't know how that, like, does it that it doesn't, like, stick out under your clothes.
00:14:03
Zach Sheets
Because he has to wear, like a like, a big, like, plastic, like, vest thing that holds the squibs and everything in it.
00:14:11
Chris Prime
I thought it was like small packets. I didn't think it was like you had to wear like a mount.
00:14:16
Zach Sheets
No, yeah, yeah Jerry Arbor, he has to put on this, like, like big, plasticky, like, chest thing. And then he also has to, like, go through, like, the... but they put they put like the, like I don't know if it's like cement or whatever whatever that whatever they like the put on your face like to like to make the mask out of be your head.
00:14:34
Chris Prime
A caster.
00:14:36
Zach Sheets
They have to cast your heads, you just go do that whole process.
00:14:40
Chris Prime
I mean, at least in this, they went for a straight up, like, let's try, like, an assassination up close with a gun thing. Instead of, like, I don't know, like, oh no, I'm falling from the roof!
00:14:51
Chris Prime
And then they throw, like, a gummy off the roof.
00:14:51
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:14:57
Chris Prime
And, okay, not to spoil anything from the Sherlock TV show, the BBC Sherlock, I still don't know how how they did it, but it's like, is it implied that that was what happened?
00:14:57
Zach Sheets
yeah the
00:15:02
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:15:08
Chris Prime
Like, they threw a person, a body, and then it's like a stunt, like a FX team showed up.
00:15:16
Chris Prime
I think that's the last time I saw that, like, I vividly remember, like, like, woo, we had a FX team, like, create more evidence and like an alibi.
00:15:27
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:15:29
Zach Sheets
i try i'm so sorry I'm not sure why they had to make like a full like mask a face mask for Jerry Orbach, though, because he's just he he's just he's not wearing a mask. It's just his face. like And no one's like pretending to be him afterwards, either.
00:15:41
Zach Sheets
that's like I don't know why they need to like make a full mask.
00:15:42
Chris Prime
Yeah, you're right.
00:15:45
Zach Sheets
All they do is like put on... Raleigh has to make these like a couple of things for his face because he has to wear... this This whole thing is so bulky and ridiculous. But it's he has he's got the radio transmitter, and that's wired into this chest thing.
Complexity of Realistic Shooting Scene
00:16:01
Zach Sheets
But also he has to wear like these things on his face. It's like this like thing that goes over his forehead that like also has wires going down to like the chest piece.
00:16:09
Zach Sheets
And so they have to cover that up with like your fake prosthetic skin.
00:16:14
Zach Sheets
But it's not a full mask.
00:16:15
Chris Prime
I mean, how far is the how far is like the witnesses that they need?
00:16:15
Zach Sheets
I don't know...
00:16:21
Chris Prime
Weren't they like in public? So it's not like...
00:16:23
Zach Sheets
they're in a restaurant yeah it's They're setting it at a restaurant. So they just want all the random of people in the restaurant is to see him get shot.
00:16:31
Chris Prime
But they're like, everyone, don't look at his face too long. You might see some wires sticking out.
00:16:36
Zach Sheets
yeah I know.
00:16:40
Chris Prime
You're right. like A few blood packets, that's all you need. This man got shot in public.
00:16:44
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:16:44
Chris Prime
That alone is daring enough. But it's like, just in case someone wants to touch his pulse, let's put a bunch of like, you know, concealer on his pulse so like it feels like he's dead when he's not.
00:16:46
Zach Sheets
Hmm.
00:17:00
Zach Sheets
Well, guess i guess the setup, Raleigh explains it, is, like, this whole crazy elaborate setup is that you can, someone can, like, it can, it looks more realistic because, like, the guy putting the gun, you can time the trick, you can time, like, the squibs to go off, so it looks like you're actually shooting, like, you shoot, and then it looks like you shot him.
00:17:17
Zach Sheets
But, I mean, i don't think anyone would really noticed that if you just had, like, squibs, just, like, a bunch these random squibs just, like, pop off off his chest, like, explode.
00:17:25
Chris Prime
Yeah, but I think squids are radio controlled. So it's yeah, it's not like unless you're the actor with like the trigger as you're like faking being hit and you're just like jiggling.
00:17:28
Zach Sheets
Maybe, yeah.
00:17:37
Chris Prime
But I get like, OK, that's a another person whose job is to wait for the gun signal and then like start like smashing the buttons to pop the cats.
00:17:49
Chris Prime
I'm thinking of like other dumb ways they could have went where it's like they poisoned the food and and he's just like, oh, no, oh, I'm I've been assassinated.
00:17:59
Zach Sheets
And then he starts, like, foam starts coming out mouth or something. He's like,
00:18:03
Chris Prime
The Alka-Seltzer tablet in the mouth.
00:18:06
Zach Sheets
It's like, wow, we hired this we hired this like special effects guy.
00:18:06
Chris Prime
Very cool.
00:18:09
Zach Sheets
He just like put it like some Alka-Seltzers in his sleeve. and
00:18:13
Chris Prime
And that adds up to Jory Auerbach to like act.
00:18:17
Zach Sheets
Yep. Mm-hmm.
00:18:19
Chris Prime
Isn't that like another thing like the like they're hoping that he knows what being shot looks like. So he knows the right like movement. If not, he's like.
00:18:30
Chris Prime
He's just going to like wiggle.
00:18:33
Zach Sheets
Well, it's also it's also ridiculous, too, because... So basic so then the the head guy the DOJ, made like Colonel Mason, is like, hey, Raleigh, you're the only person that can actually like go in there and shoot him because you are like the expert on this. You know the timings of these like fake things. So we need to go you need to be going as the assassin, which Raleigh... Did they pay him an extra $30,000, I guess, to like to like be the assassin? he's like all right, sure.
00:18:59
Zach Sheets
and then so that he is going undercover but his undercover disguise is very pretty much like he's yeah he's wearing basically like the the mobster trench coat and then puts a mustache on no what has he doesn't create like an elaborate disguise for himself it's just like I'm gonna put on a mustache
00:19:18
Zach Sheets
but then when he walks in like he it's it's such it's it's a super awkward like cur Jerry Orox like nodding at him like yeah like do it now like makes so Almost give him a thumbs up. Then Raleigh's like, yeah, I'm doing it right now.
00:19:34
Zach Sheets
but it it doesn't look like It doesn't look natural at all. it's just like It looks like like this this whole thing was a setup. but then But then he shoots him and then like it's like it's a the scripts go off and everything. But then Raleigh escapes back to like the DOJ's car and then Lipton is like is's actually is trying to kill him because There's no loose... This whole criminal scheme, there's no loose ends.
00:20:01
Chris Prime
Yeah, it becomes like, okay, well, now that you've done your job, Raleigh, like time of silence you and
00:20:07
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:20:09
Chris Prime
They do such a bad job of trying to assassinate him like in a moving car like as they tell him, as they're trying it. i Their plan for the public assassination was while it was better coordinated than the cover-up.
00:20:23
Zach Sheets
Yes. Mm-hmm.
00:20:27
Chris Prime
And they planned it. They planned the public cover-up, the public assassination, and then then they planned the... the private one, and they messed up because Raleigh wasn't also his all own assassin.
00:20:41
Zach Sheets
he and he just Yeah, he just grabs the gun. like He just grabs the gun. like They start fighting around with it, and the driver gets shot. So then the car crashes, Raleigh escapes. But then he but he he makes the mistake of calling Mason, and he's like, hey, let's try to kill me. And then Mason's like, oh no, I'll send some guys.
00:20:57
Zach Sheets
But then, of course, Mason's also in on He's like the head of it. And then, it's crazy. like Raleigh, he's like, oh, I'm at this phone booth. And then two two two like guys show up in a cop car and just like waste...
00:21:10
Zach Sheets
this is like random guy that showed up after Raleigh went to the phone booth. This guy's like talking to like his like wife or something or it's like, it's like, oh yeah, i can't wait to see the kids. And he's like, he's like a machine gun down.
00:21:19
Chris Prime
yeah
00:21:22
Chris Prime
It's so funny because they know what Raleigh looks like, right?
00:21:26
Zach Sheets
i don't think those guys did. i remember maybe there's,
00:21:28
Chris Prime
They should get, like, a file. They just can't be like, shoot, who was ever in this phone booth?
00:21:32
Zach Sheets
Yeah. They couldn't see through the the really scratched, dirty foe booth the really like scratch dirty fau booth of the eighty s
00:21:38
Chris Prime
Dirty phone booth. but You figure for, like... I can't tell if, like...
00:21:46
Chris Prime
If the DOJ in this case was incompetent because they know what like a bot job looks like, like, I mean, if they were just goons they hired one thing. Right. But the fact that it's like a squad of corrupt people and it's like all you guys going get caught like you guys are just idiots.
00:22:07
Zach Sheets
I think all the goons are, they got, they got, they used to be in like the FBI or some other agency. They used or they used to be like cops, but then they all got like, they either quit or they got fired. And then Mason kind scooped them up and like, Hey, you guys are my like security squad, hit squad guys now.
00:22:26
Chris Prime
But there's still a little bit of logic where you just can't hire like panicky people. And what they did was they showed up and then just said, all right, that's it No, no, no one. These guys had fired for like incompetence more than corruption the first time it's around.
00:22:41
Zach Sheets
There's no way he would leave the phone booth. He wouldn't just be like standing on the street somewhere.
00:22:46
Chris Prime
And it's like the 80s where phone booths were being used all the time. It's not like that was the only phone booth like now. And it's like it makes sense to like he's in a phone booth. There's not many. You know where to go. It's like this is still the peak era of phone booths.
00:23:03
Zach Sheets
and and and Raleigh, like, that's kind of a dark move for him, like, using, like, random guy's bait, basically, just to to see what would happen. Like, oh, I'm gonna let this guy be in the phone booth. I'll just hide in this corner and, like, watch what happens.
00:23:15
Chris Prime
And it's not even like a special effect where he should have set up like a hologram or like a mirror. or You know what mean?
00:23:21
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:23:21
Chris Prime
There's so many missed opportunities, but Raleigh really gets a lot of people killed.
00:23:25
Zach Sheets
Yeah, mm-hmm.
00:23:26
Chris Prime
More than you think for like the hero and especially for when his job is faking death. He ends up getting a lot of people killed.
00:23:36
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Including his girlfriend, because he he goes to her apartment afterwards, and he's, like, explaining everything. But then the next morning, she's like, well, I mean, I know you got killed last night, but it's a beautiful day. let's like Let's go out and, like, do a walk or something. And it she, like, pulls the drapes open and gets a immediately shot by a sniper.
00:23:56
Chris Prime
but Again, it's like a soap opera. It's like, they had great night together and whatever. It's like, yeah, I'm like being chased by government agents.
00:24:05
Chris Prime
I'm pretty sure they sculpted her place out like months ago.
00:24:05
Zach Sheets
like that was
00:24:09
Zach Sheets
So you almost got killed. That was that was last night. It's today. It's it's a new day.
00:24:13
Chris Prime
understand this is like a month later? Maybe a year? Literally the next day. like if anything, that should have been the sequel.
00:24:24
Zach Sheets
She like gets killed and that's set up for the sequel or something.
00:24:27
Chris Prime
that's the MacGuffin of the sequel, but they really cram it in here because I don't think they thought this movie was going to get a sequel originally. Like, does this movie feel like it was supposed to one-off?
00:24:38
Zach Sheets
Yeah, i think i mean i think was it I think it was definitely like a sp surprise hit because it was you know i did well in theaters, and I think it was also like a massive like VHS rental like a favorite.
00:24:51
Zach Sheets
So then that that's when they put like the sequel and the development.
00:24:55
Chris Prime
I mean, again, it's not bad. It's just very like once you get the premise, once that kind of shakes off for a while, it's just like like a man on the run movie.
00:25:07
Zach Sheets
Yeah, the the middle is very kind of standard, like, fugitive. Like, he's just on the run, like, and i shows up somewhere and gets chased around by someone or it's a car chase or something. He doesn't he doesn't really use...
00:25:17
Chris Prime
But like, but wait, the only thing that they do smart is they explain that like the NYPD is incompetent. You know, like they're like his his detective friend is sort of like, hey, this is happening to my friend.
00:25:24
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:25:30
Chris Prime
And they're like, I want your badge and gun. It just.
00:25:33
Zach Sheets
well it's it's not even his friend yet like the craziest thing is that like Brian Dennehy and Brian Brown have don't have a scene together until like the last like five minutes in this movie yeah the the the sequel is when they're like they're total buds and then then the show is when they're like friends but this is like this is kind of like the build up to like them being friends but yeah theyve they they have no scenes together until like the last like five minutes it's like hey I caught ya
00:25:43
Chris Prime
Really?
00:25:54
Chris Prime
Well, I mean, really, the sniper attack is the one that's like, that's when the detective kind of comes in and goes, all right, like, what's what's this all about?
00:26:09
Zach Sheets
Yeah, cause because thes like the sniper comes into the apartment to like make make sure like try to finish the job, I guess, or make sure he got them both. And then he and Raleigh have this like big fight, which I appreciate how sloppy that fight is where Raleigh's just like throwing like a toaster at him and random kitchen items at him.
00:26:25
Zach Sheets
And he finally kills him.
00:26:25
Chris Prime
Yeah, because Raleigh's not like a martial artist. He's just sort of like a guy.
00:26:28
Zach Sheets
Yeah. And then he finally manages to kill him with a clothes iron. like He just like slams an iron in his face a couple times.
00:26:38
Zach Sheets
And then then he escapes, and then the then the cops get called in by like the like apartment owner or something, and then that's one the thiss when Brian de Denny i appears. like I think he like it's like 45 minutes until Brian Denny shows up, and he's like second a build.
00:26:53
Zach Sheets
But he's he's great. He's like this like yo he's just like disgruntled. don't know if he's like alcoholic, but he kind of seems like he's an alcoholic. Like NYPD cop, like he's like too old for this shit.
00:27:05
Zach Sheets
I think the thing also, too, is that he is the one that like actually like arrested DeFranco, but then he got thrown into witness protection and then this other guy, Burdock, got the case.
00:27:16
Zach Sheets
So he's all pissed off about that, too.
00:27:18
Zach Sheets
but they're But they're investigating like this like these like bodies in his apartment. And then they kind of it's kind of like, right now he's on kind of his own thing the whole movie, of like you trying to figure out what the hell's going on.
00:27:28
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's like a separate plot that happens. If anything, it's just like the movie could also been this detective who is following this magician, like this like special effects artist.
00:27:41
Chris Prime
But that becomes like its own like kind of like case of the week.
00:27:47
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:27:48
Chris Prime
for him where like Raleigh's story is just like, oh shit. Oh shit. Like how do i survive this?
00:27:57
Zach Sheets
Well, which, which, which really calls like his, uh, like insanely loyal assistant, Andy, who shows up. But then she gets like, just like run through the ringer of like,
00:28:10
Zach Sheets
like She just shows up like, hey, what what are we doing? Are we shooting a movie or something? And then she's like forced into the sewers. like She's forced to dress like a homeless person. She's like throwing it in trunk. It's like...
00:28:22
Chris Prime
you're You're right, because it's sort of like, how like was she actually good at the special effects, or she just like really good at being an assistant, like above and beyond for like an assistant administration duty?
00:28:37
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:28:39
Chris Prime
She's like, I'm just here to file your taxes, and he's like, put this on, get out there.
00:28:39
Zach Sheets
Because... like
00:28:43
Zach Sheets
cause Because Raleigh calls her and he's like, hey, bring you gotta bring my like my makeup kit to like the Central a Park boathouse. Don't ask any questions. Which she does. and then she shows up and he's like, hey, that guys you got fouled. This guy's chasing me. And then he pushes him into the pond. And then they run off and they're like, but then they have to spend the night underground with like home like this like homeless camp.
00:29:08
Chris Prime
famous homeless camp. that's That's where the pigeon lady lives.
00:29:11
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:29:12
Chris Prime
From Home Alone 2.
00:29:15
Zach Sheets
And that's when we finally get, like, when Ryzen and Reign, he finally, like, kind of busts out some of his, like, special effects skills. Because, like, yeah, he turns himself into... He almost looks like Rasputin. Like, he turns himself into this, like, crazy, like, bearded homeless guy.
00:29:28
Zach Sheets
and then they manage to capture Lipton. Because he, like, he like high he does a cool cool trick where, like, he tapes two, like, payphones together.
00:29:39
Zach Sheets
and But he's calling from like a third phone. so that like he He calls like the DOJ and he's like taunting them or like telling like' talking to them and they're trying to trace the call. and they're like, he's calling from the building! He's like in the lobby right now, go get him!
00:29:53
Zach Sheets
But it's like two phones taped together, it's like a phone talking to phone. That the VPN of
00:29:59
Chris Prime
It's like how they used to do old, like, I guess, satellite hopping.
00:30:05
Zach Sheets
the 80s. but vpn are like of the eighty s
00:30:10
Zach Sheets
But yeah but
00:30:11
Chris Prime
So i also feel like he just didn't want to use a paint phone again after the other incident.
00:30:17
Zach Sheets
yeah but yeah, he does, hides his lips in his car because they do this whole thing like, oh, he's calling from here. We got to go get him. And then, yeah, he like, he has like a, like a, go ro like he has like like a like a choking wire that he's like wraps around like lips his neck and he's like, drive over here.
00:30:37
Zach Sheets
And then you find out that, like Andy's been in the trunk the entire time, so she had to ride alllthough all over town in the trunk. And then they put Lipton in the trunk, and then his, like, Raleigh's interrogation method is, like, to slam the trunk of the car, like, various things around, like, this, like, underpass.
00:30:54
Zach Sheets
she Yeah, or kill him. So he's like, you don't you want to talk, Lipton? And he's like, no. And he slams him against like like a dumpster, like like a smet barrier. and then But then finally yeah finally he like finally talks.
00:30:54
Chris Prime
Yeah, like and in hopes that he doesn't like blackout.
00:31:10
Zach Sheets
And reveals the whole scheme. though they they They set him up. like DeFranco's not dead. And it's this whole setup.
Uncovering Corruption and Mafia Schemes
00:31:19
Zach Sheets
They just wanted to frame Raleigh for it and make him be the fall guy.
00:31:25
Zach Sheets
and make everyone think that DeFranco's dead, but he's actually like escaping with like the corrupt Lipton and Mason and anyone else who's like corrupt with them. Yeah.
00:31:35
Chris Prime
Yeah, like, turns out that Mason, well, not really Mason. No, I guess it is Mason. he's It's funny because, like, the actor's also named Mason.
00:31:46
Zach Sheets
Yeah,
00:31:48
Chris Prime
Mason Adams plays Edward Mason.
00:31:50
Zach Sheets
yeah, yeah.
00:31:51
Chris Prime
Yeah, like, he he's the one that's like, okay, I guess with the right price, with the right informant, we can stash away some of the mafia money. And that's also why the mafia is looking for him, because they're probably going, where's all money?
00:32:05
Zach Sheets
Yeah, because Jerry O'Block DeFranco stole $15 million dollars from the Mafia. Yeah.
00:32:12
Chris Prime
Which is like $40 million back then.
00:32:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:32:15
Chris Prime
Like, in today's money.
00:32:18
Chris Prime
So, it like, they're pissed.
00:32:22
Chris Prime
So the Mafia's not wrong for wanting, like, what's happening, and then, like...
00:32:24
Zach Sheets
yeah Yeah.
00:32:27
Chris Prime
But really, the only hiccup in their plan was trying to kill the makeup artists.
00:32:32
Zach Sheets
Yeah,
00:32:33
Chris Prime
If they just, like, didn't, Raleigh wouldn't know about this. It wasn't like he was picking up on the trail.
00:32:37
Zach Sheets
he would just, he would just like went off to another movie and be like, oh, okay. Like, probably would have seen them because the paper's all like, oh, i think there was news reports and like about, oh, my mob informer of DeFranco is dead, shot gun down in a restaurant and probably be like, well, mission accomplished. I did a good job.
00:32:55
Chris Prime
If anything, it's just like, oh, he's dead again. He's like, oh, okay. Like, you know, even if it failed and then they got him, Raleigh wouldn't be like, oh no, my magic trick.
00:33:06
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:33:06
Chris Prime
Like, might the magic of makeup failed.
00:33:10
Zach Sheets
Yeah, if they had to try to kill him, he would have just gone off to another movie and forgot about it, probably. probably. But the entire time that Raleigh's doing all this, he's interrogating Lipton and trusting a homeless guy, doing all his tricks. Brian Downey is investigating his side of things.
00:33:31
Zach Sheets
And then... Which, a lot of it involves like going to this this woman who operates the computer. because like That's kind of like the weird thing about the 80s too. The computer is a very specialized thing and that like only a couple of people can know how to use the computer.
00:33:46
Zach Sheets
you just go to this woman in the basement that operates the computer.
00:33:50
Zach Sheets
But then they they they figure out all this like computer stuff. of like all All these guys that like the the the set sniper and like a couple other guys have like like sequential like social security numbers.
00:34:02
Zach Sheets
So they're obviously a it's like a fake identity. And then they figure out they're like, oh, they all work for WRP with this relocation program.
00:34:13
Zach Sheets
and then they go And then they go to Mason and Brian Denny just immediately knows that he's like corrupted. He's just like, that guy's bent.
00:34:20
Chris Prime
Yeah, he calls it quickly. He's like, you.
00:34:23
Zach Sheets
Yeah, you're you're you're on this. You're like the mastermind this whole thing.
00:34:27
Chris Prime
I mean, he's either a really good detective or like there's a part of this movie where like Brian Dennehy is just sort of looking through other cases where like all these like things have happened because it seems like this was the only big corrupt case that like kind of pins everything together for it's like, OK, all this money.
00:34:40
Zach Sheets
Hmm.
00:34:48
Chris Prime
all the all these like resources go into hunting the FX artists. You know, it's super suspicious.
00:34:58
Zach Sheets
Yeah, because...
00:34:59
Chris Prime
Or like, only one cop in New York is like, something's not right about this.
00:34:59
Zach Sheets
because
00:35:02
Zach Sheets
Yeah. And Raleigh's like the main suspect for like his girlfriend's killing and the the random guy in the apartment killing because his fingerprints were there and he's like he no one knows where he is. it's like, oh, her boyfriend did it. like
00:35:16
Chris Prime
Yeah, they jumped to conclusions real quick.
00:35:19
Zach Sheets
Even though... like They have the trajectory of the bullet. Like, they could they know it came from, like, a building across the street, but it's just like, oh, the other it's it's him. mean but He must have sniped across the building.
00:35:30
Chris Prime
He must have ran out, jumped to the roof, like sniped them, and then came back down, ran in, pulled this guy off the street, and fought him.
00:35:39
Chris Prime
and See, it's just like weird police work. They're like, good job. Promotions for everybody.
00:35:46
Zach Sheets
But then, uh, but, but, but then he goes, he goes too far. Cause he like, he goes to the guy that's actually working on the DeFranco case, which I don't know if he's actually like in on it. I think he's just like a, he's just like an asshole. He's just like, there's a lot like, he's just like, Oh yeah. I'm a liaison to like the DeFranco case.
00:36:03
Zach Sheets
But then he, but then, probably then he gets, i think it's the address for Mason's like, like house out of the city. But then because he like, he like attacked the fellow officer, he gets like his badge and gun taken away.
00:36:17
Chris Prime
Yeah, that does make sense where it's like, all right you've gone too rogue.
00:36:17
Zach Sheets
Which...
00:36:21
Zach Sheets
And also, the crazy thing about that like that scene is that the police chief, the police captain, is Gordon from Sesame Street.
00:36:31
Chris Prime
That's so weird, right?
00:36:33
Zach Sheets
it it's It's weird to see him in a non-kid-friendly role. It'd be like be like if Steve from Blue Scoots was detective something. like detective or something
00:36:43
Chris Prime
And I think at this point, like Sesame Street's been on for a while.
00:36:47
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:36:49
Chris Prime
So was he just not there?
00:36:49
Zach Sheets
I even think like like like... And then I think like... Like Follow That Bird was probably... Had it come out? Like around that time too? Or like a little bit a couple years before that?
00:37:01
Chris Prime
Might have been like one year before this.
00:37:04
Zach Sheets
Oh yeah, it's the year it was the year before. Yeah, he's in Follow That Bird and the next next movie we made was Yeah.
00:37:10
Chris Prime
It was like one for the kids and one for the adults.
00:37:12
Zach Sheets
Yeah. gotta show my range. Rusko Orman's gotta show his range.
00:37:15
Chris Prime
I
00:37:17
Zach Sheets
that was That was a fun, like, oh, it's Gordon! He's the angry police chief. But then...
00:37:24
Chris Prime
i don't think like the police chief is also corrupt. i think he's just an angry police chief.
00:37:27
Zach Sheets
No. He's just like, hey, you assaulted a fellow officer. Like, it's not your case. Like, like get out of here. Like...
00:37:37
Zach Sheets
But then Brighton, he like stills steals like his Captain badge and wrangles up like the state police to go up with him to like go attack Mason's house.
00:37:46
Zach Sheets
But then... So but so this big the big final scene is like what I think everyone kind of like expects the movie to be for the entire movie. Which is, Raleigh shows up first and...
Climactic Showdown Using Special Effects
00:37:58
Zach Sheets
he starts using all of his like special effects knowledge to kind of like attack, like Mason's guys and like attack the the mansion.
00:38:05
Zach Sheets
So he's got like, he like fills like a balloon with something that's like explosive, like takes a guy out with that. He's like rigging up an electrical line to a fence and like turning into the electric fence and like shocking a guy.
00:38:19
Zach Sheets
he I think the most elaborate thing is like he sits like like no he he has like a duffel bag with him and he pulls all these like giant like mirror scaffolding things that was somehow in there and he like sets it up in the hallway and then it looks like so it looks like he's at the end of the hallway and like two of the guys shoot at at it and like the bullets bounce off of it and like kill one of the guys. Yeah.
00:38:36
Chris Prime
The classic like like fake out.
00:38:39
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:38:41
Chris Prime
Like. I appreciate that is what would happen if someone was trying to like. Like trying to take on like a haunted house.
00:38:52
Chris Prime
Like with a gun. You know like all these like effects. You're like alright I'm just gonna start shooting and see what happens.
00:38:57
Zach Sheets
Yeah. yeah and he's he's He's using like sound like device like things let make sounds appear
00:39:00
Chris Prime
But.
00:39:05
Zach Sheets
places
00:39:07
Chris Prime
Yeah, like, it it's cool, like, that that, like, the plot of the premise comes together. You know, like, the the main selling point is watch this special effects.
00:39:15
Zach Sheets
you
00:39:18
Chris Prime
But some of these effects, do you think they're they're more production effects, right?
00:39:26
Chris Prime
Like, I think effects at the time was, like, makeup and, like, makeup.
00:39:29
Zach Sheets
Yeah, like the thing or something, like creatures and...
00:39:31
Chris Prime
Yeah, yeah. And then now now it's like, well, there's an FX specialist that's also like like a theme park engineer. Because like rigging this up, ri making the like, I guess the the like, okay, what do I have? What what can we like designate this room for?
00:39:51
Zach Sheets
Oh, we did, we did, we did to mention, like, if we jump back as like a bit, there was, there was like the car chase too, that like, he kind of, he, they used like some effects, I guess, or some like, like chemicals they use.
00:40:03
Zach Sheets
Cause his, his f effect, like, so Raleigh has like a van that says FX on it. That's like his company name. And that gets impounded. So he has to get his FX van out of impound. And then he and Andy go, and then just has, like, explosives in his van.
00:40:19
Zach Sheets
so so like they like, they just set a bunch of explosives off in the impound lot to, like, get the van of there.
00:40:26
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:40:26
Zach Sheets
And then they're which I think he says it's supposed to like smoke, but then there's different like amounts of chemicals or explosives in it, because Andy grabs the high explosive ones and blows up cars.
00:40:40
Zach Sheets
And then there's a car chase with the cops, and then they kind of like they dump like this like i guess like super slick chemical out the back, and that's because the cars like i crash into each other. And... I think they... Something...
00:40:56
Zach Sheets
so that dump something else out too, of that like but then... So it's a little bit of like, oh, we're using special effects on this car chase, but it's mostly just like, we're driving through the streets, we're driving through the meatpacking district, and it's giant van.
00:41:07
Chris Prime
It's a tour around New York.
00:41:09
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:41:10
Zach Sheets
but But this... like Attack of the Mansion is like where it's all... He's like actually using all the special effects knowledge to kind of like you know fight these like trained assassins or trained guys.
00:41:23
Zach Sheets
and like taking them out easily.
00:41:23
Chris Prime
Okay. To be fair, these are the same assassins and the same kind of like... level of people who shoot phone booth people without checking who they are.
00:41:34
Zach Sheets
oh it's it's it's literally it's it's literally the same two guys that did that.
00:41:34
Chris Prime
So.
00:41:37
Chris Prime
Yeah, so it's like.
00:41:39
Chris Prime
They're they're just going to be like fired. Any noise like anything looks suspicious like walk headfirst into it.
00:41:47
Chris Prime
So yeah, like they get tricked by the illusions like really easily.
00:41:51
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:41:54
Chris Prime
There should have been this one fake out where one of they like they like it's like a half broken effect and they like laugh at it or something. And then like it's worse. I'm thinking of the like total recall like hologram, you know, the one where it's like, oh, you think that's a real Quaid?
00:42:08
Zach Sheets
Yeah. You think it is?
00:42:13
Chris Prime
It's like, oh, you think that's the real Raleigh? And then he throws a toaster at him.
00:42:16
Zach Sheets
it is.
00:42:18
Zach Sheets
like a judo chop sim or something? Yeah.
00:42:23
Zach Sheets
The one I don't understand how it works is he rigs like the back door. He rigs a door. i don't know if it's back door, like but what Jerry Orbach tries to leave out this door, and then it looks like a force field goes off. It's like this like purple force field like generates. and it's like that Jerry Orbach has a pacemaker, and that short-shot comes to his pacemaker and kills him.
00:42:44
Chris Prime
I think that's just like a microwave. I think it's for us visually to see what the magic wave is.
00:42:52
Zach Sheets
Yeah, because it's...
00:42:53
Chris Prime
That or it's like an EMP. like Somehow Raleigh like explodes like a tiny EMP.
00:42:54
Zach Sheets
it
00:42:59
Zach Sheets
I mean, it seems like it's supposed to be just electricity, but the effect, the actual special effect in the movie is this purple force field shows up.
00:43:10
Zach Sheets
like Jerry Arbor, it's like his hands like are like stuck on it for like a second. He's just like, la and he falls the down.
00:43:16
Chris Prime
You ever been funny? And it's like the twist ending is that like Raleigh, like they ask him like, oh, what'd you do? He's like, I actually use magic. Like it's something where like, yeah, it's like, that's what makes it special.
00:43:27
Zach Sheets
I'm actually magic.
00:43:32
Chris Prime
That's why I'm the best.
00:43:34
Zach Sheets
They're not. that That's the trick. They're not they're not effects. They're real.
00:43:39
Chris Prime
these These are this world of illusion is mine.
00:43:42
Zach Sheets
The deadly art of illusion. Which is a sequel.
00:43:47
Chris Prime
Again, it would have been a crazy twist where it's like, oh, now you're introducing magic like near the end. Now you get to question all the effects that he said is like science or engineering.
00:44:00
Chris Prime
But again, like like I said, that makes sense. It's the movie effects. And it's like, all right, well, no one's going to want to watch Jerry Orbach like scream at nothing. So let's put a purple like visual.
00:44:11
Zach Sheets
How would you use that in a movie, though? like Rigging up this like bizarre electric electric field on a door.
00:44:17
Chris Prime
I mean, that that's like in post. You wouldn't do that in shot. you know you wouldn't You wouldn't spend all that money and effort trying to build like a purple bubble.
00:44:21
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:44:26
Chris Prime
and that
00:44:27
Zach Sheets
but
00:44:29
Chris Prime
So, I mean...
00:44:31
Zach Sheets
It's like, Rob, we we need you to build this plasma jet like plasma field for this movie that we're making.
00:44:37
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's like...
00:44:38
Zach Sheets
It's like a sci-fi movie.
00:44:38
Chris Prime
It's like you need to invent a Tesla coil. but Like a purple Tesla coil.
00:44:43
Zach Sheets
Yeah. no got Yeah.
00:44:46
Chris Prime
But, okay. So there's also a reason why the Mission Impossible movies do so well is because they have their own. Like Ethan Hunt is also an FX master.
00:44:59
Chris Prime
He's able to do mask and like he's able to fake like props and then also do like silly little skits with his team. Like they film movies together and in ask and stuff.
00:45:14
Zach Sheets
Well, I mean, one of the best sequences in the entire franchise is, like, the in Ghost Protocol, when they they had that that projector field, the hallway field, but they're, like, moving that screen up the screen that way.
00:45:21
Chris Prime
The hallway. They stole that from toys.
00:45:25
Zach Sheets
Yeah. still It's still awesome. Hmm.
00:45:28
Chris Prime
Yeah, but every time I see that, is I think of toys and how they did it and how they faked a special effects movie with toys and stuff.
00:45:36
Chris Prime
But yeah, like this era of like, OK, like the special effects, they all are practical or maybe they could be like. I thought maybe he's going to toss him like a fake gun. or something. I thought it would be more tied into like some sort of revenge.
00:45:54
Chris Prime
Where it's like, oh, my girlfriend got shot, and so like there's no trick here, and he he shoots him or something.
00:46:00
Zach Sheets
Well, so so Jerry Robach goes nuts and like shoots a bunch Because everyone has Uzis. Jerry Robach has Uzis shoots like crazy all over the place. And then Raleigh like kind of falls through a window and it's like, oh he's dead. you got him.
00:46:19
Zach Sheets
But then that was obviously special effects. And then he picks up the gun. And then it's holding Mason hostage. about And then Mason reveals like the big thing where it's like, oh, I i took this key from DeFranco. It opens a Swiss bank account for $15 million. dollars like We could split it.
00:46:38
Zach Sheets
And then Rolly's like, nah, I'm just going get you arrested. I'm not...
00:46:46
Zach Sheets
dealing with you. And he puts the gun down and then Mason picks it up is I got the gun now. But then you find out that Raleigh put crazy glue on it. So now it's like stuck to Mason's hand and he also took up all the bullets out of it.
00:47:00
Zach Sheets
So now Mason has like an empty gun.
00:47:01
Chris Prime
did he How did he, like, apply all that crazy glue?
00:47:04
Zach Sheets
and And then how is he holding it without having it stick to his hand?
00:47:09
Chris Prime
Like, wouldn't he, like, holding it by, like the tip? He's like, well, I'm just gonna lay this here.
00:47:11
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Yep. Yep. cause he's full on like holding it like threatening him with the gun and then he's like oh here you go oh by the way crazy glue
00:47:21
Chris Prime
The secret is, it's a I always excrete crazy glue.
00:47:25
Zach Sheets
then
00:47:26
Chris Prime
That's his special power. It's like webbing.
00:47:27
Zach Sheets
i have I have fake I'm wearing fake hands right now that don't don't don't stick to crazy glue but but's yeah like he shows up the door and then like so Mason is like threatening it looks like he's threatening the cops with a gun and they blow him away
00:47:30
Chris Prime
yeah
00:47:43
Zach Sheets
And then Raleigh also like like goes back to laying on the ground looking like he's dead. Then Brian Hayes comes in and is like, oh man, we gotta clean everything up now. At least the Fredgo's dead.
00:47:55
Chris Prime
Yeah, but then then comes the one more like special effects trick at the end, which is like the minimum special effects trick.
00:48:01
Zach Sheets
Well, yeah.
00:48:04
Zach Sheets
Well, Raleigh, he like gets himself taken to the
Raleigh's Escape and Movie Conclusion
00:48:07
Zach Sheets
morgue. And then he pulls himself out of a body bag, like pulls off. He's like, all these like, like rubber, like, like arm things and like neck things make it look like the blood's all over him.
00:48:17
Zach Sheets
And then he's like, oh I'm gonna walk out of here and go to get that get that money. And then Brian Henry, like fouled him and catch and like catches him. So it's, so it's like finally the first scene together.
00:48:28
Zach Sheets
And then cut to them in Switzerland and Raleigh is like wearing like a Jerry Orbach mask. and He gets the money. And then he and Brian Haynes are like best buds now. They're just like hanging out. It's like, yeah, we're rich now, man.
00:48:45
Zach Sheets
So, I mean, would that just seems like pure up... I don't think they were planning a sequel, but that seems like a set for a sequel like, oh, these two are not now like partners and buddies now. They're going to have all all sorts of wacky adventures.
00:48:57
Chris Prime
Or they set up their own detective agency with like the money and they do like they solve crime with special effects.
00:49:06
Zach Sheets
Yeah. it it' it's
00:49:07
Chris Prime
But they don't do that.
00:49:08
Zach Sheets
well it's it's It's kind of nuts how Brian Hayes is like, fuck me the fuck be a cop. I'm rich now.
00:49:15
Zach Sheets
Because he was all about like, I'm a cop.
00:49:18
Chris Prime
I gotta do everything by the books, yeah.
00:49:20
Zach Sheets
Yeah. I got solve this case. Someone's like, well, I got $15 million. dollars Fuck the badge.
00:49:29
Chris Prime
I mean, they disrespect him.
00:49:29
Zach Sheets
I'm going to drink in Italy now.
00:49:32
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:49:33
Zach Sheets
Or Switzerland. Whatever.
00:49:36
Zach Sheets
But I think in the sequel, he's like a private investigator or something. So you went he went back to being as some sort of, like, kind of a cop.
00:49:44
Chris Prime
I guess he blew through the 15 million.
00:49:46
Zach Sheets
Yeah, he blew through it all. It was seven and a half. They split it
00:49:52
Chris Prime
It's a lot to spend like back in 1986. It's like six.
00:49:55
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:49:57
Zach Sheets
A lot of booze.
00:50:00
Zach Sheets
And also, like the great, great closing credit song while they're driving through the Swiss countryside. like The song is literally called all Illusion. Justin Illusion.
00:50:09
Chris Prime
See, like, it's it's like this is the time where, like, those movies that had, like, crazy titles also had crazy songs that worked. And when they, like, they always work, but when they do, they, they, it makes sense for the movie.
00:50:17
Zach Sheets
And the band...
00:50:22
Zach Sheets
and The band is called Imagination, too. That's the name of the band that does the song.
00:50:28
Chris Prime
Surprise is not called, like, the effects or something.
00:50:31
Zach Sheets
effects artists. yeah Oh yeah, I thought it was fun.
00:50:34
Chris Prime
But did you enjoy watching this?
00:50:38
Zach Sheets
This this is the first time ive so I watched it. It's always been on my list of kind of like, I kind of mean to watch it just because it pops up on like Tubi like or like my recommended, like my Google tv like recommends like, hey, you watch stuff on Tubi, like watch this movie now.
00:50:56
Chris Prime
I think for me, it was like originally on Amazon Prime for a while.
00:50:56
Zach Sheets
I
00:51:00
Chris Prime
It was like, you watch it.
00:51:00
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:51:01
Chris Prime
It's like every other thing I was watching. it was like FX time, FX time. And then eventually i think it pulled out a rotation. So it like no longer comes up for me.
00:51:11
Zach Sheets
i think it it definitely seems like one of those movies where it like kind of bounces between services where it's like Prime Video, Tubi, some random one you've never heard of, now it's back to Prime Video. It's on Pluto TV.
00:51:23
Chris Prime
Yeah. i mean, it's it's definitely not like a pillar of an 80s action movie, only because i think there's it's like a very like mature theme, and it's like a lot of plot that happens for like like the middle. Because you just want to see cool effects and then like misdirections, but there's none of that.
00:51:50
Zach Sheets
Yeah, i think I think it's the main thing that I would say is like I kind of wish there was more Raleigh using illusions and like special effects stuff like the entire like for like most of the movie. like The end is cool. they like All the like stuff he does at the end to take out the guys is cool.
00:52:05
Zach Sheets
But like the yeah the middle, like I wish there had been more of like him just read like maybe like some sort of con against like the OJ. He comes up with some sort of scheme. It's this like elaborate thing to like get them or something.
00:52:19
Zach Sheets
and not Not just him like dressing up like a homeless guy.
00:52:19
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:52:22
Zach Sheets
And like like and then that's
00:52:26
Chris Prime
Yeah, I understand they underestimated him, but they really like don't. They keep chasing after him.
00:52:33
Chris Prime
Like underestimating him would be like he tries to prove it to somebody and they're like, he's lying. And then Raleigh's just like, oh shit, like, I need more evidence. I need to get, like, a witness, like, in front of somebody. He needs he needs one of the bad guys to confess on camera or something.
00:52:51
Zach Sheets
Or use his skills. He makes a mask of a guy. Go full Darkman. Make a mask of the guy and pretend to be him. Send that to Mason and be like, hey, your guy confessed. I know what you're doing now.
00:53:05
Chris Prime
that would have been good. Yeah, like, Darkman does a good FX for some weird reason.
00:53:11
Zach Sheets
yeah Darkman uses more special effects than FX does.
00:53:16
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:53:17
Zach Sheets
He's constantly using masks and elaborate things. Like crazy like like explosions and...
00:53:21
Chris Prime
And, like...
00:53:25
Chris Prime
I guess, like, mimicry, he can, like, do the voices.
00:53:27
Zach Sheets
Yep. Yep. Mm-hmm.
00:53:30
Chris Prime
So... Yeah, I just wish, like... I get it. This came first in in that order, so you just kind of want more of those classic things you see and and kind of like what do you think an illusionist would do.
00:53:44
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:53:44
Chris Prime
And then movies like Now You See Me and Now You See Me 2, they're not supposed to be real. like We know magic isn't real, so those are all practical like magic like special effects that they do, but it's so silly.
00:54:00
Chris Prime
But again, they that when Now You See Me couldn't stand what without... like you know, FX crawling.
00:54:10
Zach Sheets
and definitely going to watch FX2 though because I haven't seen that one either so I'm definitely curious to see that and and
00:54:17
Chris Prime
Yeah, two, two is crazy. It's like art, like everything you see here, like is improved in the sequel and even the lighting and like the mooding and then how they so like set up like the like effects.
00:54:31
Chris Prime
So,
00:54:31
Zach Sheets
I think there's like a robot or something. and
00:54:34
Chris Prime
think so, yeah.
00:54:35
Zach Sheets
Like, like, like, like, like Rall uses, he has like a special suit that he's like controlling the robot with or something.
00:54:36
Chris Prime
Like in the van. Yeah,
00:54:42
Zach Sheets
So it just, it just feels like, yeah, everything. And then Brian Denny, he and him are like, like teamed up the entire movie and not just like in the first last five minutes.
00:54:48
Chris Prime
because it's more like, okay, what's your next trick? He's like, alright, I'm going to do this. He explains the trick and then essentially I think basically replaces the assistant.
00:54:57
Zach Sheets
Mm hmm.
00:54:57
Chris Prime
Because instead of being the assistant that gets dragged into all these like situations, Brian Dunne, he's just like, well, have a gun. like I don't need to do that. I've got a gun.
00:55:08
Chris Prime
But yeah, it's definitely like one of those rougher cut 80s movies. If you've seen a lot of the typical stuff, this is like a little bit different.
00:55:19
Chris Prime
It's cool to see Brian at Danny and in this because it's like, you know, I don't remember him being the bad guy in Rambo.
00:55:19
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:55:25
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:55:28
Zach Sheets
Which a lot of a lot of like like posters for like Orion things like in the background too. like there there is like There's like a Rainbow First Blood Part 2 poster. these like can entire wall I think entire wall. one of the like i think the cop when Raleigh crashes the car when they're trying to kill him in that scene, they crash to a wall that's all Rambo posters and like Code of Silence Chuck Norris posters.
00:55:51
Zach Sheets
Because I think Orion also like put out Code of Silence. So he's like, promote our next movie other movie, our Trek Doors movie. like Slather posters alllthough all over the wall.
00:56:05
Zach Sheets
And then he's got a poster of like Zombie, like the Alicia Fulci movie in the but and nice apartment too.
00:56:12
Zach Sheets
Which, it's it's like it's weird because that's the only like real movie in his house and all the rest his posters are like like fake movies he's worked on. So I implied that he worked on Zombie.
00:56:21
Chris Prime
It would have been funny if he he if he was quoting or bringing props from those fake movies you saw, like if they hinted at them. And he's like, oh, I know, did this trick from this other movie I did. And I know, i know, do this from this other movie.
00:56:34
Zach Sheets
If he actually used that giant monster that's in his his front door, everyone like guy gets like freaked out by when they walk in.
00:56:40
Chris Prime
Yeah, like if he brought into the finality and then it's like it's like he sets it on fire and then it's like now it's like rampaging around the house.
00:56:41
Zach Sheets
something. Yep.
00:56:52
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:56:54
Chris Prime
would have been cool. Or he built a practical laser gun, something where it's like so stupid.
00:56:59
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:56:59
Chris Prime
It's like, oh, no, this is real.
00:57:02
Zach Sheets
I made this for a movie, but they never used it.
00:57:06
Chris Prime
The movie ran out of production, so they didn't pay me for it, so I didn't give him.
00:57:08
Zach Sheets
it's It's too real.
00:57:09
Chris Prime
Yeah. yeah He's like, I have a real lightsaber. What? He's like, I built one.
00:57:12
Zach Sheets
Yeah. I was just messing around. I built an actual lightsaber.
00:57:18
Chris Prime
You know, this sounds like they need a reboot FX. and they They need someone that's basically just like a prop master who is just like actually making weapons and good at like effects.
00:57:33
Zach Sheets
I think the problem is that it's all it's all, like, CG now, so there's not really, like... I mean, there still is, like, practical effects, but not the way it was in like, the 80s, where, like, you know, it's, like, all the all the gore and, and like...
00:57:43
Chris Prime
Well, see, that makes sense where then in the movie, the guy is also like he's been harnessing his skill. So he's like one of the last masters of like real live effects.
00:57:57
Chris Prime
And that's why he sought after. Because I mean, it's not the same as like why I entered this AI prompt and that that made the effect for me. It's like, no, no, you're going to get like Geico level CGI in like an action movie.
00:58:05
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:58:12
Chris Prime
o Give me like little miniatures. Maybe he's faking like incidences and just like. I don't know.
00:58:24
Chris Prime
He's making people see these incidences from like a good 10 feet away. So they look real. Kind of like that opening scene of the shootout the restaurant. It's like, OK, we need regular witnesses to say this is real.
00:58:35
Zach Sheets
Yeah. I feel i like they could have, like, reviewed it as, like, a TV show, but i feel like they've missed their but their window for, like, a couple years ago, there was, like, this kind there's, like, so many, like, just, like, bizarre, like, procedurals where it's, like, a guy has teamed up with an FBI agent, and he's, like, a magician or a con artist or a whatever.
00:58:55
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:58:55
Chris Prime
Oh, it was the dartboard of the year. It's like, give me like the Mad Libs, you know, just, okay, cop meets blank, do this, and let's see how many episodes we can get out of it before the premise runs dry.
00:59:09
Zach Sheets
they do They're a special consultant because they are though they like they have like special abilities or they have a crazy job.
00:59:18
Chris Prime
Can we just get like a show like Columbo again? Maybe it's like he was used to be a magician but then went like to the police academy so now he's actually just like a real detective but he occasionally does like party time magic.
00:59:31
Zach Sheets
Slight of hand. He's just slant of hand magic to like like arrest people.
00:59:32
Chris Prime
Yep.
00:59:35
Chris Prime
Like
00:59:36
Zach Sheets
It's like, is this your gun?
00:59:40
Zach Sheets
and also,
00:59:40
Chris Prime
like Murphy you're not supposed to do this to like suspects because like ooh did I arrest them or did they arrest me?
00:59:48
Zach Sheets
like look at the barrel that gun. is that your card? Also, it says, you're guilty.
00:59:55
Chris Prime
Like, did you just do evidence tampering?
01:00:00
Zach Sheets
One more more quick thing, that just because you mentioned that. Raleigh does like crazy like crime scene tampering, because he moves his like girlfriend's body to the bed. where she from my where she gets shot, like he just like picks her puts her on the bed.
01:00:14
Chris Prime
Well, again, they didn't know. They're like, that looks right.
01:00:18
Zach Sheets
like, she so she got shot over by the window. How'd she get on the bed? the other cop's just like, i don't know, walked?
01:00:28
Chris Prime
You do that thing when you get shot, you fly like 10 feet.
01:00:31
Zach Sheets
ye You fly and also move to the left.
01:00:35
Chris Prime
yeah It's one of those JFK magic bullets.
01:00:40
Zach Sheets
But yeah, FX. Fun, deep cut 80s movie. I think both the movies, FX and FX2 are on 2B right now you want to check those out.
01:00:50
Zach Sheets
And come back next week for diving into another action classic, Broken Arrow, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. It came out in 1996. It's been a while since we did a John Woo movie.
01:01:04
Chris Prime
Well, it's been a while since John Woo had like an awesome John Woo movie.
01:01:09
Zach Sheets
Well, we're kind of in like a like Because, like, was it Shelf Factory got all the rights finally to, like, all those movies, so we're finally getting, like, you know, hard-boiled and the killer on 4K and in theaters and stuff, so we're kind of like got a John Woo-asson right now.
01:01:20
Chris Prime
Yep.
01:01:23
Chris Prime
Well, it's like rediscovering just like action movies that the message is like violence doesn't solve everything, but it's kick-ass looking. But like It's heroic action where, like, the hero's motive is this to stop a bad guy. And I miss that. Like, Broken Arrow, I'm so excited to watch just because it's so, like, simple in premise.
01:01:47
Zach Sheets
And and another another, the second team up between John Woo and John Travolta.
01:01:52
Zach Sheets
Where John Travolta just gets go nuts again.
01:01:57
Chris Prime
Was Face Off their first?
01:01:59
Zach Sheets
Yeah, because I think that John Woo was it was it was hard target, face-off, broken arrow.
01:02:06
Chris Prime
No, I think it's hard target, broken arrow face-off.
01:02:10
Zach Sheets
Oh, is it sounded like they met they met John Travolta. It was like, hey, you got to be in my new movie. You got to play Nicolas Cage in my next movie.
01:02:17
Chris Prime
Yeah, because he was like... because and like John Travolta is like a good good guy and a good bad guy. And I think he does that both in face-off, so...
01:02:27
Zach Sheets
Well, we'll get into all that next week. And over to the site, we all are usual stuff there. We got news, reviews, trailers. actually have two reviews this week on the site if you want to head over and check them out. I i watched The Wrecking Crew on Amazon, and I also watched the new Jason Statham movie Shelter. So you read reviews of both those movies up on the site.
01:02:46
Zach Sheets
And all yeah a bunch of trailers too. We're going to get like just a bunch trailers coming out every week. It's like three or four a day. i don't know what's going on, but I'm trying to keep up with them and put them on the site. I think also the Super Bowl is happening this weekend, so we're going to be like, you know, big game trailers coming out too.
01:03:04
Zach Sheets
But all that's on the site. However, check a lot stuff out. And yeah, so for Chris, I am Zach, and we will see you next week.