These are fun. Off the cuff discussions on movies and streaming series, both new and old together will attempt to bridge the gap between Hollywood industry insider and the casual viewer. This is Alec and I’m Ben and you're listening to the Cinema A to B podcast. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Cinema Age B. Today is Christmas Day. For those of you listening to the podcast, it's not technically today.
We've recorded this ahead of time, but because it's Christmas, we're going to discuss a potentially Christmas movie depending on your perspective. 1988 Die Hard, directed by John McTiernan and starring Bruce Willis and the late Alan Rickman. So Alec, kick us off. So let's start off the podcast with I am certainly a yippee chi nay contender. This isn't Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. It just happens to be a movie that happens around Christmas. Now, do I watch it every Christmas season?
Yes, like so. Honestly, I'm probably more on the fence line. It's not a Christmas movie, but it does have some. I can understand why people think this is a Christmas movie. However, you can put this across almost any major holiday kind of a situation, and it still will work, right? There's nothing specific that has to happen at Christmas. Now, I if you think this is a Christmas movie, this is great again, I watch it pretty much every Christmas, you know, Christmas season anyways.
So it has become kind of like an impromptu. However, with that aside, with all the hate mail, I'm going to get on that of all the yippee gays, I'm I'm definitely side with the guy names That is not a Christmas movie. How do you talk about this film? This like this is such a fantastic eighties like almost the pinnacle eighties action flick. I mean, I would say hands down. I mean, like, I love Arnold Schwarzenegger. We both love Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But if I was to pick my favorite eighties action flick is Die Hard Hands down is Die Hard. I love Predator. I love Commando. Like, you know, I love Terminator, but this is hands down. You know, you want the class eighties action flick is Die hard. Now I also subscribe to the theory or the conspiracy theory that any movie that Bruce Willis is in, that he has hair is good, and any movie that he has shaved, his head is bad. I do subscribe to that with one one exception.
I think the movie Red that came out, he does have pretty much like he's got like a 5:00 shadow so he can maybe call hair but it's it's pretty. I really do enjoy that film. Is it a good film? Probably not, but I really do actually do it. But I'm not like, he's got hair in this. It's fantastic. my goodness. Where do you even begin with this? There's so much that John McTiernan does well in this film that he just makes it amazing.
I mean, obviously, Alan Rickman as the villain, it's one of his first roles, first film roles. I think he'd like that. It's his first film role is his first film. This is his first. my goodness. Like I'm from the street, from the stage to die hard and does an amazing job. I do know that they wrote in his meeting John McClane specifically because they overheard him mocking an American accent. They're like, my goodness. That's. Yeah, that was really good.
So they said, Nope, we're going to have you to meet, like, and do that. So like, that was totally not an impromptu, obviously, because they filmed it, but more of like a. Okay, that's great. We're going to add this into the story, which is silly. Yeah. Originally they were going to have the meet, but it was it was sort of different. It was it was Hans Gruber. And then I believe it was Theo. I think we're supposed to be together. And Theo was hunting for the detonators.
And. And Hans was around, and then. And McLean was supposed to get him. And then I think he in the script, he shot, he shoots like, shoots and kills him. But they were always struggling on, like, how how are they going to get these two to meet? And so you're right. They they overhear. RICKMAN Somebody was like, can you do an American accent? Was like, Well, I can't do an American accent, but I can do a California accent. I didn't know that.
And so he he does it in the writers on set going, Well, that's amazing. And so they write this in. But what what they had to do with then was when they when they record the scene where Gruber kills Takagi, they were like originally they were going to shoot that where McClane can see that what Hans looks like. And so all they did was tweak that and make it so that he can't. His views obscured where he only can see the back of hands.
And so and then we get that iconic scene where they meet and you wonder is is McClane going to get fooled into in the hands in the gun and but yeah incredible iconic performance from Rickman I mean this is I guess I need to mention this is my favorite action film of all time not just like for me it's not just the pinnacle of, of eighties action. For me, it's sort of the pinnacle of conventional, a lot of conventional action.
And because they do a lot of stuff there, I just don't think they could get away with today. As far as some of the stunt work and explosions and things that are either too too expensive now or too dangerous to try to pull off now. And I just think McTiernan is the master when it comes to turn to action and suspense. I mean, we've talked about we've you know, the first McTiernan film we did on the pod was Hunt for Red October and kind of a master of suspense and not really an action film.
And then you have this and then my other favorite eighties action that you already mentioned Predator and I, I like this a little bit better than Predator and I don't I think it's purely because of Rickman as Hans Gruber. And for me it's not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi Plaza. Like it just isn't Sega. And I could make an argument why I feel like this is a Christmas movie. If you're willing to sit and listen, let's let's.
Let's hash this out right now, since my only my only argument is and I'm going to ask you and this is not rhetorical is Home Alone a Christmas movie? I mean, my instinct is say, yes, that is a Christmas. No, it is. Yeah, it's a Christmas. Yes. Yeah, yeah. And my only argument on why I think Die Hard is a Christmas movie is because I basically think that Home Alone is a kid's version of Die Hard. You have Kevin in the house? Yeah. They're robbers. Hans Gruber And the terrorists are robbers.
Mcclane's basically on his own. Just like. Yeah, there's a whole. There's a whole side character that needs in need of redemption in home alone. It's the old man who's alienated from his family and dies. It's Powell. Sergeant Powell, who shot a kid. And so for me, and then and then the other the big aspect is that Kevin is alienated from his family and so's So, okay. All right. And so is McClane from his wife.
And so for me, it's not just that it takes place during Christmas, but that the Christmas season is important for why they're able to reconcile at the end. Even though it doesn't last because by Die Hard two or three. Well two she's up in the plane but by Die Hard three, they've divorced so it didn't last. But that's my only argument is that if you consider Home Alone Christmas movie, the die hards not far removed. They're really similar.
So that's my that's my only argument now so that I don't really I don't really care. I mean, I know, I know. Like I said, we watch this pretty much every Christmas anyways. So that's probably the best argument I've actually heard. Like, you know, a lot of people drag in like the Christmas spirit or, you know, some of the family stuff.
But I think relating it to Home Alone as it is very similar, it pretty much is because honestly speaking, Home Alone, you could almost pick any holiday guy because it's just the parents go away on holiday, they leave the kid except the scene with Kevin in the church with your man.
Yeah. Yeah that's that's any kind of rely on Christmas being this season of like reconciliation and forgiveness and I'm telling you that's the only thing that you can hang your hat on with Diehard is that he he reconciles with with Holly. Okay by the end of it. But you're you're more or less right I mean it could have been Halloween and it still would have been fine. I will I'll marinate on this because definitely that, like I said, is the best argument. I will. I'm not quite yet. Okay.
But I'm definitely closer than I was, you know, then. And I have been again, I think at some point I just like to argue with people that it's not who who really are hardcore, that this is a Christmas movie because there's people out there who take this as like the bee's knees and, you know, obviously the best. I mean, it doesn't need to be to be amazing. No, it's amazing. Regardless of the answer to that question. Exactly. So but okay. All right. I'm good with that. I'm good with that.
So back to the film. Yes. And hands down again, I agree with you, as we do many times material and has a way with action, has a way with suspense, has a way with storytelling that just draws you in and brings you along for the entire ride. I mean, this has a lot more action than Reno Red October did, but I feel just as engaged in the story aspect, not just waiting for the next explosion that I wasn't ready October.
There's just as much like not just as much suspense, but there's still definitely suspense. There's definitely kind of pulls on my emotions of like like you said, you know, especially with Alan Rickman of like is, you know, John McClane going to get fooled by by Gruber, but he doesn't that's a spoiler, obviously, if you haven't seen this movie. But you know, 88 Come on we're coming up on. Yeah, 40 years. What's amazing to me is how funny this movie is, too. Yes, you are like this.
And wow, one of my favorite lines is by who's the police chief is I recognize him from mom. Okay. So it's I believe he passed away. Not Paul Gleason. Paul Gleason. And he did. He died in six and he was in the Breakfast Club. Yes, yes, yes. And he's great. But one of my favorite lines is when the the helicopter that's got the the FBI is flying around in up on top of the roof and it crashes into the side of the building.
And he looks up and goes, well, I guess we're going to need some more FBI guys. And it's like, that's this movie's not afraid. It kind of knows what it is and it's not afraid to to insert those really, really funny movie quotes. And the other the other scene is with the helicopter and the two the two FBI guys, it by the way, I think they both have the same name. Yeah, like it too. It's I think they're both named Dick Johnson. I'm almost you'll have to look it up as I'm looking at right now.
But yeah I am pretty sure they're both have the same name because they're on the radio. They're constantly like Johnson and Johnson. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the other, you know, you need the other. You mean the other Johnson But they're floating around in there. They are Big Johnson and Little Johnson and I indeed are. Yes. Their names. So yes, my other favorite moment is they're flying. They're flying around.
And the older one is like freaking cowboying it up and going, Yeah, just just like Norman and the other one, the younger guys, like I was in middle school, you? Yeah, that's right. That's right. And it's just those moments that make this a lot of fun on a repeat viewing because it's not this hyper serious, you know, action film. It's it is it is pretty unnerving.
I mean, but when he's giving Takagi the business like that scene, super intense and hyper violent, and the whole movie's pretty hyper violent. Really? Yeah. And me. Yeah. And McTiernan was kind of known for that. The only the only eighties or nineties director that I can think of that was like more violent was Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven Yeah, yeah. With RoboCop and Total Recall. Yeah, that was a whole nother level. McTiernan was quite a bit dial down from him, but still a brutal movie.
And it kind of follows my rule of a of baddies that don't usually go into really long speeches. I mean, Gruber gave him like a countdown and then it was like, Okay, all right, Yeah. And he just the stakes went so much higher after that moment in this movie. And I don't remember the first time I saw this. I'm sure I saw some sort of cable edited version of it as a kid that had a lot of violence removed from it. And F-bombs.
Yeah. yeah, tons. Tons of F-bombs. But this this thing doesn't pull any punches as far as the the villains and how they operate. And so it just makes you root for McClane that much more, if those are all his problems. I always love kind of going back to quotes. I absolutely hate the character, but I also love to watch the character, the guy who plays Alice or whatever of the, you know, kind of the friend who's trying to like back on John Mcclane's wife or whatever.
But supposedly, like I was reading the story, like when he goes and he's talking to Gruber and he's like, Fonz movie, you know, supposedly that was completely adlibbed. And so, like the like the confusion on Alan Rickman's face is actually real. He's just like, What the heck is happening here? This is going on. But like, like I love like, that character's so detestable but yet works so well, like, and fits like.
Like there's millions of those those guys around who, like, that's all they care about. Like, hey, yeah, like I'm a businessman. I'm going to, you know, I'll talk to you, I'll talk anybody, I'll sell anything. He's like some coke earlier inside. Yeah. yeah. This is just this guy's worthless.
But that scene is pretty mortifying because, you know, McTiernan sews, dies, and the inevitability of that scene early with the music, like, Yeah, and the film's got a really conventional score, which a lot of mctiernan's stuff does. The scores are almost like elevated beyond the genre, Like they're so much better than what you would expect an action film, especially this era where there was a lot of a lot of films were using like synthesizer type stuff.
And so I feel like the movie's aged really well because it has a more traditional orchestral score. And I would say the same is true of Predator. A They age better because the music's not as dated and orchestral scores never age. They just don't age out. Ellis is like, I'm your white knight.
Yeah, well, and the fact that I like also the factor in that scene that that even though McClane hates this guy because you can see him wanting to go with his wife, he tries so hard to save his life of like, tell me you don't know me. Like, like he's he's upset because he's lost this guy, even though, like, he detests this guy. Like, that's the character of McClane. And I mean, I wouldn't say the writing in this is amazing, but it's definitely like it's not, you know, it's definitely not bad.
It's like it's it's good writing. I feel for the characters. The story moves around. There's not a lot of exposition kind of building up like like things move at a clip. I mean, but again, that's not the movie. It is it's not going to try to build you with these long speeches and these words is just trying to get across what's happening or move to the next beat. It does it so, so well. Going back to the music, fun fact this composer did Band of Brothers.
Really? Yeah. That's that's probably why you like it, so. yeah. Okay. So yeah, he was the composer composer you like and done. I mean, he's done, he's done a lot of stuff, but Band of Brothers was one of the Well, again, I'm not going to get into to a lot of the nitty gritty, but like this thing is based on a novel that has almost nothing to do with the movie. Like it's a really weird adaptation. Like it's not and I won't go into I think that's extended reading for anybody that's interested.
But like Google, Google, the novel that that this is based on and how it's an adaptation is kind of strange because nothing lasts forever. Is is the book which became Die hard and it's they changed a bunch like it's kind of unrecognizable. I don't even know how you would call it an adaptation. And it just I think it I think it takes place in a high rise and that's about it. Yeah. Much which, which the high rise was 20th century studios at the time being being built.
So you surpassed that building all the time. Yeah. When like they shot, they shot some of Norbit on the fox lot and I used to pass that thing constantly. It's, it's unmistakable. And it's not in downtown L.A. It's, it's in century City. Yeah. And it's it's like if it's not the tallest building in Century City, it's close. It dominates the skyline. It's kind of unmistakable that it and now it's just known as Knock the Plaza. You know what I mean?
I when people come visit, like on our way to Santa monica, like I'd be like, stop by Century City, like there's not a ton of plaza. All right, let's move on. It looks better. It's not like they change the bunch of it to it, but. Yeah, well, he was the reason they were able to blow that floor. It was under construction because, like, they had they actually.
And they had to shoot at night because some of the explosions and stuff, because they actually had a couple of floors that were being housed by 20th century Studio employees or whatever, like accounting, their finances and like that. And they were complaining about the noise. And so like what we're going to do at all night now have fun, which makes things more expensive. much more and tougher.
You know, And if you're if you're going to do a short film or something or an indie, don't create a bunch of night exteriors. It's it's pricy. It's price. It is to light it. That's the problem. And you got it. You're going to make your crew. Yeah. You got to make your crew work basically overnight. It's it's rough. It's rough. It's not fun. It's not fun at all. by the way, I always love more of Ben's goofy movie fun movie theories.
Okay. I always I always like the fact that that Reginald Veljohnson that's played Sergeant Powell in this later later plays Carl in family fantasy I always I always liked it treated that he it's the same guy and he just moves his name and moved to Chicago. Yeah you know it's like I don't know just to chill out. Yeah I had been through it. I can see that. Like, I'm. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that theory. That's not that at all.
I like I like your your conspiracy theories of, you know, different film movie worlds and goofy movie connections is what it is. It's just how can I connect this movie just because it's got the scene after going to buddy play? I mean, it couldn't have hurt. He's got all this footage of him in uniform when he probably went to audition for Family Matters. It's like I've played a cop, I played a cop, and I can do funny, so. And I can do serious, you know, he can. I can still do it all. Yeah.
So I love it. Sly's explaining all the ingredients in a Twinkie. Yellow five, everything. A grown boy needs it. I mean, you talked about it, but this definitely is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. Like, obviously it like it's it's a serious movie, but it is not trying to be more than what it is. It knows that it's an action film and that's what it is. It's not trying to need some like super serious overtones.
I mean, it lets the dialog and the character arcs speak for themselves and just push it through. And I think that I mean, that's hats off to the writing staff and McTiernan of not trying to force more than what's needed of just let's get in, make a good movie, great movie and get out. Yeah. And you care about the characters like the everything's written and directed properly where you, you, you understand like where he's coming from. That MacLaine's marriage is on the rocks.
She's. She's not even using her married name. She's using her maiden name. They're like little, little nuggets they've sewn into to, to really sell the, the marital strife, basically. And so you're like, this isn't just a regular like visit. He's, you know, he's refused to relocate. He's a New York cop and trying to bridge the gap with his with his wife.
And then because by the end, it's terrifying when Hahn's is latched onto Holly, dangling from from the top with every intention to take her with him. And it wouldn't that wouldn't feel that way if you didn't actually care about that character, those characters by that point. So his ability to make you root for these guys is kind of second to none.
And I just that ending shot with with Gruber in hyper slo mo I don't know what frame rate they're shooting it's it's cranked to the max but he he kind of he's already hanging and he and he turns that look he gives with a gun before he does lose his grasp is just one of my favorite shots in all of moviemaking. It's just it's his performance. It's the the composite works actually pretty good for the time. Like it still looks relatively good. And this thing is kind of lightning in a bottle.
And the sequels were like, pretty good. And in fact, With a Vengeance is very good. Yeah, I would say vengeance is definitely the second in the series, in my opinion. Yeah, but diet's news like not a bad film is not? It's not. It's just it was like this thing was ratcheted up already and so the whole. Can you top this? Yeah. It was almost an impossible feat to try to better it. And if I missed if I'm not mistaken, McTiernan didn't even direct die hard to No, I think I don't think he was.
I mean think he he's interested so and we will know maybe later we can get into John Mctiernan's fall from grace and like, Yeah, what what happened? What happened with him? But I'm not really going to get into that on this. Yeah, he did. He did with a vengeance, but he did not do Die Hard two. Right. So because I think well I think at that point he was doing red October he had jumped onto to. That's right because October was 90. Yeah. Good stuff. I always forget he did basic.
Yeah he kind of fell off pretty fast. I mean once want and basic I'm not mistaken it was basic or rollerball he had the role of Yeah, Rollerball was terrible was absolutely basic. One of those is where he wire illegally wiretapped a producer to try to get dirt on him. And that's when the feds swooped in. And that's all said about it. It's like he served his time. I mean, he's not Rollerball. It was Rollerball. You did it, right? man. It sucks, because I do.
I consider this guy one of the one of the greats when it comes to directing action and suspense. And he's not got a large filmography. No, no. His his highlights are obviously Predator die Hard on Friday, October, Die Hard with a Vengeance. I like Last Action Hero, although I think it was made probably ten years too early. People didn't realize they were watching a basically a force.
Yeah they didn't understand that it was poking fun at the genre like, well, I put it in the movie when I was like talking to them, telling you audiences in 93 just did not understand what they just thought they were watching this goofy movie with a kid. They did not realize how much it was poking at Lethal Weapon and the rest of the genre. And I'm saying, Yeah, I think it was made ten years too early. Yeah, because people got real snarky.
By the early 2000, everybody was super snarky and like, I think appreciate that movies kind of improved with age and you realize what you're watching. But yeah, I've always really enjoyed it. But of course, like 93, I was still a child. So like it was it was one of the few Arnold Schwarzenegger films that I was allowed to watch without my parents, like fast forwarding scenes or whatever. So. But my goodness. All right.
But Back to Die Hard. Yes. And this is not a John McTiernan kind of thing, but I mean, for Christmas movie, it's super interesting and fantastic. So we stopped by. Yeah, we shot by a guy named James Bond, and he actually he shot another great action film, which is speed, too. Yeah. Which is up there. So. Well, no, he directed Speed. He didn't shoot. he directed speed. So. wow. That's a big. Yeah. Yeah. I think he directed like six films, Speed in Twister. So he made that.
He made the jump away from cinematography. Nice. Well, he's has done two good films in Red October so he had a partnership kind of with McTiernan for a while for a couple of films. He's probably putting the ones put the microphones in the producer's, you know didn't see him credited for. No. Yeah, he'd already he'd already jumped. Well he hasn't I think he's retired.
So maybe you've read more about this but I've, I've always been told that the look on Rickman's face when he's dropped is real because they never told him that when they were going to drop him. They're just were like they just basically said, act, act. And then we'll just drop you whenever he did. I saw a video he couldn't remember and he basically debunked it. He was just like, I don't remember that.
He's like, it was kind of terrifying because it was way higher than it was like the producers thought it would be. Yeah. And they were really nervous for him to do it. He does remember that, that they were like, We can't believe you're doing this because they were willing they were basically willing to replace him with a stuntman for the initial fall. But I think it was a good 20 or 30 feet. I was just falls on to like an airbag. It's high. It's really high.
And there's there's behind the scene photos of him hanging from the platform and then the camera's directly above on a mount. It doesn't even look like it was possible for anybody to push him or I think he let go on his own. I don't know where that started. It's a funny story. Yeah, I've told that story before, but it seems to be true. Untrue?
Yeah. Based on especially when I saw the video of him at a book signing or something and he was not a book signing with just an interview and he was asked point blank about that. He's like, I can't remember that. Like, he's like, I don't think so. He's like, It was scary. But I mean, it's not like they were. They actually pushed him so well. And it makes sense because the character's hanging.
Yeah, well, I think it was not so much pushed as like, whatever harness that he was in that was possible. And then they just released it when he wasn't playing or whatever. Or maybe he blocked out the trauma. Yeah, supposedly like he had more dialog or whatever. Something else is going to happen. And so instead they're like, This is what I read. Or what I remember is that he was supposed to finish them line and instead they released him.
And so he was like, you know, like I really had that, that, that look. But again, I mean, I think following that, you know, 20, 30 feet anyways is going to give you that look no matter what, even if you know it's coming.
You know, by the by the way, this is still on topic, but this is a landmark action film in that it is the the delineating line in the sand of when they went from the big bulked out muscular action star of the eighties that was dominated by Schwarzenegger and Stallone to the everyman. This was the this is the one. Yeah to an extent. Some of that started with Lethal Weapon as well, I think too, two years earlier.
But this was the one that really solidified to to Hollywood that you didn't have to have the big jacked guy be. Yeah, you're your action star. And so, you know, Stallone and Schwarzenegger still carry the mantle for years after. But this is what ushers in. This is you know this is why the Matrix Neo's not this holdout character you got in subsequent action films.
They're not I mean, you got a whole string of nineties films that are like The Rock or Con Air where Nicolas Cage not bulked out at all, You know, Face Off.
I mean, all these like really iconic action films of the nineties that are not that style are not that not that character so right and so it's an important film when it comes to that that it kind of it changed the game and allowed frankly a lot of a whole field of actors to like take on action parts that they were frankly kind of denied in the bulk of the eighties because if you if you didn't look like Arnold or Stallone or Jean-Claude Van Damme,
I mean, that's the only reason that Jean-Claude Van Damme had a career is because of his musculature in the eighties and because they felt like that was necessary to sell sell tickets. And I love that those movies exist. But yeah, then we kind of transition in and now we're in a time where I think there's a nice balance because it's like it's a it's a guy of like fairly average height and build, but maybe he's got a little more musculature to him.
Like, you know, Daniel Craig's super fit and Tom Cruise is always in really good shape, but they're not particularly big individuals. I mean, The Rock is almost like a throwback to. Yeah, The Rock's like basically born too late. Yeah. When it comes to that. I mean, but he's able to carve out his own roles where he's just massive, but he's, he's a total throwback to basically from 1982, 87, 88.
Well, there's that my goodness the what's the movie that that he one of his first like action films after like the Scorpion King when he was just getting out of wrestling or still wrestling but getting out and but it was stuff like walking tall Now walking titles before Walking Tall is the one with Scott. I don't know. The guy from American Pie based Stiffler for Run rundown The Rundown. Yes. Which I love. I love that. That's like my favorite. That's like my favorite Dwayne Johnson film.
is down. Yes. Yeah, I completely agree. But there's that moment where he passes Arnold at this club or whatever, and he says, Have fun. I'm like, And I like I remember being in the theater going, Yes, okay, let's let's get a bunch of the rock movies. And then he went and did a bunch of Disney films. Well, he signed like a three picture deal with Disney. And and they were all like the tooth fairy.
And, you know, now that may have been smart, because then now he has a built in audience of people who've grown up with him. And now he can be that action star and still kind of have a he's not getting the scripts that Arnold did were like The Terminator and Total Recall, and he just not like, Yeah, well, yeah, that's a I know some of our listeners appreciate the tangents. Yeah. So you know this is yeah because discussions.
Ben Well I know, I know and this and this is kind of but yeah this, this is an important piece of cinema because of the way it changed the game. Like these things evolve. And my guess is at some point in the future, it, all this stuff I believe is cyclical in that it will, it'll come back around and Hollywood will want a larger muscled up action star.
I just I believe that because for the era, if you go before Arnold basically Charlton Heston was kind of that you've heard it for the era he was Heston was an enormous individual. And so you had him and then Clint Eastwood. And then and then the hand the baton got handed off to Schwarzenegger. There's not really been it wasn't really anybody after they tried to do the rock that he was going to carry the mantle.
But he's just more comfortable doing kind of that kind of action comedy and stuff with more comedy or being part of the family of Fast Furious, The Furious family. But Bruce Willis, I guess we didn't really talk. And Bruce Willis is tremendous in this. absolutely. Like, just fantastic. I mean, he was doing Moonlighting, too, I think, at the time or that movie.
So like, this was I mean, but he had really done much in the way of action before, before this, often correctly, or was it was very light. But I mean, he had done, I think before this I can't remember if he did laws favorite before this or after this. Yeah, he hadn't He's going to kill me. It's funny, he did an episode of Miami Vice that I didn't realize I need to go back. And he plays a character named Tony Amato. I need to go back and watch that. I mean, that's super funny to see him in that.
No, he he this is like this is the big one. This puts him on the map and he's doing moonlighting. I remember my parents watching Moonlighting. I remember that show. But yeah, he does do Die Hard and then Die Hard two and then kind of struggles with some stuff and does the last Boy Scout was was pretty good. Yeah. But then doesn't do anything until he gets up to Pulp Fiction write. Pulp Fiction was kind of a puts it back on resurrected more careers than just Travolta.
Okay. Die Hard Vengeance 12 monkeys Yeah he's the nineties were were probably more dominant for him Yeah he owned the nineties he really did and he did Hudson Hawk in the nineties which I mean let's be honest that's number one. No kidding Laura loves that film so if I didn't bring it up somehow in this conversation that involved Bruce Willis, she was going to murder me. But on the films in the nineties, my goodness. Yeah. And he has here in Fifth Element.
I'm telling you, this conspiracy theory, it's because you have does he have hair 12 monkeys. He does. He does. Well I mean he is both shaved and has hair technically and he has hair in the kid so. Well he has hair and unbreakable. He has hair in sixth Sense. I love unbreakable armor. He I mean, now and granted, he like a lot of those, he's bald, but then he's just got hair around like, I think this is the this is the guy that made being involved, like, freaking cool.
Yeah. Even though even though your story of, like, your theory is saying that maybe that's not is true. But yeah, even when that hair was like be super cross close cropped. Yes Yeah. So I think diehard the original diehard is actually some of the longest hair he's had, you know outside of like specific ones but he's still using it like Yeah. yeah. Like he's speaking. Yeah. But like he does it in whole nine yards. He has hair, whole ten yards, shaved head right there, done.
I mean, like, what More proof do you need? A pretty sound theory, Alex, that's done. I mean, it's not. I think you've made your case. I've jumped on the bandwagon. I have not. You know, this is the bandwagon to jump on. Not die hard as a person who bandwagon, which obviously I'm kind of grasping as I'm being dragged along. But, you know. definitely. If he's got hair, it's a good movie. If it if he shaved, then yeah, Yeah. Done. all right, man, I love this movie. It's crazy, too.
And I agree with you like, it's even if even if it's not a Christmas movie for folks like the fact that it gets watched around this time of year is actually happy. Yeah, it does. It does. It's why not? I've even seen the the advent calendar where you can start over a little further down and I, I don't know why I have not bought this thing, although I am like we said, this, this episode was recorded before Christmas.
But it's you're listening to it on Christmas or a day later I am going to make the ornament where McClane is inside of the the one year. And then he like I said, that's asshole making that and putting that on my tree as you are. Sure you showed that scene where somebody made a really large one, like printed the photo of like a life sized jutting out of the wall. It was like, it like, hangs on a wall. Where McClane sitting in there? Yeah. It's crazed, you know? Lights up. that's all right.
My last thought is McTiernan has something about Bear but teddy bears on airplanes, because this is definitely the second movie, if not the third or fourth, that he's had that little. Interesting. Interesting. Right. Right. October, he does it. Yes. You know, Alec Baldwin brings back a bear on a plane. It's true. It's like the last shot. It is. And it's and this is like the first shot. So like in tandem kind of consistency.
Is there a Teddy Bear trilogy that we're not John McTiernan Teddy Bear trilogy that we're not aware of? Yeah, I'm just now Discovery. Yeah. All right, everybody, thanks for listening to another episode of Safety ATV. We wish you a merry Christmas and happy holidays. And we do. Coming up, we're going to unplug this one. Yes. Give you the schedule since this this one's running the week of Christmas. We are going to do for our 50th 50th episode.
We are going to be live on YouTube and Facebook on what do we agree on January 6th, January 6th at 5 p.m. Eastern, five Eastern, four Central, January six. We're going live for episode number 50. I don't know what we're discussing yet. We'll figure that out. Yeah, it'll be it'll be a good one. It'll be a good. We won't, we won't do some something obscure like we will, we'll make sure that it's, that it's something people are familiar with.
But yeah, I hope you tune into that and we'll plug that on the social media. And this is a, this will be the 25th. So we will take a break next week. There will not be an episode on January 1st. So enjoy the new year and we will go live on on January 6th or Central five, Eastern Standard Time. We will help you out. A merry Christmas. Thanks, everybody.