Latest / Have You Seen?! The Movie Podcast / Die Hard, Office Parties, And The Making Of A Holiday Classic

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Die Hard, Office Parties, And The Making Of A Holiday Classic · Have You Seen?! The Movie Podcast

• 0:00
  Joe: Well, welcome to the party, pal.
• 0:24
  Joe: Welcome to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast, where every movie is a premiere.
• 0:30
  Dylan: This week we're diving into one of the most debated holiday films in all of time.
• 0:34
  Dylan: And I am watching Die Hard for the first time.
• 0:37
  Dylan: Joe grew up thinking every office Christmas party should involve air vents, explosives, and questionable stairwell decisions.
• 0:45
  Joe: Well, I mean, my mom used to tell me office stories when she'd get home.
• 0:52
  Dylan: This week's movie, Die Hard, is rated R for strong language, violence, and intense action, so definitely not one for little ears.
• 1:01
  Dylan: Where do you even start?
• 1:03
  Joe: Wow.
• 1:04
  Joe: It's quite a movie.
• 1:06
  Joe: Released July 1988.
• 1:09
  Joe: Not during Christmas, ironically.
• 1:12
  Dylan: What's up with these Christmas movies not coming out during Christmas?
• 1:15
  Dylan: I don't know.
• 1:17
  Dylan: Cause what what other one?
• 1:20
  Dylan: It was one of the Halloween ones that we did.
• 1:28
  Joe: Yeah.
• 1:31
  Dylan: Yeah, that came out like months before its season.
• 1:35
  Joe: Let's let's release the most Halloween-defining Halloween movie we ever can.
• 1:42
  Joe: Right.
• 1:43
  Joe: In the middle of winter.
• 1:44
  Dylan: In the middle of winter.
• 1:46
  Dylan: Happy Fourth of July.
• 1:48
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 1:50
  Dylan: An NYPD officer, John McLean, visits an Stranged Wife at a company Christmas party.
• 1:56
  Dylan: Terrorists take over, and one man fights back.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: One man.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: John McLean.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: To defend the Nakatomi Plaza.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Coming soon.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Coming soon to own on DVD.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And VHS.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: What is that?
• 2:17
  Joe: Yeah.
• 2:18
  Joe: You know, we might have actually had like each HBO copies from my dad.
• 2:24
  Joe: Yeah.
• 2:26
  Joe: That was the kind of movies we had.
• 2:29
  Dylan: That's funny.
• 2:31
  Dylan: Man, I did not know what to think going into it.
• 2:35
  Dylan: But it is.
• 2:38
  Dylan: It is and it isn't what I expected it to be.
• 2:40
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 2:41
  Dylan: Does that make sense?
• 2:41
  Dylan: Uh-huh.
• 2:42
  Dylan: I don't know.
• 2:43
  Dylan: Because like, you know, I the whole controversy of is it or is it not a Christmas movie?
• 2:52
  Dylan: And who make making a joke at the beginning of it of like the one time they say Merry Christmas.
• 2:58
  Dylan: Right.
• 2:59
  Dylan: He like sneeze.
• 3:00
  Dylan: Christmas.
• 3:01
  Dylan: Christmas.
• 3:03
  Dylan: Oh, Christmas.
• 3:04
  Dylan: Slabitous Christmas, people.
• 3:06
  Dylan: It's a Christmas Eve work party.
• 3:10
  Dylan: It's it's during Christmas.
• 3:12
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 3:13
  Dylan: That's true.
• 3:14
  Dylan: I'm it was it was graphic.
• 3:18
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 3:20
  Dylan: It was definitely more violent than I was expecting.
• 3:23
  Dylan: Uh-huh.
• 3:24
  Dylan: Uh I know that they try to disclaimer it for violence and stuff, but I was like, whoa.
• 3:30
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 3:31
  Dylan: And I'm not one for uh blood doesn't really bother me.
• 3:39
  Dylan: It's the I don't know if you would want to call it like body horror or but like when he was digging the glass out of his foot.
• 3:47
  Dylan: Oh yeah.
• 3:48
  Dylan: I I knew that it was coming, and so I covered my head with a blanket for the whole scene.
• 3:54
  Dylan: I could see just a little like literally maybe an inch of the top right corner of the TV.
• 4:01
  Dylan: So then every time it was the police officer, I like pop my head out.
• 4:05
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 4:06
  Dylan: And then I was like, oh man, we're going back.
• 4:09
  Joe: Yeah, there's quite quite a few things.
• 4:11
  Joe: And you know, I watch it every year, but yeah, it it I do go, oh yeah, that that thing, or oh, I didn't forgot about that.
• 4:21
  Joe: Yeah.
• 4:22
  Joe: Especially, you know, that whole thing where like that one out.
• 4:25
  Joe: Yeah.
• 4:25
  Joe: That whole thing where you bring in a new friend and you're like, oh, this is my movie, you gotta watch it.
• 4:29
  Joe: And then you're like, oh, I forgot about that.
• 4:32
  Joe: I'm sorry.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_04: Close your eyes, Dylan.
• 4:37
  Dylan: Right.
• 4:38
  Dylan: The you have a a diehard tradition of holiday watching.
• 4:42
  Joe: Yeah.
• 4:43
  Joe: Um I've pretty much watched it every year.
• 4:46
  Joe: Um I don't know when that started, but I think just as I yeah, I watched it and just realized, yeah, it's a Christmas movie and that whole debate.
• 4:58
  Joe: Uh yeah, it I mean I don't know, there's something about Bruce Willis and and that whole that whole movie and how it all came about that for me it was like, yeah, it kind of makes me root for him in that.
• 5:14
  Joe: Yeah.
• 5:15
  Dylan: Yeah, I think Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber.
• 5:19
  Dylan: Uh I don't know if it's just his performance with things.
• 5:24
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 5:25
  Dylan: But I don't I I feel like I've only ever seen him like as a villain.
• 5:32
  Joe: Yeah.
• 5:33
  Joe: Well, so going back to Bruce Willis, so Oh, sorry.
• 5:38
  Joe: He was well, I just kind of wanted to like give you some perspective.
• 5:43
  Joe: Like he this was like his first big movie.
• 5:46
  Joe: Oh, really?
• 5:47
  Joe: Yeah.
• 5:47
  Joe: And and this was like he was coming from TV.
• 5:50
  Joe: So like we kind of talked about this with Back to the Future, like it wasn't very prestigious to be a TV to movie.
• 5:59
  Joe: That was like he was probably one of the first that kind of spanned, like, you know, that really like cemented that.
• 6:09
  Joe: Yeah.
• 6:09
  Joe: It's just like, you know, Michael G.
• 6:11
  Joe: Fox kind of came into it with Spiel Spielberg and things like that.
• 6:15
  Joe: Right.
• 6:16
  Joe: And so when Bruce Willis did it, he had some people under him and they really supported him.
• 6:22
  Joe: And he had had like a five million dollar like you know, check for this movie.
• 6:28
  Joe: And so that was like one of the highest paying from going from TV to acting.
• 6:34
  Joe: Gotcha.
• 6:35
  Joe: And so they put a lot of faith into him to to be in part.
• 6:40
  Joe: Yeah.
• 6:40
  Joe: Yeah.
• 6:41
  Joe: Um, Alan Rickman, this was his first movie.
• 6:45
  Joe: And is it really?
• 6:47
  Joe: Yeah.
• 6:48
  Joe: And not only was this first movie, somebody, one of the producers, was at a play somewhere in Europe and saw him.
• 6:58
  Joe: And when they were they were thinking about these parts, he thought back to this play that he was at and tracked him down and hired him.
• 7:08
  Joe: And like wow, that's awesome.
• 7:10
  Joe: So um, so yeah, it was it was totally it was his first thing, and consequently, um, he did play villains after that because he was such a good villain in this, like he just nailed it that um that that's all he could get for a while.
• 7:30
  Joe: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:31
  Joe: I mean, even Snape is a sort of like anti-hero, you know.
• 7:36
  Joe: Yeah, for sure.
• 7:38
  Joe: Like, ultimately he, you know, but still it yeah.
• 7:43
  Dylan: Yeah, but you definitely led throughout that whole pretty much the whole series up until the last book.
• 7:50
  Dylan: Uh that Snape is the villain.
• 7:53
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 7:53
  Dylan: Or a villain.
• 7:56
  Dylan: Not to get off on the wrong franchise.
• 7:58
  Joe: Right.
• 8:00
  Joe: Because we haven't done that before.
• 8:02
  Joe: Right.
• 8:04
  Dylan: But yeah, I everything he does is just so good.
• 8:09
  Dylan: Alan Alan Rickman.
• 8:11
  Joe: Yeah, I mean, it the the cast on here is it's just great.
• 8:15
  Joe: I mean, I pointed out um you know that uh Robert Um Davi from Goonies was on there.
• 8:28
  Joe: Yep.
• 8:29
  Joe: Um, so there's a couple people from Ghostbusters, um, William Atherton, who plays like the the uh what was it, the city health board in Ghostbusters come you know, is on this playing the reporter who ends up being kind of a bad guy.
• 8:49
  Dylan: Oh funny.
• 8:50
  Joe: Um and then um uh Reginald Vell Johnson, who who is Al Powell, played a cop in Ghostbusters as well.
• 9:01
  Joe: It was it was a small part, but gotcha.
• 9:04
  Joe: Yeah, so yeah, it's kind of a cool cast, and then we'll see we'll see Paul Gleason later on in Breakfast Club, but I wish we would have watched that before this because it all kind of like comes together, but um but he was the he was the other like the what was it detective or whatever who comes in and yeah kind of belittles Captain Powell the whole time and condescending and all that so and then uh so Bonnie Bella Bedilia is Holly Granero.
• 9:41
  Joe: Um I mean she she has a cool part and what they did together as a couple, like in and as actors, like it was really cool to see them like because a lot of that was improv, the like fighting.
• 9:56
  Joe: Oh yeah, yeah, so it was like they found a way to to really get that going, you know, like the couple thing, you know.
• 10:06
  Joe: But um, and then the henchman, uh Carl Alexander Goodunov, he was another person who somebody was at a um watching the ballet and saw this guy, this tall blonde guy, and they're like, he could play a henchman.
• 10:30
  Joe: That's impressive.
• 10:32
  Joe: And the funny thing is is during that fight scene, you can see that ballet style.
• 10:39
  Joe: Yeah, it's not definitely light on his definitely not martial arts, yeah.
• 10:43
  Joe: Yeah, so he kind of you know thwacks uh John McClain and and all that, but he's more like a high kick, high step kind of thing.
• 10:52
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 10:53
  Dylan: So um what was the what was the guy's name?
• 10:58
  Dylan: Ellis.
• 10:59
  Dylan: Ellis, yeah.
• 11:00
  Dylan: Man, I know I said it while we were watching the movie, but yeah he he got his in the end.
• 11:07
  Dylan: He did.
• 11:08
  Joe: He did.
• 11:09
  Joe: Hans, booby.
• 11:13
  Joe: He said uh the actor said that he he kept trying this part, kept trying, and the director kept getting mad.
• 11:22
  Joe: He's like, no, this is not how I wrote it.
• 11:24
  Joe: Like, you need to play it this way.
• 11:26
  Joe: And he's like, but this guy's coked up, and he's you know, he's uh you know, yuppie, right?
• 11:32
  Joe: He's you know, and he thinks he's full of himself and blah blah blah.
• 11:36
  Joe: Oh yeah, and so it got to the point where he was like almost gonna get fired, but then but then like the two producers were watching the playbacks of his work and they were just like busting up and just like loved what he was doing, and so then the director was like, fine, do whatever you want.
• 11:57
  Dylan: Yeah, I mean, what angle was the director trying to play?
• 12:01
  Dylan: Because I felt like he played the coked up dude.
• 12:04
  Joe: Oh, yeah.
• 12:05
  Joe: I mean, every moment he's just like, Yeah, right.
• 12:10
  Joe: Well, when John when John walks in, he's like, You missed some.
• 12:16
  Dylan: That's so funny.
• 12:17
  Dylan: I know you just you you got all some.
• 12:19
  Joe: Yeah.
• 12:20
  Joe: You know, the funny thing is when he's sitting there talking to Hans and he's trying to negotiate and they bring him a can of Coke.
• 12:29
  Joe: I wonder if like there it was like in that scene somehow, it it was supposedly lost in translation, and that's not what he was asking for.
• 12:47
  Dylan: That's great.
• 12:49
  Dylan: That's great.
• 12:49
  Dylan: I didn't even I didn't even think of that.
• 12:52
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 12:57
  Dylan: That that scene too is so funny when he just like sits there and just smiles at Hans.
• 13:03
  Dylan: Yeah, big old pearly whites.
• 13:05
  Joe: Yeah, he's like, Hans, what is this method?
• 13:08
  Dylan: Why do you have the gun out?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Hans booby.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hans booby.
• 13:14
  Joe: Yeah.
• 13:14
  Joe: But yeah, definitely the worst coworker in human history.
• 13:17
  Joe: Oh yeah, yeah.
• 13:19
  Joe: I mean, and you know, not to get all whatever, but like I mean all whatever.
• 13:24
  Joe: Yeah.
• 13:25
  Joe: But she was like, I mean, she was basically saying, like, you're you're uh coming on to me, and I don't appreciate that, you know, like several times, you know.
• 13:38
  Joe: She's like, you're ruining my day, you know.
• 13:42
  Joe: That's a nice way of putting it.
• 13:43
  Joe: Are you seriously though?
• 13:46
  Dylan: You're a walking HR violation.
• 13:49
  Dylan: Exactly.
• 13:50
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 13:50
  Joe: That's true.
• 13:53
  Joe: Yeah, McLean versus Gruber.
• 13:55
  Joe: I think there's just like this cat and mouse for a good amount of time.
• 13:59
  Joe: Yeah.
• 14:00
  Joe: You know, that was fun to watch.
• 14:01
  Joe: Yeah.
• 14:02
  Joe: And I think like him being smart enough to conceal his identity and you know, know when to know what to say and how to say it to Powell and be able to get across like, hey, I'm one of you, but I can't say I'm one of you.
• 14:19
  Joe: Right.
• 14:20
  Joe: You know.
• 14:21
  Dylan: Um man, I like when they when uh when Gruber is like face to face with McLean and the um near the C4.
• 14:37
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 14:38
  Dylan: Doesn't know it yet, but I don't know what else to call that room.
• 14:42
  Dylan: But um but yeah, when when Gruber has his like back leaning up against a wall right beside the the you know name of the words.
• 14:56
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 14:58
  Dylan: And uh gave the wrong name.
• 15:01
  Dylan: Uh-huh.
• 15:02
  Joe: Well, he did he gave the right name.
• 15:04
  Dylan: He gave the right last name.
• 15:06
  Dylan: He s said Bill McClay.
• 15:09
  Joe: Or Bill yeah.
• 15:11
  Joe: Bill Clay.
• 15:12
  Dylan: Bill Clay.
• 15:13
  Dylan: But it it was Clay MW, wasn't it?
• 15:17
  Joe: No, it was W M because it was William M.
• 15:23
  Joe: Clay.
• 15:24
  Joe: So he was being s trying to be smarter than oh yeah, yeah.
• 15:31
  Joe: Because William is Bill.
• 15:33
  Joe: Yeah, I forget that.
• 15:34
  Joe: Yeah, because that's a weird that's a weird crossover.
• 15:37
  Joe: It is a weird crossover.
• 15:38
  Joe: He was just being too he's just being too smart.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_05: Huh.
• 15:44
  Joe: Yeah.
• 15:45
  Joe: He he even g went with the nickname.
• 15:50
  Joe: Yeah.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 15:53
  Joe: And that whole scene was was an improv as well.
• 15:56
  Joe: I guess.
• 15:57
  Joe: Oh really?
• 15:58
  Joe: Yeah.
• 15:58
  Joe: So like when they were on set and they were all talking and everything, getting to know Alan Rickman, they asked if he did any other um if he did any other accents.
• 16:09
  Joe: And he said, Oh, I can do a California accent.
• 16:11
  Joe: So he so he did that accent that he does in that scene.
• 16:14
  Joe: So people laughed and they're like, hey, why don't we write a scene where they both meet?
• 16:20
  Joe: Because they hadn't, you know, there hadn't been a point where they were gonna meet.
• 16:23
  Joe: So they're like, let's write the scene where they meet, and he pretends to be from California, and you know, he and that whole thing plays out.
• 16:32
  Joe: Sure.
• 16:35
  Dylan: The big thing with the soundtrack is Ode Joy.
• 16:38
  Dylan: Right.
• 16:39
  Dylan: And I I love love that they turned Ode Joy dark.
• 16:44
  Dylan: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:45
  Dylan: You know, in some of the villain scenes, yeah, yeah.
• 16:49
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 16:50
  Dylan: Because you're sitting there, nigga, dude.
• 16:52
  Dylan: You hear it.
• 16:54
  Dylan: Right.
• 16:55
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 16:56
  Joe: And you know, it's funny because when you play it slow, I almost uh thought I was hearing Jaws.
• 17:01
  Joe: Because there was a du-da.
• 17:03
  Joe: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:05
  Joe: Um the funny thing was is like at the beginning when we started watching, I'm like, oh, if this is a Christmas movie, where's the Christmas music?
• 17:13
  Joe: And they were playing uh, I think it was Runde MC, Christmas and Hollis.
• 17:18
  Joe: Yeah, you know, you know.
• 17:22
  Joe: So great.
• 17:23
  Joe: Like there's a lot of little things like that where you know, there's there's Christmas music all around.
• 17:29
  Joe: Yeah.
• 17:32
  Dylan: Or the the let it snow at the end.
• 17:35
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 17:38
  Joe: Yeah, and there's still like debris in the air from explosion.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 17:47
  Dylan: But yeah, the I mean the score definitely lent a lot to helping sell the the music or the uh the Christmas vibe.
• 17:57
  Joe: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:58
  Joe: Yeah, Christmas vibe, action.
• 18:02
  Joe: I mean, it's just yeah, there's so many tense moments.
• 18:07
  Joe: So much with the gun fights.
• 18:09
  Joe: Um, the scene where uh Bruce Willis is under the table and he's shooting up.
• 18:17
  Joe: Yeah.
• 18:18
  Joe: Um I guess the way they they filmed it and the w way that Bruce Willis was set in that, they had the guns made so that they're extra loud and like explosive.
• 18:32
  Joe: Oh really?
• 18:33
  Joe: And he ended up having like permanent hearing loss from it.
• 18:37
  Joe: Oh man.
• 18:38
  Joe: Yeah, like he was like in this kind of box.
• 18:42
  Joe: Yeah.
• 18:42
  Joe: And and so like I guess it was under the table, but there was like uh like glass on either side, like uh and so like it kind of made this chamber, and so that was like not good for his ears, and just yeah, I'm not surprised by that, yeah.
• 19:01
  Joe: But uh some of the cool things with the explosions um is like there's a lot of miniatures.
• 19:09
  Joe: So like when the helicopter explodes and yeah, and all of that, they actually made a miniature of Nakatomi Plaza, and they had this little like uh kit helicopter, and they only had like one shot to do it, but they flew it by and then they exploded it, and then it actually got caught, and they put they put a broom through to push it over, and then it made that like spiral.
• 19:36
  Joe: So really it was so it was like unplanned, but then it had that cool spiral coming down and the rest of the explosion.
• 19:43
  Dylan: And I just thought they threw a helicopter at a building.
• 19:46
  Joe: Yeah, I mean normally they do because it's LA, but you know when they're filming it, they might get in trouble.
• 19:57
  Dylan: But yeah, I mean they definitely did a good job with that because you you would not have even I didn't even think that it was like a miniature or something.
• 20:07
  Joe: Yeah it the uh the other cool thing was that they shot the elevator scene the explosion in forced perspective oh really yeah so it's actually like you know like this and then yeah yeah I mean you know Disney so you know forced perspective that way so it looked bigger and wider and that's cool.
• 20:33
  Joe: Yeah I guess the other thing as far as explosions uh when they did prior to the helicopter scene they actually ended up doing like some um uh rotoscoping or like matting to so like when the people were on top of the building they filmed that first and then they filmed the helicopters after that so that they wouldn't be on at the same place.
• 21:01
  Joe: I guess so there was some prior in the early 80s there had been some like a really bad helicopter accident where an explosion pushed the helicopter and like killed some people on set.
• 21:15
  Joe: So they they had to start like separating some of those yeah like stunts and things.
• 21:21
  Joe: So yeah they were like yeah I guess the world starts um with our trivia at the end of the last episode yeah so it was based on a novel called Nothing Lasts Forever which is a sequel to a a book called a detective there was a movie uh called a detective that was that starred Frank Sinatra okay and so at any point if nothing lasts forever were to have you know if the detective were to have a sequel which is nothing last forever if they were ever to film it as a movie somewhere in this contract it said that he had the option for to to do the sequel and so by the time it came around from you know the time he did it to to the mid 80s he was just like I'm too old and so they went through multiple like from anywhere from Mel Gibson to John Travol to to multiple different stars.
• 22:30
  Joe: At one point um Clint Eastwood had the rights to the book and was going to star in it in the early 80s.
• 22:37
  Dylan: Yeah and so like there was just a lot of different people who who were gonna do it and then it finally kind of landed on when McClane was running around Nakatomi Tower yeah or uh Nakatomi Plaza um man it was I felt like it was hard to keep track of where he was yeah and like man that place is just a maze.
• 23:04
  Joe: Yeah yeah yeah I think that's why they put well for other reasons but they put that calendar or the the pictures yeah the centerfold in the middle because it was his point of reference like it's kind of like when you go hiking right you kind of either leave something or you make a spot or something so that you know where you were and so he kind of did that with the building he was like okay now I know where I'm at and yeah as he got more used to it he knew where he was but right got his point of reference.
• 23:36
  Joe: Yeah so I think that was part of it.
• 23:40
  Joe: One of the funny things about the way they they shot him running around um was they kind of did what they did with the Lord of the rings they made basically he had sort of prosthetic feet yeah so there were like shoes that were over his actual feet.
• 23:59
  Joe: Oh okay but they look like feet and they had hair and nails and everything else like just in case like you you'd be able to see them but for split second you could almost see like a line between uh his his leg and the the fake feet yeah but it kept him from actually running on glass oh yeah yeah yeah that'd be a hard one to uh you know figure out yeah yeah but yeah the all of the practical practical effects yeah all of the practical effects that they used like the explosions and stuff yeah like they look so good I know yeah I mean they they really went big and you know back in the day it wasn't you know they they they did some altering so like uh when the bottom of the building exploded they they kind of put smoke and then light chargers like yeah flashes from a camera right behind it so it looked like explosions but it wasn't actually night because they're filming at night there's like you know all kinds of they're in downtown LA so like there's all these factors so they they did it that way so it looks cool it look like explosions yeah but you know but they they that's so cool yeah smoke and mirrors literally literally yeah well and same with like the glass in the um office uh that they were like purposely shooting out since he was barefoot shoot the glass shoot the glass um you know I know for that sort of stuff they use like like prop glass uh huh that just completely shatters yeah uh in non-sharp ways so that's that's so interesting like the the workarounds that had to be come up with uh you know because obviously you're not gonna move in actual glass panes right yeah so they have candy glass or yeah multiple different types of Hollywood glass and yeah super interesting yeah um and then when Bruce Willis was running around the the plaza almost said tower again uh yeah when he was running around the plaza and yeah doing all the different fight scenes and all the stunts and stuff yeah it look it looked it looked good yeah I mean even um he did some of his own stunts I mean it wasn't like they were like you know he he made a lot but they still had him do a lot yeah and um like one of the scenes where he's on the elevator he's actually riding an elevator yeah yeah because they they they looked at the elevator and they talked to the guy and the elevator operator was like oh yeah there's like you know there's like multiple feet above you still so it's not like it's not like um you know you you'll smash into a pancake and you're on top right right so so they let them get on there and film that yeah that's pretty wild yeah well and I'm sure with that scene too that the bar that they kind of had him deck in under slash around I'm sure they had that in there just for effect of the shot.
• 27:35
  Dylan: Yeah right but yeah like overall though I that would have to be a hard movie to film because all the shots you know they looked like they were taking place and you know the tight narrow corridors and stuff and would be just super claustrophobic to have to try to film and figure out your perspectives and angles and stuff.
• 28:05
  Joe: Oh yeah I like I'm totally claustrophobic and I couldn't even imagine crawling into a air vent.
• 28:12
  Joe: Yeah you know let alone filming for hours on end inside one you know like yeah there's so many so many um times when he's just con confined and and all that it's just it's just crazy.
• 28:29
  Joe: Yeah but they definitely did a good job though throughout the whole thing of escalating you know each step of the way uh that you know there's always you know more risk than the last and yeah there's there's a feeling of like just when you think it's it's almost done uh it gets worse right yeah just when you think things are gonna be done or you know come to an end or or maybe you know maybe Hans is just gonna be like okay we're done or whatever.
• 29:01
  Joe: It's like no it just gets worse.
• 29:03
  Joe: Yeah.
• 29:04
  Joe: And even you know Hans had a plan he was like okay we're gonna do this that and the other and then all of a sudden John McClane comes in and that whole plan changes you know so yeah and then um man they really liked to have McLean dangling by something multiple times throughout the movie.
• 29:31
  Joe: Right yeah it's like yeah it's like he he barely gets to stand up straight at all right rolling uh crawling donkey yeah uh definitely the tension you know throughout the whole thing was very palpable was very what palpable palpable yeah how you say that yeah yeah I think going from introducing the characters laying it all out and then that little that little push or that little like tension of that that uh picture being laid laid on his face the whole time right and it's like air I mean Hans is hanging out in that office the whole time and that picture is there the whole time and it's just like right underneath his nose literally like here's the answer or here's what you could use to you know and it's just yeah you feel it the whole time yeah and then at the end when he did f finally flip up the picture and um I I felt like his reasoning for flipping up the picture was kind of obvious.
• 30:56
  Dylan: Uh-huh like it just seemed like the obvious thing to do.
• 31:01
  Dylan: Yeah but it's I mean it still worked.
• 31:04
  Dylan: Yeah yeah they had to keep the plot rolling somehow yeah but I wonder like with the book though like how much of that translates over you know from the book into the movie.
• 31:24
  Joe: Yeah from what I know like it's actually he's a lot older and he's actually going to visit his daughter oh yeah yeah and it's it is a terrorist thing it's not a robbery yeah and so there's just a lot of different and then like that end scene where um the they fall out she actually dies oh yeah the daughter dies and so he like he just like like it's a it's a bummer of an ending.
• 31:55
  Joe: Yeah yeah so it's yeah that's the thing about movies people don't want sad endings yeah right and like you don't get the thing like hey honey you know do you have any favorite scenes oh um let's see yeah I think some of my favorite scenes are are the dumb ones like that whole scene where the uh the nerdy the nerdy guy who's cracking the safe yeah my my favorite line is the quarterback is toast me and my brother used to say that all the time and then the other scene I I think you might have missed it but uh one of the henchmen is like uh they're they're all going to the foyer and they're they're going to you know get the the SWAT team and they're all kind of like hiding and then he's hiding behind this counter where it's like the the snacks and and he kind he's looking at the at the yeah he's yeah yeah he's looking at the SWAT team and then he kind of looks down at the snacks and he he looks around like he doesn't want to get caught like dude like you got you got like you got a uh you know you got an automatic rifle in your hand uh right don't you don't for it nobody's gonna laugh at you then yeah yeah but he grabs you know so he starts picking out while he's you know like it's just funny like just things like that those little things that they built in um or even even when the SWAT team is coming in and they're they're going up and the first guy walks into a rose bush he's like ow ow like yeah they built in these little things um when when Powell first goes up to the building and he's like oh you know it's a it's a false alarm over here and I can tell us and then all of a sudden boom the whole body and then he just starts freaking out like a bird and he goes off the yeah batch yeah and then like Argyle Argyle's just classic man he's just chilling I know the whole time he's just chilling and then and then finally when he realizes something's going down he he goes after that guy and like punches him and yeah which is great yeah takes out the takes out the van and punches the guy and yeah yeah I mean he's just he's just a cool character.
• 34:30
  Dylan: He's the real MVP he is um yeah I would say for me like the the first introduction to Hans's group with the evil Ode to Joy playing in the background yeah like you don't it just sets it up so good because you don't know what you know what is going to happen but you're like oh yeah these are these are the bad guys yeah yeah and I know like most of those actors were picked just because they look like good henchmen you know I totally totally believe that yeah and so they just look like this motley crew of just crazy henchmen from Germany or wherever you know they have a couple Americans they have a couple you know like hired gun type guys they just like and yeah when they roll in and they just you know they all have their thing their vibe and you know I think like um you know the whole come out to the coast have a few laughs you know he's stuck in this air vent and he's like thinking back to like oh yeah why does this happen to me but yeah like McLean always jumping off something tied to something else.
• 35:52
  Joe: Yeah yeah I mean dude and he then he's getting shot at at everybody too you know like the whole time he's like I'm the good guy yeah when they're in the in the in the chopper shooting at him yeah that's pretty funny yeah because then he decks by the thing I'm the good guy yeah I'm the good guy yeah at the end of uh when when Hans is holding on and you know and then they have to unclasp the yeah the watch and everything it's just like he he wants to get a final shot off but he can't is yeah I was totally like pins and needles I was like is he going to you know dig her out yeah so like the the funniest thing about that is the look of fear in his eyes is real and they had like this forty foot drop that they had him on and behind him was a a big uh like airbag yeah and so because they wanted a real high shot so they had him um they had done it a couple times and they would go one two three and then they would let him go yeah but then he would like his his face would like you know like like he's gonna fall yeah he's preparing he's preparing for it so they finally decide they talk amongst themselves and and say like you know we're gonna tell him three but we're gonna let him go on one and so like so that shot that you see they basically said one boom you know or they said three and they let him go and that that like you know that gas fat look in his eye is is real because he you know they just let him go and so they were able to get like a good fearful look on his eye like oh man that's excellent yeah yeah and that that just nails it and and the crazy thing is like you know from above it's slow motion and and all this and then they just show it from behind and it's just plop I know yeah yeah and then when when they show it from the the police perspectives and it's just crunch.
• 38:29
  Joe: Yeah it's like oh hope that wasn't one of the hostages you think man that that guy was such an idiot yeah he was like Captain Hobbyist you know like right like when when pal's like they're they're shooting after they're you know they're going after the light and then like oh they're going after the light you're like uh Joe said that yeah exactly am I hearing an echo it's like oh they set it up so well so Joe what would you rate it out of ten yeah of broken walkie-talkies hmm I rate it a ho her ho I have a machine gun man it's a it's an eight yeah yeah it's it's a classic to me it it's you know like I said me and my brother quote it my wife and I quote it yeah it's just one of those like yeah we grew up watching it and you know it's just whenever and all those the little those little lines and and everything so it's just yeah yeah yeah I would probably give it a seven because I I thought it was good but there was definitely parts that I felt like dragged on like all of the running around
• 40:01
  Dylan: You know, they're running through the corridor shots.
• 40:03
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 40:03
  Dylan: It's like, we get it.
• 40:05
  Dylan: He's gone places.
• 40:06
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 40:08
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 40:09
  Dylan: I'd say it definitely holds up though.
• 40:11
  Joe: Yeah.
• 40:12
  Joe: Yeah.
• 40:13
  Joe: I think so too.
• 40:14
  Joe: I mean it the I think the funny thing about it though is that it also tries to make fun of action movies while being an action movie.
• 40:24
  Joe: Yeah.
• 40:24
  Joe: Because they mention Arnold Schwarzenegger and other people.
• 40:27
  Joe: Like, you know, and then they he talks about Roy Rogers and um, you know, Hans makes fun of John Wayne, and and so there's this like kind of elephant in the room at the same time.
• 40:40
  Joe: Yeah.
• 40:41
  Joe: You know, so I think it makes light of itself and and uh you know you know I I love Powell.
• 40:49
  Joe: I don't think he gets enough credit, you know.
• 40:51
  Joe: Yeah as the kind of the sidekick to to John, you know.
• 40:56
  Joe: Yeah.
• 40:57
  Joe: And and he gets his own at the end, you know.
• 41:00
  Dylan: Yep.
• 41:00
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 41:01
  Dylan: Would you say that it's officially a Christmas movie?
• 41:04
  Joe: I think so.
• 41:05
  Joe: Yeah.
• 41:06
  Joe: I do.
• 41:06
  Joe: I do.
• 41:07
  Joe: I mean, I think the way it the way it's portrayed and like Yeah.
• 41:12
  Joe: Even with the last song, let it snow.
• 41:16
  Joe: You know.
• 41:18
  Dylan: Yeah.
• 41:19
  Dylan: I think I'd have to I'd have to agree.
• 41:21
  Dylan: You know, I don't know what else you'd ask for in a Christmas movie.
• 41:24
  Dylan: I know.
• 41:25
  Dylan: You know, it's got it's got the action, the romance.
• 41:28
  Joe: Yeah, action, romance, Christmas, the ode to joy.
• 41:32
  Joe: Right.
• 41:33
  Joe: Classic.
• 41:34
  Joe: Classic.
• 41:36
  Joe: Damsel in distress.
• 41:40
  Dylan: Yeah, the damsel in distress.
• 41:43
  Joe: On our next episode, we'll be tackling another John Hughes movie.
• 41:49
  Joe: The one with John Candy.
• 41:52
  Dylan: Who and Joe Pesci.
• 41:57
  Dylan: Who?
• 42:00
  Dylan: I guess we'll find out next week.
• 42:05
  Dylan: Hiya, pal.
• 42:08
  Dylan: Hiya, pal.
• 42:09
  Dylan: All right.
• 42:10
  Dylan: Well, thanks for listening to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast?
• 42:14
  Dylan: Make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast app, and if you're enjoying it, leave us a five-star rating.
• 42:19
  Dylan: It really helps the show grow.
• 42:21
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• 42:23
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• 42:27
  Dylan: You can also follow all of our socials in the description as well.
• 42:30
  Dylan: Everything you need is right there.
• 42:32
  Joe: We'll be back next week with another movie premiere.
• 42:35
  Joe: And if you hear German accents at your office Christmas party, you might want to leave.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_05: Get out of there.