I love DH2 as it's basically a James Bond movie only with extra yippie-ky-yay'ing. Confrontations with Dennis Franz are hokey, but awesomely funny too.
― Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 19:12 (twelve years ago) link
I wish I could see Die Hard in the historical context of only knowing Bruce Willis from romcom fare
― valleys of your mind (mh), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah you have to appreciate seeing the posters for Die Hard in the lobby of the theater and going, 'the guy from Moonlighting and Blind Date? that's going to suck.'....then being gloriously, wonderfully wrong.
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:17 (twelve years ago) link
was it that much of a hard sell? i mean he was kind of a raffish tough guy even in Moonlighting, and that was a pretty popular action movie leading man template already at the time with Harrison Ford, etc.
― DNRIYHM NATION 1814 (some dude), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:20 (twelve years ago) link
Also, Hudson Hawk didn't even get nominated? It's kind of a batshit action movie.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:24 (twelve years ago) link
it's pretty rare that an actor who is already hugely famous and a bit pigeonholed makes a film that completely changes everyone's entire perception of them in an awesome film in which they arrive in some newish, fully-formed style. clooney and 'out of sight' is kind of similar in that regard, 'one fine day' being his 'blind date.'
― omar little, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:24 (twelve years ago) link
xpost to some dude- I was in high school when this came out and yeah, among my friends and I at least, it was "no way, this guy looks like an idiot." But a buddy went to see it and came back ecstatic, the rest followed suit. Funny, the debate with us then was whether the best movie that year was Die Hard or Young Guns.
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:29 (twelve years ago) link
i think one of the reasons Die Hard works so well is that, despite the action-hero status he would immediately attain afterward, Bruce Willis sort of translates as a 'regular workaday dude' a lot more of aptly than say Schwarzanegger or Stallone would have - and that kind of persona is sorta essential to the film's efficacy.
that said, I could maybe see Harrison Ford having pulled it off tho.
― Jurgis Rudkus // Dick Butkus (Pillbox), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:30 (twelve years ago) link
i'll take y'alls word for it, i was really young at the time so my earliest childhood memories are of willis as the unstoppable action star/blues singer
― DNRIYHM NATION 1814 (some dude), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:32 (twelve years ago) link
― Jurgis Rudkus // Dick Butkus (Pillbox), Wednesday, February 29, 2012 3:30 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this
― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:33 (twelve years ago) link
Scharzanegger, for example, never could have fit into that air vent.
― Jurgis Rudkus // Dick Butkus (Pillbox), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:34 (twelve years ago) link
It's funny, I have a friend who's a couple years younger and probably only ever knew of Bruce Willis's action roles and it was a hard sell trying to convince her that he's done good non-action work!
― valleys of your mind (mh), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:35 (twelve years ago) link
willis' regular dude thing is essential to this, i mean he spends most of the movie in terror and on the run.
― omar little, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:35 (twelve years ago) link
WELCOME TO THE PARTY PAL
― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:37 (twelve years ago) link
god i love die hard
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:39 (twelve years ago) link
The bit toward the beginning where the guy with a gun is doing the "hah, you're a cop, you wouldn't hurt me like that" bit and McClane responds with a line about how his boss keeps trying to tell him that
― valleys of your mind (mh), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:44 (twelve years ago) link
Harrison Ford did it pretty well in the Clancy one with the Irish terrorists laying siege to his vacation home. I think that was a movie. Patriot Games? Also, he was President Bruce WIllis in "Air Force One."
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 20:54 (twelve years ago) link
ford's more of a righteous angry guy who sticks his finger in your face. i couldnt imagine him wearing a tanktop and making fists with his toes
― RudolfHitlerFtw (Hungry4Ass), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 22:32 (twelve years ago) link
you need to watch Hollywood Homicide
― valleys of your mind (mh), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 22:43 (twelve years ago) link
I remember there was an early series of teaser poster that didn't feature Willis at all, only a picture of an empty theater seat and tag copy that promised to "blow you through the back wall of the theater"
― Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:45 (twelve years ago) link
bruce willis will blow you in the back of the theater
― flagp∞st (dayo), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:47 (twelve years ago) link
http://robotmantheblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/reluctanthero2.jpg
― omar little, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:49 (twelve years ago) link
I actually just sat and watched Die Hard (rather than just seeing bits and pieces of it in passing) for the first time the other day.
Damn. Y'all were OTMFM.
― SNEEZED GOING DOWN STEPS, PAIN WHEN PUTTING SOCKS ON (Deric W. Haircare), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:57 (twelve years ago) link
Downside: after the first half, it was kind of just a ride.
― SNEEZED GOING DOWN STEPS, PAIN WHEN PUTTING SOCKS ON (Deric W. Haircare), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:58 (twelve years ago) link
but...
the best ride EVER
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 1 March 2012 00:00 (twelve years ago) link
but....
this time he has SHOES
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 1 March 2012 03:18 (twelve years ago) link
tried watching die hard the other night, fell asleep after 20 minutes and woke up for the last hour. well done but not really my thing. too much buddy movie bullshit and crowd pleasing antics. I guess I like my action a lot darker, or with robots.
also watched blade runner again. I love a lot of things about it, but if that's an action movie so is aquirre wrath of god. pace is glacial and the fight scenes are anticlimactic. final battle w/ batty is entertaining but mainly because of hauer's taunting teutonic steez. how that guy didn't become an intl superstar is beyond me.
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Thursday, 1 March 2012 16:31 (twelve years ago) link
in my head he did?
― FPocalypto! (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 1 March 2012 16:34 (twelve years ago) link
I still think he should have been the real villain in the next Batman film
― valleys of your mind (mh), Thursday, 1 March 2012 16:35 (twelve years ago) link
xxpost Huh - I don't normally get into bro-down movies, and I sort of have Die Hard in my head as the buddy movie bullshit movie that even buddy movie bullshit haters love. But YMMV! I feel like you missed the best parts of the movie - the last chunk has most of the action and the crowd-pleasing payoffs but the middle is where the movie earns that, with Willis running scared and throwing around what bravado he's got just to keep from freaking out. And the buddy-movie connection with VelJohnson grows out of that really perfectly - they just kind of find each other on the radio, they're both powerless in the situation, but Powell is the steady shoulder McClane needs.
Without all that stuff it'd actually be a pretty boring movie, IMO, just a tough guy in air-ducts killing off faceless bad guys.
Not trying to convince you to watch it again of course, just working out as I'm typing why I love this movie so much. It's like Lean On Me: The Movie.
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 1 March 2012 16:38 (twelve years ago) link
Even more like Lean on Me: The Movie than Lean on Me, the movie?
http://i1.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/250/draft_lens18403549module152800599photo_1314623406lean_on_me_morgan_freeman
― Jurgis Rudkus // Dick Butkus (Pillbox), Thursday, 1 March 2012 16:45 (twelve years ago) link
Just watched Bridge on the River Kwai last night for the first time.
O
M
G
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 1 March 2012 16:49 (twelve years ago) link
so KLASSIK
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 1 March 2012 16:50 (twelve years ago) link
love that movie!
Huh - I don't normally get into bro-down movies, and I sort of have Die Hard in my head as the buddy movie bullshit movie that even buddy movie bullshit haters love. But YMMV! I feel like you missed the best parts of the movie - the last chunk has most of the action and the crowd-pleasing payoffs but the middle is where the movie earns that, with Willis running scared and throwing around what bravado he's got just to keep from freaking out. And the buddy-movie connection with VelJohnson grows out of that really perfectly - they just kind of find each other on the radio, they're both powerless in the situation, but Powell is the steady shoulder McClane needs.
yeah it's kinda unfair to judge a movie having missed a chunk of it, but I woke up right when veljohnson showed up on the scene so I caught that whole character arc. the movie's pitch perfect in its execution but the stock characters piled up so quickly I couldn't get engaged. figured I must have missed the hooker with the heart of gold while I was asleep.
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Thursday, 1 March 2012 16:57 (twelve years ago) link
hahaha, okay, fair enough. I guess I'm a sucker for genre work that's well-executed with a couple of twists on the formula. Like, I don't mind that the Wrong-Headed Commanding Officer, for example, is a total off-the-shelf element, because he's easily the best Wrong-Headed Commanding Officer I've ever seen in a movie. Plus there's that one moment when he's totally blase about the FBI guys getting blown up that kind of makes him suddenly relatable. It reminds me of when some ILXor praised Marge Simpson joining in on the "you don't win friends with salad" chant - just instantly humanizes the character. Superficial humanization, yes, cheap crowd-pleasing humanization, sure, but hey, it's a popcorn movie and it delivers the goods.
I think the only thing I really don't like about the movie is the extended mano-a-mano with Godunov - that seems faceless, generic, and also a bit grimmer than the rest of the show.
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:06 (twelve years ago) link
otm. it's weird 'cause I watch all sorts of grubby violent movies but earnestly cheery sadism like in the willis/gudunov fight, that macho joy of dominance, is a turn off. schwarzenegger could've made it work but he then again he wouldn't have been able to fit in the air shafts so I guess it's a wash.
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:22 (twelve years ago) link
xpost Rutger Hauer was an international superstar. It was movies like "Blade Runner" that brought him to America and, thus, made him international.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:24 (twelve years ago) link
watched Ip Man last night on netflix. i don't know how japanese people feel about that movie, but the fight scenes were suitably, uh, endless. so there is that. i dug it.
― scott seward, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:36 (twelve years ago) link
I meant leading man superstar, like he should've been on par with harrison ford, stallone, schwarzenegger, etc. but he never found the right vehicle and was stuck in b-movie direct-to-video hell by the 90s.
xp
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:38 (twelve years ago) link
i should have voted for blind fury. and the hitcher. NOT the ostermann weekend though.
― scott seward, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:43 (twelve years ago) link
rutger was already in his 50's by the 90's. maybe action fame came too late. kinda crazy that a senior citizen would make hobo with a shotgun. but everyone has bills to pay. and i'm glad he made it.
― scott seward, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:45 (twelve years ago) link
love how this has its own wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_soliloquy
it is super heavy. i always tear up. i dunno what ridley scott was thinkin with the dove though.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:46 (twelve years ago) link
Hauer described this as "opera talk" and "hi-tech speech" with no bearing on the rest of the film, so he "put a knife in it" the night before filming, without Scott's knowledge.[7] In interview with Dan Jolin, Hauer said that these final lines showed that Batty wanted to "make his mark on existence ... the robot in the final scene, by dying, shows Deckard what a real man is made of."[8]
When Hauer performed the scene, the film crew applauded and some even cried. This was due to the power of the dying speech coming at the end of an exhausting shoot.[9]
damn, rutger
― goole, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:48 (twelve years ago) link
This was due to the power of the dying speech coming at the end of an exhausting shoot.[9]
― max, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:50 (twelve years ago) link
The Power of The Dying Speech Coming At The End of An Exhausting Shoot is actually pretty underrated as far as e6 records go, honestly
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:55 (twelve years ago) link
see, dude had instincts. coulda been one of the all-time greats.
watching it the other night I noticed for the first time how "time to die" echoes leon and batty saying the same thing to deckard earlier in the film.
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:55 (twelve years ago) link
also never noticed how terrible the music in blade runner is, ridley scott should've hired popol vuh
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:58 (twelve years ago) link
time to die
― Number None, Thursday, 1 March 2012 17:58 (twelve years ago) link
time to....
die.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 1 March 2012 18:01 (twelve years ago) link