1
What's making us happy?
Movie discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
1
What's making us happy?
Movie discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Benon
Stephen:Martin, and this is Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome to a Lifetime of Happiness, the
Steve:podcaster. We take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy, while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way.
Stephen:And this December, we're celebrating the holidays ish.
Steve:Ish indeed, as we cover movies that take place around the holidays but are not traditionally considered Christmas.
Stephen:Like die hard, so let's blow some shit up. All right,
Steve:bro. Oh
Stephen:no, no. But before we get into
Steve:that, my love, what's making you
Stephen:happy? I know you calling me bro was not making me happy. That was
Steve:awful. No, sorry. Big Brother Oh God.
Stephen:Stop. Okay. Things that are actually making me happy I 100% completed Pokemon Violet this week and I a
Steve:hundred percent completed Pokemon Scarlet this week.
Stephen:Wow. Congratulations. And we did it in less than a month. I know. That was, you've awesome. You would've done it a lot faster if you hadn't have had to wait for me to get to a certain point in the game. That's
Steve:okay though. We both got there in our own time and. Made a great trip through Palade and I can't wait to go back for the dlc. Yes,
Stephen:And, and what's been making you happy?
Steve:White Lotus season two on H B O Max. Yeah. Yeah. With Jennifer Coolidge. Yes. And it was just a really good season. She came back from the first season. Yeah. And then there was a whole new group of people.
Stephen:And these gays, they're trying to kill me,
Steve:Now you'll understand where that's coming from, if you're seeing it around the internet. But it is a, a good watch. And so I would
Stephen:check it out. Yeah. And. I really love Aubrey Plaza. Yeah. And I thought she was fantastic in this season. There were a lot less people that I recognized compared to season one. Yeah. So that's kind of nice that they were opening it up to everyone. Everyone. Yeah. And because it took place in Sicily a lot of the conversations were in Italian. Yes. And so there were subtitles. There were subtitles,
Steve:thankfully. Yes. And something that needs no subtitles other than boom Bang Explosion. Yes. Die Hard. Why do you
Stephen:love it? So it's one of those movies that started the debate of what can be considered a Christmas movie. And there are some people that say Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Some say that they're not. And like we have a family member that doesn't think Love actually is a Christmas movie cause they're a stupid bitch, but thinks that this one is. Oh well diehard is a beloved action movie that has actually held up pretty well after 30 years.
Steve:Yes. And don't quote me on that percentage, but somewhere around 73% voted in some sort of poll that it is a Christmas movie.
Stephen:Yes, there was a poll on Twitter last year, and there was another PO poll on some other website, but yeah, everyone agrees it's a Christmas movie. Yes,
Steve:and for those not familiar, it's an American action film directed by John Mc Tiernan that released on July 15th, 1988 with a budget of 23 or 25 to 35 million and quite low expectations for. But it had a box office of 139.8 to 141.5 million,
Stephen:which is good nowadays. But that was really good back
Steve:then. Yes, it certainly was. And it's stars. Bruce Willis. Alan Rickman. Yay.
Stephen:Alan Rickman,
Steve:Alexander Goodna. Yes. And Bonnie
Stephen:Bedilia not related to Amelia Bedilia. No, not.
Steve:But it is based on the 1979 novel. Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorpe. Ugh. I
Stephen:remember when we read that in school. I don't think so. I We didn't. Okay,
Steve:Well, what happened, babe, in the movie?
Stephen:So John McClain, that's Bruce Willis. Yes. He is a detective with the New York City Police Department, and he arrives in Los Angeles to attempt a Christmas reunion and reconciliation with his estranged wife. Bonnie Lia, who a lot of people know as the matriarch from the NBC Show Parenthood. Okay. And Holly is attending a Christmas party thrown by her employer, the Nakatomi Corporation, at its still unfinished, American Branch Office headquarters. The high rise Nakatomi.
Steve:Yes. And reading between the subtexts throughout the movie as well as what's later said explicitly, she moved for a huge advancement in her career. John chose his own career thinking Hollywood choose to come back. She did
Stephen:not. Yeah. Now, if one of us had a huge opportunity like Holly did, and it involved moving across the country, is there anything that would keep you here instead of going.
Steve:My parents would be more than happy with me just writing emails and giving
Stephen:phone calls. Yeah. I would be, I like, I don't think there's anything that would keep me from, especially if I don't have to
Steve:work, if this is one of those situations where the job is so nice that I don't have to work and I could pull a Ronnie I mean, I would live that life in a heartbeat. You
Stephen:mean pull a Ronnie in the sense. You just get to have house staff and a driver and living the dream. Yeah, living the dream. And hosting luncheons and dinner parties. Yes. I'll be with the
Steve:ladies who lunch.
Stephen:Now the plane is met at the airport by Argyle. Not to be confused with the sweater or the socks. A limo driver who is charged with taking John Holly's. Arga quickly deduces that McClean has come to LA to patch things up with Holly and offers to park the limo in the building's garage for a short time until McClean figures out if he's gonna be staying with Holly at the family house, or if he needs to go to a hotel. Yes.
Steve:Yes. And Argyle reminds me is I think it would be a good name for a gar. Arga. All the Gargo Okay. Just wanted to
Stephen:share. I appreciate that. And as John enters the lobby, he finds that the building staff directory is on an automated computer program, and Hong's name is listed under her maiden name, Genero, not McClean. We also find out that the people at the party are the only staff left in the building other than two security guards on the main. So exposition. Yes.
Steve:When he gets off the elevator on the 30th floor, he sees a lavish holiday party underway. He's met by Holly's boss, Joseph Takagi genial, Japanese businessman, and Ellis a douche bag. Yes. After McLean refreshes himself from the fight in Holly's corporate bathroom, they have an argument over the use of her maiden name, and Holly's called away before it can escalate or get fixed. Now, how would you feel if I went around using my Bachelor name?
Stephen:Like we both do at work on our emails. Like mine's s Martin. Yeah. And yours is s Bennett. And
Steve:yeah, and I'll still put the name in the signature. I do too, but. It's like almost like when you do shorthand, right? And I think that that's also different for Hyphenates. It might also be different for gays in general, but I think for people with hyphenated names, it's a little more natural. Just if, if, cuz it's a lot to write out when you're signing a million documents Well, that you might just wanna just scribble it all out or shorten it
Stephen:a bit. Oh, whenever I'm writing out my name, I always use my full name,
Steve:but like let's say we found like a name that combined ours together, like Martin or something. I don't know.
Stephen:Martin. Martin. Martin. Yeah.
Steve:Like how would you feel if I just was like behind your back on the DL going places using Bennett still?
Stephen:I would not appreciate that. Yeah, I don't think so either. Now Holly, in that bathroom, convers. Admits that she missed John and oh, even invites him back and invites him to stay at the house. But his ego and pride cause him to start a fight. And, you know, she was extending the olive branch, but he had to needle her and come saying that, you know, she was to blame. And then he. You know, he says she was to blame. Then she's like, you could have come. And then they start fighting and whenever she gets called away, she leaves. And, you know, after he's there, he's like, idiot. And he regrets it immediately. Yes. But it, it seems that he has a habit of acting before thinking, which we'll see throughout the movie.
Steve:Now as the party continues, a large moving van from Pacific Courier makes its way to the building, and nothing bad will happen.
Stephen:Nope. Movie's over. Yeah, nothing bad
Steve:happened. Two men, Carl and Theo arrive in a car at the front entrance to the building at the security desk. They divert the security guard's attention away from the trucks. Carl guns down the guards while theo com commandeers the closed circuit security field and locks down all the elevators except for the service. Car phones are cut and the garage is locked down with an oblivious argyle
Stephen:inside. Yep. And AR guy honestly seems like the most pointless of characters. He's there for little like five second blips of comic relief. Yeah. And then there's one knock the guy out the end and yeah, one slight plot point at the end. But overall it's, I'm not sure in writing this how the character became more than it should have been. I don't know.
Steve:But I think that a film like this could use. Brief moments of levity? I guess so,
Stephen:yes. Now the terrorists are less levity. Yeah. They're led by the slick and well mannered German anarchist. Hans Gruber played delightfully so by Alan Rickman, and he emerges from the truck and they hold the partygoers hostage in exchange for The terrorists are led by the slick and Wall Manor, German anarchist, Hans Gruber. Who emerged from the trucks and they hold the Partygoers hostage in the confusion of it all. McClain is able to disappear unnoticed into the building's maintenance areas, but forgets to take his shoes along, which he's going to regret. Yeah. Cuz he's barefoot for the whole movie. Yes. Bad call dude. And that was an interesting choice as well cuz he met somebody on the plane that was like, you know, you can really calm down if you and decompress from a flight and. Take your shoes off on carpet and make fists with your toes. And he's doing it. He's like, bastard was right. And then whenever he has to run from the terrace, he doesn't take his shoes. It's, it's a weird thing. Yeah. Like So Takagi is taken from the party to the building's conference room and learns that Gruber is actually using the hostage situation as a cover to steal 640 million in bearer bonds stored in the building's vault. McClean, having made his way to the anti room outside the conference room, is unable to stop Gruber from executing Takagi when he refuses to give him the vault's combination saying that he doesn't have what he's
Steve:looking. Yes. Now, what are bear or bonds? Are they like for bears? Yep. Like bank accounts for bears. They're bank accounts for bears. Like bank? No. Are these like bears in the wood? Bears or bears in our community?
Stephen:Bears? No, they're like Winnie the pool. Oh, okay. And smokey.
Steve:All right. Sounds good. Yeah. How would you do and if you were caught in the middle of a terrorist or hostage situation?
Stephen:So when I worked to work for dad's bank? Yeah, like you have to go through training in case you're held. and like it's all very much just comply. Just give money, don't fight back. Just do whatever they say, like everything will be fine. So like if I was alone in the hostage situation, that is definitely how I would go. But if you were in danger, I might be pulling a John Mcle. Oh,
Steve:I would hope not. I would follow the rules that the nice kind men with the guns told me to follow. I don't think that I would get to the with, I think we're talking about in the news later about how like hostages will later write their captives in prison. Like I wouldn't get that sort of obed, but I would listen to what the man with the gun says any
Stephen:day. Well, I would too. Unless he was gonna hurt you. I don't
Steve:know. I would, I would be stuck. I'd be like, but then I'm gonna get shot
Stephen:and then you'll be shot too.
Steve:I don't know. It's bad. Let's not get in hostile situations, babe. Deal. Let's just watch them. Okay.
Stephen:Speaking of McClean attempts to alert the local police by setting off a fire alarm. Pretty smart. But his attempt fails when Hans says one of his men canceled the alarm. And, you know, they call 9 1 1. Say it was a mistake. And he's promptly discovered by Carl's brother. Tony McClean kills Tony taking his gun on his radio. and he finds that the man's boots are too small, even though the man is like half a foot taller than Bruce Villis. Yeah. There's
Steve:no way that that's actually true.
Stephen:Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. That was a just a plot point. McClain places, Tony's corpse in the only elevator left operational hides on top of a car and sends it down. Hansman discovered Tony in the elevator with an ELFS hat on his. And a message written in Sharpie on a sweatshirt that reads, now I,
Steve:now I have a machine gun. Ho, ho,
Stephen:ho. Yeah. Well, Hans Angrily talks this situation over with his men. McClain writes down as many of the details about them as he can, including some of their names, how many voices he hears, and Carlos is enraged and wants to leave immediately to go find McClain. But Han stops him saying that they need time for Theo to penetrate the outer locks of the vault and for the police to arrive.
Steve:Yes. And I love it when Holly sees what's happening, that she knows it's John and that he's trying to help. Yeah. It helps her feel more calm. I would be losing my mind if it was you doing this Ellis thinks he'll screw it up, but Ellis is also a douche bag who we're immediately against for everything that comes out of his mouth. Yeah, he
Stephen:is very much an eighties. Stockbroker bro. Type of guy. Yeah. Like like the ghost on ghosts. Yes. But like
Steve:he at least becomes nice. Yes. Now the costume department had 17 undershirts in various stages of decay and degradation.
Stephen:One hand for Bruce, which is really interesting and it makes sense because, you know, he's dirty at one point from a bunch of. And then when he gets wet, he is a little less dirty, but then he gets dirtier and bloodier. So, you know, it makes sense that they're able to switch out the shirts instead of being like, okay, hold still. Yeah. And it is
Steve:wild that it gets so d dirty so quickly. Well,
Stephen:he's crawling through construction areas and stuff, so I kind of get
Steve:that. Yeah, I just wouldn't do that personally. But,
Stephen:Now, He makes it onto the roof and tries to call the lap D on Tony's walkie-talkie, overheard by Hans and his men Hansen's car to the roof to hunt down McClean and McClain's arguing with the 9 1 1 operator about the distress call. Yeah, it they
Steve:think that's a frank. Yeah, like, and they're like really very firm. I because of the false alarm earlier, they were like, oh, it must definitely be a frank. And I'm like, this is very rude for
Stephen:people. Yeah. And they're like, sir, we're going to, like, if you keep this up, we're gonna have to send the police and arrest you. And he is like, please do send the
Steve:police. Yes. And we, we, we know from watching 9 1 1, that's not how
Stephen:it works. No, because Maddie, Would not have thought it was a prank. Maddie would've figured out what was going on and what she would've called Angela Bassett and been like, girl. you need to go save the day.
Steve:Yes. And then Carl and two of Hans men in the tech forcing McClean to retreat into the tower's ventilation system, even crawling through giant vent blades. And it was something right out of a video game. Yeah. And he almost took, takes this huge fall doing this jump that I would see and I'd be like, Nope. All right. Nope. I'm done. Capture
Stephen:me. Yep. It might, it, it was almost a much shorter movie because if he hadn't have grabbed on, his body would've just bounced down 30 floors of an air ventilation
Steve:shaft. Yeah. But I, I was expecting like all the action to be blowing stuff up and they, they had some really nice like, physical action in this movie. I was really impressed.
Stephen:Yes. Now this is your first time
Steve:seeing it. Yes. You pop my. Now when he emerges, he tries to get the attention of Sergeant
Stephen:Al Powell played by Reginal Val Johnson, who most people know as Officer Carl Winslow from Family Matters.
Steve:Yeah. He was sent by Dispatcher McClean. We colt before. Now when Marco and Heinrich find him in the conference room, McClean narrowly kills them. Initially finding nothing wrong. Powell is ready to drive off, but McClain in a desperate move before his last hope for the outside leaves, gets his attention by throwing Marco's corpse out the window and onto Powell's patrol VI vehicle, which is very effective.
Stephen:Yeah. And then Gruber's men see what's happening and realize that they've been found out that there's something going on now. And start machine gun firing at the police.
Steve:Yeah. And you had like, I mean, I recognize him right away as the the dad from family Matters. But you, you said that, like even back then, you knew that that meant it was
Stephen:No, he was gonna have, yeah, he was gonna have a bigger part because he had been in a lot of different things at that point. And, but for a second, Like I honestly was thought, okay, I'm wrong and he's just gonna leave. Yeah. I did not expect the corpse toss. I thought maybe John was gonna throw like a chair. A chair, not a body It worked. It, I mean, yes, it absolutely worked. But would that have been your first instinct? Would you have been like, okay, I've got this office chair in my hand that I broke the window with. Let me put this down and get a body.
Steve:If I wanted it to be effective in a surefire way for them to know that shit was going down, I think the body would be more
Stephen:effective. Yeah, but also like he had to get it a distance, throwing a 20 pound chair. 200 pound body.
Steve:I know. I'm not saying I would've been able to physically pull it off my love I'm pretending that I have Bruce Willow's str Willow's strength here. Okay. No, but I mean, what? What would stop him if it was a chair for the cop just going into the lobby and they'd be like, oh, it's someone drunk at the party. Oh yeah, you're right body. He's like, yeah, yep. It's going down. He calls for backup.
Stephen:Now while searching Heinrich's pockets and Bag McClean finds the Hinchman was carrying a significant quantity of C4 explosive ind detonators and McClean Tuns gruber using Heinrich's walkie-talkie and tells him he killed a few of his men, giving Hans their names. And Carl reports to Hans that McClean wasn't bluffing and that their adversary took Heinrich's bag, which presumably had all the detonators.
Steve:Now during this exchange when they tell McClain, just like, hang tight, we'll take care of it. Would you let the LAPD take over at
Stephen:this point? I don't think I would trust the lapd at this point.
Steve:Yes. And there's an exchange where, which part am I playing My house.
Stephen:You're you're going to be John McClain. I get to be Hans Gruber.
Steve:Okay. What part is Remy playing?
Stephen:Remy is playing. I'm scratching on the floor and trying to distract your listeners as much as possible during this episode because for some reason, I'm not gonna be chilled tonight. Yes, that's the part Remy's playing. Okay. But I'm Han so Mr. My gist, are you still there?
Steve:Yeah, I'm still here. Unless you wanna open the front door for me.
Stephen:No. I'm afraid not. But you have made a loss. You know my name, but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child, another orphan of a bankrupt culture. Who thinks he's John Wayne? Rambo. Marshall Dillon was always kind
Steve:of partial to Roy Rogers. Actually, I really like those sequined shirts. Do
Stephen:you really think you have a chance against us, Mr. Cowboy?
Steve:Yippy. Kae. Motherfucker
Stephen:And that is the most famous line in the whole movie. Yes.
Steve:Now with Powell, fully convinced that the emergency call was, Like I mentioned, quite effective with the body. Yeah, the situation rapidly escalates as the lap D comes in for us and surrounds the Nakatomi building with a large SWAT force. However, grouper is not too concerned, although the police responds as sooner than he planned. Thanks to McClean's interference. The police are necess. An unwitting part of Gruber's Plan,
Stephen:which when it all happens later, I'm like, Ugh. He was so sure of what they would do, and he was right. Yes.
Steve:And in an article for the 30th anniversary of Diehard, Bonnie stated that the first thing she thinks of when someone mentions diehard as Alan Rickman, the two became friends and had lunch every day together while shooting the. And she just talks about how lovely and gentle he was in real life. Yeah,
Stephen:he is one of my favorite actors. I've never seen him in something where he wasn't absolutely phenomenal. Yes. Now, I also love that Holly smartly negotiates with Hans for accounts for the pregnant woman and bathroom breaks for the group. She's very, even in her delivery, she compromises with Hans cuz at first, Let's take her into my office where there's a couch and he goes, how about we bring the couch out? Fine. Yeah. And we need to go to the bathroom. How about in groups? And he goes, that's fair. And you know, she comes out with a win for her people. She is definitely a leader. Yeah. And you can see it. And also she's smart because when he says, and you are Mrs. And then she goes, miss Janaro. Yeah. keeping the cover up to make sure that he doesn't put two and two together about John.
Steve:Yes. Meanwhile, the SWAT team led by Deputy Chief Dwayne
Stephen:Robinson, who is Paul Gleason. The teacher from the Breakfast
Steve:Club arrives to storm the building. However, Theo monitors their movement on the security feed and alerts. Gruber talking furiously to Powell. McClain attempts to get Robinson to stop the SWAT team from walking into. Powell cannot convince Robertson or the SWAT chief who are both just dumb asses. Yeah,
Stephen:completely. Like if anybody had listened to Powell instead of anybody else, a lot less people would've died. Yes.
Steve:The SWAT team is repelled the SWAT armored
Stephen:vehicle, which is like the new Batmobile from the Dark Knight franchise.
Steve:Yes. It's disabled by a rocket launcher, and the police are outgunned by the fire power of the terrorists and their strategic spots in the. To stop two of groupers men from continuing to fire rockets Upon the SWAT armored car that's been disabled, McClean dropped C4 down the elevator shaft and blows out an entire fucking floor of the building, giving the cops a chance to
Stephen:retreat. And the explosion was an impressive visual effect. It was very smart on his part because there's nothing to say that they weren't gonna start using the rocket. On where all the cops were stationed. Yeah. Like the, because they're on a whole floor, they could easily make their way around anywhere. Yeah. And now, funny enough, Argyle finally realizes what's going on and that he's trapped in the garage.
Steve:Oh. No more hilarity. Ensuing, I'm sure.
Stephen:Now Robinson tells John to back off and let his people handle it, and John tells him to fuck.
Steve:Yeah, I mean, if we're talking about who's being more effective at the moment, it's clearly John McClain. Absolutely Now, by this time, the news media is on the scene led by sleazy reporter Rick
Stephen:Thornberg, who is played by William Atherton, who played Mr. Peck from Ghostbusters, who is the asshole that released all the ghosts back into the city. Can we talk about someone getting typecast in the NI in the eighties? Gross.
Steve:Yeah. And FBI led by Special Agent Johnson. and his, his partner is Special Agent Johnson, so it's sponsored by Johnson and Johnson
Stephen:And the older Johnson is one of the villains from the Goonies.
Steve:Oh, okay. Well, there you go. Now, as they make their plans to shut down, Hans and his crew Ellis outs McClain's identity to everyone, which ends with him getting shot. Hm. Thornberg discovers that his wife lives in the area. He goes to Holly's house, and after threatening Holly's Latina housekeeper with deportation interviews, the McLean children on live
Stephen:tv. So Ellis had it coming. Yeah. And the only good thing in all of this is that for some reason Ellis decided to. keep Holly's secret, and he said that John was his guest at the party and that he and John had been friends for years. I'm not sure why he went with that and didn't blow John's cover, like he outed who he was and that he was an n y C cop and everything. So I'm, I'm intrigued why he. Like below the entire
Steve:cover. You know why? Listeners who also happen to be douche bags, please let us know.
Stephen:I hope that none of our listeners are douche
Steve:bags. I don't think they are, but just in case someone's like, well, that's how that du bro was thinking. please explain it to us.
Stephen:Thank you. Now, you said that much of the script was
Steve:improvised. I read that on the internet, so it must be true. Yeah, that due to the constant screenplay tweaks, there were like a lot of changes constantly on set and that a lot of it was improvised, which I believe it seems of the time.
Stephen:Yeah. now as part of the plan, Gruber contracts contacts the police with a list of difficult demands, such as the release of various real terrorists he has no connection with and has only read about in the news to stall them so he can finish with the vault. And after he finishes with his Boz bogus demands, Gruber gives Carl the orders to go hunt down mcc.
Steve:If you could make a ridiculous demand of the FBI in a situation where you get away with it, what would
Stephen:it be? So obviously like all the criminals, I want a helicopter evacuation from the top of a roof. Like that's just cool and iconic. And you have to do it. Yes. Like I want that part. And then like if I was trying to stall for time, I would be like, oh, what I really want is this meal from this restaurant. You'll need to get that flown in. Yeah. What about you?
Steve:I don't know. I would do something like that or like, I want a personal phone call from Britney Spears. Make it happen. I betcha
Stephen:they can make that happen really fast. But
Steve:like, but like picking like, like, or like if you pick like Paula Abdul, like, get me Paula Abdul's phone number on speed
Stephen:dial. Oh my God. Could you imagine? Like, thankfully I've already met her. Yeah. But could you imagine if my first time speaking with, It was because I was a terrorist, like Paula thinking. So little of me would destroy me. I would be like, nevermind, I give up. I'm taking myself
Steve:outside. All right. Well how about we don't do it as terrorist, then we just if the f b I graced you with a one freebie
Stephen:Ooh, one freebie from the fbi. Oh, damn. I don't know that that's. I, part of me would be like, there has to be like a safe house in Monaco or something. Let us stay there for a month. You're free of charge. Yeah, like that type of thing. Okay. I'll
Steve:take it. Okay. I'd be like one, get outta jail free card, one murder, please. Just one I'll save it. I don't even have anyone in mind right now in the moment, but just You don't just, it would be nice knowing one day if I just get to a point, I can just be like, I have one shot. I gotta make count. I have my part in
Stephen:it. Advance.
Steve:It's okay.
Stephen:Oh, good times. Yes. Now McLean continues to keep moving through the building to learn more about Gruber's plans and McLean and Gruber accidentally meet near the top of the building. Yeah. But Gruber gains McClain's trust by passing himself off as an eca. Escaped hostage. Bill Clay from the 29th floor. He, which he created from a quick look at the directory and he has a barely passable Texas
Steve:accent. McClean hands gruber his pistol and tells him to stay close while they look for a way out of the building. Gruber then con contacts his henchman while pointing the pistol at McClean. When he pulls the trigger, it clicks on an empty chamber. McClean Scoffs at Gruber's attempt to kill him just as Gruber's been arrive, opening the fire immediately and pining. McClean down in a room full of computer terminals and glass walled. And remember folks, he's
Stephen:barefoot. Oh no. Gruber suddenly gets an idea to shoot out all the glass in the room, making it treacherous from McCain to find a way out while he's barefoot. McCain, McCain flees. Anyway, dropping the bag containing the detonators. Gruber happily retrieves the bag. However, Carl is still furious that McClean got away.
Steve:Yes. And that scene where Bruce and Alan Rickman meet up was unrehearsed to create a greater feeling of spontaneity and tension between the two actors. That's impressive. I'll take it now a few minutes later while hiding in a nearby men's room. McClean talks to Powell. While removing a large piece of glass embedded in his foot, and that was gross. McLean asked Powell about his past. Powell reveals that he hasn't had the nerve to draw pistol in the line of duty in several years because he shot a young boy who pointed a toy pistol at him. The kid had it coming. I don't think he did. I don't think he
Stephen:did, because we've had that real thing happen in the two thousands. I
Steve:know it's bad. Yeah. McLean wraps his foot in his tank top and tells Powell to contact Holly after the ordeal is over and let her know he loves her. Powell tells McLean to hang in there and as fellow officers even have a betting pool going on him, the claim wants to bet 20 on something or 50 he that
Stephen:he is not gonna
Steve:make it out. McLean sets out for the roof. Curious as to why Gruber was snooping around there when he found him. Now
Stephen:John was leaving a huge bloody trail on his way to the bathroom that I totally thought would come into play as a plot point later. Like following the blood
Steve:trail or something. Yeah. But they must have been like, no, well just let him get away. Yeah.
Stephen:So I thought that that was interesting, that like they made a big deal of how much he was bleeding and it didn't factor in anywhere.
Steve:Yes. And the two overzealous F B I agents play their final cards by shutting off the building's power while they plan a helicopter rate onto the roof. However, Gruber has planned for the FBI's predictability, disconnecting the power, shuts down the final electromagnetic lock on the vault, and gives them access to the bonds, and the bears are so happy. Yeah,
Stephen:Winnie the poo is gonna. Happy as all get out. He can now buy back the a hundred acre woods from Christopher Robin. Excellent. Yep. Now that was the part that I didn't see coming, and when it happened, I was like, oh my gosh, he's so smart. Yes. You always love your villains, don't you? I do. Now, McClean, inspecting the top level, finds out that Gruber has used the. Like recovered detonators, but like while McClain thought he had Olive Gruber, c4, there was a lot more, and it's all rigged underneath the helipad and the roof. And he plans to demand helicopters to carry himself and his men and the hostages to a waiting plane at the airport. After the FBI informs Gruber that his demands have been met, Gruber's men forced the hostages onto the. they're planning to have them be killed by the explosion and they can escape in the confusion. Gruber said that there'll be too many bodies for them to identify easily, and it'll be roughly two weeks before they figure out he and his man are not in the carnage. Yeah. And by then they'll be on a beach in a foreign country. Honestly, that's pretty smart.
Steve:Like I know. It's also pretty sinister. Yes. This coming from the guy who wants to get out of murder free. I know. I was gonna say, all right, nevermind.
Stephen:pe, people in murder houses shouldn't throw stones. Yes.
Steve:Now McClean, after fighting off Carl and wrapping a chain around Carl's neck, leaving him hanging and presumably dead, which means probably not dead. Yeah. And then failing to warn the police of Gruber's double. Was able to get the hostages back inside safely, but the FBI helicopter shoots at him because they think he's one of the terrorists. Well,
Stephen:that's because he is up on the roof with the machine gun firing it, trying to scare them back down.
Steve:Yes, that would do it. Yeah. The helipad explodes, the helicopters destroyed, and both Johnsons are killed While they were playing hero in the copter. McClain escapes again by jumping from a roof with a fire host tied around his waist, which. Balls. Crazy. Yeah. He shoots out a window a few stories down and swings himself inside the safety just as the fire hose drops and he almost gets pulled down with it. And again, just like I always tease action movies about being like, ridiculous, ridiculous. But like the, the action here is good and believable and cool. Yeah, I like
Stephen:it. Now, I hated the FBI agents and I hated them even more. Once they, their plan was just to open fire on Gruber's man on the, Thinking that they would probably end up killing 25% of the hostages, and that was an okay amount of loss of lives for them. So I'm not upset at all that they died. Nope, not
Steve:at all. Meanwhile, Gruber has discovered from Thornberg's newscast that Holly Janaro is McClain's wife. He thank you, Thornberg. Yes. He holds her hostage to prevent McLean from interfering in his getaway Ali. He sees how beat up and bloody he is and what he's gone through to save. You can
see
Stephen:it in her eyes right there that she's like,
damn.
Steve:McClean down to his last two bullets is able to lug, groove her into a track trap. He surrenders with his pistol tape to his back and
Stephen:then he puts his hands up behind his head. You know, like the whole inter wave your fingers type of thing, and you're like, what's he doing? And that's when the camera pans around and you see that he had used the office tape and stuff to. Tape his handgun to his back. So it looks like he's unarmed. Yes. And
Steve:then he draws quickly killing the last remaining henchman Eddie and shooting gruber through the chest while again his wife drenched Eddie then falls backwards out of the building through the window. Gruber manages to hang on to Holly's wrist. The special Rolex she got for her hard work this
Stephen:year, which was the plot point earlier
Steve:in the movie. Yes. His way, dragging her out the window as well, but McLean's able to unstrap the watch and let's groomer fall to
Stephen:his death. And you have that very iconic and memorable scene with him falling backwards. And then you see the body splat. Yes. And meanwhile, Theo, the computer genius is knocked unconscious by ar. while Theo was preparing the getaway vehicle, which was an ambulance that was hidden inside the courier vehicle. Again, genius, genius, genius, genius because they knew that after all this, an ambulance was gonna be ignored leaving the scene because there were gonna be bodies, bodies and things. So they thought through it all. I'm severely impressed. Now, McClean and Holly leave the building together and they meet Al Powell for the first. Holly uses her married name and John and Al Hug, and Carl was posing as an injured survivor, not dead, and bursts out from his blanket behind McClean and Holly with an assault rifle. McClean grabs Holly, throws her to the ground and puts his body on top of her. these shots go off and you're like, who's doing it? Who shot Carl? And then you see it's Powell who had drawn and shot before. Carl could harm McClean or anybody. And it's a, he's a hero. It's a pursuit. Again, it's a really big deal because he had been so afraid to use his gun since then. But he did, he did it to save his friend when it counted. And Thornberg attempts to interview them as they're. And Holly punches him in the face for doxing them and broadcasting the interview with their children. And McClean and Holly leave an argyles limo and the building is being secured by the police. The end. Do they live happily
Steve:ever after? Do you think there's a sequel? All right, well, watching this, do you think that Holly forgives McLean after this and they get over all their
Stephen:issues? Yes. I think. He, during all this, realized that the thing that mattered most to him is his family, and that he realized he'd been a big, dumb jerk. All right, I'll take it. I like that. What did you, is that what you thought? Or
Steve:works for me? But you're right. There's a sequel. Maybe we'll watch it one day.
Stephen:Maybe. And actually there's a whole bunch of sequels because there's Die Hard. Die Hard too. Die hard with a vengeance, live free or die hard, and then die hard. Something else. Cool. Yeah.
Steve:Let's watch'em all. Let's
Stephen:not.
Okay.
Steve:But let's listen to what our listeners think about Die Hard, the movie and the series. You can email us at Happy Life pod@gmail.com,
Stephen:or you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at Happy Life
Steve:Pod. And until next time, everybody. Stay happy.