Menu

Die Hard Retrospective

18983360_10158811048965300_425255959_n

Binge Movie Aftertaste – Die Hard Retrospective w/ Ammon and Batch Pt 4: Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day To Die Hard

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

By the time 2007 rolled around, Die Hard had become legendary. As discussed in this very podcast, if they had stopped at 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance, the three of us would be praising just how fully entertaining the Die Hard TRILOGY is. But hence, 20th Century Fox had to quadruple dip into the Die Hard pot. The result, Live Free or Die Hard, is a film you either love or hate. Listen to hear two of us discuss how much we hate it. While the other defends it, only to finally determine that he hates is too.

But that’s not all. To make up for the lack of podcast last week, we also talk about 2013’s A Good Day to Die Hard. What, if anything worked about this seen as a train wreck fourth sequel? Whose body does director John Moore know the location of that he leveraged to get into the director’s chair? And how does Batch feel watching this film for the first time in his life? And, you get an already falling out of his chair drunk Ammon to talk about A Good Day to Die Hard, you will laugh at just how awesomely bad he feels about this film. No, he does not hold back.

Well, another month, another retrospective gone. I’d like to once again thank Ammon and Batch for joining me on this journey through the adventures of John McClane. Stay tuned. More with them by the end of the year.

Live Free or Die Hard (2007) (?/10, ?/10, ?/10)

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) (?/10, ?/10, ?/10)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | TuneIn | RSS

CLICK ABOVE TO LISTEN NOW!

Subscribe to Binge Cast on iTunes!

18983360_10158811048965300_425255959_n

Binge Movie Aftertaste – Die Hard Retrospective w/ Ammon and Batch Pt 3: Die Hard With A Vengeance

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By the time 1995 rolled around, the action genre was still seeing all the remnants of Die Hard’s success take shape in the form of its imitators. Die Hard on a ship. Die Hard on a bus. The movie going public was so inundated with imitations, that the prospect of John McClane returning for another adventure were looking to be dwindling away due to Hollywood’s common ability to over saturate the market with too much of a good thing.

But extrenuating circumstances forced two major players in the franchise to flex their action movie making muscles once again. First, Bruce Willis was in the position of sorely needing a hit. After taking control of what was reportedly a fantastic script in Hudson Hawk, Willis’s ego brought the production to its knees, as he had them do his bidding. Much to the film’s dismay. And the 1993 action yarn Striking Distance wasn’t doing too much fire burning at the box office either.

John McTiernan was also coming off a career slump, as the Arnold Schwarzenegger flop Last Action Hero was still on the tips of tongues of Hollywood executives learning that too much of a good thing, in action’s most successful star and the innovative director that put adventure filmmaking on the Hollywood map, was anything but. The re-teamup of these two in a sequel to their most successful film was all but inevitable. And we at the Aftertaste are here to watch it.

Once again join Batch, Ammon, and myself as we look at 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance, and decide whether the film seemingly made out of career salvaging desperation was either a good or bad result in our eyes.

Note: Due to our schedules being all over the place this week, there will not be an Aftertaste next Thursday. However, in two weeks, we will return with not one, but TWO reviews. One of Live Free or Die Hard, and the other being A Good Day to Die Hard. Also, keep an eye on this space as lots of surprises are coming down the pike.

 

Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995) (?/10, ?/10, ?/10)

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | TuneIn | RSS

CLICK ABOVE TO LISTEN NOW!

Subscribe to Binge Cast on iTunes!

18983360_10158811048965300_425255959_n

Binge Movie Aftertaste – Die Hard Retrospective w/ Ammon and Batch Pt 1: Die Hard

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The action landscape was certainly missing something in 1988. Sure, the first Terminator and Lethal Weapon movies had already come out and set the ball rolling. But, the genre still needed that one extra push. Something to come out of nowhere and change cinema forever.

Enter Die Hard. Directed by John McTiernan and starring then relative unknown Bruce Willis, Die Hard rapidly ascended to the top of many peoples’ 1988 Best of lists, and movie quips were no longer owned solely by Ah-nold. Instead, this Bruce guy came in and gave the art of a one-liner a true make-over by giving them, and this film as a whole, something Schwarzenegger and those around him couldn’t. He gave them a naturality.

Join me, Ammon, and Batch as we start our look at the entire Die Hard series by dissecting this first history-making film. I don’t think it’s a secret that we all love it. But how much? What books did the film base itself on? And is this REALLY the first film of the series?

We answer all these questions and more, below. So welcome yourselves to the party by downloading!

 

Die Hard (1988) (?/10, ?/10, ?/10)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | TuneIn | RSS

CLICK ABOVE TO LISTEN NOW!

Subscribe to Binge Cast on iTunes!