True Lies (1994) / Recasting Arnold into Classic films
True Lies, directed by James Cameron, is the centerpiece of our second episode in the mini James Cameron retrospective. We dive deep into this wild 1994 action-comedy that takes the double life trope and cranks it up to eleven. Arnold Schwarzenegger shines as a secret agent whose domestic troubles become hilariously intertwined with his high-stakes espionage life. Spoiler alert: there are terrorists, a nuclear threat, and a whole lot of explosive action. We also get into our Recommendation Shelf segment, exploring films that feature characters living double lives, and then we crank up the fun with a bonkers game where we recast classic films with none other than the Governator himself. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a ride!
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Transcript
Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Nathan here just want to mention that we did have a few audio technical difficulties with the recording of this episode.
Speaker A:At the very end of this episode, Sam's audio cuts out and it is just me talking without Sam.
Speaker A:So we had to do some editing of this episode, and I apologize for that.
Speaker A:It's a little clunky, but I assure you we will fix this going forward.
Speaker A:Thanks again and enjoy the episode.
Speaker B:In the dying embers of human existence, as the asteroid, a behemoth the size of Texas, hurdles relentlessly toward Earth, the world braces for an apocalyptic end.
Speaker B:Deep beneath the bunker, a refuge plunges into the bowels of the Earth.
Speaker B:Here the chosen gather, their purpose clear to preserve the very soul of our civilization.
Speaker B:The 35 and 70 millimeter prints that encapsulate the magic, the emotion, and the dreams of generations past.
Speaker B:These masterpieces, each frame a testament to the human spirit, are carefully cataloged and cradled in the cavernous confines of the.
Speaker B:Perhaps there was room for more, for friends and family yearning for salvation.
Speaker B:But sacrifices must be made.
Speaker B:The movie nerds stand united, the keepers of a flame, promising a future where the art of storytelling endures, transcending the boundaries of time and space.
Speaker B:God help us all.
Speaker A:Welcome to Back to the Frame Rate, a proud production of the Weston Media Podcast Network.
Speaker A:In this cinematic crusade, we journey through films on VOD and streaming platforms, deciding their fate.
Speaker A:Salvation in our vault of legends or eternal banishment in the flames of the coming asteroid apocalypse.
Speaker A:You can find all of our episodes of our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Speaker A:Or find us on social media at Back to the Frame Rate.
Speaker A:I am Nathan Shore and ACcompany me tonight, aka the budget.
Speaker A:Harry Tasker or Sam, Time to tango Coal.
Speaker B:Yes, hello.
Speaker B:It is me, Harry Tasker.
Speaker B:I work for the Omega sector.
Speaker B:I help the world.
Speaker B:You know, we have to fight terrorists.
Speaker B:We have to keep America safe.
Speaker B:This movie is better than the Last action hero because I kill more people in it and I'm more likable.
Speaker B:So glad.
Speaker B:Glad to be here.
Speaker B:And here's my pal, Sam Cole.
Speaker B:Hey, Arnold.
Speaker B:Good to meet you, buddy.
Speaker A:How are you?
Speaker A:The Omega sector.
Speaker A:The sector.
Speaker A:The last line of defense.
Speaker A:I this.
Speaker A:Is this the worst name ever for, like, a secret, covert government agency?
Speaker B:I know, it's.
Speaker B:They might as well call it, like top, top secret, big, top dog agency.
Speaker A:Yeah, maybe not the best writing.
Speaker A:I don't know, but.
Speaker A:Well, there you go.
Speaker A: tched and we're talking about: Speaker A:But yeah, this is what we're doing this week and we'll get to that in a couple min minutes.
Speaker A:Our thoughts on that.
Speaker A:But Sam, just wanted to catch up with you first.
Speaker A:How are you?
Speaker A:How have you been?
Speaker B:I'm pretty good.
Speaker B:I cannot believe it is the end of November.
Speaker B:I mean, I can believe it, but it's been going by so fast.
Speaker B:I'm good.
Speaker B:I'm back in la.
Speaker B:Been steadily doing acting work, which has been going surprisingly well.
Speaker B:So I can't complain.
Speaker B:Pretty happy.
Speaker B:But yeah, it's.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B: Like: Speaker B:My God.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:It seems like we just did our live show like a few months ago.
Speaker A:It seems like really does.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like that was just like boom.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Craziness.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:But all good over here?
Speaker A:Yeah, sounds great.
Speaker A:Great to hear.
Speaker A:You know, some people may maybe are new to the show or haven't listened for a while.
Speaker A:You have.
Speaker A:I'd like you to, if you don't mind.
Speaker A:I didn't prompt you for this, but you have a YouTube channel.
Speaker A:You know, you do a lot of traveling.
Speaker A:I thought maybe you might want to mention that what is you.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Your.
Speaker B:Your timing is actually uncannily perfect because the show, my YouTube chann, walks of world and I do travels and I go on adventures, visit movie locations.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:So stay tuned.
Speaker B:When we do another review, I will tell you that the new title of my YouTube channel, same show, same content, just rebranding.
Speaker B:But yes, travel channel, go on adventures.
Speaker B:And I have a bunch of episodes in the can which I have not edited yet.
Speaker B:So good stuff is.
Speaker B:Is coming up, including Navarre beach in Florida where the majority of Jaws 2 was shot.
Speaker B:So that should be interesting.
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:I love your.
Speaker A:Love your channel, Sam.
Speaker A:It's always great stuff.
Speaker B:Oh, I appreciate that.
Speaker B:That's awesome, man.
Speaker B:I appreciate it.
Speaker B:Helen is having an affair.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker A:All right, well, I don't really have much to plug or to update our listeners on.
Speaker A:I've been doing a lot some more writing.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker A: Hopefully maybe: Speaker A:We'll see a short film or something.
Speaker A:We'll see.
Speaker B: the force will be with you in: Speaker B:2026.
Speaker B:So there is hope, there is optimism, and the midterms yeah.
Speaker A:Hope in our heart.
Speaker B:Yes, there's hope in our heart.
Speaker B:Hope never dies.
Speaker B:Just like James Bond.
Speaker B:But he did though in the last movie, so that's not accurate because he got blown up.
Speaker B:But yeah, it'll be another one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Son of Bond or Bond's puppy or something.
Speaker A:It's all coming.
Speaker B:It's all coming.
Speaker A:I'll be on.
Speaker A:On Amazon Prime.
Speaker B:So glorious times are ahead.
Speaker B:Glorious.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Well, you know, if our president wants it to happen, it'll happen.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's how movies work.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker B:That's tr.
Speaker B:Just excited about the midterms.
Speaker B:But I did hear that Donald Trump, and this is true, wants a Rush Hour 4 and it's been greenlit at Paramount and I can't believe it.
Speaker A:Yeah, our administration now dictates what movies will be made.
Speaker A:Now that's the world we live in.
Speaker B:It's crazy world.
Speaker B:I don't know what to make of it.
Speaker B:We're living in the upside down.
Speaker A:Hellboy 3 next.
Speaker A:Who knows?
Speaker B:Hey, there you go.
Speaker B:Good visuals.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Anyways, well, I think we've danced around this enough.
Speaker A:Let's start talking about True lies from James Cameron.
Speaker A:I have some plot synopsis here.
Speaker A:You know, actually before we do that, let's talk a little bit about some.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'll do.
Speaker A:Let's do the plot synopsis here and then we'll get into the details of this.
Speaker A:So a.
Speaker A:Here we go.
Speaker A:A fearless globetrotting terrorist battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used car salesman.
Speaker A:While terrorists smuggle nuclear warheads into the United its States.
Speaker A:That's what they distilled this plot down to.
Speaker A:That's interesting.
Speaker A:This is from IMDb.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Huh?
Speaker B:That's an interesting phrase.
Speaker A:There's a lot that happens in this movie.
Speaker A:And this is the log line.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's interesting.
Speaker A:Shall I play a trailer?
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker A:Yeah, why not?
Speaker A:It's somewhere here.
Speaker A:Here it is.
Speaker B:For 15 years, Harry Tasker's been leading a double life.
Speaker B:Mr. President, one of our best men is inside transmitting now.
Speaker B:Right on time.
Speaker B:I don't believe I've met you before.
Speaker A:Rehnquist.
Speaker A:Harry Rehnquist.
Speaker B:Listen to the following code word.
Speaker B:Helen.
Speaker B:H E L E N. Now they're about to collide.
Speaker B:What's your exit strategy?
Speaker A:I'm gonna walk right out of that front gate.
Speaker A:May I see your invitation, please?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:Here's my invitation.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, that worked good.
Speaker B:Right after your first game.
Speaker B:Give me back a second.
Speaker B:Mr. Tasker's office.
Speaker A:Hi, it's Helen.
Speaker A:Is he in?
Speaker A:Harry's in a sales meeting, Mrs. Tasker.
Speaker A:It's not like he's saving the world or anything.
Speaker B:See, this is the problem with terrorists.
Speaker B:They're really inconsiderate when it comes to people's schedules.
Speaker A:Ah.
Speaker A:Got some good Don LaFontaine in there.
Speaker B:Is that.
Speaker B:Is that the preview guy's voice?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Does he still do.
Speaker B:Is he alive?
Speaker B:Is he.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:I think he worked in 20 years.
Speaker A:Even if he was alive.
Speaker B:You know, it's funny, I was just listening to that, and I was like, God, I missed that preview guy's voice.
Speaker B:That was the best.
Speaker B:Like, he did the preview for Willow and he was like, willow in a magical George Lucas universe.
Speaker B:And I was like, yes.
Speaker A:Bygone.
Speaker A:Error.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:Pretty packed summer.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Debuted at number one that week, 25.9 million.
Speaker A:Sam, do you know what came.
Speaker A:What was number two that week?
Speaker B:So, wait, so True Lies was number.
Speaker A:One that week on July 15th?
Speaker B:Okay, I'm going to say two on July 15th.
Speaker A:I'm pretty good at.
Speaker B:This would be Forrest Gump.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:In its second week, just behind it at 24.1 million.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker A:Number three.
Speaker B:Three.
Speaker A:Okay, I can give you hints, too.
Speaker B:I'll take.
Speaker B:I'll take the hint because I have a guess, but the hint will.
Speaker A:Well, it was in its fifth week of release.
Speaker B:Oh, fifth week.
Speaker A:Bringing in 16.9 million.
Speaker B:The Flintstones.
Speaker A:No, but it was animated.
Speaker B:Oh, the Lion King.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker B:Came out later for some reason.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And number four, also debuting its first week with 8.9 million.
Speaker A:A family film.
Speaker B:A family film.
Speaker A:We got about a type of sport, sporting event.
Speaker A:And not.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:Mighty Ducks.
Speaker A:No, no, wrong sport.
Speaker A:Baseball.
Speaker B:A League of Their Own.
Speaker A:Nope.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:I am failing over here.
Speaker B:Damn.
Speaker B:I don't know, air bud.
Speaker B:I have no idea.
Speaker A:Angels in the outfield.
Speaker B:Angels in the Outfield.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Actually, I never would have gotten that one.
Speaker A:And at number five in its sixth week of release.
Speaker B:So another.
Speaker A:Another action movie probably, you know, took away some of the box office from this.
Speaker A:Speed.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:5.1 million.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I think there'd be a good argument for speed versus True Eyes this summer, which is the better action film.
Speaker A:And maybe we could talk about that later.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But, yeah, that was.
Speaker A:That was a top five.
Speaker A:I don't feel like doing the whole top ten and didn't interest me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So total.
Speaker A:This total domestic gross was 146.2 million.
Speaker A:378.9 worldwide.
Speaker A:And if you adjusted for inflation, that'd be 830 million by today's.
Speaker A:Stand by today's numbers.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Not bad.
Speaker A:Pretty.
Speaker B:Pretty good.
Speaker B:Yeah, I know.
Speaker B:I remember because I just remember numbers not as big as Terminator 2, which in the US alone was 200 million and worldwide was 500.
Speaker B:So still a hit.
Speaker B:But T2 was the bigger hit three years earlier.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Speaking of T2, music for this score was done by Brad Fidel, who Fidal Fidel, who did Both Terminator and T2.
Speaker A:And cinematographer was Russell Carpenter, who James Cameron worked with, would do several projects with.
Speaker A:Later on he did Titanic and the most recent two Avatar movies.
Speaker A:He's doing Fire, Nash and Way of Water.
Speaker A: on is that this is based on a: Speaker A:LA Totally Total, I guess, by Claude ZD, Simon Michael and Didier Kaminka.
Speaker A:Amelie, I guess.
Speaker A:And I think, I don't know if you have any more information on this, but I saw somewhere that I think was.
Speaker A:Arnold Schwarzenegger is the one that brought this film to maybe James Cameron because he saw this perhaps and wanted this to be done by Cameron because based on this film that he saw in 91.
Speaker B:100%.
Speaker B:Yeah, he, he, he totally brought it to James Cameron and pitched the project to him.
Speaker B:And then he and James Cameron both watched the French film and immediately James Cameron was like, oh, I see what your vision for this.
Speaker B:I see what you're going for.
Speaker B:And so then it, it, it went from there.
Speaker B:And actually one more fact, after Titanic, James Cameron was interested in doing True Lies 2.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Over Terminator 3.
Speaker B:But September 11th happened and that obviously took, you know, that like terrorism.
Speaker B:Isn't that funny?
Speaker B:Anyway, but like at that point it was just.
Speaker B:The comedy was gone from the situation, so they abandoned the project.
Speaker B:I argued they could have made it like a James Bond movie and just had him fight other, other villains.
Speaker B:But I understand why the project kind of didn't materialize.
Speaker B: es would be like in the early: Speaker A:Yeah, well, they would.
Speaker A:It would have been difficult because I, you know, this movie.
Speaker A:I don't know if we want to tiptoe around this, but there's some obvious, you know, stereotyping of Middle Eastern characters in this oh my God, 911 lens.
Speaker A:It's very hard to ignore.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:This, it's leaning heavily on caricatures and portrayals of Middle Eastern people.
Speaker A:All the villains are very one note with no cultural nuance in the buffoons in this.
Speaker A:And it's, you know, it is action comedy and.
Speaker A:But I think.
Speaker A:I think we have to acknowledge that.
Speaker A:But also the context of the air as well.
Speaker A:It's probably for the course for Hollywood to do this at the time.
Speaker B:At the time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And after September 11th, it's just like.
Speaker B:It doesn't.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:But I think it's important just to mention that.
Speaker A:That this was, you know, it's.
Speaker A:It's a little cringy at times.
Speaker A:A lot of it is actually.
Speaker B:It's pretty.
Speaker B:It's undeniably noticeable.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:Can't hide from it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Anything else, Sam, before we get and dig into the.
Speaker B:I think that's about it.
Speaker A:Just the.
Speaker B:The gist of it.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:His project.
Speaker B: , at the time, in: Speaker B:Then this one was.
Speaker B:This was so very expensive.
Speaker A:First one to go over 100 million.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'll say briefly that, like, even though the movie is 31 years old.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You can still see the.
Speaker B:The budget on the screen.
Speaker B:I noticed that it seems like the amount of streets they closed down for this movie, exterior scenes, I'm just like, oh, my God.
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:This was a.
Speaker A:This was a marathon shoot as well.
Speaker A:Filmed over seven months and all over the East Coast.
Speaker A:I'm from the Florida Keys up to Newport.
Speaker A:You know, I forgot about the local shooting up here.
Speaker B:They did.
Speaker B:And honestly, the.
Speaker B:The cgi, like, Alps in the background, they don't look.
Speaker B:They don't look that bad.
Speaker B:30 like you.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You're way more aware now that it's a visual effect than you would 94, but it still looks pretty good.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What else here?
Speaker A:So here, let's talk about the Arnold Schwarzenegger of it all here.
Speaker A:Because at the time going into this, this, he was one of the biggest stars on the planet.
Speaker A:And I think it's safe to say this is probably his last hurrah, you know, really, as a giant star.
Speaker A:And this was a big success, but it really was downhill after this.
Speaker A:Why do you think this was the last, you know, giant movie for him?
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker B:I was thinking about that first off, the summer before that, he was in the Last Action Hero, which did.
Speaker B:Which really underperformed against Jurassic Park.
Speaker B:It opened up the same week.
Speaker B:So I think he was really wanting a hit.
Speaker B:And so I feel like he Approached James Cameron and was like, let's make True Lies.
Speaker B:I want to make a big action movie back to form.
Speaker B:And it worked because audiences came to this.
Speaker B:I don't know the reasoning.
Speaker B:I mean, I think he was in some decent movies after that.
Speaker B:I wouldn't say that he fell, but I will say, just as an audience member, this movie, True Lies is like the last robust big budget, well done action movie.
Speaker B: ix Day and Eraser came out in: Speaker A:But they were actually wasn't a bomb.
Speaker A:I know I was looking at the box office for a lot of these.
Speaker B:It was, it wasn't.
Speaker A:Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:It didn't fail.
Speaker B:I just feel that like some of them were good, but James Cameron when he works with Arnold, it's like the best, the two of them make their like best action work.
Speaker B:And I just feel like Arnold was in some like mid tier action movies.
Speaker B:A lot of them didn't flop, but I don't know, like I remember them in title alone, but some of them just left no impression.
Speaker B: End of Days, I think that was: Speaker A:I wonder if it's just the, just the overall projects because you just think about like the Terminator franchise and Running man and Predator.
Speaker A:These were just became iconic films.
Speaker A:And not that these other movies don't have the same camp that these other ones did.
Speaker A:I mean I look at.
Speaker A:Maybe they didn't.
Speaker A:I mean like I actually remember seeing End of Days in the theater.
Speaker A:Me too.
Speaker A:Yeah, I being, I remember being entertained by some of these.
Speaker A:I don't, I don't remember enjoying the sixth day that much.
Speaker A:But did they become not fun?
Speaker A:I'm trying to think what it is because he's bringing himself to all of these movies.
Speaker A:His, his acting, he has his range, he has what he brings to these.
Speaker A:So is it the, the budgets for these?
Speaker A:Is it the, did the, did the world just get tired of his shtick?
Speaker A:I'm just kind of curious what it, what it is.
Speaker A:Did you know, as for.
Speaker A:I think of the movie like Sunset Boulevard, you know, you know the pictures got, you know, he's big but the pictures got small or something, you know.
Speaker A:What was the quote from that movie?
Speaker B:No, I know, I know exactly what you say.
Speaker B:It's like the scale in his later movies like that it felt like he was just in mid tier action movies that he happened to be the star Of Whereas movies like Predator or Terminator or even True Lies, they feel like big Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicles.
Speaker B:And then after that, the movies here, and they're like, okay, scripts that he happens to be the star of, but it's almost less about him.
Speaker B:I also like some of those movies.
Speaker B: some really bad, like, early: Speaker B:Like, the movies just look cheaper to me or something.
Speaker A:I think it's also how action movies changed in the mid-90s as well.
Speaker A:Like what actors like Bruce Willis were bringing to it, where it wasn't just about muscle and the kill count, it was about good stories as well.
Speaker A:When action stars like Mel Gibson, I'll even throw out there.
Speaker A:Or Bruce Willis were becoming a much more nuance, bringing more nuanced and layered characters to action films.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And I think that's what the audience started to crave.
Speaker B:Like, and then, like, late 90s, you have, like, Will Smith and then, like, Keanu Reeves and the Matrix.
Speaker B:Like, there was a.
Speaker B:There was a shift kind of.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And what Arnold brought to these movies, he didn't have that kind of range, perhaps what it was.
Speaker A:And making movies like True Lies or Last Action Hero or, you know, he even tried to bring back, you know, Terminator 3, you know, come back for that, you know, many years later.
Speaker A:And it just didn't have that same, you know, magic.
Speaker B:So it really didn't really, like, brief, sad story about Terminator 3 was Edward Furlong.
Speaker B:The original kid was going to be in it.
Speaker B:And they said to him, they were like, you.
Speaker B:You cannot do any drugs.
Speaker B:You have to be clean for this.
Speaker B:He said, okay, they're going to sign his contract.
Speaker B:He went out that night and he's like, I'm gonna have my last hurrah, guys.
Speaker B:And he did this huge amount of cocaine OD'd.
Speaker B:The press was there, and it was.
Speaker B:And it was basically like, all right, you're out.
Speaker B:And it's too bad, because if he was in that, to see him, yeah, like, good shape and health and Arnold Schwarzenegger, that might have helped Terminator 3, but it might have.
Speaker B:He's doing better now.
Speaker B:Like, I. I don't mean to.
Speaker B:Like, nothing.
Speaker B:It's addiction is serious.
Speaker B:And, like, I'm glad he's improved, but, like, that was an unfortunate situation back then.
Speaker B:25 or 22 years ago, whatever it was.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:What other notes do I have here before we.
Speaker A:I don't know how much we'll get deep into, like, plot pieces of this, because there's so, this plot is so, so much going on here.
Speaker A:I just want to make a comment on the structure of this movie.
Speaker A: This, you know,: Speaker A:This is a unicorn of a movie.
Speaker A:This first of all would not happen today.
Speaker A:An action comedy, a two hour and 20 minute action comed.
Speaker A:It's like they would never get greenlit no matter who was headlining this different era.
Speaker B:Yeah, so true.
Speaker A:And you know, I watched this movie twice over the last two and a half weeks because I wanted to make sure I was really engaged with this.
Speaker A:The jokes, the action.
Speaker A:I wanted to make sure I was really taking all this in and I, you know, my first thought is that for an action comedy, the action I think is very good.
Speaker A:It's got great set pieces.
Speaker A:I think the comedy has moments where it's very good.
Speaker A:But you know, it's not.
Speaker A:A lot of this comedy is, is hit and miss in this.
Speaker A:And I really don't know what this movie wants to be at times because I think about like Last Action here.
Speaker A:I think this is an improvement over Last Action Hero.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, I think very much, very similar.
Speaker A:But this movie is, I learned on the second viewing.
Speaker A:I mean I did see this movie like back in the day, but I watched this the, you know, two weeks ago and I'm like, what is this movie trying to be?
Speaker A:And then I watched a second time about four days ago and I'm like, aha.
Speaker A:You know, this movie is not meant to be taken seriously.
Speaker A:There's nothing in this movie that is realistic or should be taken seriously in.
Speaker A:I think if you look at it that way, watch it this way, the way these villains are portrayed, the way that the relationship with Helen and Harry is and the way all these characters interact, there isn't, if you can just kind of like, this is a comedy.
Speaker A:If I look at this as a comedy, it works so much better.
Speaker A:It's just that the problem is it's not super funny is the thing.
Speaker A:But if I put myself in that mindset, I enjoyed it a lot more.
Speaker A:It's just that there is all these giant big action set pieces in here which go on a long time.
Speaker A:And I thought this movie could have been an hour and four 50 minute movie or so.
Speaker A:This movie does not need to be this long.
Speaker A:But those are my first initial thoughts on this.
Speaker B:I, I totally hear that.
Speaker B:It's a weird, it's an interesting hybrid of a movie.
Speaker B:It's almost like, like the opening third is like a James Cameron Ra Ra Ra action comedy.
Speaker B:And then there's a movie within the movie with Bill Paxton in the middle that's like its own other movie.
Speaker B:And then after that it's like, okay, now back to the terrorists in the action.
Speaker B:And then you have this third act which has gargantuan action the size of a James Bond film, if not bigger.
Speaker B:So it's a weird, interesting hybrid, I will say, just because we just recently watched the Abyss.
Speaker B:Even though these movies, like, don't have anything to do with each other, I have a lot more fun watching this movie than I did.
Speaker B:I enjoy this movie more.
Speaker B:I know what you mean.
Speaker B:The comedy is uneven.
Speaker B:For me, that.
Speaker B:That could be hit or miss.
Speaker B:I do love Bill Paxton.
Speaker B:I do think Jamie Lee Curtis is great.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:For me, dynamic for Golden Globe and won the Saturn for this.
Speaker A:So she.
Speaker A:She earned it all.
Speaker B:Yeah, for me, that's what sells it.
Speaker B:And for me, the.
Speaker B:Some of the set pieces are so well orchestrated and so spectacular that, like, it's almost like even though James Cameron is making an action comedy, he cannot help but, like, give in to his instincts to go massive.
Speaker B:And he does that, like, every single time.
Speaker B:And I like the.
Speaker B:Some of those scenes, like the.
Speaker B:The bridge and the harrier jet still look pretty amazing today.
Speaker B:But yeah, it's an interesting.
Speaker B:It's an odd hybrid like T2 Terminator 2 just, like, knocks it out of the park.
Speaker B:This movie is more like, well, this was good.
Speaker B:That was a little weird.
Speaker B:This is good.
Speaker B:Like it was.
Speaker B:It's more uneven, but it's a wacky, fun, strange ride.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:It's like nothing else I think I've ever seen in an action movie or action comedy.
Speaker A:It is a real hybrid, weird movie in a lot of ways.
Speaker A:Bill Paxton, by the way, rest in peace because he.
Speaker A:He is so.
Speaker A:He steals this movie.
Speaker B:He's amazing.
Speaker A:Paxton steals movie and.
Speaker A:But you know what?
Speaker A:I like, I almost wish that he was in more of this, but honestly, he's in just the right amount.
Speaker A:And I think if had gone on the bit had gone on longer, it would have probably been too much.
Speaker A:Everything that he is in, every part, everything he's in is.
Speaker A:Is the.
Speaker A:This is my favorite part of this movie, I have to say.
Speaker A:And that's.
Speaker A:And that's the movie that this is when I watched it the second time, is this kind of comedy.
Speaker A:By the way, I had to capture the Bill Paxton Arnold Schwarzenegger car ride because it is.
Speaker A:To watch that over and over and over.
Speaker A:Audience.
Speaker A:It is pretty vulgar scene, but it's it's the best part of this movie.
Speaker A:For my money.
Speaker A:It is here.
Speaker A:Here it is.
Speaker B:If you really want to close escrow.
Speaker B:Well, you got to have an angle.
Speaker B:Suppose you have an angle.
Speaker B:Haha.
Speaker B:It's killer.
Speaker B:I mean, look at me.
Speaker B:I'm not that much to look at.
Speaker B:No, no, no, I can be honest.
Speaker B:But I got them lining up.
Speaker B:And not just the skanks either.
Speaker B:Well, some are.
Speaker B:So what's the angle?
Speaker B:Oh, no, sorry.
Speaker B:Trade secret.
Speaker B:So who you working on right now?
Speaker B:I always got a couple on the hook, you know.
Speaker B:There's just one right now.
Speaker B:I got her panned like a dog.
Speaker B:It's great.
Speaker B:What does she do?
Speaker B:Some sort of legal secretary or something.
Speaker B:You know, uptight and conservative.
Speaker B:Oh, she could be so hot if she wanted to be.
Speaker B:But you, she gets to be real hot, huh?
Speaker B:Red hot.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Her thigh steam.
Speaker B:It's like a dying plant.
Speaker B:Just needs a little water.
Speaker B:Married to some boring jerk.
Speaker B:Married to some boring joke.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, he doesn't appreciate her.
Speaker B:She's like all these babes.
Speaker B:You get their pilot lit, they can suck start a leaf blower.
Speaker B:Oh gosh, you've got the most incredible body and a pair of titties make you want to stand up and beg for buttermilk.
Speaker B:Ass like a 10 year old boy.
Speaker A:First of all, ass like a 10 year old boy.
Speaker A:That's kind of cringe.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, that was, that line was, was cringe to me when I was like 13 seeing this movie.
Speaker B:I was like, what?
Speaker A:But it's, it's perfect for Simon, you know.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, for his character.
Speaker A:I just, I just love that whole thing, you know, how Harry punches him.
Speaker A:Finally, I don't know, he breaks his neck even.
Speaker A:It's so gross.
Speaker A:It's so bloody.
Speaker A:It's just this great misdirect and I love, because when I first saw that.
Speaker B:I thought, I thought it was real.
Speaker B:And then like I.
Speaker B:And then it cuts to him laughing.
Speaker B:And at that moment, I saw that in the theater with my father and we both turned to each other like, oh, that was clever there.
Speaker A:Actually, if you seek it out on YouTube, there is a remix version of it where Arnold punches him like 10 times in the car over and over and over.
Speaker A:He says something obnoxious to him and it just keeps going and going and going and where he knocks him out.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's a one, it's a wonderful.
Speaker B:That's awesome mix up.
Speaker A:So the whole Simon character is written so wonderfully and there's so much nuance and detail.
Speaker A:In his performance that I didn't even pick up the first time I watched this when he brings Helen to his trailer or AKA his safe house.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Did I love the.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The little details.
Speaker A:Like, he says things like, you know, his place is in the city is too hot.
Speaker A:So, you know, and so is the site.
Speaker A:His place in the penthouse.
Speaker A:Did you ever notice that when they.
Speaker A:They clink glasses, it's.
Speaker A:They're plastic.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:They don't clink.
Speaker A:They actually make the plastic sound.
Speaker A:So I didn't even notice that until the second time I watched this week.
Speaker A:This week.
Speaker A:And that's such a great touch.
Speaker A:I mean, the guy's such a loser that they actually made a point to give him plastic wine glasses.
Speaker B:He said.
Speaker B:And that brings up.
Speaker B:That brings up a great.
Speaker B:I noticed.
Speaker B:I really liked Peter Lamont, did the production design in this.
Speaker B:And he's done a lot of, like, production design for big Bond movies.
Speaker B:I noticed the production design a lot in this viewing between, like, the Omega offices and the way they look, especially Harry Tasker's home, like, when he's talking to Jamie Lee Curtis.
Speaker B:There's, like a little treadmill in their bedroom and there's a VCR and there's a tv.
Speaker B:Like, they do a lot of, like, set dressing to make this look like average couples house.
Speaker B:There's visual stuff all over the place.
Speaker B:And just looking around in the walls of the background and like Bill Paxton's trailer, there's just little details of like.
Speaker B:Like the.
Speaker B:The visual design of this movie.
Speaker B:The world of like the big CIA world versus the home world.
Speaker B:I thought the contrast.
Speaker B:And that was pretty good.
Speaker B:Also, it's funny because now it's like over 30 years later.
Speaker B:Some of the technology is so antiquated that back then it was like, you're like, whoa, you've got sunglasses where you can, like, look screen and see what's behind you.
Speaker A:And that.
Speaker B:And now it's like, whoopity.
Speaker B:Do you know?
Speaker B:But it doesn't.
Speaker B:I mean, it doesn't take.
Speaker B:I. I really enjoy it, but at the time, that was like, holy, this is high tech, you know?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, great.
Speaker A:And the last thing I'll just say about Simon, because I. I just love how well he's written.
Speaker A:When Simon and Helen are, I think, meeting at a diner just the last.
Speaker A:There's a piece of dialogue where he says, are you sure you weren't followed?
Speaker A:And this cracks me up so much.
Speaker A:I kept turning and looking behind me like he taught me, but I didn't see anyone.
Speaker A:And the funny thing Is like no spy would have really advised that to keep turning around and looking around.
Speaker A:And it's just like, it's just, it just like tips his, you know, his hand.
Speaker A:Now like this guy is a joke, you know, and it's just, it's just really wonderfully constructed character.
Speaker B:He's amazing.
Speaker B:Like, I love his, I love his.
Speaker B:I love that he, that he has a coda at the very end where he shows up at that party.
Speaker B:That was just.
Speaker B:That was great.
Speaker B:This is such a random nitpicky comment.
Speaker B:But I watched so I streamed this movie and it was in 4K and so I was like really like big screen looking at the visual details and it does not bother me that much.
Speaker B:But there are some shots where, oh my God, you can see an Arnold Schwarzenegger stunt double, like with a vengeance.
Speaker B:The horse.
Speaker B:Holy crap.
Speaker A:So bad.
Speaker A:It is so bad.
Speaker A:Actually made a big note with exclamation points on here that the stunt double work on that horse is, is incredibly noticeable and it's terrible.
Speaker A:But by the way, one of the highlights of this movie is that horse motorcycle chase.
Speaker B:That was, yeah, just like amazing.
Speaker B:The logistics of that.
Speaker B:I just was watching that and I was like, oh, I could feel like money being burned as I watch.
Speaker B:Like oh my God, this is huge.
Speaker B:And I loved it.
Speaker B:And like, like that whole scene is, is, is spectacular.
Speaker B:You know, it's fun.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:There's no way that horse fits in that elevator, right?
Speaker B:No, no, I think they, I think they had a mechanical horse for some shot.
Speaker A:I thought I was thinking so.
Speaker A:But it was a fine animal.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Big note.
Speaker A:And you know, this isn't like any major news because this is widely known, but Arnold Schwarzenegger almost died on that rooftop with the horse.
Speaker A:Do you know, did you hear about that story though, right?
Speaker B:I did not hear that story.
Speaker A:So I don't have this right in front of me, but I read this in multiple sources that the horse on the rooftop was spooked while Arnold was on it.
Speaker A:Even though that mostly there was a stunt double on riding the horse, but he was riding toward the edge and this really was a 90 foot drop on the Marriott hotel.
Speaker A:And a stuntman had to grab the horse at the last minute and save it from going off the.
Speaker A:The edge of that hotel.
Speaker A:Oh my God, this is a real thing.
Speaker A:So Arnold really was close to falling off the edge of the Marriott hotel while riding the horse.
Speaker B:That is.
Speaker B:That makes my stomach muscles tense and like that.
Speaker B:That's terrifying.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Crazy by the way.
Speaker B:Oh, keep going.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:Go ahead.
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker A:What were you going to say?
Speaker B:Oh, I was just going to say it's only like one or two shots, but there's an exterior wide shot where you see the two elevators rising up where, you know, Schwarzenegger's on one and the bad guys on the.
Speaker B:There's a far away wide shot that was filmed at the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.
Speaker B:And if you ever see the movie in the Line of Fire with Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:They ride up in elevators.
Speaker B:It's the same elevators, same building.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:I remember.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That was another iconic scene.
Speaker A:Yes, I know.
Speaker B:So they, I saw that.
Speaker B:I was like, wait a minute, that's the same hotel.
Speaker B:Then I googled it and it was.
Speaker B:But I was like, whoa, there it is.
Speaker B:Yeah, of course.
Speaker A:What else?
Speaker B:I will say for me, an action scene.
Speaker B:It's not even the biggest set piece in the movie, but for, for, for me personally, one action scene that I love in this movie.
Speaker B:The whole sequence, that's like a very James Cameron esque action scene.
Speaker B:It's on the Florida Keys, abandoned fishing village island at night when they're trapped there and he has to tell the truth with the drug.
Speaker B:There's some comedy, but the way that is staged, it uses the foreground, the mid ground and the background.
Speaker B:There's so much, there's fight choreography in the foreground, there's people running around on fire in the mid ground.
Speaker B:There's trucks blowing up in the background, there's huts blowing up, there's stuntmen on fire doing backflips.
Speaker B:James Cameron's frame is so visually dense with action and he always loves these big like, like billowy pillars of fire and smoke.
Speaker B:I love that Florida Keys night sequence when Arnold Schwarzenegger uses his.
Speaker B:Shoots his machine gun into the like fuel flamethrower and there's all these gasoline trucks around for no reason because of the action set piece.
Speaker B:But like that whole scene to me is one of those like deep action scenes towards the climax, where to me it's just good quality James Cameron staged mayhem.
Speaker B:And I love seeing all the real explosions.
Speaker B:There's so much more CGI manipulation these days.
Speaker B:To see all that fire and that debris.
Speaker B:That whole set piece is very visually satisfying to me.
Speaker A:There's definitely some movie explosions in this that is very exaggerated.
Speaker B:Huge explosions for no reason.
Speaker A:But it's like so much action was comical.
Speaker A:It was comical.
Speaker A:But that's the funny thing.
Speaker A:I feel like, like it's not supposed.
Speaker B:To be at times and totally intentional.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:I want to talk about Harry and Helen, their marriage for a bit because this is something that I kind of wrestle with.
Speaker A:Do you think Harry is a good husband?
Speaker B:Oh man.
Speaker B:You know, well, honestly like it's to be.
Speaker B:Not really.
Speaker B:I mean like at the be.
Speaker B:Especially at the beginning, that scene that's telling when she's like hey, the, the plumber said he like sleep with me and knock off a hundred bucks.
Speaker B:He's like oh that's great.
Speaker B:And he kisses her.
Speaker B:It's like oh that's not what she was looking for there man.
Speaker B:Like, like, like he's not like an awful guy but it's pretty like he is really neglecting his family and like the movie is not subtle about that.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:It's like.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think upon watching this a second time I'm pretty sure that Harry might be the worst, worst husband ever.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:He neglects his wife, his family and he's been lying to her here his entire life.
Speaker A:And then he tortures her pretty much like a prisoner from Guantanamo Bay.
Speaker B:And that scene is her psychological torture.
Speaker A:Makes her believe that she's going to be raped in a situation and then after, then yeah, it's, it's.
Speaker A:He is really terrible.
Speaker A:He does not know how to communicate to his family or his wife.
Speaker A:So this.
Speaker A:And even after hearing Helen's confession that she didn't sleep with Simon and that he is in love with Harry, he still continues to this charade.
Speaker A:I'm talking about this interrogation scene where she's like in this room and he's behind this one way glass.
Speaker A:I, you know we're led to believe that Harry Tasker is the hero here but he is a terrible, terrible husband.
Speaker A:And I feel so bad for Jamie Lee Curtis in this movie.
Speaker B:I know exactly what you mean.
Speaker B:There's kind of like.
Speaker B:Even though it's sort of intended as comedy, it's like you know like dark male revenge.
Speaker B:Like oh, wouldn't you like to like, like quiz like that scene.
Speaker B:There's an undertone of a little weird anger.
Speaker B:I almost feel like when James Cameron was writing that script and I'm, I feel like he's like mad at his own ex wife and he's like I'm gonna.
Speaker B:He's like there's, it's just, it's a little, there's anger that betrays the tone a little bit and you're just kind of like well this is a little edgy and then it dials bit back in.
Speaker B:So like, like it doesn't bother Me too much in the context of the movie.
Speaker B:But that scene is kind of infamous.
Speaker B:And people, like young people that watch that movie today for the first time, they hate that scene.
Speaker B:Like, understandably so.
Speaker B:They're like, how come she didn't leave him?
Speaker B:This is horrible.
Speaker B:And I totally get it, but I also get the context of the film.
Speaker B:So I'm kind of like on the fence with that one, if that makes any sense.
Speaker B:Yeah, but I know what you mean.
Speaker A:Yeah, I get, you know, again, context for the time, but still, like, I look at him as like this.
Speaker A:This is a man that just does not know how to communicate.
Speaker A:You know what's funny here?
Speaker A:I. I've been trying to get through the whole cast list here.
Speaker A:Tom Arnold, he.
Speaker B:I love him in this movie.
Speaker B:He's.
Speaker B:He's like, yeah.
Speaker A:What's wonderful about Tom Arnold is that as I set this up before, that Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is like, you know, even though he's Austrian, is like.
Speaker A:But is like at this time, like the all superhero.
Speaker A:This is before superheroes were like, on the screen, but he was the embodiment of like, you know, Superman, you know, before we had, you know, the mcu, you know, became a thing.
Speaker A:He was what we had instead of Iron Man.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So the funny thing is, in this movie, Harry Tasker, I think, is honestly a horrible person in many ways.
Speaker A:I don't think he's a good person.
Speaker A:I don't think he's a good father.
Speaker A:I don't think he's a good husband.
Speaker A:And he uses, like, government resources to follow his wife and all these things.
Speaker A:If you look at this objectively, he does some terrible things.
Speaker A:However he does, the moral compass of this movie is Tom Arnold.
Speaker A:Of all things, he's the one that is there to really shed perspective on Harry Tasker's life and.
Speaker A:And when he finds out that, hey, Helen was cheating on him, was like, yeah, welcome to the club, man.
Speaker A:You know, you're the one that's neglecting your wife and your daughter.
Speaker A:What did you expect?
Speaker A:You know, I just like chuckled when I realized that of all actors, of all people that is grounding this movie is Tom Arnold.
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:Who is really good in this, really funny.
Speaker A:I don't think Tom Arnold has ever been this good or funny in anything in his life.
Speaker B:It was great.
Speaker B:And you're right, he kind of grounds Arnold because it's a fine line between.
Speaker B:There's like a weird.
Speaker B:There's like a male revenge fantasy in this movie that gets a little, little dark and like, Tom Arnold kind of reels it in.
Speaker B:Male revenge fantasy, meaning not every, like, not everyone feels that way, but, like, it's.
Speaker B:It almost feels like it's written for the guy.
Speaker B:Like, yeah, go, Arnold.
Speaker B:If my wife was cheating on me, I'd do the same thing.
Speaker B:There's a bit of, like, kind of toxicity under.
Speaker B:Under the surface there that kind of comes and goes, but, like, Tom Arnold like, lightens it up, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:So I know what you're saying there.
Speaker B:I will say, though, I do love love.
Speaker B:I think James Cameron really knows how to use Schwarzenegger's performances to maximum effect and comedic effect in scenes like when Jamie Lee Curtis is lying about her day and he's sitting there at the dinner table and the camera pushes on his face and you hear his heart pounding.
Speaker B:Or when they break in to Bill Paxton's cabin and you can see Arnold Schwarzenegger's like, wide eyes through his ski mask.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:That is hilarious.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, it's funny.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:We kind of been jumping all around this pot here a little bit.
Speaker A:But with the Helen character, Jamie Lee Curtis, you know, when she is sent on her mission, I think we have to talk about this.
Speaker A:You know, send on her mission to go to the hotel, you know, to seduce or, you know, to plant a bug.
Speaker A:That's what it is, to plant a bug for this.
Speaker A:I don't know, this French arms dealer or something.
Speaker A:I'm not too sure what it is.
Speaker A:She's asked to show up dressed sexy, and she comes in.
Speaker A:I call it, like sexy Victorian after dark secretary or whatever for the PTA maybe.
Speaker A:I don't know where.
Speaker A:If ruffles, lace and shoulder pads were a thing.
Speaker A:And her transformation in the hallway, it's a really great iconic moment.
Speaker A:But I love the fact that still, underneath all this, it's still the Helen character because as she's walking toward the door, she's tripping over herself on her heels.
Speaker B:Heels, yeah.
Speaker B:And really in touch.
Speaker A:Helen striptease.
Speaker A:You know, this was formative scene for many boys.
Speaker A:I'd probably say I was definitely 13.
Speaker B:When I saw that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:This goes on a long time scene.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I love how, though, when Arnold has the tape recorder and the voice says, like, you know, dance sexy, and she starts doing what looks like maybe like the Hustle or the Funky Chicken or something.
Speaker A:I don't know what it is.
Speaker A:But his character Harry knew that she was gonna do this.
Speaker A:It's like, no, no, no, no.
Speaker A:And dance his.
Speaker A:He knew already that she wasn't Gonna do the right, like, kind of sexy dance.
Speaker A:At first, this was already part of the tape that was pre recorded.
Speaker A:What I don't get, though, and you know, this is, you know, it's a very iconic scene.
Speaker A:But how does.
Speaker A:Again, I'm checking my brain here.
Speaker A:There's no world that Helen does not recognize her husband in this.
Speaker A:The shape of him, his silhouette.
Speaker A:And then when he comes over to her and he's on top of her, his smell, his.
Speaker A:His body's right there.
Speaker A:It's impossible.
Speaker A:And then he.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:His grunting after he hits, after she hits him.
Speaker A:It just does not fly.
Speaker B:It's a real stretch.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a real stretch.
Speaker B:And like, they try to.
Speaker B:They're like, oh, well, he's.
Speaker B:Because he's really lit in shadow.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:But I know what you mean.
Speaker B:It's a real stretch.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Like, I can't think of anybody who's been married to somebody for 15 years and would not recognize them sitting in a chair 15ft in front of them, no matter how.
Speaker A:How in silhouette they are.
Speaker B:And what's funny is in, like.
Speaker B:Because, like, it's interesting because, like, Cameron actually has, like, a lot of, like, really strong women in his films.
Speaker B:Like, you know, like feminist and progressive.
Speaker B:And like, the way he deals with some of the more chauvinist elements in this movie is he has her punch Arnold a lot.
Speaker B:She hits him with a telephone and then she punches him in the Florida Keys.
Speaker B:But, like, she fights back by, like, punching him in the face, which is like, I thought it was gonna be.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, there is that.
Speaker B:I thought of you in one scene when you talk about, like, James Cameron's writing.
Speaker B:And there's the guy who's, like, doing the voice for, like, Arnold Schwarzenegger and he's recording it and he's like, do it sexy.
Speaker B:Do it.
Speaker B:And he's like, who?
Speaker B:He's like, who wrote this?
Speaker B:And I was like, james Cameron wrote it.
Speaker A:You brought up the base in the Florida Keys.
Speaker A:I do think that's a really great set piece.
Speaker A:I hate the part where Helen grabs the Uzi and drops it and then takes out all the bad guys without Uzi's falling down the stairs, stuff like that.
Speaker A:I just want to just roll my eyes and turn the TV off.
Speaker A:That it's like, come on.
Speaker B:If there are moments in this that it feels like a big, big budget Roger Moore James Bond film.
Speaker A:Yeah, I saw that.
Speaker A:I'm thinking, I'm watching Hot Shots part.
Speaker A:Do you know when I see Things like that.
Speaker A:That's where we're.
Speaker A:The territory we go into.
Speaker A:I wanted to pick a lane.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:It can be an action comedy where we got, we can have funny jokes, we can be in Lethal Weapon territory where it's action, we get, we're cracking jokes, it's funny, things like that.
Speaker A:But then we get into just ridiculousness where we are now in like loony land.
Speaker A:And this movie ventures into that sometimes.
Speaker A:And that's where, like, I just want to like, bring it back.
Speaker A:James.
Speaker A:And this is where I struggle with it sometimes.
Speaker A:I, I'm not negative on this movie.
Speaker A:I just wanted to pick a lane sometimes and all of a sudden it does something wacky like that where, like the Uzi falling downstairs, like, it didn't have to be that.
Speaker A:It could have been Helen coming through with the Uzi and taking them out.
Speaker A:And maybe she closes her eyes and, and does the whole thing.
Speaker A:But who's.
Speaker A:Just don't kill all the bad guys and none of the good guys just by falling downstairs.
Speaker B:Yeah, it shifts, it shifts tonality.
Speaker B:Sometimes it goes from like, wacky comedy to like full on R rated action.
Speaker B:Speaking of the R rating, I mean, I know there's like striptease and like the foul language, but like, the violence in this movie, it feels is very like light R to me.
Speaker B:Like the, the language isn't, but like Terminator 2 is like bone crunching R rated violence with like knives going through people's eyes.
Speaker B:But the action in this is relatively bloodless, in my opinion.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I, I wonder if this got an R rating mostly for, like, language.
Speaker B:I think it did.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I wonder if this movie would have been a bigger success as a PG13 movie.
Speaker A:Because if you told me this movie was PG13, I would not have been surprised.
Speaker A:Except for like, the language from like the Bill Paxton character was very vulgar.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's like a hardcore.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a hybrid.
Speaker B:It's, it's, it's, it's.
Speaker B:I do love the.
Speaker A:It's a special unicorn.
Speaker A:I call it that.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker B:I love the, I think when, when the bridge is out and he's like dangling off the helicopter.
Speaker A:The bridge is out.
Speaker B:The bridge is out.
Speaker B:I feel like that scene is like one of the more spectacular stunt sequences I've seen.
Speaker B:Like, that delivers incredibly well.
Speaker B:And on a humorous note, when the bread van with the terrace is like hanging off the bridge and the pelican lands on the thing, I love that one of the guys in that truck in the background, his name is Gino Salvano.
Speaker B:Know, and I actually know that guy.
Speaker B:He was at the American Film Market the other week.
Speaker B:He's an actor producer, and I was talking to him about True Lies and like, he's like doing really well today.
Speaker A:And so now why is he on the show tonight?
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker B:Yeah, I know, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But like he was.
Speaker B:I talked to him about that and like he had a great experience.
Speaker B:But like it's.
Speaker B:Now that I have met him, it's weird seeing that like the shots go by really quickly.
Speaker B:But he's in the back of the truck like.
Speaker B:And the pelican lands and they fall off and blow up.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:It's another ridiculous explosion.
Speaker B:Like it just lands in the water.
Speaker A:30Ft into the ground and just blows up.
Speaker A:Like the whole.
Speaker A:The whole van just explodes.
Speaker A:Like it's a fireball.
Speaker A:Just absolute fireballs.
Speaker B:Ridiculous.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Explosions everywhere.
Speaker A:There's a nuclear bomb that goes off in this movie and I.
Speaker A:The other thing I just love is how when this bomb goes off, you know, they go to safe distance, but still they.
Speaker A:I love that James Cameron turns us into a romantic moment between.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And there's no concern for a fallout or anything like that.
Speaker A:Just don't look at it, you know.
Speaker A:It's great.
Speaker B:Yeah, I noticed that like there's not even a shot.
Speaker B:There's not even like.
Speaker B:Like I thought when it blew up in the background that the palm trees would like sway from like impact and like it's just like, hey, nuclear blast.
Speaker B:Whatever.
Speaker A:It was a little nuclear.
Speaker B:Was a little nuclear.
Speaker B:It was buried.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, you know, another great practical action sequence is when Harry Commoners the Harrier jet and they really had to rent from I guess the Air Force or the Navy or so the.
Speaker A:A couple here.
Speaker B:Actual cooperation with the U.S. military in this movie.
Speaker B:And I can understand why the US military, like you want to make a plot where we're awesome and we kill a bunch of terrorists.
Speaker B:Hell yeah, we'll cooperate.
Speaker B:You know, some great.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I feel like an idiot blanking on her name, but who is the actress that, that plays the.
Speaker B:The like evil woman that, you know?
Speaker A:Tia Carrera.
Speaker B:Tia Carrera.
Speaker B:She's great.
Speaker B:She's great in this movie.
Speaker B:Like I like her.
Speaker B:Her story.
Speaker B:Like she fits into the world of this movie.
Speaker B:This movie feels like James Cameron's comedy action version of a Bond film in some regards.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Speaking of Bond, you know, we're gonna get right back to the end here for more moment.
Speaker A:We haven't even mentioned Charlton Heston is in this movie.
Speaker A:Like he walked off of Austin Powers set.
Speaker B:I love him in this movie.
Speaker B:He's like, Harry, you really screwed the pooch this time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And he's got a really small part in this.
Speaker A:But what.
Speaker A:What the hell?
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Like, who, like is this?
Speaker A:I mean, Charlton Heston is bringing what he brings to a movie, but it.
Speaker A:I just scratching my head.
Speaker A:Like once he showed up in this movie, this movie, I become something else.
Speaker A:It becomes Austin Powers movie.
Speaker A:It's what is.
Speaker A:Or.
Speaker A:Or Roger Moore, 70s error.
Speaker A:You know, bond film really does have that feel.
Speaker B:It feels like an R rated, tougher version of a Roger Moore Bond film.
Speaker B:Really.
Speaker B:It does.
Speaker B:And I also like.
Speaker B:And I. Oh, my God, I. I know this actor's name.
Speaker B:He was also on Dante's peak.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's the other guy that's with Tom Arnold that's on their team.
Speaker B:Yeah, I. I love that guy.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:And there's a great line, my favorite line.
Speaker B:It's like, why do they call him the sand spider?
Speaker B:And he's like, probably because it sounds scary.
Speaker A:So Harry grabs the harrier jet, which.
Speaker A:What I love is though, again, this is not.
Speaker A:This is not cgi.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:I'm guessing maybe honest voice never composited in.
Speaker A:Somewhere in here what he's taking off, because I don't know.
Speaker A:But this is really a jet taking off on.
Speaker A:Right up by the Florida Keys there.
Speaker A:On the Florida Keys.
Speaker A:But it's a great little use of practical effects there.
Speaker B:It's impressive.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, it is.
Speaker A:It's really good stuff.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But this gets to a part of the movie that I don't like very much.
Speaker A:So we.
Speaker A:We briefly meet earlier in the movie.
Speaker A:Harry and Helen's daughter, Elijah Dushku, you know, who has a pretty small part of this movie.
Speaker A:And the terrorists, by the way.
Speaker A:I think we've mentioned this name, but Art Malik, who plays Salim Abu Aziz in this, is the main terrorist bad guy in this, who I think is really good.
Speaker B:Yeah, he's great.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Somebody.
Speaker A:I read this somewhere else, but they say he looks like the Middle Eastern Andy Kaufman, which I think is a brilliant way of describing him.
Speaker B:That is brilliant.
Speaker B:I never thought of that.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think he's really good in this.
Speaker A:When Eliza Ducu, or whatever her character's daughter's name is, steals the key, and her idea of escaping is to climb up to the top of the building and she's being chased out onto the ladder and that whole thing.
Speaker A:But the problem I have with this is this becomes like, now rescue the daughter.
Speaker A:And I think What I don't like is that, first of all, I don't think.
Speaker A:What's.
Speaker A:What's her character's name here again?
Speaker A:I had it.
Speaker B:Dana.
Speaker B:Dana.
Speaker A:So Dana.
Speaker A:So I think there's a real lost opportunity here where the Harry character is rescuing his daughter.
Speaker A:And Dana doesn't even know at this point still that I think that his father.
Speaker A:Her father is working for the.
Speaker A:Is a spy maybe.
Speaker B:By the way, how did they kidnap her in the middle of the night when they're in the Florida Keys and she lives in Washington D.C. it doesn't matter.
Speaker B:Yeah, like that.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:Actually, I thought about that.
Speaker B:I was like, what?
Speaker A:So like I said, I think this is shortcoming and this is my complaint about the movies that Dana Tasker's role isn't fleshed out nearly enough.
Speaker A:She has no arc in this movie at all.
Speaker A:And what.
Speaker A:So what is her relationship to her mom or dad in this?
Speaker A:You know, we know that she, like, steals some money at some point, but she has no clue what's going on.
Speaker A:It's a missed opportunity to build up some stakes with Harry saving his daughter, improving something to.
Speaker A:To himself.
Speaker A:Like, coming through for he.
Speaker A:We know that he fails coming through as a.
Speaker A:As a father for his wife and his daughter.
Speaker A:He misses his birthday, that whole thing.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:We get that he's kind of not present with his family.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And this isn't much of a different theme than like Jingle all the Way in a lot of ways where he's trying to get Turboman, you know.
Speaker A:But I feel like there's an opportunity here.
Speaker A:Here.
Speaker A:If that relationship had been fleshed out, would have meant something more that he's rescuing her.
Speaker A:It's because she's so minimized in this.
Speaker A:In this.
Speaker A:Most of this movie, and all of a sudden she's just kind of thrown in as a plot device at the end here.
Speaker A:I think could have worked if it was just about Helen being.
Speaker A:I know they wanted Helen not to be a damsel in distress in this movie.
Speaker A:That's not where her role was.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I feel that it's because it's kind of like a, it's like a surface arc.
Speaker B:It's B.
Speaker B:It's basically.
Speaker B:It's basically like sees rebellious daughter not in line with her parents, then has this huge, epic traumatic experience that they all share with the terrorists.
Speaker B:And then at the final scene in the movie, her only arc is that she's, like, better dressed and looks happier.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:She went from, like, rebellious daughter to, like, happy teenage.
Speaker B:Now.
Speaker B:I like my Parents.
Speaker B:But that's it.
Speaker B:Like, that's the arc.
Speaker B:It's like she's a very small character in this movie.
Speaker B:So I hear what you're saying.
Speaker A:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker A:I. Yeah, well.
Speaker A:So, yeah.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Anything else you want to talk about?
Speaker B:It's funny, that scene, like, I do like the.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The Harrier jet stuff when it's like hanging off the building and the crane and like, the bad guy, like, you're fired.
Speaker B:And he shoots him on the missile.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's all.
Speaker B:That's okay.
Speaker B:What's interesting is this movie's totally different than Terminator 2, but interestingly enough, they both have the same running length.
Speaker B:Almost Terminator 2 at the end, it's.
Speaker B:It's one massive climax of the.
Speaker B:After they escape Cyberdyne, the place blows up.
Speaker B:They go into the steel mill.
Speaker B:There's lava, and it's kind of relentless.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's exhausting, but in an epic way.
Speaker B:So when you get to the end of Terminator 2, you're like, wow, I've been down an action movie road.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:For some reason, the very last scene in True Lies with the Harrier jet, even though it's spectacular, I'm a little bit more tired and a kind of exhausted.
Speaker B:Like, I. I'm getting a kind of overkill vibe a little bit.
Speaker B:Which for.
Speaker B:For me is something to say because I'm the guy that wants the.
Speaker B:I love those long action scenes.
Speaker B:And I don't.
Speaker B:I don't dislike it.
Speaker B:It's just after the Florida Keys and then the.
Speaker B:And then the highway, the.
Speaker B:The Seven Mile Oasis highway, and then the office building, which is like.
Speaker B:Feels like a die hard thing.
Speaker B:And then the Harrier jet.
Speaker B:The cumulative effect, it's spectacular, but it's also.
Speaker B:It's just the tiniest bit numbing.
Speaker B:Even though I will say when they.
Speaker B:In some of those scenes, when they shot the real Harrier jet on a gimbal and like, Blue screened it in, it still looks awesome.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:I'm a little bit like, when I get to the end of True Lies, I'm like, oh, all right.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:You know, and like, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:If overstays is welcome, I'm not scared to say so.
Speaker A:These scenes go on long.
Speaker A:Every scene is long in this.
Speaker A:And the action scenes are long.
Speaker A:That bathroom fight is long.
Speaker A:There's everything here, I feel like, does stay overstay.
Speaker A:It's welcome a little bit.
Speaker A:So it's not bad.
Speaker A:It's just.
Speaker A:It's indulgent.
Speaker A:Everything is very Indulgent in this movie.
Speaker B:I hear that there's like a sense of like.
Speaker B:Because T2 was so spectacular, I get the sense that James Cameron is.
Speaker B:Is like trying to live up to his.
Speaker B:His reputation.
Speaker B:And he's like, now I gotta do it bigger and better.
Speaker B:And some of it's awesome, but it just has a different effect.
Speaker A:Feels very constructed.
Speaker A:I see the scaffolding behind the.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:Everything that was put into this.
Speaker A:That's why I feel.
Speaker A:I feel the, the how it was put together.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:I don't know how.
Speaker A:What I'm trying to say, but it.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:I feel the bones of this are show stone and it's funny.
Speaker B:And I will drop this as a random sentence.
Speaker B:I'll drop it really in really, really fast.
Speaker B:But I'll say that I hadn't seen this movie in years, since I was younger.
Speaker B:And I remembered it being spectacular and it still was, but in terms of longer action scenes.
Speaker B:And I'm surprised I'm saying this, but there is a massive set piece at the end of Avatar.
Speaker B:The Way of Water with the boat and everyone's fighting in the.
Speaker B:And the.
Speaker B:I actually prefer that scene to the climax of True Lies.
Speaker B:They're totally different films, but that's a scene where.
Speaker B:That is a massively long action scene.
Speaker B:But I love it by comparison to this one.
Speaker B:Whereas the Harrier jet is spectacular, but it is lessened a little bit for me than what I remember it being when I was 13.
Speaker B:Anyway, that was.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's funny.
Speaker A:And finally you mentioned the whole thing about the Saleem getting fired on the rocket.
Speaker A:And he says, you're fired.
Speaker A:I think that's one of the lamest, final things he can say in this.
Speaker A:And you think it back to all those great one liners that he has in other movies like See at the Party Victor or I'll Be Back or Get to the Chopper or Divorce.
Speaker A:You know, all these great things that he says when he's offing somebody and then we get.
Speaker A:You're fired.
Speaker B:Like this movie exists right at the crossroads between like the end of the 80s and we're going into the 90s.
Speaker B: We're already in: Speaker A:He had to split.
Speaker B:He had to split.
Speaker A:Go ahead, Sam, go ahead.
Speaker A:No, it just.
Speaker B:It feels like a swan song.
Speaker B:But you just.
Speaker B:You reminded my brain of a terrible.
Speaker B:The worst one liner I've ever heard.
Speaker B:No, there's two of them.
Speaker B:It's the Jean Claude Van Damme movie.
Speaker B:No, in one of them, he goes, jean Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier.
Speaker B:He goes, you're discharged, Sarge.
Speaker B:And then he cuts the guy.
Speaker B:Then my favorite one, another Jean Claude Van Damme.
Speaker B:Then I'll shut the hell up.
Speaker B:But he goes, knows there's a bad guy, a French bad guy, and Jean Claude Van Damme comes up with him.
Speaker B:To him with a shotgun.
Speaker B:He goes, au revoir.
Speaker B:And that's it.
Speaker A:My favorite one, I think, from the 90s, is I come in peace.
Speaker A:You go in pieces.
Speaker B:And how could we forget Arnold Schwarzenegger and Batman and Robin when George Clooney goes, freeze, Freeze.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:We have to end it there.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Let me just.
Speaker A:Let's take a quick little bumper break.
Speaker A:We'll come back with our decision on this whole thing.
Speaker B:Helen, Helen.
Speaker B:Helen is having enough fear.
Speaker B:Welcome to the club, man.
Speaker B:Nobody thinks it can happen to them the first time, buddy.
Speaker B:Same exact thing happened to me with wife number two, remember?
Speaker B:I had no idea.
Speaker B:Nothing's going on, right?
Speaker B:I come home one day and the house is completely empty.
Speaker B:And I mean completely empty.
Speaker B:She even took the ice cube trays out of the freezer.
Speaker B:What kind of a sick takes the ice cube trays out of the freezer?
Speaker B:So, Helen.
Speaker A:Hey, Harry.
Speaker A:Hey, listen.
Speaker B:Helen still loves you, you know, she just wants to bang this guy for a while, you know, it's nothing serious.
Speaker B:You'll get used to it.
Speaker B:Cheering me up.
Speaker B:What'd you expect, Harry?
Speaker B:Helen's a flesh and blood woman and you're never there.
Speaker B:It's just a matter of time.
Speaker A:All right, we are going to move on to our final decision on True Lies with our rating and our decision whether we are going to save a purge this film.
Speaker A:Woo.
Speaker A:Who wants to go first in this?
Speaker A:It's just you and me, so I guess I'll go.
Speaker B:I would give it.
Speaker B:I enjoy it.
Speaker B:I would give it three and a half stars.
Speaker B:And the extra half is because I still find the production design and the action so spectacular, even to this day, even with the uneven comedy, I enjoy it.
Speaker B:I give it three and a half stars.
Speaker B:And even though I won't be, like, sad or thrilled one way or the one way or the other, I would.
Speaker B:I would.
Speaker B:I would save it for nostalgic purposes because this is a movie that I would watch like five years from now and be like, yeah, I could watch that again.
Speaker B:But that's.
Speaker B:That's me.
Speaker B:Yeah, okay.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker A:I think Excel just recapped that, you know, I think this delivers some of the best large Scale action and practical set pieces of the 90s, 80s, 90s, maybe even beyond that as well.
Speaker A:You know, the bath and brawl, the motorcycle horse chase, the Harrier jet finale.
Speaker A:It's, you know, it's big, it's clean and I think it's executed with classic, you know, that Cameron precision.
Speaker A:I think Tom Arnold.
Speaker A:I'm sorry, I think Arnold Schwarzenegger is, I think it's generally good here but, but you know, there are just, you know, there's a few sharp comedic beats and you know, there's solid action work.
Speaker A:But I think what's interesting about this movie is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaker A:You know, for Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, he is the least interesting part of this movie for me.
Speaker A:When I think about how Jamie Lee Curtis I think steals, you know, big stretches of this movie with a lot of warmth and she has a big commitment to everything that she's doing here.
Speaker A:Tom Arnold is, is funnier than he has any right to be.
Speaker A:And Bill Paxton walks off with every scene that he's in in this movie and even Charlton Heston's over the top cameo leave a mark on this movie.
Speaker A:And you know, for a movie that's built as an Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, I think the real pleasure comes from everyone that's orbiting him in this movie.
Speaker A:And the side characters are so vivid and so weird and so funny that you almost wish that the story kind of wandered off to follow them.
Speaker A:Instead, I could have, you know, know, follow like the Tom Arnold character for a while or what's Helen doing during this whole time.
Speaker A:All these other characters I think are really interesting and, and Harry Tasker is pretty dull, just like Helen believes he is.
Speaker A:He is a pretty dull character and I don't think very likable, you know, but that said, I think this film's charm, you know, it does have some, some dated elements.
Speaker A:I think he's a bad husband and he's unavailable.
Speaker A:He's jealous.
Speaker A:He's willing to put Helen through psych, magical torture.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker A:I'm trying to think.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not negative on this movie but like there's just some cringy stuff going on here.
Speaker A:But there is some great craftsmanship here as well, which is undeniable and it's, it is really entertaining time capsule.
Speaker A:I want to put that in, you know, big.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, you know.
Speaker A:So this, I really struggled with this.
Speaker A:I'm giving this also, I'm giving this three and a half out of five as well.
Speaker A:And I Flip flop.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:Because I wasn't sure and I. I will, I'll save it.
Speaker A:I'll save it because.
Speaker A:But, man, there are so many better honors for singer movies.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:There are, but I know what you're saying.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker B:It's like.
Speaker B:It's not like a strong save.
Speaker B:It's not, not like, oh, we gotta save this.
Speaker B:But I feel like a kind of nostalgia.
Speaker B:I also.
Speaker B:Nostalgia.
Speaker A:This is my weakest save ever on the show.
Speaker A:I'm telling you, it's a weak save.
Speaker B:But I, for me, I have a strong nostalgia because when I was 13, for six months, and I'll keep this short, my father got a Fulbright scholarship teaching job in Brazil.
Speaker B:And so I was a seventh grader living in Brazil and I saw this movement movie and I just remember the audience, like, cheering and clapping when, like, Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to go off the building on the horse.
Speaker B:And then when the horse stops short and he falls over, it was the biggest, most uproarious applause.
Speaker B:So I have a lot of, like, I have childhood nostalgia built into it.
Speaker B:I don't feel incredibly strongly, but I will say, just because you reviewed it recently, I could watch this movie a couple times.
Speaker B:I don't really feel like watching the Abyss again.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Oh, completely, completely.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And like I said, I'm saving this for those, for the Tom Arnold's in this movie, for the Jamie Lee Curtis's, for.
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, those characters that brought me in, Bill Paxton, that brought me so much pleasure and joy seeing those performances in this.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I think that James Cameron directs the hell out of this movie.
Speaker B:It's a.
Speaker B:It's a soft save.
Speaker A:All right, we're saving it.
Speaker A:All right, it is done.
Speaker B:Welcome to the club, man.
Speaker B:Excuse me, can you help me?
Speaker B:I'm in an absolute loss.
Speaker B:I've been looking for over an hour and I'm losing my mind.
Speaker B:What I'm in the mood for is sort of a.
Speaker A:A Katharine Hepburny, Cary Granty kind of thing.
Speaker A:Nothing heavy.
Speaker A:I couldn't take heavy.
Speaker A:No, Something zany.
Speaker B:I'm looking for something zany.
Speaker B:Or something modern would be fine too.
Speaker A:Like a Goldie, Hannie, Chevy Chasey kind of thing.
Speaker A:You know, funny.
Speaker B:I want to laugh.
Speaker A:I have to laugh tonight, really.
Speaker A:Oh, oh, oh.
Speaker B:Do you have anything with that comedian?
Speaker A:He's on that show.
Speaker B:It's on the radio.
Speaker A:You know the guy, he says, hey, forgive me.
Speaker A:I get such a kick out of.
Speaker B:The way he says that.
Speaker A:He's so goddamn adorable.
Speaker A:That would be perfect.
Speaker B:Didn't he Make a movie Ordinary Peoples.
Speaker A:Let's move on to our next segment which is going to be our recommendation shelf and it is Double Lives.
Speaker A:I guess that's a truncated version of what I had here with basically movies about maybe secret agents or spies that are living double.
Speaker A:Live Double Lives for a recommendation shelf segment.
Speaker A:Sam, you seem to be taking the lead on a lot of things here.
Speaker A:This is a good pairing for this.
Speaker B: s came out the Same Summer in: Speaker B:It's funny.
Speaker B:When this came out in theaters, I remember not being that interested, but I was like staying over at a friend's house and he really wanted to see it and I went, okay.
Speaker B:I didn't really know that much about Jim Carrey then.
Speaker B:I hadn't like seen In Living Color.
Speaker B:I love, loved it, obviously Double Life because he's like a, a quiet like, you know, sort of nerdy like guy that works at a bank.
Speaker B:Then when he wears the mask, it reveal brings out his wild side.
Speaker B:I think the Mask is a funny Jim Carrey comedy, but it's also a good, not, I don't want to say old fashioned, but it's just a good fun time at the movies with an adventure and a dance number and some impressive special effects effects.
Speaker B:I, I think this is a good movie.
Speaker B:It's a funny Jim Carrey movie, but it's actually has some artistry to it.
Speaker B:I enjoy, I enjoy the hell out of it.
Speaker B: s, I would strongly recommend: Speaker B:And I saw it again recently and I, I still enjoy it again.
Speaker B:Nostalgia factor.
Speaker B:But it's fun.
Speaker B:Same summer, later that summer I haven't.
Speaker A:Seen in a long time.
Speaker B:Mr. Epkus, I feel I should warn you that I don't work personally with really sick people.
Speaker B:They're private institutions for things like that.
Speaker B:However, if you would like me to arrange for a safe environment for you tonight, I can do that.
Speaker A:I've got to see Tina.
Speaker B:But what do I do?
Speaker B:I mean, do I go as myself or the Mask?
Speaker B:If I tell you, you promise to leave my, my office right now.
Speaker B:Mueller, Bueller.
Speaker B:There's a stupid ass line in that movie where his name is Stanley Ipkiss and one guy says to him is like, if you don't be quiet, you can is your ass goodbye.
Speaker B:And I oh, come on guys.
Speaker A:I haven't seen the Mask in I don't know how 30 years.
Speaker B:So it's been a minute.
Speaker A:It has been a minute.
Speaker A:I was not into Jim Carrey.
Speaker A:Carrey in in that error.
Speaker A:So I, I, I came around.
Speaker A:I got more into him with his more dramatic roles.
Speaker A:I, I am one of the few people on the planet that has never seen an Ace Ventura movie.
Speaker B:I'm not a huge fan of the age.
Speaker B:I, I, I don't like Ace Ventura that much.
Speaker B:I will say I love, I love the first 15 minutes of Ace Ventura 2 are hysterical.
Speaker B:And the rest of the movie, I could say skip, but the beginning of that is so obnoxious and funny.
Speaker B:I will, I will watch the first 10 minutes on YouTube and crack up.
Speaker B:But the rest of the movie is just boring.
Speaker B:I hate to use the word boring because it's like not a good movie review word, but it is boring.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Never got to I saw the Mask back in the day and I dumb and dumber seen a bunch of times but yeah, never never got to Ace Ventura.
Speaker A:I think underrated is the cable guy.
Speaker B:I don't know why I love the cable guy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Why that got isn't I don't know.
Speaker B:What happened was directed by Ben Stiller.
Speaker B:I feel like it's edgy, dark tone was a little bit of ahead of his time and people that summer were like we wanted a Jim Carrey comedy and this movie was disturbing.
Speaker B:I freaking think it's hilarious.
Speaker B:It's like there's a great line where it's like we all get lonely.
Speaker B:And he's like, yeah, but I get really, really lonely.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:My pick this week for a theme of characters living double lives.
Speaker A:And honestly I think it's one of the strongest entries in the franchise is is Mission Impossible 3.
Speaker A:It might be my I, I have, I think we have to go back to the, the archives on this because we talked about this one time.
Speaker A:But I think it's my third favorite Mission Impossible movie might be just behind Fallout and Ghost Protocol.
Speaker A:All I, I have to think about it some more.
Speaker A:I'm not sure.
Speaker A:But a big part of that is because I this movie just feels like one of the most grounded yes.
Speaker A:On the franchise.
Speaker A:And this is the last movie before the series I think blew up into a giant globe spanning spectacle would eventually become here I think the stakes are smaller, more intimate and incredibly personal.
Speaker A:Ethan Hunt isn't, he's not just like this super spy with a mask kid.
Speaker A:He's a, he's a man trying to hold on to this like normal life, you know.
Speaker A:And he's married to Julia who's played by one of the Moynihans.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Which Moynihan Yeah.
Speaker A:Michelle Moynihan.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Who's being.
Speaker A:And he's dragged back into this world, you know, where, you know, you know, his normal life becomes like, a target.
Speaker A:And at the center of it is Philip Seymour Hall Hoffman, who I still think gives the best villain performance in this entire franchise.
Speaker A:Menacing.
Speaker A:And he's.
Speaker A:But he's calm and menacing and absolutely terrifying with every line.
Speaker A:Delivery.
Speaker B:I have to do it, Nathan.
Speaker B:I have to do it.
Speaker B:I can't help myself.
Speaker A:He's like, are you gonna spoil my clip?
Speaker A:But you might have.
Speaker A:But it's okay, go ahead.
Speaker B:I, I, the clip will do it better, but I cannot control myself.
Speaker B:He's like, ethan, do you have a.
Speaker B:Do you have a wife or a girlfriend, whoever she is?
Speaker B:I'm gonna find her.
Speaker B:I'm gonna find her and I'm gonna hurt her.
Speaker A:Yeah, but what I like about this, it's just not.
Speaker A:It's not wall to wall, like, set pieces and action stunt pieces.
Speaker A:And I think Tom Cruise gives his.
Speaker A:Maybe his most textured performance as Ethan Hunt in, In this installment.
Speaker A:And it's just small, full of small, like, honest, you know, moments that remind you that there's a human being underneath all that IMF training.
Speaker A:So I just really, really, really love this one still.
Speaker A:I think that.
Speaker A:I think the last third of it is not necessarily the best part of the movie, but it still remains, I think, one of the franchise's high points.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I like it a lot too.
Speaker B:J.J. abrams, directorial debut, cinema wise.
Speaker B:I mean, like, yeah, yeah, you have a wife, girlfriend.
Speaker B:It's up to you how this goes.
Speaker B:Because you know, when I'm gonna do next, I'm gonna find her, whoever she is.
Speaker B:I'm gonna find her and I'm gonna hurt her.
Speaker B:You were apprehended carrying details of the location of something codenamed the Rabbit's Foot.
Speaker B:I'm gonna make her bleed and cry and call out your name, and you're not gonna be able to.
Speaker B:Do you know why?
Speaker B:What is a Rabbit's Foot?
Speaker B:Because you're gonna be this close to dead.
Speaker B:And who's the buyer?
Speaker B:And then I'm gonna kill.
Speaker B:Kill you right in front of her.
Speaker B:I'm gonna ask you one more time.
Speaker B:What's your name?
Speaker A:What is a Rabbit's Foot?
Speaker B:Who are you and who's the buyer?
Speaker A:You don't have any idea what the.
Speaker B:Hell'S going on, do you?
Speaker A:Ah.
Speaker B:So awesome.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right, so that concludes our recommendation.
Speaker A:Shelf segment for this week.
Speaker A:Double lives.
Speaker A:And we Are ready to move on to the next segment.
Speaker A:Sam, are you ready to play again?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes, I am ready to play a game.
Speaker A:If we all go for the blonde, We block each other.
Speaker A:Not a single one of us is going to get her.
Speaker A:So then we go for her friends, but they will all give us the cold shoulder because nobody likes to be second choice.
Speaker A:What if no one goes for the blonde?
Speaker A:We don't get in each other's way, and we don't insult the other girls.
Speaker B:The only way we win.
Speaker B:That's the only way we all get laid.
Speaker B:Ron Howard in the house.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Maybe someday we'll do a.
Speaker A:A Ron Howard retrospective.
Speaker A:There's some.
Speaker B:So many good smaller ones, too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Great film.
Speaker A:So our game that we're playing this week, we're going to do our top five Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaker A:I don't know if it's really a game, but we're going to do a top five Arnold Schwarzenegger films or Arnold Schwarzenegger roles that he wasn't in but should have been in.
Speaker B:This is so hard because, like, my angle is so comedic.
Speaker B:Like, it's so high.
Speaker A:Well, that's okay.
Speaker A:This could be off the wall, obnoxious.
Speaker A:So these are movies that were recasted past movies that we're recasting with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaker A:So this.
Speaker A:We have no idea what's on each other's list.
Speaker A:This could be completely a bonkers thing.
Speaker A:I hope it is.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:This.
Speaker A:This will be fun.
Speaker A:I've.
Speaker A:I can't wait for this.
Speaker A:I've been looking forward to this all week.
Speaker B:Yeah, this is going to be good.
Speaker A:So, by the way, this is in full respect to the legends who were originally brought these characters to life.
Speaker A:I'm going to put that out right now.
Speaker A:This will be no disrespect to these great actors that I'm gonna list that are now gonna be replace Ronald Schwarzenegger in these roles.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:All right, Sam, you've been.
Speaker A:You've been getting so.
Speaker B:Okay, so we'll start from the fifth and then go to number one.
Speaker B:Is that how we're doing it?
Speaker A:Yeah, you're number five.
Speaker A:Down to number one.
Speaker B:God, this is batshit crazy, but here I go.
Speaker B:Like, this is really, like.
Speaker B:Okay, so I. I wonder if we.
Speaker A:Have any that are the same.
Speaker A:That'd be funny.
Speaker B:This is not.
Speaker B:This is gonzo.
Speaker B:Like, this is such a comedy choice, But I was thinking of the Perfect Storm and putting Arnold Schwarzenegger in George Clooney's role.
Speaker B:Why not as the captain and he has this monologue which I will do as Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaker B:He goes, fog's just lifting.
Speaker B:You're going out on the boat past Miles Pond, where I used to swim as a kid.
Speaker B:You're in charge.
Speaker B:The seagulls are there.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker B:You're a goddamn sword sport captain.
Speaker B:Is there anything better in the world?
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I think the movie would have made a much bigger box office.
Speaker B:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:I can't even.
Speaker A:19.
Speaker A:1999.
Speaker B: I don't know, maybe: Speaker B: Yeah,: Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I cannot defend my logic.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker B:It's completely insane.
Speaker B:But I just.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Mark Wahlberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger acting off each other.
Speaker B:You'd be like, come on, hold the wheel.
Speaker B:Hold the goddamn wheel.
Speaker A:Skippy.
Speaker B:You're totally crazy.
Speaker B:We gotta turn around.
Speaker B:You do what you're doing.
Speaker B:Hold it down.
Speaker B:Look at the wave.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:That missed opportunity for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah, man.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:You want my number five?
Speaker B:Yes, definitely.
Speaker A:By the way, to preface, a lot of my roles were not league lead roles.
Speaker A:I. I put him into, like, smaller co starring roles in a lot of films.
Speaker A:I didn't want him to take away from iconic.
Speaker A:Well, they're all iconic roles, but here we go.
Speaker A: So anyways, I put him in: Speaker B:Whoa.
Speaker A:Replacing Martin Cove as John Kreese.
Speaker A:Oh, I thought that would be interesting because, you know, I think Cove gave, you know, Kreese that a perfect, you know, that blend of, like, menace and ego and that old school dojo machismo, you know, running Cobra Kai.
Speaker A:But imagine ar going, no mercy, no hesitation, no weakness.
Speaker A:No mercy is for other people.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:And he flexes and the punching bag explodes behind him.
Speaker A:You know, so that is.
Speaker B:Man, that is a good, like, imagine just would.
Speaker B:Would like, be decent in that role.
Speaker A:Sweep the leg.
Speaker A:Do it now.
Speaker B:Sweep the leg.
Speaker B:No mercy.
Speaker B:Do it.
Speaker B:Why can't you do it with some sort of girly man?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And this is, you know, almost peak Arnold, not quite yet, but, you know, put him in a black gi and suddenly the entire movie shifts from a.
Speaker A:This coming of age story to a survival thriller.
Speaker A:They wouldn't just fear losing their match.
Speaker A:They fear disappointing a man who could literally, like, you know, bench press them.
Speaker B:That is actually like, that is a good legitimate, like mine.
Speaker B:I went for, like, comedy ridiculousness.
Speaker B:And that's actually like, if you were pitching that to executives, they would consider that in a real meeting, they'd be like, oh, that's.
Speaker B:That's not bad.
Speaker B:Like, maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe somebody call Arnold's agent.
Speaker B:Let's see if he wants to do this, you know.
Speaker A:All right, well, wait till you get to my next pick.
Speaker A:Then you'll be like, okay, we've lowered the bar.
Speaker A:All right, what's your number four, Sam?
Speaker B:Okay, my number four.
Speaker B:And I actually did this, like, a little bit more serious.
Speaker B:I went.
Speaker B:I did go supporting role.
Speaker B:It's a.
Speaker B:Another crazy, bizarre one.
Speaker B:My number four was he would play Val Kilmer's role in Heat because he doesn't talk that much, but he's like, really good with, like, building stuff and shooting things and stuff.
Speaker B:So he's like the muscle of their crime unit.
Speaker B:And he's like, one last job.
Speaker B:Why not?
Speaker B:He's like.
Speaker B:He's like, for me, the sun sets and rises with a She's my life.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the thing is, like, the problem with that is he'd kind of dwarf.
Speaker B:Like, he'd be very distracting.
Speaker B:Like, he was in the.
Speaker B:What was the Elliot Gould movie.
Speaker B:We saw the.
Speaker B:The really good Long Goodbye.
Speaker B:The Long Goodbye, where he's just like there in that movie.
Speaker B:Movie.
Speaker B:And it's like, what?
Speaker B:So, yeah, but I think he could do the role.
Speaker B:But he'd be quite.
Speaker B:He'd be distracting.
Speaker B:But I, I thought, like, I was trying to go realistic.
Speaker B:Like, he'd be a larger than life presence, but as a subtle, like, guy, part of him, he would not suck.
Speaker B:Like, he could do it.
Speaker B:It would just be strange, you know, Another small role.
Speaker A:He could be in that as well.
Speaker A:I forget the character name, the Dennis Haysbert character in that movie to remember him.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:It's much smaller role, but I think about.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker A:He's like a short order cook in that movie.
Speaker A:And he, He's.
Speaker A:He's one of the members of the team that's brought in.
Speaker A:He's got.
Speaker A:I like, I like him in that movie.
Speaker A:He's got a small arc in that.
Speaker A:It's kind of a tragic arc.
Speaker A:But yeah, doesn't he get.
Speaker B:He gets brought in and he gets killed, but his, like, life was on track and he decides to go back one time.
Speaker B:He, like, dies that day.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Good movie.
Speaker A:I watch Heat again.
Speaker B:I love that movie.
Speaker A:Are we getting Heat too?
Speaker A:Isn't, like, Michael man supposed to be making Heat too?
Speaker B:I think we are.
Speaker B:My Instagram every single day is like, guess who's in it?
Speaker B:Like, DiCaprio signed up and Kristen Bales.
Speaker B:And I'm like, I've been hearing about Heat 2 forever.
Speaker B:Just like, either make it stop with the Instagram stories.
Speaker B:Yeah, all right, whatever.
Speaker A:All right, now my number four.
Speaker A:I told you, I'm lowering the bar here.
Speaker A: is a role in the Goonies from: Speaker A:It's very iconic, played by John Matusik.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:But he's great in it.
Speaker A:But why not put Arnold Schwarzenegger as Sloth?
Speaker B:That is awesome.
Speaker A:And Matusic brought, like, really good heart and warmth.
Speaker A:Sloth under all that makeup.
Speaker A:But, but here's the, here's my idea.
Speaker A:I'm not thinking about this as a performance, but as a marketing tool.
Speaker A:1985.
Speaker A:All right, this post, Terminator, and Arnold's greatest trick has been, you know, using his size and intensity, you know, set up a punchline and think, you know, you know, how, like, in T2, you know, he's learning to smile and Kindergarten Cop yelling, it's not a tumor.
Speaker A:But, you know, Arnold gives Sloth that kind of comedic timing, and he's like a giant, this intimidating figure who suddenly turns gentle, goofy, and affectionate.
Speaker A:And I think, think, you know, it just be a perfect combination of Arnold playing this role.
Speaker A:Imagine, like, the whole, like, Baby Ruth scene with Arnold on in there.
Speaker A:And that would be.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker B:I just want him to be in this amazing.
Speaker B:Especially at the end when he, like, slides.
Speaker B:He's like, hey, you guys.
Speaker A: is, if Arnold played Sloth in: Speaker A:Action figures, posters, there'd be Halloween costumes.
Speaker A:There'd be a spinoff cartoon where Sloth and Chunk solve mysteries.
Speaker A:It have its own franchise.
Speaker B:Goonies change that whole dynamic of that character in a fascinating way, because it'd be like, Sloth is the real hero of the movie, you know?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think.
Speaker A:Yeah, I, I.
Speaker A:So I don't know.
Speaker A:I just feel like there was, again, missed opportunity.
Speaker A:They didn't reach out to Arnold's agents to.
Speaker A:To cast him in this.
Speaker A:I mean, Matusak was really good in that, but Arnold would have brought some, like, a whole nother marketing tier to this, and the whole trajectory of pop culture would have changed.
Speaker A:That's a good one.
Speaker B:There is.
Speaker B:You have.
Speaker B:Yours has, like, nuance and thought, I like that.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker A:All right, so.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:What is your number three, Sam?
Speaker B:Okay, so my number three, this is a little bit more generic, but.
Speaker B:But in the 80s and not.
Speaker B:And less so the 90s, but there was an Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone competition as to who was the tougher guy and who was the bigger thing.
Speaker B:And I just.
Speaker B: Arnold Schwarzenegger turned: Speaker B:It might.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I. I honestly think that that early 90s Schwarzenegger, like, with a little bit more acting chops, might have actually done a decent job in Sylvester Stallone's role.
Speaker B:Because clearly he has the physicality and the stamina.
Speaker B:That's not an issue at all.
Speaker B:It would change the character.
Speaker B:But that was one of the few on my list where I was like, this is not ridiculous.
Speaker B:You could swap out Stallone, put Schwarzenegger in that movie, and it might have been, like, maybe a little bit bigger box office, to be quite honest, because it's an action and it's a lot of stunts.
Speaker B:It's director Renny Harlan, like, it's.
Speaker B:I. I like it.
Speaker B:I wouldn't want, like, Sylvester Stallone to leave, but I feel like Arnold Schwarzenegger could fit in that movie where there's other Stallone movies where I'm really glad it's Stallone and not Schwarzenegger.
Speaker A:I 100 agree.
Speaker A:I think Schwarzenegger could have easily have done a great job.
Speaker A:But here's the thing.
Speaker A:They have to completely swap movies.
Speaker A:That means Stallone has to be in Last Action Hero.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:And then Last Action Hero would be more like, stop or my mom will shoot.
Speaker A:Here's the thing.
Speaker A:Isn't there a joke in Last Action Hero where you see Stallone in a Terminator 2 poster?
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:So that means that what is the poster in Last Action Hero has to be Stallone.
Speaker A:It has to be Arnold Schwarzenegger in Stallion.
Speaker A:Some Stallone movie.
Speaker B:It would be, like, Arnold Schwarzenegger and, like, COBRA or like Rambo 2 and Arnold Schwarzenegger has, like, a long hair wig.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:The whole universe has to be swapped.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep, yep.
Speaker B:Of all my choices, that one is actually, like, you could swap them out and still have a same action movie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because Stallone delivers a very, very still did performance in that movie.
Speaker B:He does.
Speaker B:He's like, oh, sad.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But she died.
Speaker B:She died.
Speaker B:I'm sad.
Speaker A:All right, all right.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:My number three.
Speaker A:Sam, I think you're gonna appreciate this or be offended by this or get a kick out of this.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:But I'm going with.
Speaker A:I'm just gonna throw it out there.
Speaker A:1967.
Speaker A:You only live Twice.
Speaker A:I'm replacing Donald Pleasance with Arnold Schwarzenegger as.
Speaker B:Whoa, whoa.
Speaker A:That is.
Speaker B:That is not like you, you, you have the unique factor is like I'm.
Speaker A:Mixing it up here.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, I think pleasant, you know, he delivers the probably the most definitive iconic, you know, Bond villain.
Speaker A:You know, I think of like the volcanic lair and he's got that soft menacing on charm.
Speaker A:I, I, I guess.
Speaker A:And it's probably just maybe one of the more iconic Bond villains I think of when, you know, back in that era.
Speaker A:But Arnold as Blofeld, the whole dynamic flips and you know, Bond isn't facing a soft spoken genius but he's up against finally a villain who can really, you know, throw Bond into the volcano himself.
Speaker A:You know, like he's, it is mono.
Speaker A:I just, I wouldn't want Arnold to monologue for, for like a minute.
Speaker A:I think it'd be hysterical.
Speaker A:I don't know, I just, that is not bad.
Speaker B:Like I act like young, like bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker A: but I'm just, because this is: Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean he'd be, he'd be a teenager.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker B:He'd be like a kid.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A: Was he born: Speaker B:I forgot how old he, something like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So yeah, he'd be pretty young but still, still I'm, I'm not the years, you know, this could be like mid age Arnold Schwarzenegger but still just, you know, I just think it'd be interesting putting Arnold as, as a Bond villain.
Speaker A:You know, not bad.
Speaker B:Like it's actually I, I would still like, I'd be like, oh, I'd watch that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Picture just you know, Bond fighting through like waves of henchmen and then reaches Blofeld and Bls waiting know his sleeves rolled up saying, you know, come on Bond, let's finish this.
Speaker B:Well, well, well, James.
Speaker B:No time for a martini now.
Speaker B:The only thing you'll be drinking is shaken and dead.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker A:He could still do it.
Speaker A:You know, he, you know, why not?
Speaker A:He coulding it.
Speaker A:Why not?
Speaker B:You know, that is not, not impossible.
Speaker B:Yeah, I actually kind of like that one.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Not impossible.
Speaker A:If, if our current administration wants it to happen.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:They'll force it.
Speaker B:That's, that's true.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh my God.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:What is your number two?
Speaker B:Oh, my number two.
Speaker B:I, I am so ashamed.
Speaker B:I'm going leaning crazy into the comedy again.
Speaker B:This is an insane one.
Speaker B:And this would change the movie and make it a ridiculous comedy.
Speaker B:I was thinking he could take Tom Cruise's Role from Interview with the Vampire and be the main vampire to Brad Pitt's leat.
Speaker B:He'd be like, it's not that bad.
Speaker B:Be a vampire.
Speaker B:Stop whining.
Speaker B:He's like, this is a good life.
Speaker B:Stop eating rats.
Speaker B:We should eat people instead.
Speaker B:Let me teach you how to be a vampire.
Speaker B:And my.
Speaker B:My choice, again, like, some of my other choices was pure comedy because it's him.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:I almost thought of giving him Antonio Banderas's role in that movie, but because he's, like, supposed to be French, it's just too ridiculous.
Speaker B:Not that it's not ridiculous.
Speaker A:Oh, we saw Arnold Schwarzenegger try to pull off a French accent in True Lies.
Speaker B:Oh, God.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, God.
Speaker B:So that was my.
Speaker B:That's my insane.
Speaker B:I'm veering heavily, heavily towards the comedy in that.
Speaker B:That one.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And by the way, it's Tom Cruise.
Speaker A:It plays Lestat, and Brad Pitt plays Louie in that.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker B:Oh, are you gonna love.
Speaker B:My number one is better, though.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:So my number two is definitely going to bring in the hate mail.
Speaker A:I'm going to the Star wars franchise, and I am recasting.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:Forgive me for this.
Speaker A:This Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca with Arnold Schwarzenegger, because where else am I gonna put him?
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So instead, he's like, yeah, yeah, ch.
Speaker B:Is just gonna.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, so, you know, Mayhew, you know, he's.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:He's so.
Speaker A:May is great in this.
Speaker A:You know, he's.
Speaker A:I'm gonna give props to the original actor and all my picks here because he's so expressive.
Speaker A:His body language made Chewy iconic, and he defined, you know, w generations.
Speaker A:But Arnold stepping into the first suit, you know, doesn't replace Chewy.
Speaker A:It creates an alternate universe.
Speaker A:Chewbacca.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:That I think is somehow even more chaotic in the grawls become Austrian, you know, And I. I picture this, though, Sam.
Speaker A:So when he repairs the Falcon, it involves more brute force than actual mechanics.
Speaker A:And he rips out broken parts.
Speaker A:He slams the panels close with a fist, like yellow, yelling, chewy, punch it.
Speaker A:And he generally creates concern for everybody when he says that maybe, you know, the physical comedy, like, we're going nuclear with the physical comedy in this here.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:But there's still.
Speaker A:The tenderness is still there, though, because Arnold is, you know, secretly, he's great.
Speaker A:He's got a big.
Speaker A:He's a big softy in his heart.
Speaker A:That's the thing.
Speaker A:And Chewie, you know, is.
Speaker A:That's what defines him.
Speaker A:So what happened, though?
Speaker A:As Arnold Schwarzenegger's Chewbacca, the Chewbacca character becomes like one of the biggest characters in the franchise.
Speaker A:He gets his own spin off.
Speaker A:Chewy gets merchandise even bigger than Yoda.
Speaker A:I'm telling you, he becomes the number one Halloween costume for boys.
Speaker A:Arnold's growl becomes the playground sound, you know, that everybody says.
Speaker A:You know, anyways, it's.
Speaker A:It's amazing.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:And he gets his own, like, spin off movie where he has to, like, fight a wildebeest in his forest homeland and stuff like that.
Speaker A:It's amazing.
Speaker A:So again, missed opportunity.
Speaker A:They could have had him.
Speaker A:They could have had him.
Speaker A:He was right there.
Speaker A: or: Speaker B:He's got.
Speaker A:He's right there.
Speaker B:Tall too.
Speaker B:He's got the.
Speaker B:He's got the big body.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's a good.
Speaker B:That's like not.
Speaker B:That's not terrible.
Speaker A:Yeah, George blew it.
Speaker A:Yeah, George.
Speaker A:All right, all right.
Speaker A:The hate mail is coming for that one.
Speaker B:It's gonna be awesome.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Your number one.
Speaker B:My number one.
Speaker B:And this one I'm more proud of.
Speaker B:It changes the whole dynamic of the movie, but because Arnold Schwarzenegger is Austrian and he's got that vibe, it's not a huge stretch, even though it is.
Speaker A:Is.
Speaker B:I would be interested in putting him in Sean Connery's role in the Hunt for Red October.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:It's pure comedy.
Speaker B:But, you know, he's.
Speaker B:He could do the Russian thing maybe, you know.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Like, it would just.
Speaker B:It would certainly change the movie.
Speaker B:Probably would not play a Russian in.
Speaker A:What's that movie with James Red Heat.
Speaker B:Yeah, he.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which I don't know if I saw all of it or not.
Speaker A:I remember, but yeah.
Speaker A:All right, my number one again.
Speaker A:Sam, you're gonna.
Speaker A:You're gonna appreciate this, I think.
Speaker A:All right, so I'm gonna tie this all the way back to James Cameron.
Speaker A: I'm going with his: Speaker A:I'm replacing Bernard Hill, the captain of the ship, Edward J. Smith, with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaker A:Now, he was a great British actor.
Speaker A:I think he passed last year.
Speaker A:Also known for as King Theoden, Lord of the Rings.
Speaker A:Films love this guy.
Speaker A:He was great in everything he did, but he portrayed Captain Smith with a lot of, you know, restraint and dignity.
Speaker A:And he's one of the Film's most grounded performances, I'd say.
Speaker A:But we're going to enter Arnold into this.
Speaker A:And the film becomes mythic and larger than life with energy.
Speaker A:The iceberg moment becomes legendary.
Speaker A:So he could like scream out like hard to starboard now, you know, I don't know, I just love it.
Speaker A:And then when he goes down with the ship, it just becomes the most iconic hero shot in cinema history.
Speaker A:Or actually better yet, you know what he does?
Speaker A:He jumps out of the.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:He jumps out and he battles the iceberg and he starts like pounding it and he like single handedly probably fights the iceberg and it wins, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's what he does.
Speaker A:He leaves.
Speaker A:He leaves the bridge, faces the iceberg, he climbs out on the bow of the ship, you know, Arctic water probably splashing on his face.
Speaker A:And he stares down the iceberg and you know, like not on my watch.
Speaker A:And the rest of the movie is about his heroes welcome in New York.
Speaker A:And we never actually returned to Jack and Rose and you just assume that that Jack is shot by what's his name's henchmen and Rose has that miserable life married to that and that's the the end.
Speaker A:So I think that so that's our both our top five movies.
Speaker A:The Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't in that he should have been in.
Speaker A:And let us know what you think of our picks are.
Speaker A:Do these hold water?
Speaker A:Did these original filmmakers missed their opportunity to cast Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Speaker A:We think so.
Speaker A:All right, well I think that is it for this week.
Speaker A:So we will be back in three, four weeks or so with our review of James Cameron's Avatar Fire and All right, that is our show for this week.
Speaker A:Back to the frame rate is part of the Weston Media Podcast network.
Speaker A:Special thanks to Brian Ellsworth for our show opening.
Speaker A:On behalf of all of us, we bid you farewell from the fallout shelter.
Speaker A:If you are enjoying our show, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker A:You will find all of our episodes@backtotheframerate.com this is the end of our transmission back to the frame rate.
Speaker A:Signing off.
Speaker B:I want you to know it's over.
Speaker A:Well, bye.
Speaker A:Hey everybody.
Speaker A:Nathan here just want to mention that we did have a few audio technical difficulties with the recording of this episode.
Speaker A:At the very end of this episode, Sam's audio cuts out and it is just me talking without Sam.
Speaker A:So we had to do some editing of this episode and I apologize for that, that it's a little clunky.
Speaker A:But I assure you, we will fix this going forward.
Speaker A:Thanks again and enjoy the episode.
