Die Hard 2 (with Jorma Taccone)

Unspooled

Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson

Tv & Film, Film Reviews

4.5 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2026

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With Amy reporting from Cannes, Paul welcomes Jorma Taccone for a Dealer’s Choice episode on Die Hard 2, the explosive sequel that takes John McClane to a snowbound airport under siege. Together they make the case for one of action cinema’s most underrated follow-ups, celebrating Bruce Willis’s swagger, Renny Harlin’s direction, and the sequel’s knack for escalating the stakes without losing sight of character. They also dive into the film's practical effects, memorable villains, and why Die Hard 2 remains a textbook example of how to go bigger without breaking what made the original work. You can join the Unspooled conversation on Paul’s Discord at https://discord.gg/ZwtygZGTa6 Follow Paul and Amy on Letterboxd for more of their movie hot takes! https://letterboxd.com/paulscheer/ https://letterboxd.com/theamynicholson/ Paul’s book Joyful Recollections of Trauma is out now! Find it at https://www.harpercollins.com/products/joyful-recollections-of-trauma-paul-scheer Check out more of Paul's writing on his Substack https://substack.com/@paulscheer Episodic Art by Kim Troxall: https://www.unspooledart.com/ Learn more about the show at Unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and on Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or where you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The year is 1990.
0:03.0	This once, like a regular, normal Christmas.
0:08.0	Eggnog.
0:11.0	Fucking Christmas tree.
0:14.0	Little turkey.
0:16.0	But no, I gotta crawl around this motherfucking tin can.
0:22.2	The movie, Die Hard 2.
0:30.1	Hey everybody, welcome to Unspooled.
0:31.7	I am Paul Shear, and this is a podcast about good movies,
0:35.0	critical hits, fan favorites, mustsies, and in case you
0:37.7	misdems. Normally, I am joined by my co-host, LA Times film critic Amy Nicholson to talk about
0:42.8	the films that people consider the best ever made. But while she is away and can, we are leaving
0:48.4	our best of lists and focusing on one person's list, one person's favorite, underappreciated classic or left-of-center
0:57.3	favorite, a film that potentially doesn't get enough love. This is dealer's choice, a series where
1:02.8	our guests get to choose what movie they need to talk about, and anything goes. And today,
1:08.3	we are talking about Die Hard 2. Let me give you a little context here. The year is 1990. 20th Century Fox is looking to capitalize on the massive, unexpected success of diehard. And they want to do it in a big way, right? The original film, which we did on the show a few Christmases ago, directed by John McTiernan, is this tight-contained thriller set in Los Angeles,
1:29.1	and it blends vulnerability, humor, and brutality,
1:32.0	and it makes it an instantly iconic film.
1:34.7	So the question becomes, how do you follow that up without just repeating it?
1:37.9	And the answer comes from an unlikely place,
1:40.0	a novel called 58 Minutes by Walter Wager,
1:48.1	which is a sequel to another book adapted into a Frank Sinatra movie,
	...

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