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Unspooled

Die Hard

Unspooled

Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson

Film Reviews, Tv & Film

4.64.7K Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2022

⏱️ ? minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Paul & Amy walk across broken glass for 1988's definitive Bruce Willis action film Die Hard! They ask whether Hans Gruber is the true protagonist of the film, learn why Frank Sinatra was originally considered to play John McClane, and explore why this film succeeds where legions of imitators have failed. Plus: we settle the "Christmas movie" debate once and for all. Next week, tune in as we discuss Die Hard! You can join the conversation for this series on the Unspooled Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/unspooledpodcast, and on Paul’s Discord at https://discord.gg/ZwtygZGTa6. Learn more about the show at unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. You can also listen to our Stitcher Premium game show Screen Test right now at https://www.stitcher.com/show/unspooled-screen-test and apply to be a contestant at [email protected]!

Transcript

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0:00.0

The year is 1988 and you ask for a podcast and I give you unspooed the movie

0:09.5

die hard

0:11.5

the

0:28.2

Hello everyone and welcome to the

0:30.2

unspooed this is a podcast where we talk about the greatest films of all

0:35.8

time to find out if they really deserve to be called classics or if they are

0:41.0

just remembered that way that voice you heard Paul sheer oh Paul happy holidays

0:46.3

oh and that voice you heard is Amy Nicholson Amy right back at you I'm so

0:53.3

excited to launch into our holiday season with a movie that people debate is

0:59.3

it a Christmas movie we'll get into that but die hard is a cultural touchstone a

1:04.7

landmark film for so many reasons and I really want to like explore the could of

1:12.6

bins with this movie because there's so many things that could have made this

1:16.8

movie incredibly lame and memorable and a total like John McLean in a hallway

1:25.4

with his knees busted in his feet bloody you mean yeah there are so many

1:30.5

different directions here that really elevated the material I mean like the

1:35.2

accidental discovery that Alan Rickman could do a California accent but this is

1:41.1

also a movie that was so unsure that Bruce Willis was the right guy to star in it

1:45.4

that Bruce Willis was the right guy to make a salad he's gonna make for it that

1:48.4

they shot for his very first scene the bit where he jumps off the roof with the

1:52.3

fire hose because there was a quiet bit of thought on the set you know if he dies

1:56.6

he dies will have time to replace him if it's shot one we'll also talk about

2:00.3

how this movie fits into 1988 and how it subverted every trope of an action

...

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