Categories & segments

After Hours poster
After Hours

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Word-processing job; overnight timeline; book completion; subsequent arrest

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:33Read transcript
  • What exactly does Paul’s word-processing job entail? Its office anonymity may be intentional.
  • Clock clues suggest roughly seven hours from the late-night departure to returning to the office around6:30–7:15, but the season and exact timing remain uncertain.
  • Did Paul finish Tropic of Cancer, and could police arrest him afterward? A counterargument notes he committed no wrongdoing.
Die Hard with a Vengeance poster
Die Hard with a Vengeance

Picking Nits

Geography; riddles; surviving injuries; gold logistics; Simon’s monitoring and aspirin clue

In the discussion (17)
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:54Read transcript
  • Holly’s refusal to move back from Los Angeles is questioned after McClane’s ordeals.
  • Getting to Yankee Stadium so quickly strains New York geography.
  • From the Yankee Stadium diversion onward, the ending feels improvised even though it remains enjoyable.
  • The crowded stoop and open repair shop seem implausibly active before school starts; the store is corrected from a pawnshop to an electronics repair business.
  • Escaping ten attackers after being struck with a bottle seems unlikely.
  • The subway bomb should cause greater damage and deaths.
  • McClane might have recognized the German connection sooner after being told about Simon’s accent.
  • The riddles seem too difficult to solve so quickly; whether Simon expects success is raised as a counterpoint.
  • Zeus abandoning an unlocked shop and rarely worrying about it is questioned; the objection is corrected because he does mention its likely destruction.
  • Simon’s apparent ability to observe each task and the logistics of his large mercenary crew are questioned.
  • Simon’s claim to be a soldier rather than a monster conflicts with bombing an occupied subway, even if the blast serves the heist.
  • The heroes accumulate blood, gunshot injuries, crashes, falls, flooding and cable fragments yet remain mobile; McClane is jokingly likened to Unbreakable’s protagonist.
  • McClane’s lack of temptation by the enormous stolen fortune, or even a single gold bar, is questioned and compared with Marathon Man’s rejected diamonds.
  • The uniformly tall German henchmen and Simon’s false American persona should be obvious impostors rather than credible police or city workers.
  • Surviving the flooded tunnel and being shot into the air exactly as Zeus drives past is the decisive implausibility.
  • The anti-lock-brake maneuver is nevertheless admired as a striking stunt.
  • Simon’s meticulous plan is undermined by handing over the identifying aspirin bottle; replacing the gang’s gold with scrap should also be discovered.
Die Hard with a Vengeance poster
Die Hard with a Vengeance

Half-Assed Internet Research

Original scripts; alternate ending; rejected action projects; FBI questions; digitally altered sign

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:20Read transcript
  • The script was reportedly acquired for a fourth Lethal Weapon film before Fox bought it and turned it into this sequel.
  • An alternate ending has McClane find Simon in Hungary, play McClane Says and kill him with a rocket launcher; the studio reportedly rejected its vigilante darkness and financed a replacement.
  • Willis rejected a cruise-ship sequel script as too close to Under Siege; it was reportedly repurposed as Speed 2.
  • Reported Die Hard-style projects include Sandblast in a sandstorm, No Safe Haven on Martha’s Vineyard and Track Down in the Channel Tunnel.
  • Suspension was set on the George Washington Bridge, Platform and Rig on oil rigs, and High Roller in Las Vegas.
  • Other reported projects included In Contempt in a courthouse, He Who Dares at the British embassy, L4 at a disease-control facility and several hurricane scenarios.
  • Jonathan Hensleigh was reportedly questioned by the FBI because the gold-reserve details seemed unusually accurate; he attributed his research to the New York Times.
  • Willis’s sign was reportedly blank during filming and its offensive wording added digitally.
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:20Read transcript
  • Gibson and Glover could fit the material, though the Willis–Jackson pairing is preferred.
  • Annabella Sciorra could replace Colleen Camp as a colleague and post-divorce lover who dumped McClane for drinking, adding workplace tension and personal stakes.
  • Joe Pantoliano could fit as Walter Cobb or elsewhere among the police without weakening the film.
  • San Francisco is an alternative city; Los Angeles traffic would make the timed missions impossible.
Die Hard with a Vengeance poster
Die Hard with a Vengeance

Casting What-Ifs

Laurence Fishburne; Brandon Lee; uncertain Sean Connery story; McTiernan’s Batman offer

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:29Read transcript
  • Fishburne reportedly had a verbal agreement for the role, but compensation negotiations stalled and Andrew Vajna chose Jackson after seeing Pulp Fiction at Cannes.
  • Fishburne reportedly received $750,000 after suing, and the producers also had to option a script he wrote.
  • Simon Says was reportedly intended for Brandon Lee before his death.
  • Connery was reportedly first choice for Simon, though the research is not treated as certain; his villain credibility, German accent and physical fit are doubted.
  • McTiernan reportedly declined Batman Forever to make this film.
Displaying discussions 2197 - 2208 of 6801 in total