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Hardcore poster

Hardcore

year 1979decade 70sdirector Paul Schradergenre Thrillergenre Crimegenre Drama

108 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

George C. Scott Jake Van Dorn
Peter Boyle Andy Mast
Dick Sargent Wes DeJong
Leonard Gaines Bill Ramada
Larry Block Detective Burrows
Marc Alaimo Ratan
Ilah Davis Kristen Van Dorn
Paul Marin Joe Van Dorn
Bobby Kosser Film Director
Will Walker Jim Jism Jim Sloan
Hal Williams Big Dick Blaque
James Helder John Van Dorn
Reb Brown Manager / Bouncer
Tracey Walter Adult Bookstore Clerk
Ed Begley Jr. Soldier
W. K. Stratton Porn Actor (uncredited)

Hardcore | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennesseyproducer Craig Horlbeck theme Rock Bottom Month
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Most Rewatchable Scene

The theater reveal; Ramada’s office alternative

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:29Read transcript
  • Andy Mast's diner introduction is a scene nominee; his weekly fee and months of work prompt inflation and financing questions. The Grand Rapids family gathering and Kristen's friend establish repression and misdirect expectations.
  • The theater reveal is declared the best scene. Mast's theatrical surprise, discovery of the reel and delayed response to 'turn it off' are nitpicks. Scott's reaction and Mast's warning about wanting his daughter back expose unresolved forgiveness questions.
  • Great Shot Gordo: the distorted high-angle image of Scott losing his bearings and adult storefronts surrounding him convey immersion in the unfamiliar world.
  • The motel filming scene is praised as deliberately funny, especially the UCLA director, Scott's undercover look and dialogue; Serena's appearance prompts a biographical aside.
  • The seedy 1970s hotel setting is praised and linked to later homages such as True Romance.
  • Jake's Hollywood drive, ominous recurring score, shop admission and high camera angle are praised. CSNY's Helpless is singled out as an incongruously funny needle drop.
  • The auditions of Big Dick Black and Jism Jim are scene nominees, with exaggerated credentials, stage names and Scott reaching for a lamp praised for comedy.
  • Craig's text notes Jake's abrupt wig-and-shirt transformation; the panel asks why an unknown furniture maker needs a disguise and compares the look to Body Double.
  • Nikki and Jake's San Diego life talks and airport discussion of TULIP are praised for writing, chemistry and changing the film's energy.
  • Nikki's perspective and Hubley's comfort opposite Scott are praised; his softness in their scenes is distinctive.
  • The bondage-house wall breakthrough, slowed motion and green neon are memorable; the steep-hill fight and physical stunts are praised.
  • The theater reveal is selected again for its iconic impact; the first Mast meeting remains a favorite. Another choice shifts to Bill Ramada's office and right-man exchange, compared to The Big Lebowski's Ben Gazzara.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Jake before the Hustler billboard; distorted theater image

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:46Read transcript
  • Great Shot Gordo: the distorted high-angle image of Scott losing his bearings and adult storefronts surrounding him convey immersion in the unfamiliar world.
  • Great Shot Gordo selects Jake before the Hustler 'think pink' billboard: Los Angeles color contrasts with muted Grand Rapids.

What’s Aged the Best?

Score; undercover Jake; poster; period interiors; runaway premise

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:08Read transcript
  • Aged best discussion begins with Scott's reported contractual drinking breaks, then praises Nitzsche's delayed score and Jake's undercover-producer scenes.
  • Aged best: the avenging-angel refrigerator sticker, the poster, Ed Begley Jr.'s early role, Hollywood hotel apartments, Mast's apartment and Midwestern wallpaper. The period is praised as fertile fictional ground for disappearances.
  • Trackdown is recommended as a related earlier film;1970 sfear narratives and limited missing-person infrastructure make the runaway premise effective. A joke qualifies any claim that finding people was uniquely difficult then.
  • Schrader reportedly wrote this alongside Taxi Driver using an extreme drug-and-sleep routine. Adult-industry research and backlash over associating the business with snuff films are discussed; the panel says both church and industry disliked the film.
  • A quotation from Schrader introduces Scott's unhappiness during production.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Chaperones; Kristen casting; father-daughter discomfort; personal-ad job; Beatty’s demands

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:55Read transcript
  • Aged worst: irresponsible chaperones and Jake's unusually calm response to the disappearance.
  • Aged worst: Ilah Davis's casting and an uncomfortable father-daughter dynamic; sexual-abuse interpretations remain explicitly speculative rather than established story facts.
  • Aged worst: the imagined unpleasant work of taking adult personal advertisements, although the sequence is intentionally comic.
  • Casting what-if and aged worst: Warren Beatty reportedly wanted the missing daughter changed to a girlfriend, which the panel rejects as wrong for this story. His delayed Howard Hughes project is also discussed.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Jake’s producer potential; Calvinism; revisiting the premise

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:30Read transcript
  • Hottest take: Jake could have succeeded as an adult-film producer; another jokingly defends Calvinism's repression and redemption framework.
  • Hottest take: borrowing this premise for 8 mmis acceptable after twenty years, and a modern internet version could work. Searching is offered as an existing computer-era counterpart.

Apex Mountain

Season Hubley; theater rented to devastate a father; Calvinism/TULIP; seedy 1970s San Diego

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:46Read transcript
  • Apex rejects Scott in favor of Patton, Schrader with American Gigolo and First Reformed debated, and Boyle with Everybody Loves Raymond suggested.
  • Apex explicitly affirms Season Hubley and renting a theater to ruin a father's life. Fake 1970 sadult films lose to Boogie Nights; Bellflower is only a qualified joke alternative to youth soccer tournaments.
  • Apex explicitly affirms explaining Calvinism to a sex worker, TULIP/Calvinism, and the seedy side of 1970 sSan Diego.

Cruise or Hanks?

Tom Hanks for the better film; Cruise for comedy

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:13Read transcript
  • Cruise or Hanks opens with a Cruise choice and disagreement; a future Ringer Movies channel and all-films comparison livestream are announced.
  • Cruise or Hanks: Hanks wins as the better film and more plausible repressed father; Cruise is repeatedly preferred for comic entertainment and the undercover-producer scenes. An initial Cruise choice remains dissent before clarification of the criterion.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

8mm; Jake stays in Los Angeles; Dairy King prequel

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:02Read transcript
  • Remake/sequel:8 mmis the effective remake; alternatives are Jake staying in Los Angeles to rival Ramada and a Ramada Dairy Queen-to-adult-film prequel called Dairy King.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Byron Mayo

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:19Read transcript
  • Better with: Byron Mayo wins with agreement, imagined directing the films and encouraging Jake; a Wayne Jenkins impression is performed.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:04Read transcript
  • Who won: Schrader is proposed; a distinct George C.Scott choice cites his performance and the enduring meme. Seedy late 1970 scities are then floated as a playful alternative.
  • Who won: the cities proposer settles on Schrader, and another explicitly agrees with Schrader while appreciating the Scott argument.
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