Isobar reportedly involved a genetically created monster escaping on a train, with Stallone and Kim Basinger attached and successive departures by Ridley Scott and Emmerich. — Bill Simmons
Gale Force reportedly cast Stallone as an ex-Navy SEAL fighting pirates during a hurricane. — Bill Simmons
Harlin reportedly received three million dollars; four million went to writers, including a rejected erotic-thriller rewrite by Joe Eszterhas. — Bill Simmons
Cliffhanger reportedly followed the cancellation of Gale Force, with Harlin retaining his fee. — Bill Simmons
The rabbit’s survival reportedly required a100,000-dollar Stallone-funded reshoot after test screenings. The claim a rabbit was actually killed on camera is unverified speaker assertion. — Bill Simmons
The absurd forty-foot cliff jump was reportedly removed after trailer audiences laughed at it. — Bill Simmons
Carolco reportedly surrendered much of the revenue rights to finance production, stopped twice for inability to pay crews, overspent by 40 million and took a 2 million salary sacrifice from Stallone, leaving little benefit from the hit. — Bill Simmons
Stallone's reported top-three physical-condition films are RockyIV, Cliffhanger and RamboIII; RamboII is a wrong guess and Cobra misses the list. — Kyle Brandt
Mountain filming reportedly used the Italian Dolomites near Cortina d’Ampezzo. — Bill Simmons
Simon Crane’s million-dollar plane crossing is reported as a record aerial stunt; failure to enter the second plane required an edited close-up. — Bill Simmons
The opening glove reportedly would not slip despite oversizing and Vaseline because Stallone held too tightly, eventually yielding the desired take. — Kyle Brandt
Stallone reportedly injured his hand on a soundstage cliff but described it publicly as a climbing injury. — Bill Simmons
Tom Hanks considered plausible later but too youthful then; hard-ass performance not familiar until League of Their Own aside from Turner and Hooch. — Bill Simmons
Hughes reportedly wanted Hanks as Neil,Travolta as Del; Hanks filming Big, could work with younger children; different suggestion Travolta could nail Neil. — Bill Simmons
Paramount reportedly vetoed Travolta as box-office poison after Perfect/Staying Alive; later Look Who’s Talking rebound noted. — Bill Simmons
Deleted subplot had Neil wife disbelieve Del existence; Wichita suspicion survives. — Bill Simmons
Editor reportedly restored Del offer to reimburse Neil, changing screening audiences from seeing exploitation; host skeptical of impact. — Bill Simmons
Deleted pizza scene explains low tip and later returning thief. — Bill Simmons
Deleted beer explosion better omitted but pizza-tip/theft explanation preferred restored; robbery otherwise seems random. — Bill Simmons
Exterior plane reportedly same as Airplane; Blue Room cover because Paul Young approval unavailable. — Bill Simmons
Transport companies avoided inept depiction, fictional companies used; Neil house reportedly built seven months100000dollars angering Paramount. — Bill Simmons
Candy brought exercise equipment never used according to Martin; Baker spit-hand adlib at Hughes direction around take11 elicited real disgust. — Bill Simmons
Candy reportedly generous, invited film workers for1000dollars pizza during Oscars. — Bill Simmons
The physical comedy and stunts are amazing, including Pesci's flip on the iced stairs; the last 20 minutes are still funny even if skippable after many viewings. — Chris Ryan
John Hughes's Chicago suburbs, lit up with Christmas decorations in Winnetka, still look great, with the city felt just nearby. — Chris Ryan
How a kid would eat if he were alone rings true, prompting memories of pre-practice junk-food meals as teenagers. — Chris Ryan
The sibling interactions, with Buzz as a savage, feel unvarnished and accurate to a big family with cousins, a bedwetter and a know-it-all.
Being the Kevin of a household brought back memories of an older brother's pranks, like being pulled down the stairs in a sleeping bag. — Mina Kimes
The final pick is suburban Chicago and the way the siblings interact. — Chris Ryan
YouTube and vlogging; Ojai location; mocking California hippies; Emma Stone's wardrobe; the one-liners; Emma Stone's performance; webcam framing; act signs
Number one with a bullet: YouTube and vlogging, foundational to the film; Stone reportedly auditioned via a webcam reel; it does not feel dated. — Juliet Litman
Vlogging was also first on another host's list, a moment of community; Stone could be a YouTube star or TikToker. — Amanda Dobbins
Second: choosing Ojai as the location was prescient.
Ojai is described as about 100 miles north of Los Angeles off the 101 toward Santa Barbara, a wealthy, hippie-rooted second-home enclave like Woodstock or the Hudson Valley, with the pink moment sunset seen when Olive and her mother sit on the car roof, and pixie tangerines. — Amanda Dobbins
Ojai first registered from Brothers and Sisters; it has a resort, golf course and spa and the outdoor Bart's Books, where Olive reads the Bible; the town is called boring, now an Architectural Digest mainstay, and as a commuter suburb like Ferris Bueller's it is off base. — Amanda Dobbins
Making fun of California hippies never gets old. — Juliet Litman
The California setting did not register for a non-Californian; the opening sign seemed only to show a small population of about 8,700; reading it as a hat tip to John Hughes suburbs is plausible. — Shea Serrano
Emma Stone's wardrobe: both regular and supposedly slutty outfits fit today's fashion. — Juliet Litman
The script's clever one-liners, especially Tucci and Clarkson scenes, though some jokes fall flat or have not aged well. — Amanda Dobbins
Returning to an original pick: Emma Stone's performance, tracing her rise from Superbad to Zombieland to carrying this film. — Shea Serrano
The performance is called undeniable but a cheat; another voice says it is not a cheat and agrees it aged best, but since Stone will win 45 categories adds webcam framing as a 1A, because teen technology usually ages poorly and this still feels spot on. — Shea Serrano
In 2010 vlogging marked a high-school stereotype; now it is ubiquitous. The webcam echoes Peyton's broadcasts on One Tree Hill, and it reinvents narration. — Amanda Dobbins
Her held-up act signs work as analog counterpoint to the odd landscape-text credits. — Shea Serrano
One host changes their answer to the signs device, likening it to 500 Days of Summer's early setup; the hosts agree, one out of 18 things so far. — Shea Serrano
Ali Sheedy is proposed for the English teacher, giving the film a link to the John Hughes and Breakfast Club era, as a mid-20s teacher a few years out of school. — Bill Simmons
Casting someone like Sheedy would visually suggest a future beyond high school for a Nora type; the other host is convinced and switches teams. — Andy Greenwald
Jimmy Eckhouse from 90210 is proposed as Mark's dad, so the parents, who otherwise just chain-smoke and drink wine like the non-mob characters in The Sopranos, would show some humanity before his late turn; the reply is "that's fair". — Andy Greenwald
Tim Kazerinsky should have been the main teacher, or alternatively Brian Doyle-Dill-Berry; the reply is "That's a great one." — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Schumacher had to push for the three Breakfast Club actors, and that Emilio wanted to play Billy (called a potential disaster) before settling for Kirby. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say C. Thomas Howell (transcribed 'See Thomas Howe') auditioned for Kirby but was too young, and that Rob Lowe was only 20 when cast as Billy. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Robert Downey Jr. was considered for Billy before Lowe won it after three auditions; one host loves Lowe as Billy and still sees Downey as Kevin as the sweet spot. — Bill Simmons
Emilio's Kirby is like his Breakfast Club character five years later, yet he had one of the better careers with Young Guns, his own films and Stakeout. — Chris Ryan
Charlie Sheen is called a bit too young and reportedly skipped his audition; one host says he could have played Alec, as he basically does in Wall Street. — Chris Ryan
The hosts say Demi Moore was cast after Schumacher saw her storm out of a John Hughes audition on the Columbia lot; she was on General Hospital, which one host watched. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say that when Moore went to rehab, moving Jenny Wright into the role of Jules was discussed. — Bill Simmons
Madonna stories are uncertain; Madonna as Jules is a good runner-up, but Moore was perfect, and Madonna may not have managed the Jeep scene, possibly Moore's best acting. — Chris Ryan
Mid-80s ensembles seem to have had about 40 actors going up for the same eight parts. — Chris Ryan
Hughes's death in 2009 prompted an outpouring; he was involved in five of the 15 biggest 80s movies, and more people have a serious relationship with his movies than with any director since 1980.
A third view stresses Broderick and Hughes finding each other at the right time: Broderick is never this magnetic again, and the first 30 minutes are among the most charming ever. — Chris Ryan
The Chez Quis restaurant is the same one used in The Blues Brothers and St. Elmo's Fire. — Bill Simmons
A deleted scene had Ferris cash a savings bond to pay for the day; it was cut for making him seem a thief, though he has a knot of cash at Chez Quis. — Bill Simmons
A line about riding the space shuttle was removed after the Challenger exploded. — Bill Simmons
The 1990 NBC Ferris Bueller show starred Charlie Schlatter with Jennifer Aniston as Jeannie; Parker Lewis Can't Lose is preferred. — Bill Simmons
The end-credits bus scene was cut from the movie and restored by Hughes, explaining a school bus coming home at 6 o'clock. — Bill Simmons
Hughes first planned a Mercedes; Modena Design built the Ferrari replicas and, per the hosts, went bankrupt after Ferrari sued, prompting a joke about more blood on Cameron's hands. — Bill Simmons
