The stylized Los Angeles montage is praised even though its red-light district is described as a fabricated composite. — Bill Simmons
Mrs. Christian’s desire for the truth is appreciated; the panel wishes her first viewing of the film had been shown.
Cage’s extreme reaction to viewing the film is placed among his memorable overacting moments. — Bill Simmons
Max’s incomplete rules of life are admired and said to come from the original screenplay. — Bill Simmons
The Clevelander is named as an enduring detail. — Bill Simmons
Anthony Heald is praised for conveying the lawyer’s superiority and comfort around depravity.
Specific scenes and the traceable investigative process are praised, from the mother and former boyfriend to film enlargement, tattoos, and tedious searching. — Bill Simmons
Machine and the absence of a larger rational conspiracy remain effective. — Bill Simmons
The film’s atmosphere of desperation is considered particularly resonant at the time of the recording. — Van Lathan
The second visit to the missing girl’s mother is praised for its sad social tension and for grounding the investigation in her need to know. — Bill Simmons
Max’s bookstore introduction is praised for instantly energizing the film and establishing chemistry with the investigator. — Bill Simmons
The panel digresses into the implausible length and audience of the adult novel used as a book cover.
The parking-lot negotiation and underground search are favorites; discovering that the same performer appears in two supposedly fatal films supplies dark comic relief. — Bill Simmons
The threatening phone call to Eddie is admired for Gandolfini’s reaction and sleazy characterization. — Bill Simmons
The meatpacking confrontation is praised for its location, revelation of the motive, and escape using the single bullet. — Bill Simmons
The subsequent call confirming the film’s reality is singled out. — Bill Simmons
Eddie’s death scene is praised for Gandolfini’s taunting excess and Cage’s emotional escalation. Stopping to telephone the mother for permission is also mocked as bizarre overthinking.
The final fight with Machine is praised, particularly the ordinary-looking face behind the mask and his lack of an explanatory traumatic history. — Bill Simmons
One preference is for the second and third Phoenix-and-Cage scenes as they enter the underground world. — Bill Simmons
Another contribution praises hiring Dino to make a custom film before choosing the meatpacking showdown; the next choice agrees, emphasizing that the villains anticipated the investigator. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say the character was originally named Danny Weber and renamed LaRusso once Macchio was cast; Macchio auditioned for Johnny because he did not want to play another good guy. — Bill Simmons
Zabka is cited saying Robert Downey Jr. and Charlie Sheen were considered for Daniel; Downey might have made a better movie, but the counterpoint is that Macchio's odd combination is what makes it stand out, and a likable Downey would have muddied whether Johnny was the villain. — Bill Simmons
Sheen is not seen as Daniel and would have fit Johnny better. — Bill Simmons
The studio originally wanted a famous Japanese actor from Seven Samurai for Miyagi (name garbled in the transcript), but he did not speak English; Bill Cosby is also said to have been mentioned, which would have aged worst. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Crispin Glover was considered for Johnny before Zabka, and Helen Hunt and Demi Moore for Ali before Shue, who reportedly got it partly from a Burger King commercial and took leave from Harvard. — Bill Simmons
De Niro wanting to play Vincent, with Pacino aged up, seems true; Coppola did think about it. — Bill Simmons
Sinatra for Altobello is carried into the what-ifs alongside the names mentioned for Vincent. — Bill Simmons
The actor who played Willie Cicci (transcribed "Joe Spinelli") was supposed to work for Zasa but died before the movie, so the character was written out. — Bill Simmons
Paramount approached Sly Stallone, Scorsese, Cimino and Warren Beatty over the years; in the early 80s Stallone was to write and direct with John Travolta, and there is an internet rumor that Eisner took a run at the script.
The hosts say Ringwald was meant to play Allison but wanted Claire, and Hughes initially resisted because it was close to her Sixteen Candles role; switching would have broken her persona. — Bill Simmons
As the hosts relay Ringwald's account, Hughes wrote Sixteen Candles around her headshot, and their mentor relationship changed after she began dating Anthony Michael Hall during this film. — Bill Simmons
Estevez was originally to be Bender but switched when Hughes couldn't find an Andrew; Tom Cruise was unavailable and is called perfect for it.
Nicolas Cage was considered for Bender and is judged too much.
John Cusack was originally cast as Bender and replaced by Nelson for not being threatening enough; it would be a totally different, more sensitive film.
Rick Moranis was originally cast as the janitor and left over creative differences.
Tom Hanks was offered Andy but could not accept because of Forrest Gump; the panel prefers Tim Robbins because the role became inseparable from him.
Kevin Costner was offered Andy and is considered a credible alternate, although the panel thinks Robbins better preserves doubt about Andy.
Tom Cruise attended table readings but declined over the director's inexperience; the panel thinks his intensity would distort Andy.
Brad Pitt was intended for Tommy before Thelma & Louise created other opportunities; the panel thinks his presence would make Tommy disproportionately prominent.
The first case is Kurt Russell: the star in one of his best movies, who in the aftermath gets to take ownership of making it so good; a respectful disagreement holds that Russell (transcribed 'Caruso') is the reason it got made and finished but Kilmer is the reason we remember it.
Both cases are called great and it is a tough one; those who did not win are George Cosmatos and Kevin Jarr (as transcribed), though Cosmatos's son Panos Cosmatos is called a great director for this year's Mandy with Nicolas Cage, which is wild.
The closing view: Kurt Russell wins it spiritually for keeping it alive, but Val Kilmer wins the movie as the best one in it; if you know the whole backstory Russell wins, if you are just watching the movie it is Kilmer, and that framing is agreed to.
Asked who won the movie, the answer is that there is only one: it has to be Nick. — Shea Serrano
Cage's is a legacy-defining role, the moment he announced himself as the biggest star on planet Earth, with Kid Rock's song the right one about it, Confederate flags and all, awkward twenty years later; it has to be Nicolas Cage, nobody else.
A case is made for Buscemi, the guy with four lines: he is so good that they clearly added the end scene of him playing craps, which means he tested through the roof and Bruckheimer wanted him back for one more scene, maybe eyeing a sequel; the answer is still Nick Cage.
This is one host's favorite Nick Cage performance, the one time he put all the pieces together: white tank top tucked into dad jeans, the mullet, the amazing letters, 'Dear Casey', the promise to bring a bunny, secretly kind of funny.
Was the movie named Con Air before or after the script? How many people died when the plane landed on the Strip? Would Poe really stay to save Baby O and the guard? Would the plane have been shot down in the first five minutes? Did Billy Bedlam's wife live? Was Denzel asked to be in the movie? Would you tell your daughter not to visit you in prison? Can you drink insulin? Would Monica Potter's character stick around? Why was there no sequel?
Did they name this movie Con Air before or after writing the script? Before: Con Air is the pitch, imagined as someone washing his hair in the shower, seeing a conditioner bottle and realizing it sounds like a flying prison.
How many people actually died in real life when they landed on the Strip? Guesses run to hundreds, 580, or 250 easy; a grisly question.
Would Nick Cage really care about saving Baby O and the female prison guard this much when he could just get off the plane and be with his wife and daughter? No; redemption and his being a good guy are offered, but he should have got off and then made a fuss.
In real life, wouldn't they have shot the plane down in the first five minutes? Yes; Colin Meaney (as transcribed) deciding not to shoot it down before it lands on the Vegas Strip as a fireball should put him on trial, hopefully not before Cameron Poe's judge, with the same lawyers urging a guilty plea.
Did Billy Bedlam's wife live after he killed her whole family, including the dog? Yes: he wanted her to live with the pain, 'heartbreak'; her story is pitched as another prequel, postquel or sequel.
Diamond Dog, Nathan Jones, former general of the Black Gorillas (as transcribed), wrote 'Reflections in a Diamond Eye' in prison, a bestseller and wake-up call that, according to the New York Times, has Denzel in talks for the movie; the hosts wonder whether Denzel was actually asked to be in this film, since Cusack's delivery sounds like a little shot at him. Denzel would have been great, though he would have had to play Cyrus, basically as the Training Day cop, making it a different movie with a different vibe.
Earlier: if you were in prison for eight years, would you tell your daughter not to come see you until you got out? One host would want to see the kids for something to look forward to every week; another counters that it depends whether you want to blend in or run the block, blood in, blood out; Poe's choice is called a little too unselfish.
A self-described dumb question: with no syringe to inject the insulin, could you not just drink it? Nobody knows how blood sugar works, and listeners are asked to answer.
Not to nitpick, but what is the likelihood that Monica Potter's character sticks around for Cage, who went into the Army to grow up, came back and went to prison the same night, showing up on a boat? She is probably married to a realtor in her area by year four, and Casey's new dad is pitched as the Con Air sequel, with Poe killing the real estate guy in Mobile.
Why wasn't there a sequel? Five or six new convicts and a hunt for the Marietta Mangler would do; you could make this movie every two years with new prisoners introduced the exact same way.
There has never been an easier winner: Colm Meaney, awful in this movie, dialed up to insane levels and overpowering everybody in every scene. In one scene Cusack out-overacts the overactor, pleading from the helicopters flying behind the plane that Cage is a friend just trying to get home to his wife and kids, 'don't fire', with Meaney echoing 'don't fire'; Meaney was terrible in Mystery Alaska too.
Meaney is simply out of his comfort zone, dialing everything to ten out of ten, and the Cusack scene is bad; other nominees are Trejo, the most animated he has ever been as he really tries to be evil, and the soundtrack, because it never stops.
Only three names are on the list, with Buscemi thrown on; Nick Cage is a yes by far, though whether this or The Rock is the peak of his career is debated, with Con Air having made over 200 million bucks.
Asked whether they like this or The Rock more: this one for sure, so much better because it is not as 'serious'. Two of the hosts have discussed before that Connery is not that good in The Rock, an old man running around Alcatraz in a Scottish accent, whereas Ed Harris is incredible in it; the premise fails because Harris was going to shut it down anyway and nobody would have died if they had called his bluff. The preference is for prison movies and big, beefy Cage, who was miscast as a chemical super freak nerd in The Rock.
This is the Nick Cage movie: after the Oscar and The Rock, Con Air announced a major star going for stardom, and it seemed he would be in our lives for the long haul, which proved wrong when about five years later it was over and he started making weird movies. Today's generation gets twisted up in superhero clothing or Iron Man's metal suit, so there is no 80s-and-90s style action star anymore.
On Cage the vote is yes from one host, with another said to be a no, and the yes is allowed; Trejo is a no, his career apex being Machete, or right now as a brand with his tacos and businesses, or when the show gave him his own category.
Malkovich is a no, his apex being Dangerous Liaisons; Buscemi is a no but can be in there; one of the great things about the movie is that it caught a lot of people not at their apex but all really good at what they were doing.
Kid Rock based 'American Badass' on Cameron Poe; Cage did most of his own stunts; Wendover Airport in Utah stood in for Lerner Airfield; the crash was originally set at the White House; the TV version adds a prison-riot rescue scene; the Sands Hotel was filmed before its November 1996 demolition; a crew member was crushed by a static C-123 model; Trisha Yearwood's version of the song was chosen over 14-year-old LeAnn Rimes'; Malkovich was unhappy with daily rewrites; Cusack reportedly refuses interviews about it yet told the BBC he would do a sequel; Simon West wanted a sequel in space; Chappelle improvised most of his lines
Kid Rock based 'American Badass' on Cameron Poe, who is the human version of that song; Cage did most of his own stunts and spoke of explosions five feet behind him, flaming helicopters dropping behind him and ball-bearing bullets over his head, 'a level of intensity, fear, you might say', which a host delivers in a voice halfway between Andrew Luck and Nick Cage.
Asked how many people died in the movie, answers of 24 and 43 are offered, since all those guys died at the boneyard, plus a case for another 500 in Vegas; fist-bumping on the Vegas Strip over a body shop for Colm Meaney's convertible is absurd after losing some 50 American soldiers in the desert. Wendover Airport in Utah stood in for the fictional Lerner Airfield, a fictional airfield with a lot of propane.
The climactic plane crash was originally intended to take place at the White House, which could have gone right into Olympus Has Fallen; Bruckheimer eventually decided Las Vegas was more in keeping with the spirit of the film, which the hosts sarcastically salute as a good call, Jerry.
The TV version includes an opening-credits scene in which a prison riot breaks out while Cage writes letters to his daughter and his diabetic friend saves him from the burning cell, which explains his loyalty; the hosts would have included it, trading fewer letters and less insulin for more prison riots, since the two-hour movie is a little fat at the end.
The hosts want a Cameron Poe prequel set in his eight years in prison, and before that a prequel to the prequel with Poe in the Army Rangers at war, perhaps narrated by Powers Boothe (transcribed 'Powers Booth'), who they think does the opening voiceover about the Rangers.
The crash site was filmed at the Sands Hotel before its demolition in November 1996, the production asking the hotel to wait a couple of weeks for the action scene; somebody was crushed to death at Wendover when a static model of the C-123 fell on him, which is why the credits end 'In Memory of Phil Schwartz'; Trisha Yearwood's version of the song was chosen over 14-year-old Leanne Rimes' original and became a massive hit.
True or false: Malkovich was unhappy during production because the script was being rewritten virtually every day and he had no idea how his character would turn out; the hosts believe it and think it shows in a performance that seems disturbed and angry, imagining him being handed the 'Cy... anara' exchange on set.
Two contradictory internet tidbits: Cusack allegedly dislikes the film so much he refuses to be interviewed about it, which would be odd given his many bad movies, versus Cusack telling the BBC News website in 2012 that a second Con Air 'would be fun' and he would do it if offered. Simon West thought another Con Air should be set in space, which the hosts greenlight as Con Shuttle with prisoners on Mars; on the DVD commentary of Chappelle's Show, Chappelle revealed that he improvised most of his lines on Con Air.
