The film says its own title naturally when Diane tells Lloyd he can say anything to her. — Bill Simmons
Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” the Replacements, Living Colour, Fishbone, and the observed Red Hot Chilipvers create an era-specific soundtrack that still works.
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
Was Omar from The Wire inspired by Frank White? Avon Barksdale is suggested instead, or Frank split into several characters; the film may be missing an Omar-type gunfighter Frank keeps on ice.
Did Walken's subway muggers come back for a job? Yes, Harold Perrineau is seen later at the Plaza and in the Schoolly D scene.
Why does it take filmmakers so long to tap people who are obviously stars, as with Grantland and Ringer writers? The answer is the actors spent a decade building toward the right role, and most directors know only already-known actors.
While casting Reservoir Dogs, the speaker recalls casting director Ronnie Eskell (as heard) telling him, 'Quentin, if this directing thing doesn't work, I will give you half my business.' — Quentin Tarantino
Game recognizes game: Ferrara and the NYPD Blue team (Bocchco and Milch) recognized Caruso was ready; Tim Robbins recounted being promised The Player despite funding pressure.
On Jackie Brown, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, Robert Forster and John Saxon were the four Max Cherry ideas; Forster got the role after an Alligator rewatch and a chance restaurant meeting, before bigger names could ask.
Pam Greer was baked into that project; Travolta was first considered for the Eric Stoltz role while Michael Madsen was expected as Vincent, then became the backup when that fell through.
For the last movie, casting Brad Pitt needed availability, a deal, and Rick cast first so his double Cliff would be realistic.
Ajax's language and sexual assault (disputed); what is said to Mercy; Cleon's death; Fox's stunt double being thrown onto the tracks and never mentioned again
Ajax is simultaneously a great character and badly aged for his language and being a sexual assaulter.
The counterargument is that a movie about gangs who stalk the streets needs a bad guy, and Ajax contrasts with Swan's King Arthur moral code; a bad guy in a 1979 New York gang is plausible, though some of his words are hard to hear now, and what is said to Mercy is not great.
Cleon dying has aged terribly and hurts every time; the stunt double thrown onto the tracks and the character never being mentioned again is one host's vote.
The story recited: Michael Beck as Swan and Thomas Waits (as transcribed) as Fox were to be the two stars, but Fox's actor feuded with Walter Hill, who killed the character off midway, rewrote the last 45 minutes, and used a crew member with the same hair as a stunt double, seen from behind with Mercy before a cop throws him into the train; nobody later asks what happened to Fox the way they ask about Ajax.
The actor told the story at a 2015 reunion where the cast rode the subway to Coney; another host disliked his face in the zoom-in and was glad he died.
The death should have established the stakes of the all-night journey and made the arrival a relief, but it is so quick and so hamstrung together that it has no emotional payoff.
Today a studio would recast as with Eric Stoltz and Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future rather than concoct a stunt death; it also creates a hole when Swan returns to an empty station with no ambulances or police after a man was thrown in front of a train.
Why the Warriors run from police is debated: they are a gang in colors where they should not be, and the fire, the assassination and the DJ keep police on alert; starting the fire five stops down is called a smart move by the other gangs, and Masai is said to have been pulling the strings like Masai Uhiri (as transcribed).
"I get older, they stay the same age"; "I only came here to do two things, kick some ass and drink some beer"; "If these are the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself"; "All right, all right, all right"; "You just got to keep on living, man"; "She was a hip, hip, hip lady"; "Wipe that face off your head, bitch"
Wooderson's line about getting older while the high school girls stay the same age was hilarious for about 20 years and is less so lately; the line about only coming to do two things, kick some ass and drink some beer, and being almost out of beer, and the great high school yearbook line about killing yourself if these are the best years of your life, are classics.
'All right, all right, all right' became the McConaughey joke for years and is still his catchphrase; Don Dawson's speech about doing the best he could, having fun, playing hard and chasing girls while stuck in this place is recited and attributed to Don, played by Sasha Jensen; the joint exchange and the keep-on-living speech with its spelled-out L.I.V.I.N. follow.
Slater's George Washington speech is played: Washington was in a cult tied to aliens, grew fields of weed at Mount Vernon and had people growing it across the country as a cash crop for the southern states, and Martha Washington had a bowl waiting when he came home, a hip, hip, hip lady; Slater's line imagining how many people are having sex at that moment is also liked, and the Martha Washington line is loved.
From 93 to 96 little movie monologues meant a lot because there was no internet yet, like Tarantino in the kitchen doing the Top Gun theory in Sleep With Me, an otherwise unremarkable Eric Stoltz movie, which felt mind-blowing, like the internet in one scene you wished was the whole movie; now the internet is full of such riffs, and the Martha Washington bit once landed as a great point.
The cult-and-aliens line is preceded by Washington being in a cult; one of the best ad libs is Parker Posey's 'Wipe that face off your head, bitch' as she wraps up the initiation, which in a making-of she traced to a badly translated Chekhov play whose line stuck with her; Don's fake punch at a kid walking past in the school hallway is a classic crazy football bully move.
