Willis could have had Lethal Weapon and Gibson Die Hard; a hot take follows that Willis in 1986 was not believable as a super soldier, while his Die Hard hero is streetwise. — Chris Ryan
Willis looks like an everyman while Gibson looks cut from limestone; one host would have loved to see them switch, likened to a Brady-Brees swap. — Bill Simmons
Gibson turned down The Fly and The Untouchables for this film. — Bill Simmons
Gibson pursued Bond in The Living Daylights, but Broccoli turned him down for not being British and Timothy Dalton was cast; Dalton's Bond films are debated and called terrible. — Bill Simmons
Brosnan was held to Remington Steele and had to wait about ten years for Bond. — Bill Simmons
After the $250,000 script purchase, Ridley Scott was considered but had Blade Runner tensions with Warner Brothers; Leonard Nimoy was busy with Three Men and a Baby; Donner got it. — Bill Simmons
Brian Dennehy was lined up for Murtaugh but did not want to play a cop again; F/X is praised as influential. — Bill Simmons
The Joshua role was offered to Steve Railsback and John Saxon; Busey, ice cold after his Buddy Holly Story nomination, auditioned and lost weight. — Bill Simmons
Shane Black wanted William Hurt as Riggs; Hurt would play a damaged vet, not a super soldier, and a Hurt-Dennehy version would be a movie few watch. — Bill Simmons
Opening credits; 'Luke, I'm your father' fan gag; Callahan family portraits; Rob Lowe's performance; the board-meeting old lady; Tommy and Richard singing; the bees gimmick; Spade's hair jokes; the lost-virginity speech; Brian Dennehy
The opening credits, the 'Luke, I'm your father' bit with the fan, and the Callahan family portraits with Farley in drag hold up as subtle comedy. — Bill Simmons
Rob Lowe's performance has aged best; he was good in anything SNL adjacent, a comedy side unpredictable in the 1980s. — Bill Simmons
Also listed: the old lady in the board meeting, Tommy and Richard singing, the bees gimmick, the jokes acknowledging Spade's weird hair, and the speech line about losing his virginity to R.T.'s daughter. — Bill Simmons
Bo Derek seemed past her prime then though she was only 39, with Lowe, Farley and Spade 31; pairing her with Dennehy, 57, was accepted but kissing Lowe as a supposed son was strange; the casting is still called nailed.
Her haircut is flagged as aged the worst for making her look older, like Alice from The Brady Bunch. — Cousin Sal
Dennehy is incredible and overqualified, a stage legend whose Death of a Salesman history makes him a callback great salesman; serious actors going toe to toe with the bits add credibility, and he is a dead ringer for Farley. — Sean Fennessey
An anecdote: interviewing Dennehy in Winnipeg in 2001 in brutal cold for an ESPN Bobby Knight TV movie, he got choked up about Farley; his IMDb has a lot of wins though he never became famous-famous. — Bill Simmons
