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Ransom
The Departed
Lethal Weapon 2
Manhunter
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon
The Terminator
Toy Story
Gladiator
Enemy of the State
Film credit
Mel Gibson
Stats
- Episodes featuring their films
- 3
- Movies in this archive
- 3
Rewatchables episodes featuring their films
Displaying all 3 episodes
Mentioned in discussions
What’s Aged the Worst?
Rich billionaire as action hero; Mel Gibson; A.J. Benza cameo
In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:36Read transcript
- The rich billionaire as the hero of an action movie has aged the worst.
- A curveball objection cites Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne; the carve-out is that it can only exist in comic books, where those characters use their wealth for good.
- Mel Gibson himself is offered as what aged worst.
- A.J. Benza's cameo aged horribly: he was the cool gossip guy then, and within about five years was having fist fights on the Howard Stern show.
- The kid-torture material dials it up about 25 percent too much, a feeling held at the time too; a reply says it did not jump out.
- Kidnapping movies raise the bathroom question; this one is liked for showing the kidnappers' annoyance at having to care for the kid.
Casting What-Ifs
Brad Pitt as Sullivan; Al Pacino as Costello; Ray Liotta or Denis Leary as Dignam; Mel Gibson as Ellerby; Robert De Niro as Queenan
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:42Read transcript
- The casting what-ifs are called probably the best for any movie they have done, a whole alternate Departed.
- Pitt bought the producing rights, planned to play the Damon part, then decided he might be too old and went to do Babel.
- Debate over Pitt: good instincts about roles and a great producer, but miscast himself in Meet Joe Black and The Devil's Own; Damon was the better choice.
- Scorsese wanted Al Pacino for Costello; Pacino turned it down and Nicholson was the second choice.
- Ray Leota was the original choice for Dignam but declined over other commitments, his 2006 films including Comeback Season, Local Color and Even Money.
- Dennis Leary was the second choice for Dignam but had to make season three of "rest of me" (as transcribed); he would have been great, though Walberg is perfect.
- Ellerby was offered to Mel Gibson, who was starting Apocalypto; Queenan was supposed to be De Niro, who made The Good Shepherd; the Anthony Anderson role was meant for "the Rizza" (transcript form, unresolved), who was too old or had conflicts.
- Leo was in The Good Shepherd but dropped out to play Billy Costigan, and Damon then took The Good Shepherd role; The Good Shepherd is called an unexamined movie with a dynamite cast.
- The alternate cast (Leo, Pitt, Pacino, Leota, De Niro, Mel Gibson and the Riza) is called pretty loaded and preferred by one participant; Pacino would lose Costello's lumbering physicality but gain CR doing Pacino.
- Would-you-rathers: Walberg over Ray Leota, Baldwin over Mel Gibson 100 out of 100 times, and De Niro over Sheen since he can underplay.
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:25Read transcript
- Joe Pesci won the movie: Riggs obviously wins, but the vote goes to Pesci like the Heisman vote that went to Charles Woodson over Peyton Manning. — Van Lathan
- The time-out for saying Pesci was better here than in Goodfellas is raised again; the reply blames jet lag and regrets it.
- Gibson is the right answer, but the title is vacated like Reggie Bush's, so there is no winner. — Chris Ryan
- Pesci makes the movie; a joke follows about the vacated title going to Danny Glover.
Podcast choices
What’s Aged the Worst?
'Nailed them both' pun; overlong love story; Donald Trump reference; Riggs's dive-and-roll bullet dodging; villains having killed Riggs's wife; rule-breaking police propaganda; Mel Gibson
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:30Read transcript
- The nail-gun scene's shoehorned 'nailed them both' is the worst version of bad 80s action puns.
- The love story runs maybe three minutes too long, though the movie is under two hours.
- A random Donald Trump reference.
- The number one choice: Riggs's bullet avoidance of diving and flipping, which would still get him shot, especially by a machine gun.
- The South Africans having killed Riggs's wife is unneeded: the girlfriend's death is motivation enough to pull down the stilt house.
- Agreement, likened to the New Jack City reveal that Nino Brown killed Scotty's mom.
- Perhaps it gave Riggs closure, but the wife dying in a random accident on the one night he didn't drive her is more affecting.
- The movie is classic propaganda: Riggs has no warrant and they break every policing rule now being reformed.
- Mel Gibson himself, again: 'Why, Mel?', spoiling his other movies.
- The wife-killing reveal could have been saved as the plot of Lethal Weapon 3.
Casting What-Ifs
Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Paul Newman, and several Lecter possibilities
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:37Read transcript
- Richard Gere is named as a possible Will Graham.
- Mel Gibson is named as a possible Graham.
- Paul Newman is named as an intriguing Graham alternative.
- John Lithgow is considered for Lecter.
- Mandy Patinkin is considered for Lecter.
- Brian Dennehy is considered for Lecter and reportedly recommended Brian Cox.
- David Lynch and Ted Levine are mentioned in the wider casting discussion.
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:58Read transcript
- The award goes to Gibson and Glover together as a duo.
- Agreement follows because it vaulted both of them; they brought Shane Black's material to life.
Podcast choices
- Speaker not identified
- Mel Gibson and Danny Glover
Casting What-Ifs
Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson swapping roles; Gibson as James Bond; Ridley Scott or Leonard Nimoy directing; Brian Dennehy as Murtaugh; Michael Biehn as Riggs; Steve Railsback or John Saxon as Joshua; William Hurt as Riggs
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:27Read transcript
- 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.
- 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.
- Gibson turned down The Fly and The Untouchables for this film.
- 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.
- Brosnan was held to Remington Steele and had to wait about ten years for Bond.
- 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.
- Brian Dennehy was lined up for Murtaugh but did not want to play a cop again; F/X is praised as influential.
- Michael Bean was considered for Riggs but was filming Aliens.
- The Joshua role was offered to Steve Railsback and John Saxon; Busey, ice cold after his Buddy Holly Story nomination, auditioned and lost weight.
- 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.
What’s Aged the Worst?
Mel Gibson; the father-daughter dynamic and Rianne's casting; Murtaugh's portable phone
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:08Read transcript
- Gibson's later troubles (alcohol, reckless statements) aged worst, including a homophobic streak that surfaces in Riggs.
- Gibson's off-screen self-destruction colors the franchise; unlike O.J. in The Naked Gun, Riggs was so beloved that separating the actor is hard, though the rewatch was still enjoyed.
- The father-daughter dynamic is strange: the family surprising Murtaugh in the bathtub, the daughter's kiss and the 'heartbreaker' remark.
- The daughter's actress was 27 while Glover was 40 playing 50 and Gibson 30, making the dinner-table flirtation with Riggs weird.
- It seems written by people without teenage daughters, who in real life sit sullenly in their rooms.
- Glover's early portable phone, possibly the first filmed cell phone, is compared with the beach phone in Wall Street; the Radio Shack-style model is dated to about 1986.
- The Gibson material and Rianne are the big ones; one host thought the actress playing Rianne was good, the other that she was too old.
Casting What-Ifs
OJ Simpson, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Gibson, Selleck, Sting, and several Sarah Connor candidates form the casting what-if tree.
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:10Read transcript
- Orion executive Mike Medavoy proposed OJ Simpson as the Terminator and Arnold as Kyle Reese; Cameron rejected Simpson as too likable at the time and the pursuit image as racially wrong.
- Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson reportedly declined the Terminator, while Tom Selleck was considered because the machine was originally imagined as an ordinary man able to blend in.
- Sting is the one Kyle Reese alternative treated as credible and exciting, though Michael Biehn is defended.
- Lea Thompson, Geena Davis, Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, and Jennifer Jason Leigh are discussed for Sarah; Rosanna Arquette is the panel’s favorite alternate, while Hamilton remains perfect.
Casting What-Ifs
Billy Crystal, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis as Buzz; Jim Carrey as Buzz with Paul Newman as Woody; Rick Moranis as Rex
In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:03Read transcript
- Billy Crystal declined Buzz, later called it the biggest mistake of his career, and was then offered Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc.
- Crystal is judged not rigid enough for Buzz, unlike Tim Allen's chin-out delivery.
- Chevy Chase turned down Buzz; he is judged unable to pull it off because his corners are a little too rounded.
- Bill Murray is rejected as too snarky to deliver the "sad, strange little man" line seriously.
- A 1995 Mel Gibson is judged capable of the role.
- Bruce Willis gets a thumbs up with doubts, and his Look Who's Talking voice work is praised.
- Tim Allen has said Pixar wanted Jim Carrey for Buzz and Paul Newman for Woody but could not afford them, meant to reflect new Hollywood taking over old; Newman later voiced Doc Hudson in Cars.
- One should never say no to Paul Newman, but Tom Hanks's Woody is too ingrained to imagine anyone else. — Mallory Rubin
- Hanks and Allen as generational peers, a movie pillar and a TV star, is preferred; Newman fits better as Doc.
- Newman is the only name that could have replaced Hanks, because Woody needs a peach-soft voice; several actors, such as Robert Redford or Denzel Washington, could have played Buzz.
- Rick Moranis was reportedly approached for Rex, which would have been great.
- An online claim of Jeremy Irons as Mr. Potato Head is raised but unconfirmed.
Casting What-Ifs
Reported Maximus possibilities: Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Ben Mendelsohn, and Hugh Jackman; Christopher Plummer as Marcus Aurelius (Crowe’s unsuccessful preference)
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:37Read transcript
- Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Ben Mendelsohn, and Hugh Jackman are mentioned as reported possibilities, with the hosts unsure of the sourcing.
- Russell Crowe reportedly pushed for his Insider costar Christopher Plummer as Marcus Aurelius.
- Ridley Scott chose Richard Harris after reported back-and-forth.
Casting What-Ifs
Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, and George Clooney were considered for Clayton; Sean Connery was the backup for Brill, prompting a role-swap discussion with The Rock.
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:37Read transcript
- Tom Cruise reportedly signed on before leaving for Eyes Wide Shut.
- Mel Gibson and George Clooney are reported as considered for Clayton.
- Will Smith is reported to have chosen the film partly to work with Gene Hackman and to have taken less money.
- Sean Connery is reported as the backup choice for Brill.
- The panel considers swapping Hackman and Connery between Enemy of the State and The Rock, but prefers the released casting.
Displaying discussions 13 - 24 of 27 in total
