Tony Scott - The Last Boy Scout

0:00 Football is back, Andrew. You are based in Cleveland, the Giants justin town. They're leaving with a W. And now heading into week four, your team is one and two. Yeah, I mean it's the Browns. What are you gonna do? That's what we've come to know and love them for. That's why we drink here. Well, I gotta ask, how do you feel about Cleveland's chances in Week nine against LA. Well, ideally, as long as nobody pulls a gun on the field, I think will be okay. You know you mentioned that. When you talk about Cleveland versus LA, one can't help but think about the tragedy involving star running back Billy Cole. After halftime, he enters the game high on PCP, shoots and kills several Cleveland players before turning the gun on himself in the end zone on live television.

0:56 It's hard to forget, really hard to believe even. Listeners. We are, of course speaking about the Cleveland Cats and the LA Stallions, which means we're talking about a film by Tony Scott, his nineteen ninety one buddy action comedy The Last Boy Scout You in the Air, I'm not on Jodan NI You can feeling over World Tennis Ride.

2:00 Hello everybody, I'm Jeff Johnson and I'm Andrew Blakeley and this is a film by podcast. So The Last Boy Scout Andrew. I know Tony Scott has done some incredible work, and amazingly enough, this is one of his underrated films. Do you want to let the listeners know what The Last Boy Scout is all about? Once a first rate secret service agent, Joe Hallenbeck is now a gruff private investigator whose latest gig is protecting a pole dancer. When she's murdered, he begrudgingly teams up with her boyfriend, Jimmy Dix, an ex quarterback with a gambling problem. The two go after her killers, and before long they stumble onto a plot by well known football magnate to bribe federal legislators into legalizing sports gambling.

2:51 So let's go back to nineteen eighty seven. Shane Black has written a dark, hard boiled action thriller about a washed up detective getting caught up in a case involving blackmail and sports gambling. And meanwhile, producer Joel Silver is at Fox working on a film adaptation of the nineteen seventy nine Roderick Thorpe novel Nothing Lasts Forever. Now, he's not happy with the book's title, but he loves the title of this unproduced Change Black screenplay, so he makes a deal with Black to take the screenplay's title, and eventually Nothing Lasts Forever becomes die.

3:36 Hard and the best Christmas movie of all time and the best. Yeah, it's odd to know that The Last Boy Scout was originally titled die Hard because Joe Hallenback essentially is John McClean. Absolutely. I mean, it very much feels like Shane Black's Diehard as you're watching it. And this starts a trend for Bruce Willis of doing movies where he essentially just plays John McClain. Yeah. We can talk about a couple more of those later, but yeah, this very much feels like Dieard three. Yeah, And the funny thing is, you know he's kind of at the at the height of his star power here.

4:18 Bruce Willis initially doesn't even want to do this because he says, you want me to do a movie where I'm trying to rescue my wife and shoot people. I just did that. And admittedly the script went through a lot of a lot of changing on set even you know, Shane Black has famously said he this is the most he's ever had to work on a script. And when you find out how much he makes for it, which we'll get to in a minute, you'll you'll be like, well, you know, sometimes you gotta you gotta earn that money. But let's uh, let's talk about this cast and crew. Bruce willis playing detective Joe Hallenback. Uh So Moonlighting and die Hard make him a star. Yeah, but he's coming off of Hudson Hawk right before this, which I like, I don't understand the hate for Hudson Hawk. What about you?

5:06 I really do like It's not gonna make the list of like best movies of the nineties or anything like that for me, but if it were a most underrated Movies of the nineties, it would probably crack the top ten. I really do love that movie. Yeah, it's fun. Jack Nicholson is the top choice to play Joe allen Back. Huh what Joel Silver? And we're gonna talk a lot about jol Silver and his cocaine fueled antics. But how much COKEI you do in the day that you're like, No, it's Nicholson Nicholson is Joe Hallen back. Do you see Jack Nicholson this is nineteen ninety one. Do you see Jack Nicholson playing a character like this? Not like this, but I mean Nicholson playing a detective like you get Chinatown or it's also underrated sequel The Two Jakes. I think Nicholson can be a cool, gritty, dark detective. I don't know that he's still in that space in nineteen ninety one, though.

6:02 Yeah, I don't think so. Love I love what honestly, I love what Bruce Willison is doing here because, like I said, this is John McClain. It's the washed up he's hungover like every morning, like the introduction to his character, he's he's he's asleep in his his buick. These kids are like they throw a dead scroll on him, and then they try and steal his watch and he pulls a gun on one of them. They're like eleven kids screaming. And just very very unfazed by waking up with a dead squirrel on him. That's that's impressive. Yeah, I mean, how bad is life when you wake up in your car and there's a dead animal on top of him? You're like, ah, what you know, I think fuck the scroll to death, you know min Off.

6:48 Yeah, I'm not sure. Yeah, just I think it's it's a it's fascinating to see that the uh, we're introduced to his character and we'll be introduced to dam Wayne's characters. They're both just miserable. And then I think this is like a Shane Black thing though, I mean think about yeah, his Shane Black is like the king of the buddy comedy, the buddy cop comedy, the Detective, the Buddy Detective comped, you know movies. He's always no one, no one does this better than Shane Black. I think the only way you could make this more of a Shane Black movie is if it was set during Christmas. Other than that, it is the same. I mean, that's his his thing. Funny and funny. You mentioned it because this movie was released in December. Yeah, and I think, you know, critics way like a lot of people will say, because this is this has got a cult following now, did not do well at the box office. Initially, a lot of people said, well, this is not a Christmas movie. You know, you should have released it in December because it's not like the feel good movie and truthfully, it's la so we're one Santa Claus statue away from Yeah, it was.

7:52 It took place in Christmas, and it falls into the Shane Black law of everything happens at Christmas time. Yeah, I thought this was funny. Crew members confirmed that Bruce Willis would show up on set in disguise and then ask them if they like Bruce Willis or if they think he's cool. That might be the worst thing I've ever heard. And you know, some thought some thought it was funny, some some did not think it was funny that someone were like, it's kind of sad, Like, I just want to know what is the Bruce Willis disguise? Is it like a sunglasses, a mustache? Is it? How elaborate is he getting? You know? The The only person I can think that would be more ridiculous is if like Arnold Schwartzenegger showed up and was like, hey, guys, you see this this big os Is he cool? This guy? Because I mean, Bruce Willis is such a recognizable face and voice. I don't know how you think you're gonna get away with that with your coworkers.

8:50 You cannot get away with it. But he tried us that's hilarious. Let's talk about his co workers Damon Wayans playing disgraced quarterback Jimmy Dick. This is this is his breakout as far as film goes. SNL from eighty five to eighty six. Yep, he's got small but memorable roles in Beverly Hills, cop Roxanne Earth Girls Are Easy, you know in Living Color makes him a breakout star in I tellety one. That's what I mean. That's where I say. You know, that's where his real stardom came from. You got you got a favorite thinking back to in Living Color, you got a favorite character that he did. I mean, he did several amazing ones.

9:31 But what's the name of the clown? I can't think Homie d clown, homied clown. There you go. That's that's where I was going, Homie declown. How me don't play that? Yeah, Homie, don't play that. Uh yeah. But it's it's an interesting transition because I think a lot of comedians get into the darker the more dramatic roles or action star. I mean, Bruce Willis obviously became an action star from comedy or I know Jamie Fox is on in Living Color, and dude's got an oscar. I just I really didn't buy Damon Wayne's as the best core back in the fake NFL. Whatever they didn't, You didn't, you didn't. You didn't buy him as the quarterback with the million dollar on the best arm in the National League. I think is.

10:14 In nineteen ninety he's training with the Los Angeles Raiders quarterback Vince Evans to get prepared for this role, which I think is kind of strange because we never see Jimmy Dix on the field. I mean, this is ill. I'm gonna go ahead and call it a football movie. It's a detective movie, it's a noir movie, it's a comedy, it's a Buddy Cup movie. But it's also it's a football movie because we get a little bit of football, but he's never on the field except for when he's not supposed to be, when he's riding horseback and throwing a ball, you know, like seventy yards and hitting Chelsea fields right in the face. I don't know, do you use the train with a pro quarterback. I think he throws a ball twice in the movie, and they cut away pretty much immediately, pretty quickly. Yeah, point I mean, I will agree it's a football movie. Though.

10:58 Any movie that opens with Friday Night A Great Night for Football by like a Hank Williams knockoff, that's a that's a football. Let's hey, let's let's show some respect that that was Bill Medley, the you know dirty Dancing Now of. Time move. Yeah, that guy. All I can think is this dude is I mean, admittedly a pretty catchy song. I think there has a line like It's party time in Cleveland. Yeah, but the whole opening scene is just it's a football movie. But yeah, damon, Wayne's could have absolutely skipped that and would have had no effect on the film. You know that you mentioned him Friday Night's a Great Night for Football. I do want to point out, because you said you can, because you called Bill Medley a Hank Williams junior knockoff. The initial prints of this film, when they're doing the testing with audiences, they didn't have that yet, so they were using they were using Hank Williams Junior, you know, his NFL Monday Night football thing that he was doing.

11:58 I mean, yeah, it's clear they were just like, hey, we can't get the rights to that. So yeah, which, well, yeah, come on. So I love when when these movies, you know, because any given Sunday is another perfect example. Hey, we're gonna do a movie about the NFL, about the teams, about the players. Oh, by the way, this movie is filled with the negative aspects of the game. There's drugs and hookers and violence. You know. Then the NFL is like, nope, we're done, We're good, you know. As a Clevelander though, with this, with this film opening on the most cartoonish football game of all time, I did find it funny that they actually had like real football commentators, and they did mention the game is being played in Municipal Stadium, which is where the Brown's played, and that's where played right three I think ninety five, so like they could use a little bit, they peppered it in where they could.

12:48 Yeah, I mean you got Dick Buckis and Lynn Swan, they're playing themselves basically. I dig it. I absolutely dig it. Let's talk about Joe's family, his dysfunctional family. Chelsea Field plays Joe's wife, Sarah. Yeah, I took him while I think was she and she was in Masters of the Universe. Very memorable as Tila. Yeah, it's been a minute and in My Guilty Pleasure from nineteen ninety seven Masters of the Universe starring Dolph Lungdren. Other than that, I mean she was like this. She was like an airline. She was like a flight attendant and commando in eighty five? And why didn't she do more? I thought she? I think she was a good actress.

13:30 I mean it's hard to say she doesn't. I feel like, get a whole lot of time to shine in this one. So well, she didn't do bad. But I'm gonna tell you what. We'll get to Shane Black here in a minute, and I want to talk a little bit about the script that that initially was there was a lot more for her character to do, but then Bruce Willis and Joel Silver decided, now. We're not we're not doing all that. We're going a different way. But I don't know. I liked her. I mean, maybe overacting a little bit here and there. This movie's filled with overacting, though it is. They really in some places really leaned into the noir aspect, the melodramatic, and at other times when it leaned into the John McLain noss of it, it was all over acting.

14:13 What'd you think of a Daniel Harris plays his daughter Darien. This is this is like a weird time for her because she's no longer the little girl from the Halloween movies, but she's not grown up yet. She's like, it's like an awkward moment for her. You know, she's like playing a tea. She's like fourteen. Her character's fourteen in the movie. She claims this is her favorite film role, and I think that's saying a lot because the Halloween franchise made her a star. I mean, she's you can't every month there's a you know, these cons that happen. She's there, and like the line is out the door to meet her, to get an autograph from her, get a photo with her.

14:55 Yeah, but I mean I'm imagining a fourteen year old on set. I'm hanging out with Bruce Willis, with Damon Wayne's I'm getting to cuss a lot. Oh yeah, car chases and things, and she's in the thick of it. So like as a fourteen year old, Uh, that would be my jam, Like that would be my favorite experience ever. Yeah, I like, I don't. I liked her. I thought she was fun. Oh yeah, absolutely, and she honestly I think she holds her own with how much. I don't necessarily know what she hers and Bruce Willis's relationship felt super believable or real, But I don't. I don't think that's on her. I think she did a great job. Yeah, I'm a fan of her what she does in this one. This movie you got, you got heroes, you gotta have some villains. Nobel Willingham plays the Stallion's owner, Shelley Marcone. This is his year. He's got roles in Career Opportunities where he plays Jennifer Connelly's upset father. He's in City Slickers. I think that's probably the role I always think of, think of Hell yeah, yeah, well that and this where he's playing like a total scumbag. You know, he's he's like Jerry Jones. He's like evil Jerry Jones.

15:57 Which is it much of a stretch, but. Yeah, he does really play that, like sinister evil up really well in this, like you just really want to punch this dude, even before I really understand the full way to that. Oh yeah, absolutely you do. And he's got some he's got some serious muscle he's had. It's a who's who of Henchman for him like Kim Coates is like a very young Kim Coates. Is there an uncredited James Gandolfini. Is in the crew? Yeah, I did well. Now I want to watch it again. Damn. Yeah. He no lines for James Gandalfini in this one, but he's uh, he's right there. And then at one hour, one minute, forty two seconds, the man shows up. Taylor Negron as Milo, his his main, his go to Henchman.

16:47 But in my opinion, best part of this movie, absolutely the best part of this movie. He's he's one of my he's one of my all time favorite Henchman. If I had a top five, if I made a top five Henchman list, which we should do sometime, that's not a bad He's in my top five for sure. He's Yeah, and like you you mentioned, he doesn't get that much screen time. So the impact that he has, you know, when he's finally defeated at the end, like you're you're pumped about this, and it's impressive how quickly he was able to build up that much hate. Yeah, I think this is a guy. The heat check he brings in fast times at Richemont High, delivering Spaccula the Pizza. He's had that small role in Nothing but Trouble.

17:27 He's he is hilariously repulsive in Biodome from ninety six. I haven't seen that one forever. Oh, he's so good in it, and this is like, this is finally he's playing against type. And he's in well half the movie, and he's every scene he's in, he's chewing it up. I love Taylor and Negron in this movie. He really is fantastic. I believe his character as this kid that was like bullied in high school by the cool jocks and whatnot, and then grew up to just be very hateful and violence. Like I can see that, Like he's the key to war trench coats to school and everybody made fun of him, and he grew up to just unleash all that rage on people.

18:08 Yeah, and and then with this, uh, this movie wins a couple of awards, both from MTV, but one of them is like the best action scene. His villain gets shot multiple times, falls off of a lighting scaffold at the top of the stadium, and lands on top of helicopter blades that are spinning, and he's just like like that, like that Grimlin in the in the Blender, he's just he's all over the you know the place. I I love that. It's it's so over the top and it's beautiful. It is it absolutely is speaking of beautiful halle Berry playing the lovely Miss corret as the uh as the uh, the uh, the DJ says and at the she.

18:56 Is so young in this it's it's wild to me that this was only you know, a few years before she really became a household name. Yeah, but she's just she seems like a kid. Well, think about it, she is. I mean, think about this. This is and this is this is absolutely her breakout year. She's got three movies in nineteen ninety one. She does she does Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. In June, she does the comedy Strictly Business with Tommy Davidson and a very young Sam Rockwell, and that comes out in November. And this is where, Okay, she's getting somewhere because she's like, she's got top billing, she's on the poster, and then she's got The Last Boy Scout in December. Incredible and especially when you think about this from nineteen ninety one to right now, in twenty twenty four. There's only been five years where she isn't in a movie on the big screen.

19:46 I mean, she's she's still got it. First off, like she's an amazing actress, absolutely gorgeous, started young and just kind of kept going like obviously she's got some you know, I'm sure she probably won a Razzie for Catwoman here and there. But when she's on she's amazing. You know, you mentioned Catwoman and I had to. I actually laughed. I know, watching it, she's sitting there curled up with the with Jimmy Dix, you know, Damion Wains, and she has the actually, she has the line. If I was a cat I would perr. It's it is impossible to not think of that awful leather costume and terrible, terrible movie when she said that line.

20:27 Oh man, it's it is. It's awful. But I gotta I gotta be honest. I don't know that she's peaked yet even now. Really, I don't, dude. I mean, did you like when you saw her what was it, John Wick Parabellum, Yeah, yeah, I mean now she's like she's ready to be an action hero and she was kicking ass in that movie. I I love that turn for her. I think, you know, kind of like the Charlie's Farren move where you kind of go from the the young hot to old badass. You know, what was that one that she that Charlie's did on on Netflix? Tom Blonde? Oh you're talking about Netflix? Yeah, the Old The Old Guard, Old Guard. Yeah, not an amazing movie, but she was badass in it. You know, she's badass and everything true.

21:07 So I think I could I could see halle Berry making that move going full Liam Neeson. Let's talk about who's badass on the screen or behind the screen. Shane Black. Yeah, you and I love Shane. Black, of course. I yeah, you know, we were talking obviously about Tony Scott and Bruce Willis. But to me, this is a Shane Black film. I think you're right, this is I mean, this is nineteen ninety one. He has got a lot of credibility right now, right Yeah, I. Mean, he's so he's so hot going into this, Like I feel like you get a script from him and you know it's going to be egal absolutely. Well, let's talk about the script. You know, initially it was workshopped as drafts for Lethal Weapon two and die Hard too, which again I'll tell you. I'll tell you this right now. I would believe that this movie takes place in the same universe as the Lethal Weapon movies. However, and Joe brings Jimmy home, and that's when we are introduced to Daniel Harris's Darien character, the daughter. She's watching Leath the Weapon on TV. Yes, you take you cut that scene, you just cut a sliver of it just so we don't know that she's watching Leath the Weapon.

22:18 I'm telling you this takes place in the same universe. I mean, if that had gone smoother, if this had done better in the box office, we could have had a what is essentially a John McClain Leith the Weapon crossover. How great would that be? I would love it? Well. Originally the script is much darker, way more violent. There was a subplot involving Milo as a director of snuff films. Damn. You know, like you see those back we get the Bruce Willis has these great flashbacks when he's a Secret Service agent and he's he's who's at Chelsea Noble, who is protecting and you know Chelsea Nobles obviously into some weird beating women, sex stuff. So in the original script, that's kind of how like the hookup initially was going between Shelley and Chelsea, Shelley and Senator Baynard. I think center Baynard because Milo was this director of snuff films where they were killing women. So when we talk about it being darker and violent, it was way darker, way violent.

23:23 You gotta remember, Shane Black was he was coming out of a really heartbreaking relationship. He was in a dark place. He admittedly he's talked about how like two years he just was trying to write Joe Hallenback is Shane Black. He was. He said all he wanted to do was just smoke cigarettes and be miserable and read paperback novels. And a lot of what the character Joe Hallenback became was Shane Black dealing with this relationship ending. So yeah, I mean all of his movies have a dark dark you know, even the sillier ones, like I would say, like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang has some pretty dark themes. So it's definitely just his style. But this is one of the darker ones, especially if you started adding in snuff films.

24:11 Well, and I mentioned that Joe's wife had a more prominent role. It's because Milo had kidnapped her and she was slated to be in one of the snuff films. And then Joe and Jimmy have to go save he and not just savor they had to save her from a chainsaw death. She was in the original script, she was going to be murdered with the chainsaw until they get there to save her, and you know, and yeah, so it went dark. But uh, and when he finally sold this script, he became the first writer to sell a specscript for one million dollars, which ended up being one point seventy five million. WHOA, that's a lot of money. I mean, I was gonna say, hey, Shane, it's probably easier to go to therapy, But therapy isn't going to pay you one point seventy five million.

24:56 No, it's And surprisingly he turned down a a two point two five million dollar offer from Coroco Pictures just so he could work with Joel Silver. Again, that's wild, especially given the way that I know that their relationship plays out. But between the two of them and Bruce Willis and Antoni Ski. Oh yeah, so I'm sure here rets that decision. Now, Yeah, we're gonna get to that because this is this is a situation where everyone hates everyone. But uh oh yeah, I got I got an interesting quote here from Shane Black about this. He says, quote, I was busy mourning my life and in many ways the loss of my first real love. I didn't feel much like doing anything except smoking cigarettes and reading paperbacks. All things come around. Time passed, and eventually I sat down and transformed some of that bitterness into a character, the central focus of a Private Eye story, which became the Last Boy Scout. Writing that script was a very cathartic experience, one of the best experiences I've ever had. I spent so much time alone working on that days which I wouldn't speak three four days where I maybe said a couple of words. It was a wonderfully intense time where my focus was better than it's ever been, and I was rewarded so handsomely for that script. It felt like a vindication and like I was back on track.

26:17 I mean, I'm gonna say it again, Shane. Maybe try therapy, but that's that's dark. Maybe, yeah, just talk to someone, Yeah, just a bit. I'll tell you what, Andrew. Let's take a let's take a quick break. And when we get back, I definitely want to talk about some of the the on set tension that this movie's famous for. Welcome Back. We're talking about Tony Scott's the last Boy Scout. Things always don't go smoothly behind the camera. Andrew, Yeah, very true. Well, I know there's a lot to I know there's a lot to go over here, but uh, you know, we'll we'll try and condense it a little bit. Tony Scott hated working with Joel who was said to be very intrusive on set.

27:04 Yeah, and he apparently he was. He was so bad and so coked out and so domineering that the character of Lee, the the coked out producer in his next film, True Romance, is specifically based on Joel Silver. So every time you're you see True Romance and you see this absolutely Bonker's character that is specifically. Yeah, that That's what I was dealing with on this was who is at the Saul Rubinek who plays Lee Donowitz. Yep, He's one of my favorite parts of True Romance because I love True Rants one of my all time favorite movies. Yeah, I love that film and the fact that that Tony Scott goes out of his way to cast someone to look and sound and act like Joel Silver, just so all of Hollywood is in on the joke. Yeah, I think that's that's amazing, man, that's absolutely amazing. Yeah, Tony Scott said, you know, this production was miserable because Silver and Willis took over. They altered the script, even made him shoot scenes that he didn't want to do under threat of being fired.

28:08 Yeah. And I think there's a couple of places it shows up in here because this movie is written so sharp. You know, it's got that classic Shane Black dialogue. There are a couple of times where Bruce Willis like it almost feels like he looks at the camera and like smirks and tries to say a one liner and it very much feels like Bruce Willis, which also been like, hey, this is a time for like another upka motherfucker, Like try to slide this one in and it feels out of place. You can feel them trying to force that character a little bit. There's You're absolutely right, there's a couple of moments where I'm like, that's that's not Shane Black, Yeah talking, that's that's not that's that's that's a that's so and audible. Given what you've said about Bruce Willis on set. You know, I think that makes a lot of sense that he he's trying to build this image, this this action star image that he's still super unsure about.

28:55 Yeah, I get it. Uh, ironic. Ironically. Joel Silver is also on record as saying the making of this film was one of the worst experiences of his life, but he doesn't go into detail. Yeah, and I know, I don't know, I don't know about that. This caused a rift between between them as well, because I think this Hudson Hawk die Hard too, you know, back to back to back, and they stopped working together. Yeah, you're right, die Hard Films. Yeah, I don't think Pricepo has worked with Joe Silver again after this. Well, I I think I've got a quote here from the The A D James Scott Stopel and I you know, this is a this is a guy who is not at the height of his popularity or his power, and I think he you know, sometimes you have to go with the outside perspective here, James said, he's talking, you know, he's talking about an interview. He's talking about the production problems he said that were caused due to quote the over abundance of alpha males on the project. Bruce was yeah, he says. Bruce was at the height of his stardom.

30:03 So was Joel, so was Tony, and so is Shane. There were a lot of people who had a lot of opinions about what to do. There were some heated early nineties testosterone charge personalities on the line. It was a charged environment, shall. We say, yeah? And I mean they all had power in that situation too. I mean it sounds like, you know, from the stories I've heard, Shane kind of got strong armed because it was sort of like a we own the script, we can get you out of here. But I mean, they all had big names, they all had a dog in the fight. Meant you gotta say, like, you know, if your writer is not making the necessary changes you want, you're you're kind of firing back at him and going, I just gave you one point seventy five million dollars write whatever I say. You know, yeah, for sure, But I mean everyone everyone's got you know, I feel like everyone's got a reason to stand their ground. And you know, when you've got that many alpha males, you know that it's not gonna work. It's it's just not true.

31:00 And I think we it's very easy for us to look back with the benefit of hindsight and say, hey, it's Tony Scott and Shane Black. Trust them and just do what they say. They make good shit. In the moment, I'm sure that that wasn't an easy thing to see. Oh no, no, And I don't think Joel Silver is giving up an inch of ground whatsoever. So yeah, I'm fine writing him off. You know, I don't want to lose Willis. I'm fine kicking Joel Silver out of the room. That's fine by me. Yeah, Yeah, save Bruce. Another situation here, Following several hired and fired editors, Warner Brothers finally called Stuart Baird to do a re edit to tone down the violence because this has got an NC seventeen rating at this point. They bring him in because they want to they want to cut a lot of the violence. They want to make a coherent cut of the film, and he had done something very similar for them on Tango and Cash in nineteen eighty nine.

31:49 Yep. Yeah, I remember reading him right talking about this and basically said he was handed was a mess. It was not a He didn't just cut out some of the islands, he completely re edited the whole thing. I can't imagine how how difficult that be when you're you're showing up the last minute to try and fix something, and then they're like, here's the whole mess, and we don't know what to do with it. Editors do not get enough credit when it comes to the amount of times I've heard a story that like this movie was a disaster, even great, Like I've heard this about Star Wars that was handed to somebody and they were like, this is unintelligible. We've got to start from scratch and produce gold out of it. It's editors do not get enough credit.

32:30 No, absolutely, they don't. A couple of fun things, you know, you kind of mentioned a shared universe with this and Die Hard. Yeah, the police station that Jimmy picks Joe up from is the exact same one used in Beverly Hills Cop two. You know what. I was literally sitting there watching It's like, this feels familiar, but it. Doesn't feel Yeah, have we been here. We've been here before, right this this office looks very familiar, you know, And obviously Tony Scott directed that another fun one. The scene showing Shelley's house exploding is the exact same explosion they used in Last Action Hero. Interesting. I mean, I guess, you know, CG and whatnot was still still years away.

33:13 So yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna sell off some some blockbuster moments. Right. Yeah, here's something I'm watching this recently and it's been it's been a while, and I thought, wow, is Shane Black just way ahead of his time. This whole movie hinges on the idea of legalizing gambling like sports betting. This is nineteen ninety one when it's obviously very illegal, can't have it, can't do it. And think about today, We've got DraftKings. It's everywhere. Yeah, but a part of the part of the game. I mean, if you're gonna say he's way ahead of his time, let's also talk about the fact that it is a common theme in this movie where they say free agency is gonna ruin football and kill football, and that is true. It's still the biggest thing in the entire country. I mean, it passed baseball, you know what I mean.

34:03 So hey, listen, I I had the cop who who yells at Jimmy. Free agents ruined the game. Think about this. We're living a world right now where Jerry Jones just paid Ceedee Lamb one hundred and thirty six million dollars for a four year contract. Look, I get it. We still have to deal with Deshaun Watson for another couple of years, which, yeah, you decision, yeah, could have made I hate it, So come on, Cleveland. I don't even like rooting for my team right now. But the idea that like and maybe this is you know, we've talked about our age difference in the past. I don't really remember a time before free agency, so it just seems silly to me that they're talking about how this is like the end of football as we know it, and it's like, that's yeah, it's fine, man, Football is the same as it always was.

34:51 Before this becomes an ESPN podcast. Let's let's let's flip back to the movie. Let's talk about the pivotal scene, because there's one for me. I can't think of anything more pivotal to the misery of these characters, to the heartbreak. I'm talking about Jimmy telling Joe about the deaths of his wife and infant son. I mean that, Yeah, that breaks your heart, right. It really does. Yeah, I mean it's I'll tell you I was. I was impressed with what Damon Wayne's was able to do in that scene, because you know, he's a bit of a cartoon character up to this point. He's over the top, you know, yea coked out former NFL, fake NFL player, and he really carried a lot of weight.

35:34 It's just it felt a little weird to me because of how silly this movie has been up to this point, you know, the shooting, the C four and the trunk and the I mean, honestly, the opening scene he talked about guy pulling a gun just in the middle of a football game. It just felt very cartoonish. So this felt like a little out of left field for me, but it absolutely grounded it again. It kind of brought you back in, like, oh, these are characters, they have feelings like you should actually care a little bit. I have to believe that this is one of the you know, when we talk about the darker violent script that he initially wrote, this is one of those things where they're like, you're not cutting this part because and I love the writing too, because we get yeah, we get a little. He's planting seeds throughout the movie. You know, every time he's drinking, he's he's cheering. He's like toasting Alex to Alex the astronaut, to Alex the accountant, and you're like, who the hell is Alex? And to get this backstory about him having the game of his life, I think in Miami he throws for three hundred yards and meanwhile, back in La his wife is hit by a truck, killed instantly. His baby lives for like seventeen minutes on life support. The writing here is phenomenal. Shadeli's writing is It'll break your heart and you're Damon Wayans.

36:50 The emoting he does with his eyes, just his facial expressions that it blows it blows you. Away, and it does help, I think, because up to this point, part of you is like, Okay, why is Dana Wayne's like so invested in this, Like why isn't he just like saying the cops can do it? And that kind of gives you that he he's been through, like he's experienced real loss before he actually can do something about this, you know what I mean, he can, he can help, he can do something, And I get that it definitely motivates his character. But yeah, it's it's dark man that when he says that Alex fell asleep and had enough time for one dream. Oh yeah, God dude, that that killed me a little bit. And so that's that's harsh. I mean, I you know, yeah, great moment for sure, Wance and this and this one.

37:38 Do you have anything that uh competes with that one for most pivotal Uh? Yeah, I would say that's definitely probably the most emotional scene. But for me, the pivotal one, the one that really like got turned this movie up a notch was uh after how in Beck briuce Wellis's character is framed for murder of a cop, and the cops bring in Jimmy Dix. They bring his family and his wife who has been cheating on him, who they are in a bad as bad a spot as they can be, and Jimmy DICKX, who he just punched in the face and kicked out of his house, are both like screw you guys, like he wouldn't do this, Like absolutely not. Oh good moment. Yeah, they have the idea they're being questioned when they have every reason to hate Allend Becker. Still both like, no, he's not bad, Like you're wrong, fuck you. And I love that because it really says something about both fair characters and their relationship with him. And I think like that kind of takes it up because then immediately from there, that's when Jimmy Dix tells Uh tells Darien that like, hey, I'm gonna go find your dad and gets out of there, and that like really kicks off the final Yeah.

38:41 I mean, let's let's be honest. Halen Back is not a ray of sunshine. He's not the most likable character that Bruce Willis has ever played. Yeah, even when the Last Boy Scout is a little sarcastic. Yeah, which I love the fact that when she hands him uh that that pro card to sign and he signs it to the of the Last Boy Scout, Jimmy Dix, I was like, that's all, Like, that's something I would want from like the set, you know, if I could get that card. No, I'd want that framed. Yeah, that'd be a cool one to have. Andrew, Let's take one more break and then I want to talk Tony Scott with you. Hell yeah, welcome back. It's time to talk a little bit about Tony Scott. I'm going to point out, Andrew we this is not our first time talking about Tony Scott. We actually did an episode on his film Revenge, which probably his maybe his most underrated work, and if you haven't seen it, the film is phenomenal. It's Kevin Prime, Kevin Costner, Madeline Snow, Anthony Quinn. It's romantic, it's tragic, it's action packed, it's tense, it's There's so much I could say about Revenge. I've said it already, though, if listeners, if you have not listened to our episode on Tony Scott's Revenge, go back. I want to say it's like the second season. We're a lot more youngers, a lot more inexperience, so you know, forgive us that, But at

40:12 any rate, Tony Scott something you you would appreciate about this man. He was an avid mountain climber. That's awesome, very awesome, right, Surprisingly to me, I didn't know this, and we've covered this movie. He was set to direct the nineteen eighty four classic Starman Oh until critics seen his debut film The Hunger from nineteen eighty three, and basically everyone in Hollywood just decided this guy's done, and they buried him overnight. He even famously has said that Warner Brothers saw a cut of the film and his parking spot was painted over the next day. Damn. Yeah, and I'll you know, the hunger.

40:54 It's not great. No, it's not great. But is it is? It kicked this guy to Hollywood bed. No, it's not so. I mean, hey, I'm glad he powered through because we got some genuinely, genuinely great movies out of this game. We did. We did, and you know, we we all know what happened to Tony Scott. You know, he took his own life. Sadly. I want to say that was like twenty twelve. I got a quote here from him which is a little haunting. Uh. He's he's talking about his early days in Hollywood and what his career will ultimately become, and he says, quote, hopefully, I'll be viewed as an extreme character when I pass on. You know, they might say, wow, he was out there. He was a fucking lunatic, and I like to be viewed that way.

41:40 So I like that. I like I like that. Yeah, it's it's a it's it's a little telling, but at the same time, it's I like that he you know. Took he took ownership of what he made, and I mean he does. Yeah. His his filmography is intent. It's really it's visceral. So sometimes it's a little crazy. So I'm glad that you know that's what he was going for. Well, I'll tell you what we're about to go for. We are running short on time, so it's time for the no huddle offense. Andrew. Let's uh, let's let's get down the field here. I like I said, we talked about revenge, we discussed his filmography, but you were not on the show at that point. So they listen, they can hear me talk about these movies if they listen to that episode. I want to hear what you have to say about some of these these these films set up knock them down, all right. Nineteen eighty three, The Hunger his directorial debut.

42:37 I've seen it. It was fine. I said, I'm not gonna rave about it, but it's fine. It's a vampire movie. That is unusual. Yeah, I if you if you haven't seen it, it's fine, don't worry about it. Yeah. One one, you and I have discussed a lot. We have actually talked about it on our limited series nineteen eighty six Top Gun. Yeah. I mean, if you say Tony Scott, that's the first thing that comes to my mind. You say nineteen eighty six, It's probably the second thing that comes to my mind. Is it's top Gun. Everything to be said about it, We've we've already talked about it, as you said in the nineteen eighty six series, So classic, amazing. What else is nineteen eighty seven? He directs Beverly Hills Cop Two. My question to you, Beverly Hills Cop Beverly Hills Cop Two, which is the better film?

43:26 Ooh, you know, I'm probably gonna go with the first one. I think that's you get more time introducing the character of playing with you know who acxul Foley is. I will say the second one is looks gorgeous. I love the cinematography in the second one. But yeah, I think I gotta give it to the first one. All right, as long as you can give Beverly Hills Cop to credit over three the train Wreck that is three, And. I still haven't seen that new one that just came out this year. Axel Foley, I think is the title I'm nervous. I've heard sure if I ever want to give it. A try, I've heard nothing but good things about it. Uh. Jason Colvin from the show You Can't Be Serious Podcast, he saw it like the first day it dropped on Netflix, and he's he raved about it, and he was like, hey, Axel's back, the gang is back. This is this erases Beverly Hills cop three. This for we we forgive, we forgive uh ax of Foley for three because of so well, I gotta we got we gotta check it out.

44:22 Right, let's set up, let's set up a little watch time for that. We'll watch it. Let's we'll do that one. Yeah, as I said, we we did do an episode on nineteen ninety's Revenge Kevin Costner, Madeline Stowe. I'm gonna tell you right now, just go ahead. I'm gonna give you the guarantee. Just just buy it, but but make sure you get the unrated version because it's steemy. Good to know. Yeah, he's busy in nineteen ninety because uh, one that I know you have seen Days of Thunder. Obviously, I mean it's it's top Gun again sort. Of, it's top Gun on the racetrack. Right, Yeah, absolutely, And you know, as I said, I love him make it's very visceral movies. You can kind of like they have like a lot texture to them.

45:02 The characters are all sweaty and you just feel it. So I think that works really well in that environment. It kicks ass. But yeah, if you like Top Gun, you like Days of Thunder, you know you have to. Yeah, one of my favorite Michael Rooker characters. Yeah, at young Michael Rooker, Young Michael Rooker. Yeah, we've been talking about nineteen ninety one's The Last Boy Scout. Two years later, in nineteen ninety three, he takes a Quentin Tarantino script and makes one of my all time favorite movies. I'm talking about True Romance. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know that you and I've necessarily talked about this one before, but I absolutely love True Romance. I think it's my brother's like one of his favorite movies of all time. He won't shut up about it like this one. That one, to me feels like a Tarantina movie over a Tony Scott movie. And I don't know if that's necessarily fair, because obviously he's a great director, but I think the script is what really shines the most there. Kind of the same as the way I give credit Shan Black for The Last Boy Scout, but they both do phenomenal work. The cast of Steller. I love young Brad Pitt and that one. He's so funny.

46:06 Oh god, Floyd is amazing in that movie. It's just I mean, I love that movie. It. Yeah, I'll tell you something. I think that might be his most underrated. Every film nerd I know loves it. Yeah, most people I think have let it slide and don't really know about it. So if i'll you know what, we we always take the underrated films of directors to focus on on this podcast. I'm gonna check the numbers on True Romance and if it's if it's underrated, if it's truth, true, truly underrated, we're absolutely doing it. Yeah, we'll just throw this episode out and record a whole new one on No. No, you can never have you, You could never not have enough Tony Scott. So I'm fine, Sure, Well, I'll find a way to say, yeah, it's you know, Crimson Tide is a very underrated submarine movie, and that's why we're talking about it. So no, and that's actually that's nineteen ninety five. That's his next film, Denzel. This is first pairing with Denzel, I think, right, yeah, and.

47:03 It kicks ass. Oh gosh, Yeah, Denzel is amazing. It's it's tense. I love a good submarine movie because it's just the claustrophobia, constant tension of it. And yeah, I absolutely love this movie. I haven't, to be fair, I haven't seen it in a few years, so I don't know how well it's held up. But big, big fan, and you know, you know I love Denzel. Yeah, I know I know how you feel about Denzel. But I'm gonna put you on the spot here, dost Boot, Crimson Tide, hunt For at October? What is the best submarine movie? Oh? Man, Okay, so best I'm probably gonna go Hunt For at October. Okay, But I will say, and you didn't mention it, I really have a weird place in my heart where I absolutely love you five seven to one.

47:49 That movie. Yeah, that movie gets me and like just I get so anxious and tense watching it. But I would say best is probably Hunt For at October. Okay, all right? Nineteen ninety six. I kind of feel like we're we're starting to see a little bit of a decline. Okay. He does a movie called The Fan with Robert de Niro, who is like unhinge Yeah, DeNiro, So de Niro is like this unhinged super fan of Wesley Snipes. Wesley Snipe's like an all star baseball player. Yeah, and it's kind of like a stalker movie, like a you know, he hey, de Niro goes off the off the rails. It's a little forgettable.

48:38 With a cast. With a cast like that, and you know, tony' skyt directly unsurprised. That sounds like it could be pretty kick ass. I'm not saying it's a bad movie. It's it's fun to watch. Like de Niro is kind of channeling a little bit of Travis Bickle. Yeah, and you know, you got Ellen Barkin, you got you got a couple other people and it I think John Leguazambo's in it. If I remember right, it's worth a watch. I'll say that it's all Pluto TV. It's streaming with ads. Give it a watch, you might you might enjoy it. Yeah, all right, did you enjoy Spy Game? In two thousand and one, he's Brad Pitt. Robert Redford yeah, I wanted to really badly.

49:18 Why didn't this movie? Why was it good? It was pacing issues. I watched it again, probably about two years ago. I was it had been a long time, and I was like, Okay, it's Redford, it's Brad Pitt's spy stuff like that sounds awesome. It's really slow, and I think with spy stuff, you know, you always run the risk of that and you need to, you know, kind of keep the pace up. You need to keep the tension up. And I just think it failed to do that. It was it was boring. Yeah, I'm going to say it. It was. You can't tell me c I a spy thrillers and then make it a boring film. And I don't want to see real spy stuff. I want to see Tom Cruise blowing up a million ton fish tank, you know. I want to see James. I want to see James Bond. You know. Yeah, well, you know it is what it is. But he is back in a big way. In two thousand and four. He's back with Denzel. He does Man on Fire, which I think is one of his better films.

50:10 It really is. Yeah, it's amazing. I think it kind of kickstarted this whole like older aging like guy comes out of retirement to just absolutely destroy people. It's like that it's taken before taken was the thing A good point. But we also, as gonna say, we also still have like the broken hero, like Denzel as an absolute raging alcoholic in Man on Fire, And I love the fact that that's part. Like you know, the guy's like, why you know, giving your resume? Why why are you so Cheap's what's wrong with you? He's like, I'm an alcoholic, Like he in the job interview, he flat out says, here, here's what you get with me. You know. Yeah, it's I mean, but it really works.

50:52 And again that goes back to what I was saying about Tony Scott. He's got that very visceral style where you just you feel the temperature outside and the humidity and I know, things like that in a way that a lot of directors I think miss, and that movie really sells it. Well, you know a lot. I think one thing I got to give credit to is uh is the cinematography in that one, because it's it's in a way it's a little bit like Traffic where it's kind of it's Mexico city, so we have to make it look washed out. Yeah, the the lights are it's it's like it's overexposed. This wasn't a cliche yet when he did it, though, I feel like I got another one. Yeah. Well yeah he was two thousand and four, he was. It was still something something, something new. Yeah, I love I Love Man on Fire, Denzel Christopher Walken. You got Dakota Fanning. You know she's like adorable, like nine year old Dakota Fanning.

51:42 Yep. Yeah, Fantastic Film, two thousand and five. Domino. I never saw it. It's okay. I mean I I liked Kiera Knightley's turn, as you know, kind of an action star, like a badass, were playing against type. Not his best work, I think. You know, it's been long enough. It's been it's almost been twenty years since it came out. I might be ready to watch it now, but I remember when that trailer came out. The trailer was on every every commercial break, the trailer was on, and it was a super annoyal one where Kieranley is like, I'm Domino, Hobby, I'm Domino. Like she like says her name like four different times in the trailer.

52:22 It's like. Stop, you know, just please don't don't talk anymore. Yeah, I think you'll like it, but it's yeah, it's not going to hold up to Man on Fire, Data Thunder or anything like that. Well, like the Fan. It also is streaming on Pluto. A lot of Tony Scott stuff is on Pluto. I was when I was doing research on this, I was like, oh, there's another Tony Scott movie on on Pluto two thousand and six called Denzel Because now it's it's deja vus. Not great, Yeah, not bad. I think we're starting to see his decline in filmmaking. He starts getting a little overly stylized. I think, um hm, starts playing around with a lot of like the camera flares and the being able to change the color digitally and stuff, and it's starts just feeling a little bit forced.

53:09 Yeah. I think we're getting up to a point where starting with Men on Fire, going through Domino, definitely with j V it's almost like one long movie because all the shots look the same and it's like the same color palette. Two thousand and nine, he does the remake of the Taking a Pellem one two three with Denzel and John Travolta. Yeah, Denzel's is man at. This point, like, yeah, I mean if you if you can get it, you know. Yeah, well yeah, I mean you can. You can do a lot worse in your film. And the Taking a Poem on two three was again, if it's on TV and I don't have anywhere to be, like, I'd watch it, but I'm not ranking up there with the greats.

53:52 I'm not. And honestly, if it's on TV, I'm not gonna stop and watch it, but I will go. You know what, I think I want to watch Taking a Pillow one two three, the Robert Shaw version, and I think that's what I'll go out of my way to find, the Robert Shaal versus. So. His last film in twenty ten was the action packed train movie Unstoppable with Chris Pine and and Denzel Washington. Yeah, you know, I actually never saw that one. I kind of wanted to. I'm a big fan of the you know that genre, the speed style genre of you know, realistic in quotes disaster, but I just never got around to it. I guess, well, sadly you won't be able to stream that on Pluto TV, but you can stream it on two B so good to a lot of his a lot of his his filmography is available to watch, and that's a great thing for anyone that's a Tony Scott fan, or if you're wanting to become a Tony Scott fan.

54:49 As far as I'm concerned, Andrew, we've just burned through his filmography. I want to ask you favorite Tony Scott film. You know what, if you had asked me before we went through the phomography, I probably just need your reaction. Would have said Top Gun. It feels like an obvious answer, But I really got to go with True Romance. I love that movie. You and I are of a like mind. Top Gun feels like the answer, Like if you're shooting from the hip, it's got to be top Gun. But when you say a minute to think about it, Yeah, when you get a minute to think, you got to say true Romance. Yeah, that's how I look at it. I saw speak a true romance. I saw recently trying to remember the name of the company, and I apologize because I don't have it committed to memory. But there's a Facebook ad Trigger Treats.

55:33 I think it's trick or Treat studios. They do famous replicas of like Halloween masks, you know, horror stuff. Every now and then, though they'll they'll do something that's not a horror themed one. And they've created action figures for True Romance. Oh that's fantastic. They're coming out. I think they come out and you can pre order them now. They're coming out in December nineteen ninety nine for each figure. But there's there's Clarence Alabama Drexel and the Valkilm More character, the Mentor as he's known, which is clearly he's Elvis. Yeah. I saw these things. I'm like, I'm buying. I'm buying the whole set. Yeah, man that I'm a grown man and I will own these, these these action figures of True Romance, I know.

56:15 If nothing else, I know a few people who I can I can put that in their stockings. Yeah. And this is and I'm not talking dude, I'm not talking about like lifelike articulate seventeen points of you know, articulation. The No, these look more like Kenner Star Wars figures even better, which it makes them look so much cooler, I think. But yeah, check check them out. I want Yeah, Trigger Treat Studios is what I want. To say. I don't apologize if I'm wrong there, but got to know andrew your recommendation on the Last Boy Scout. It's I mean, it's definitely worth watching. I'm a Shane Black fan, I'm a Tony Scott fan, I'm a Bruce Willis fan. It's one to add to the list, but I would definitely say don't go into it with the expectation of an air type grounded thriller. It's a little on the silly side, but it's fantasy.

57:07 Where did I own a copy of this? So you know, I just pulled out the DVD. But where where'd you see this on that? I did? I did actually buy this one on Prime. I had to go digital because I couldn't find a copy, you know. Unfortunately DVDs are harder to come by nowadays. Sometimes. Yeah, and I'll tell you the DVD release of this not great, very bare bonds with the extras, nothing good you get like scene selection and Spanish subtitles. I think that the transfer doesn't look wonderful. I mean it obviously it looks better than vhs, but yeah, no, I can't say much more than that. If there's a Blu Ray version of this that's I might have to upgrade. But listeners, what do you think of the last poist scout? What do you think of Shane Black? You can let us know on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and x. You can check out a film by podcast dot com for all of our episodes that are streaming on the platform of your choice free. By the way, you can write to us at a film by Podcast at gmail dot com with your questions, comments and concerns. We may just read your response on the show and send you some of a film by swag. And Andrew, you already know this.

58:15 We've got some new stuff coming. You know. We got a new logo. New logo means new stickers means new t shirts, might mean some other fun merch, but we never sell that stuff. If you want the you want the merch, you got to find us at one of the cons or UH, you got to join our Patreon, which is growing rapidly. I'm happy to say, Andrew and Uh, We've got an option now. You can join for free because we are dropping free episodes on our UH on our Patreon exclusive episodes, UH, you can listen to them for free. All all you need is an email address, sign up for sign up for it and you can, you'll have access, you'll have access to it. And those are a lot of fun too, Andrew.

58:57 I'll tell you what is making me very happy is our conversations. He's ten for two. Yes, So as we're doing, we're taking we're taking ten minutes, I strict ten minutes to talk about a strict two minutes of a movie. And uh man, those have been a blast so far. So yeah, we got We've got some good ones coming up too. I got some good ideas I'm excited to talk to you about. I can't wait to hear them because, uh you know, you know, I'm ready for a ten for two. In the meantime, listeners, we thank you for tuning in week after week. And Andrew, it's been great having you guest hosts more often this season. But you need to know, Water's wet, Sky's blue, an old Satan Claus. He's out there and he's only getting stronger. So what do we do?

59:37 Be prepared, Son, that's my motto, Be prepared, mood River more deadly. Well, ev night, Moover