(post)script: Is “Die Hard” a Christmas Movie?

Wes & Erin continue their discussion of “Die Hard.” The first (and much longer) part of this discussion can be found here.

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Transcript

0:00 Wes: Welcome to Postscript, the subtext after show where we talk about things related and unrelated to this week's episode. Just got done talking about Die Hard. We're not really done, but we were almost done talking about Die Hard. We're going to talk about it a little bit more here. One of the things I got a little bit. I'm watching this movie, I watch it through your eyes a little bit and think, oh, yeah, Erin doesn't like that.

0:25 Erin: Oh, what parts.

0:26 Wes: There's the obligatory 1980s nudity, which somehow we moved beyond, thankfully. I think there was a time when the nude sex scene thing, there always had to be something in any given 80s movie. I think they thought it was, well, we can do this now. So we have to. This marks it as something for adults, right? People gave up on that, as far as I can tell.

0:48 Erin: And what is more adult but boobs. It's always boobs, right?

0:52 Wes: Exactly. Just a flash of the boobs and then you're done. You did your due diligence. Maybe they gave up on that for cynical reasons, like getting a PG13 rating or something. Or a PG rating. I don't know. But then there's the violence, you know, which I know you don't necessarily enjoy. I guess it's not too terrible in this movie.

1:12 Erin: Well, I really hate that Mr. Takagi's. That's like really bloody because it's displayed on the window behind him, all that blood and everything.

1:21 Wes: And it's also a very cruel moment, the way it's done when you see a bad guy get waxed, as McClane puts it. Does that you feel good about that the way I do?

1:31 Erin: Do I feel good about it? No, no, not personally.

1:36 Wes: You know, I guess when you're killing henchmen, you can't really feel good about that. It's just more. They're in the way. But, you know. And when Gruber gets his comeuppance at the end, which is a great, awesome scene, where. Another bit of film trivia is that they had Alan Rickman do that stunt himself falling from the building.

1:54 Erin: Oh, yeah, I know about that. Someone told me.

1:56 Wes: Yeah. And then they did the 1, 2, 3 thing, but they didn't get to the end of the count and let him go before so that he would genuinely look surprised. And then they also had. They invented this automated focus system because it was impossible to keep the focus on him as he fell. They wanted the focus, his face, to be the focus as he moved away from the camera. And it would happen too quickly to manually adjust it. So they invented some automated system which only worked partially, so you only get a little bit of that fall from that angle before it cuts away. Is that scene like a. Yeah. Moment. The bad guy. The bad guy is dead?

2:32 Erin: No, not really. It's cool, though. I mean, I think that's like someone maybe on Facebook or something pointed out that I'm inconsistent with my hatred of violence, because I did mention. Not that they were like, it was a gotcha moment, but they thought it was interesting that I talked about how Godfather 1 is better than Part 2 because the deaths in Part 1 are so much better. And it is true that I do. If it's an interesting and inventive kind of death, then maybe I appreciate the artistry of that.

3:00 Wes: So you can appreciate the aesthetics of violence.

3:03 Erin: Yeah.

3:03 Wes: Right. You must love Tarantino. I'm just kidding.

3:06 Erin: Oh, no, no, no, no. Well, that's terrible aesthetics. It's like cartoon violence. Not that I've ever fully looked.

3:14 Wes: I've heard.

3:16 Erin: Yeah, well. Cause that's the thing. Like, I've only ever half seen a lot of this stuff, so if it's, like, a cool thing and then I can sort of, like, peek at it, then it's interesting to me. But I think, like, Alan Rickman falling, that shot is really cool. But the idea of falling off a building is, like, the worst thing ever. I think my problem is I have so much empathy for anyone getting killed on film. Like, maybe it's actually. And I don't mean to compliment myself. I mean, maybe this is, like, a selfish thing, actually, that I just imagine myself getting killed in that way. And then I think that it would be terrible to have that happen. So. Yeah. I don't know what to say about that otherwise, except that I think that's an awesome shot, and I love the look on his face as he falls.

4:00 Wes: Yeah.

4:01 Erin: I think the funniest part, though, is the guy hanging from the chain who comes back out at the end so that Powell can shoot somebody.

4:08 Wes: So ridiculous.

4:09 Erin: It's so funny. He looks so crazed. He looks like a deranged He-Man after his head has been like. After somebody's sister has tried to give the He-Man doll a perm or. Or done something crazy with the hair, and he comes out and is. Oh, gosh. It's hilarious.

4:24 Wes: Yeah. It's such a Hollywood screenwriter thing to do as well. Right? There's like, we got to complete Powell's arc. We got to. You know, we got to have the story about the kid he killed pay off, you know?

4:34 Erin: Right.

4:34 Wes: And have him get over his. His hang up. But because the movie is a satire. Like just. Just in the same way that all the other caricature and silly stuff that happens is it. Is that it is what it is. It still, as far as I'm concerned, works within the context of a satire. So you. You get away with a lot once you enter that realm. And I think action movies work very well in that realm. I mean, that's. It's kind of the way James Bond movies, I think, used to function. Not so much anymore, but early on, almost a little like. Yeah. Even more. Not just satire, but very goofy. Right, sure.

5:12 Erin: Well, I think Star wars functions that way. Indiana Jones, anything with Harrison Ford as an action star.

5:21 Wes: Yeah.

5:21 Erin: My One True love.

5:23 Wes: Well, it's funny too. Cause right before that you get the embrace between Powell and McClane. And you can't help comparing his reunion with Holly, which is very passionate. There's that kiss. Right. But with his meeting of Powell, which is for the first time, but you know, in person. But it's powerful in a way. And inevitably, I think in a way it's more powerful than the reunion with Holly. Just because we don't see their relationship during the film, really.

5:53 Erin: Right, right.

5:54 Wes: That's one of the interesting things about the film is there's just no real development of their relationship because they're apart. Their relationship takes on the form, a very primal form, which is just me, man going to protect wife. You know, that's it.

6:08 Erin: I don't know. I do think that there's something interesting about the fact that she's hiding the marriage. Because she's hiding the marriage to begin with. Or rather she's cast it off. Right. By being. By going by her maiden name. And then there's something interesting and sort of like a communication through silence or subversion. Or like you, you know, she is trying to protect him throughout the whole film by making sure that nobody knows that he's her husband or what his real identity is. And he goes by Roy. Right. For Roy Rogers. But I do think that there's an interesting kind of communication in that because it takes what she was doing, which is casting off the marriage and makes the divorce into a plot to sort of keep the marriage together or to keep him alive anyway.

6:53 Wes: Right. I think that. Yeah, that's an interesting point.

6:56 Erin: It's kind of like a comedy of remarriage plot. Like a screwball comedy plot where the maiden name becomes the protective mantle for the husband and for her. Right. Cause