Episode 28: Skyscraper and Die Hard

Action films in a building. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Die Hard and Skyscraper. We begin by comparing Skyscraper to other films, like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Galaxy Quest, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, MacGyver, and even the musical Annie. Dwayne Johnson does a great job as the "every man" action hero and Neve Campbell does a great job as his calm and collected wife. We then discuss whether Skyscraper was taking itself seriously or self-aware silly. Discussion then moves onto Die Hard and how fantastic the film is, tightly woven together like a puzzle. We then talk about experiential cinema experiences, watching Die Hard with themed food, secret cinema viewings of Blade Runner and promotional beach screenings of Jaws. We talk about Die Hard as a Christmas film, along with Batman Returns, Lethal Weapon and Gremlins. Alan Rickman is brilliant and we talk about his strengths, and how apart from his character, Bruce Willis's character and Sgt. Al Powell, the film is populated with idiots. Our discussion then moves into a space where we consider the Chinese cinema market and how recent Hollywood films are appealing to China market, which includes Skyscraper being set in Hong Kong. We then talk about different cultures and how they produce different types of films.