Die Hard Ep. 04 - Irresistible Force / No Contest (with Dirk Marshall of the VH US Podcast)

Special Guest Dirk Marshall of the VH US Podcast joins us this week to explore two lower budget Die Hard-inspired movies, both of which have women in the leading roles. IRRESISTIBLE FORCE (1993) features Cynthia Rothrock as a rookie cop partnered with Stacey Keach, who becomes trapped inside a mall taken over by terrorists.  Then Shannon Tweed, Robert Davi and Andrew Dice Clay star in NO CONTEST (1995) in which terrorists seize control of the “Miss Galaxy” beauty pageant.       VH US Podcast: https://www.vh-us.com   VH US Twitter: https://x.com/VHUS_Podcast   VH US Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vhus_podcast/    VH US Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vhuspodcast.bsky.social    Marshall's Haute Sauce: https://marshallshautesauce.com   Meaningful Marketplace Podcast: https://meaningful-marketplace-podcast.simplecast.com   Joy of Cooking Podcast: https://the-joy-of-cooking-podcast.simplecast.com      

We discuss UNDER SIEGE (1992) starring Steven Seagal as a ship’s cook (and former Navy Seal) who cooks bouillabaisse and kicks ass after a group of terrorists seize a US battleship to steal its nuclear warheads.

It’s “Die Hard on a Plane” week as we take to the skies for two movies with a similar premise that could not be more different. DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER (1990) asks how the same shit can happen to the same guy twice.  PASSENGER 57 (1992) stars Wesley Snipes as an airline security specialist facing off against a notorious hijacker.

Welcome to the party, pal! Grab some champagne and a machine gun because it’s time to… DIE HARD (1988) starring Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, and Alan Rickman. John McTiernan’s Christmas classic about a cop versus a building full of armed thieves created its own subgenre of “Die Hard in a Blank” movies.  THE TAKING OF BEVERLY HILLS (1991) has a star football quarterback take on a gang of ex-cops who plan to rob the entire city of Beverly Hills. Will things be gratuitously thrown like a football during fire fights? You know they will! Starring Ken Wahl, Robert Davi, and Matt Frewer. Directed by Sidney J. Furie.

Get ready for one of the most audacious and controversial horror films ever made: HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982) Special Guest Carmelita Valdez McKoy returns to discuss the movie that attempted to leave Michael Myers behind and make John Carpenter’s Halloween an anthology franchise.   Find Carmelita: https://letterboxd.com/carmelitasays/ https://x.com/CarmelitaSays https://bsky.app/profile/carmelitasays.bsky.social

Special Guest Carmelita Valdez McKoy joins us for more of the night He came home… HALLOWEEN II (1981) begins immediately after the first film’s ending, producing a film that is both similar to, and quite different from, Carpenter’s classic. Find Carmelita: https://letterboxd.com/carmelitasays/ https://x.com/CarmelitaSays https://bsky.app/profile/carmelitasays.bsky.social

We are joined by special guest Anthony C. Ferrante, director of all six SHARKNADO movies, to discuss his films that go beyond the classic shark movie and take the action to a whole other level.

We end our Jaws series with two films from the ‘90s that launched the animal attack genre into the 21st Century.    First, Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube and Jon Voight go up the Amazon to find a giant snake in ANACONDA (1997) and then Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows and LL Cool J encounter genetically enhanced super-sharks in DEEP BLUE SEA (1999).

This week has two films that take using footage from other films to a whole other level. First up is CROCODILE (1980) a Thai film about one men’s quest for revenge on the crocodile that killed their families. Directed by Sampote Sands. Then we lose our minds over CROCODILE FURY (1988) a Hong Kong film about a witch and her army of jiāngshī (also known as Chinese hopping vampires) joining forces with the master of the seas and his man-eating shape-shifting crocodiles to rule the world.

Ryan from The New World Pictures Podcast joins us for two Italian sharksploitation films that push the boundary of copyright laws. THE LAST SHARK a.k.a. GREAT WHITE (1981) starring James Franciscus and Vic Morrow and directed by Enzo G. Castellari spurred a lawsuit from Universal Pictures for its similarities to Jaws. CRUEL JAWS (1995) the infamous Bruno Mattei film that uses footage from many other shark movies, including multiple Jaws films and The Last Shark. To check out The New World Pictures Podcast: https://newworldpicturespodcast.com