John McTiernan POLL

its basically impossible for me not to vote for "die hard" in any poll under virtually any circumstances, unless there were some crazy negations or w/e in the question

counterpoint:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs199.snc1/6728_131657350751_739675751_3202204_4429866_n.jpg

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

has to be die hard tho

I think I've watched Red October more times than Die Hard.

Anyway Predator 4 lyfe.

Die Hard by a pretty large margin, but it was hard not voting for Predator. Nothing else very good in his filmography sadly.

red october's cool; die hard 3, last action hero and 13th warrior all have their moments

Hell, I've probably seen DHw/aV more times than Die Hard...

I'd like to see the directors cut of 13th warrior--the premise had promise...I recall seeing a trailer for it when it was still called "Eaters of the Dead".

There's no way it can't be Die Hard. No way.

Red October

Die Hard and Red October are much better and more intelligent than anything else he did. Predator is a ton of fun but not on that level of filmmaking.

I think Die Hard is one of the greatest films ever.

Yeah. Predator is one of my favorite movies but I don't think I could vote for anything other than DH.

'red october' is really, really sharp. it's strange to see this PG action film with pretty much zero cheap jokes and super well-drawn characters talking and acting like actual adults (albeit w/spotty accents.) 'die hard' seems like the obvious choice but 'red october' pretty much owns.

I don't know that I've actually seen it.

someone posted before about die hard inventing/defining and perfecting an entire subgenre all at once.

If you ignore that fact that it's called "The Thomas Crown Affair" (and all the remake baggage it carries with it), The Thomas Crown Affair is decent movie. Still voting for Die Hard of course.

red october drops points against die hard for connery's panto accent vs rickman's imo

thomas crown, predator, 13th warrior, DHWAV and even last action hero- will still sit and watch any of these on demand, tho they're definitely a level down from red october and die hard

'red october' is really, really sharp. it's strange to see this PG action film with pretty much zero cheap jokes and super well-drawn characters talking and acting like actual adults (albeit w/spotty accents.) 'die hard' seems like the obvious choice but 'red october' pretty much owns.

― omar little, Monday, December 20, 2010 8:02 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

red october's fantastic and has one of my favorite scott glenn performances

voted die hard but love love love red october. will also rep for dh:wav and predator of course.

DH: WAV is a really, really dumb movie. Like Michael Bay dumb.

I didn't like DH:WAV at all when it came out, I haven't seen it since.

someone posted before about die hard inventing/defining and perfecting an entire subgenre all at once.

― all i gotta do is akh nachivly (darraghmac), Monday, December 20, 2010 8:03 PM Bookmark

that was me! on this thread, which is a good one: Yippie Ki Yay! It's the Die Hard poll

I have a strong suspicion I stole that from somewhere though, it seems really too coherent and insightful and what the fuck do I know about action subgenres?

I always loved the handheld cinematography in Die Hard 3.

McTiernan's Thomas Crown Affair >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the origianl

any excuse to post this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCVc5TaPpe8

"Basic." Oh, wait, I meant "Die Hard."

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Conclusive! This thread did make me want to check out Red October sometime though...

who the fuck voted for Basic

Off to jail:

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/die-hard-director-going-to-do-hard-time-for-role-in-pellicano-scandal-after-top-court-denies-appeal/

well it's not like he'd made a good movie since 1995

Scalia's all "I saw that Rollerball remake one night while I was at home eating bad pizza and scratching my balls, fuck that guy."

Exclusive: The Tragic Imprisonment Of John McTiernan, Hollywood Icon (heads up, it's a BuzzFeed link)

hey you guys, rollerball is kind of underrated

.

jklol die hard 4eva

red october is mostly awesome but has a kind of rushed and confusing climax IIRC

That Buzzfeed piece deserves a second look -- it's one of the last pieces Michael Hastings ever wrote, if not the last major one.

:( ended on a bum note. McTiernan tried to get off easy for some serious crimes, and failed.

Served his term, headed to Wyoming.

Finally watched Red October. It was good, very close to great. amateurist is right that the climax is rushed, and everybody's right about the accents, and several things happen that don't really make sense if you have time to think about them, and some of the effects shots (including the closing blue-screen bit, with the fishing conversation and all) just look bad. And Baldwin kind of isn't that interesting to watch. But I do like how long they keep the ball in the air: is this guy a rogue madman or a defector or what? And yeah, not too many really dopey ridiculous lines. I like that people are always presenting their cockamamie theories and everybody is basically willing to hear them out, think hard about it, and make a decision.

the only real flaw of the film is the character of tupelov. i think skarsgård does a good job with the role but i'd like to see a version where he's just a dude going about a mission rather than a sweating villain in a red-hued sub. great last line from his #2 just before the torpedo hits, though.

It's a tough call because it risks cluttering up the film a bit developing him, but it is kinda weird how he's basically got two, maybe three scenes total. He's kept at the level of a plot complication - like the saboteur - which may be part of why the climax feels a bit hollow.

Some smart use of titles and transitions in this thing though. "20 hours later..." and you kinda pass over the fact that, wait, in twenty hours this seasoned, desperate submarine captain didn't look into this saboteur thing? Like, at all?

was thinking about McTiernan as one of the last great action craftsmen, like a very genuinely skilled filmmaker with a subtle eye for editing, framing, and multiple camera use in a way that is not at all flashy but really creates a large scope and sense of a very full world outside of the frame of the films he directed. I believe Die Hard and Red October are superior in this regard, DHWAV less so but still considerably excellent. I think elsewhere I called it a "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" for the '90s and I stand by that.

Red October remains underrated; going off what I said before upthread it's just an exceptionally well-made thriller and the casting of all the smaller roles (Richard Jordan, Joss Ackland, Jeffrey Jones, Fred Thompson(!), Courtney B. Vance, Daniel Davis, Anthony Peck) is 100% spot-on. It's a total pleasure to watch. I'd probably walk back a bit my comments re: Skarsgård and the manner in which his vessel was presented, I guess there has to be something to differentiate between three different submarines chasing each other at the end.

last action hero is amazing imo

nomads is bad

i'd like to see 13th Warrior at some point, it sounds like it has potential as a "reassessed years later" type film.

Last Action Hero has a lot of terrible elements but it's still decent enough and a lot of fun, or at least it was when i saw it on videocassette 25 years ago.

the only thing i don't really like about last action hero is it occasionally looks real cheap (new york is a set, a few(?) of the explosions are superimposed, the magic ticket effect is real hokey) but also this contributes to its "action movie gradually disintegrating into magical realist fragments" vibe

also: tom noonan

even though one setpiece is a long fart joke i'm pretty sure i think that's awesome instead of bad

1993-95 was peak fart joke iirc

have not seen LAH since liking it upon original release, maybe will when i get through all of Cagney and Tracy

(no memory of Tom Noonan in it, who is usually the best thing in any film)

he plays a supervillain called the ripper and also himself!

the meta nonsense in the second half of lah is so delightful especially schwarzenegger constantly referring to his "real" self as "arnold braunschweiger"

LAH is outlandish, not good necessarily but at times its like nothing else of the time.

i think of it and last boy scout as unfairly maligned as the last diagraced scions of a dying dynasty but at the same time they dont exactly hold up totally either

13th warrior is great tho!

0 votes for thomas crown is understandable but thats a tidy lil piece of professionalism too

LAH was edited together in a few weeks with no completed test screenings because Jon Peters.

Someday I’m going to sit my son down and tell him about a magical creature who directed Die Hard, and “get this: what if I told you this same creature directed both Predator and Hunt for Red October?”

Anyway who’s the McTiernan of today?

i don’t think there is one tbh

I thought you were asking "where is McTiernan today" and I was, like, in jail?

i could make a case for thomas crown as the only decent film on the list (i haven't actually seen "13th warrior" but this fact wd feature in my case)

lol that i have all the other films jesus

challopsiren.wav

^^^meddling kid