Hi, this is Eddie from Big Ed's Barbecue in Waukegan,
Illinois, and you are listening to the Geekcast
Radio Network. Sucker. Hey, it's Mistress Carrie,
and you are listening to Studio 2009. Hey folks,
TF2 and Mike here. This is episode 144 of Studio
2009. This is for Live Free or Die Hard. So when
Steve Megatron and I recorded the Die Hard 3
and 4 episodes, you would have already heard
Die Hard 3, Die Hard with a Vengeance in episode
143 of the podcast. When we recorded these two
episodes, initially, I was so excited because
I wanted to go on a rant about the phrase that's
going around in the current culture of this insert
topic here didn't have to go so hard. Well, we
record these things at 10 p .m. Eastern Time
at night. Normally, I'm very, very, very refreshed
at night. And I'm really ready to go and I'm
raring to go and revved up and I'm usually on
the ball with my numbers when we do double recordings
and everything else. So apparently my brain decided
to take a left turn and decided to screw it up
and decided to throw all that into the 1995 Die
Hard with a Vengeance recording. So I cut it
out and I put it here. So you're going to hear
that first. And then after that, you're going
to hear the Die Hard Live Free or Die Hard. I
want to call it Die Hard 4 .0 because that's
what it was called in other markets when Live
Free or Die Hard came out in 2007. I think Die
Hard 4 .0 is a better name. I get it. They wanted
to go for the, yay, America, 4th of July and
live free and die hard and America is great and
everything else, which America is great. Don't
get me wrong. I'm very patriotic and all that.
So, but yeah, I just wanted to throw this in
here to tell you that, hey, this little clip,
this little eight minute, nine minute clip is
going to be first. Because I cut it out of the
other episode, you're going to hear that. And
then we will get to the film of Live Free or
Die Hard. In this episode of Studio 2009, we
are almost over with the Christmas in July series
of 2025 of the Die Hard films. Steve and I have
had a blast recording these. It has been awesome.
And we can't wait for y 'all to hear them and
enjoy them. And coming up next after this, we've
got my buddy Sean returning. We're going to be
doing the, uh, the fast franchise for the rest
of the summer for August and stuff like that.
So thank you for listening as always. And yeah,
here's a studio 2009 episode one 44 coming up
next. I just sent it. You should have it. Yes.
Thank you. Are you sure this is legal? We're
just running a test in our security system, sir.
It's fine. You have a sexy voice. Is there anything
else I can do for you? To you. We have what we
need. There is nothing wrong with your podcast
player. Do not attempt to adjust the volume.
Yes, folks. The year of 2007 in cinema went hard.
That's what she said. I hate that fucking trend
that's going on right now. soft ass kids today
this soft ass I'm sorry to start the show like
this folks but I have to comment on this and
this is the only current show that I currently
produce that I can do current events with this
like I literally pulled up 2007 in cinema because
I was curious and literally 2007 is stacked the
top 10 and the only reason I'm bringing this
up I'm giggling from my own perspective and it's
just, I'm going to ask you your perspective in
a minute, but I have to do this because all my
fuck, like it's Instagram, man. It's frigging
Instagram. Every scroll I see on Instagram, every
real, every whatever. It's like they'll post
the anything from the eighties or nineties, anything.
They'll post the Transformers theme song from
Generation 1 from the 80s, Season 1, Season 2,
Season 3, whatever. They'll post Beast Wars.
They'll post that theme song. They'll post DuckTales,
the original 1987 DuckTales theme song. And the
caption in the video, because they won't change
it. It'll just be the opening theme song. And
how, like, you want to talk about copyright infringement.
How the hell are these people able to post these
theme songs as they are on Instagram without
Disney? DuckTales is Disney. How Disney is not
coming after these Instagram accounts is beyond
me, but yet you post any of this shit on YouTube,
holy crap, the band hammer comes off on you.
Anyway, I know we're supposed to be here to talk
about the diehard Christmas in July, but it's
just, it's pissing me off. The caption for this
will be, this insert here didn't have to go this
hard. That's the line. And I'm sitting here thinking,
oh, you poor dumbass Generation Z child. Like,
did your parents not teach you well enough? Did
your parents not raise you right? Like, what
the hell? Go ahead. What's your take on this?
Because my take is just like, And this is just
my fist, folks. I'm too old and too fat to actually
put my head down on my desk. But imagine this
is my head against my desk like it was 15 years
ago when I used to do my head desk thing. That's
all that I can do right now is like, oh, my God.
Just incredulity at this whole thing of didn't
have to go this hard. So it's a slang term. I
know. From the Gen Z kids. I know. It's funny.
I'm just saying kids. I'm like, oh, you're a
young whippersnapper. Get off my lawn. It's like
not that long ago. I was a young kid and you
were like, you know, Gen X and I'm millennial.
So it's funny. But so anyways, basically this
it's. It have to go this hard is slang, and it
means that someone is putting in the maximum
effort, intensity or excellence, often unexpectedly
or impressively. So in other words, they're saying
that the stuff that we grew up on, the stuff
that we're, you know, nostalgia, you know, discussing
a nostalgia is so good. That, yes, this this
phrase doesn't make any sense of saying have
to go this hard. I mean. It's like the 90s thing
of going extreme with everything. They're saying
maximum effort, intensity, or excellence. While
the phrase is odd, as are a lot of shorthand
versions of things that kids say now, because
my kids are like Gen Alpha or whatever and saying
this crap. Learning the lingo is interesting
enough, but it's... It's basically a phrase where
they're saying, you know, praising it for being
exceptionally good, bold and intense. Like when
they say this song didn't have to go this hard.
This song is way better than expected. You know,
like that to me, though, it sounds like they're
like, oh, my God, like it implies their admiration.
And while they really gave it their all. And
so while the phrase sounds ridiculous itself.
The sentiment behind it is good. They're making
it sound like we were blessed to have been given
such awesome material, whereas the crap that
they're handed is just total garbage by comparison.
Which screams to the fact that the 80s, 90s,
and early 2000s were peak everything. Yes, yes,
they were. Speaking of the early 2000s, we are
going to, at some point, probably next year in
2026, we are going to be bringing back the movie
box office episodes of Studio 2009, where we
compare various years of the box office. And
like I said, 2007, oh man, just the top 10 alone.
Spider -Man 3, Shrek 3, Transformers, Pirates,
At World's End. I forget if that's the third,
fourth, or fifth movie of that. Order of the
Phoenix from Potter, I Am Legend, The Bourne
Ultimatum, National Treasure Book of Secrets,
Alvin and the Chipmunks, and 300. That's just
the top 10. I scrolled through this entire...
the entire of the Wikipedia article here going
through the entire year of, of 2007, looking
at everything that was released. And I'm just
like, wow. Yeah. 2007 was completely just fully
loaded. Cause yeah. Wow. But cause, well, cause
we're sitting here talking about, In technical
difficulties, let's move on, shall we? Lucy McClain.
It's not McClain. It's Gennaro. Chicks. This
intro has already been recorded, but just in
case you didn't understand the mix -up, we are
inside Studio 2009. Only on the Geekcast Radio
Network. I'm, of course, GFG and Mike. Joining
me is Steve Megatron. This is Die Hard 4 .0.
At least that's what it was in other countries
because other countries didn't want to live free
or die hard. I actually like 4 .0 better because
it ties into the whole internet culture of live
free or die hard. It makes more sense to me.
So anyway, we're going to die, die, die hard
as we can. Finally, we're back with John McClane.
Now we got a choice. The choice is plain. We
can live free or we can die hard. Die hard as
we can. From taking on a terrorist he's never
met to taking on an F -35 jet with the greatest
car explosions by far, this sure looks sweet,
man. And we now know what the basic gist is.
There ain't no Alan and it's not Christmas, thank
God. And we don't know, but we're pretty sure
that John McClane kicks ass and it just goes
into the chorus. Yippee -ki -yay, we're gonna
die, die, die. Yippee -ki -yay, motherfucker.
And that's how the fourth verse in the song ends.
So yeah, Die Hard, Live Free or Die Hard, this
movie, holy crap, this movie was released. years
ago 2007 as you already heard our whole spiel
at the very beginning about 2007 in film and
as I mentioned outside the US it was called Die
Hard 4 .0 and the plot of this one it's basically
let's You know, show everybody what it would
be like if America lost everything. But again,
at the end of everything, it's still... At the
end of the whole fire sale, it's still, I want
my money. In other words, didn't matter. Nope,
didn't matter. Whole thing, just a distraction.
I'm trying to think, where was I June 27th, 2007?
I'm pretty sure I did not see this in theaters.
I know in 2007 I saw a couple of movies in theaters.
I don't think this is one of them at all. Did
you see this in theaters? I did not. I don't
remember what I was seeing in theaters around
that time. Granted, I know I was working at a
car dealership and I was broke a lot. So Lucy's
all grown up now. And in this one we have John
who is... He's... Where is he working? Is he
in LA or is he in... Good. Where is he? Oh, he's
back in New York. Because he's like, oh, this
is a favor for New Jersey or something or other.
So he's tasked with bringing a high -level computer
hacker's... I'll request local law enforcement
to bring in high -level computer hackers nationwide.
NYPD Police Detective John McClain is assigned
to New Jersey to pick up Matthew Farrell. And
as he arrives, assassins are sent to kill Farrell.
So yeah, and that person who's assigning that
is Thomas Gabriel, played by Timothy Oliphant.
And then the movie just goes into, oh my God,
guns everywhere, car crashes, helicopter crashes.
It's not as violent as I, I mean, it's violent
because it's a diehard movie, but it wasn't as
crazy as I remembered it being. I don't think
it's as crazy as, like, each of these films,
you would think that they would amp up the craziness.
This isn't that crazy. No. I mean, these four
films, they have their escalatingness of crazy,
but like, I don't know, like, yeah, the F -35
jet, that was a little crazy, but not, I mean,
about the same level of crazy as you know, Arnold
on, on the jet and true lies. I mean, same damn
thing. True. So that's the whole point with this
plot here is that McClane has to keep Farrell
safe as they go through it. It's all about computers.
It's all about hacking. It's all about this,
that, and the other thing. And they have to stay
safe and they have to either stay on or off the
grid and they have to fight. The bad guys, but
the bad guys are usually one step ahead kind
of a thing. Some of my notes include in the beginning
of the movie when all of the hackers are being
contacted by the bad guys. That's a sexy voice.
Oh, Maggie Q. Now she, I've only seen her in
several things. This is the... Oh. Oh, barely.
She was... Okay, so I would say that this was
the... Okay. This is the second thing I saw her
in. But she was in Mission Impossible 3. That
wasn't her debut, but she was first. I would
say her famous debut, she played a girl in a
car in Rush Hour 2. She was then in Mission Impossible
3. She's been in other stuff in between that,
but again, I'm trying to cut to just the famous
stuff. Live Free or Die Hard. She was in Deception
in 2008. These are just the films. But really,
after the live free or die hard thing, where
I found her again was a TV series in 2014, 2015,
where she played the lead role, Beth Davis, Michelle
Weber in CBS's Stalker, which did not last very
long at all. But she was a. in a Need for Speed
video game in 2008 called Need for Speed Undercover.
So that's the main places that I've seen her
in. And the last thing she did was a film called
The Family Plan in 2023. She hasn't done... Oh,
no. She's Detective Renee Ballard in Ballard.
which is an American police procedural television
series from this year. She's the lead role. Interesting.
I'll have to check that out. Yeah. I mean, this
is basically John older, very bald, no more hair
for John. They even make a joke about that. And
when they made the joke about when Farrell made
the joke about it, I'm like, but he used to have
hair like, you know, 20 years ago at the time.
At least in the first film he had air. Oh, boy.
What were your thoughts on live free or die hard?
I. I could feel that it was kind of happenstance
that he just got roped into this like, oh, all
of a sudden, like he's messing with his daughter's
boyfriend. Yeah. Makes her mad. And then. you're
like okay i know she's getting roped into the
situation here yep and then you get down the
rabbit hole and he's getting to call you know
farrell and you're watching all these guys die
and you're like okay well the one that lived
uh captain uh captain mac there and uh so you
know that was interesting among its many other
things going on then the fact that he's trying
to understand it and then you get this whole
tirade about you know him he's like man the whole
all the news is rigged and blah blah blah and
I was like it was funny because the thought came
to me during the last like I don't know six years
you know but I so I had fun with that clip but
the the absurdity and some of the explosions,
like the tunnel thing. And then him throwing,
you know, he's like, Hey, they threw that at
me. I'm going to throw a car at him. And he throws
a car at the, you know, at the, at the helicopter
and takes it down. And he's like, they threw
a freaking car at the, you know, helicopter.
And yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it was, it was entertaining
on that, that front too. And, uh, And then all
the back and forth and then the insults that
he throws back and forth. And then he gets Maggie
Q thrown down an elevator shaft and throws that
in his face. Yep, he does. And then, of course,
tricks the, you know, get captures the daughter.
And. Yeah, so. Yeah, no, I like this one. It's
a good interesting movie to see where McClane
is at this point and have to see him dealing
with the modern day because he comes from a day
where there was no technology. And it kind of
goes back to the second movie where Al was like,
oh, gee. and faxes and well holly said i should
wake up and smell the 90s well you gotta wake
up and smell the 2000s now john kind of thing
and uh yeah no i yeah no i i really dug this
one i really enjoyed this one You pretty much
took all, which is fine, you took all my notes,
but one of my notes was, because I did all that
look up about 2007 in film, because 2007 in film
was crazy. Just, oh man, looking at that list
was just crazy. But Justin Long's filmography,
man, just, it's nuts. He debuted as Brandon in
Galaxy Quest in 99. That was his debut in film.
And then he went on to do the Jesus Creepers
movies. He was Justin Redman in Dodgeball. He
did Herbie Fully Loaded in 2005. As you mentioned,
in 2006, he was in Accepted, which, wow. Holy
shit, college sucks. I did not know he was the
voice of Alvin. The Chipmunks, that's crazy.
And more recently, he was in Spin the Bottle
last year. Doesn't say what he did, but he was...
TBA, he's supposed to be in Shrek 2 Retold. I
don't know what that's supposed to be all about,
but yeah. He was in an episode of The Neighborhood
this year. I did not... I think I... didn't didn't
recognize this when i watched it but he was the
voice of roboto in masters of the universe revelation
in 2021 so that's interesting so yeah but but
yeah no justin long still to me always gonna
be the mac from the pc versus mac oh 100 always
like i love the guy he's a cool guy and he's
in the movies that I've seen him in, but he's
always going to be the Mac. Always the Mac. But
yeah, let's see what else did I already do? I
forgot what the F -35 fight was. I thought the
F -35 fight versus John was going to be a little
bit longer than what it was. But again, you have
that same kind of explosion where John ends up
in a closed quarter thing and you have this giant
fireball coming after him. They can't help themselves.
I like that he just kind of giggled about the
whole situation. He's like, he's like, he's like,
going to throw this at me, going to throw a truck
at me. I'm going to throw a car. That's right.
Yep. And this was Timothy Oliphant seven years
after Gone in 60 Seconds, because Gone in 60
Seconds, he played a cop next to Delroy Lindo's
Detective Castlebeck. I forget what the cop's
name was that Oliphant played in Gone in 60 Seconds
off the top of my head, but he does play a great
villain. Because the way he talks to some of
his minions, I'm like, oh boy. He's like, get
it taken care of. That's right. Yeah, get it
done or you're gone. There are a couple of times
I thought he was going to kill some of the guys
on the ground. Like that guy that kept calling
him saying, well, it's kind of done, but it isn't
really done. What should I do now? Don't worry
about it. We'll figure it out later and then
you'll. So, yeah. But live free or die hard.
Yeah, I was very satisfied at the end of this
movie, both when I saw it initially years and
years ago and now, and I am perfectly fine stopping
right here. I felt like that was like our Beverly
Hills Cop 4. Yes, very much so. I was like, okay,
we went, we went further. We saw what happened
to John. We saw what happened to, you know, his
daughter. Okay. Yep. I felt like that was kind
of like, okay, we've, we've hit peak here. There's
nowhere else to go. Yep. Because really, honestly,
like we knew, we knew he had two kids from the
first movie and the second movie, but the son
was never like, it was always about his daughter.
It was always. came to the phone or Lucy did
this or Lucy did that. I didn't even know his,
I don't even remember they ever said his son's
name in the other movies, in the earlier movies.
I think they did, but it wasn't like a big, but
yeah, it wasn't a big deal. It was just like,
okay, but you know, Lucy's daddy's girl and this,
that, and the other thing and everything else,
all of a sudden, you know, 11 years ago now or
X number of years ago now. Oh, Jack's over in
Mother Russia. And it's like, fuck. Here we go.
I don't know. But live free or die hard. Oh,
what I stopped myself from saying in episode
143, I'll say here. The only thing that. I thought
of, and I'm probably not going to give this movie
a five, but when I was thinking, when I got mixed
up last time, that I was saying that the only
reason why that blah, blah, blah would not get
a five is because of this, this, and this. The
only trepidation I had going into this is because
of one specific cameo role in this, and I knew
it was here because it's a plot point of whatever.
But it's fine, it's not that big a deal, but
it's only because of my disdain for this person
in real life nowadays, not for the way the person
was back in 2007. But the Kevin Smith cameo,
I'm like, oh god, get this guy off the fucking
screen. But the Warlock character wasn't that
bad, and... What, like you a big fan of the fat?
He's always more of a Star Wars guy. He's a Star
Wars guy. Who is this man? Hey, dump truck. I'm
not his dad. I'm a cop. How about that? Oh, a
cop. I'm sorry. Thank you very much. Why'd you
bring a cop into my command center? Command center?
It's a basement. It's a command center. Don't
help McClane. I can explain. Just tell us what
you know about Thomas Gabriel, all right? That's
why we came here. Thomas Gabriel? That's cool.
I didn't know. I'm sorry. Get out! I liked how
his and John's interaction was at the end when
he was talking to him about Lucy. I know you
can hear me. This is your frequency, right? 666.
Come on, pick up the mic. Ready? Uh, nobody here
by that name. Sorry. Pack a jerk off! Warlock,
I need you to do whatever it is you do to patch
me through to the FBI, to Deputy Director Bowman.
Do you hear me? Are you serious? You want me
to intentionally open up comm lines to the head
of the FBI Cyber Division? I don't think so.
Freddy, goddammit, they have my daughter! I can
do that. Hold up. Thank you. And I'm probably
going to use that whole exchange about, but Ma,
it's, you know, It's your command center. It's
a basement, dude. Like, I love that. I love that
exchange. So I know I'm kind of being a hypocrite
here, but it's just like, I'm sorry. Whenever
I see that dude's name attached to stuff nowadays,
I'm just like, oh, God. I don't know. It's just
the way I am. I can't help it. No, and I agree
with you. I didn't really much care for his role
in the film. I mean, it was all right. It wasn't.
Yeah, it was okay. Like, I don't. Yeah. I'm kind
of over him. Like, I just don't. Yeah. Yeah.
I don't care. But, like, the character was fine
for what he was in the film. Yeah. So. But, yeah,
no. Like, I had, like. Like we said, this is
pretty much a button on it for us, but at the
end of this, I was like, oh, I could kind of
see it going this way or that way, or they could
do this or that if they wanted to do another
film maybe two years after this or a couple of
years after this. Not in 2013. When you have
a franchise like this, and look, we know, 95
to 2007, that's a little long in the tooth. But,
like, I don't know. It is what it is. And we'll
come back and we'll do the fifth film. I haven't
even looked at the plot on Wikipedia about the
fifth film because I want to go into that so
cold and just so, like, I want to have my most
honest, raw reaction to that movie because, like
I said before, I've never seen it. other than
the the two trailers that i sent you and always
those two trailers are to me is oh hi jack i'm
here to save your ass and then all of a sudden
all these explosions and guns and whatever because
that's all apparently the diehard franchise is
by the fifth film is it's just explosions and
guns and no story at least according to that
trailer uh but um but yeah no diehard live free
or diehard absolutely still love it uh i would
probably give it in comparison to the other three
movies three and a half i want to give it a four
but i'm gonna give it a three and a half i don't
dislike it but i like i don't know i like the
other ones more i don't know i'll probably give
it a four Just because I enjoyed majority of
the film. The follow -up is the one that I'm
like... Be prepared, folks. I don't know what
we're going to give the fifth movie, but... Oh,
boy. I just don't know. It's not even that I'm
trying to go in there with... I just don't know.
That's my thing. Because I don't know anything
about it other than what I've seen from the trailer,
the two trailers I watched. I'm not reading about
it beforehand. I don't want to know the plot.
I don't want to know anything about it. I want
to just go in. It's kind of like with Die Hard
3. Even though I remember with a vengeance. I
had completely forgot summer in the city from
love and spoonful opens that movie. And I was
had a completely genuine, like, Oh, okay. Like
I was excited. I was like, okay, let's go. I'm
into this movie. And I was excited. And I was
this, and I was right. My notes, and I was like,
this happened, this happened, this happened,
I like this, I like this, I like this. Oh, they
did that, okay, whatever. Like, that's what I'm
going into Die Hard 5 with. Yeah, I don't like
the whole yippee -ki -yay Mother Russia bit,
but that was just in the advertising. It is what
it is, fine, whatever, I can get over that. But
here's hoping for a good day to like Die Hard.
I could see that, but yeah, I... I'm not optimistic
for the next film. Not at all. Oh, boy. Where
are we? What are we doing? Oh, boy. We gave the
ratings. We did that. We did that. Did we go
to ad break? I don't even remember now. I don't
think so. Screw it. This is the fourth film.
We ain't going to no damage. We don't need no
stinking ads around here. All right. Anything
you want to promote? Any anything? Do you have
a book coming out or something? I do have a book
coming out August 8th. And it is about podcasting
and my journey in it. And a lot of things for
newbies and veterans alike to take reference
of. And yeah, it's going to be for sale on Amazon,
on Kindle, on Barnes and Noble dot com. And I'm
hoping in Barnes and Noble itself along among
like libraries and other places that I'm still
waiting on the distribution platform to kind
of iron things out the rest of the way. Very
cool. Very cool. Please tell me chapter one,
page one, line one, all caps, get your own website
period. It's not the, it's not that it's my journey,
but yeah, I know. I know. I know. What's it called?
What's the price? So it's called Altered Audio
Podcasting Demystified and it's $9 .99 for the
digital and it's $15 .99 for the standard book.
I honestly wish I could have put it lower except
I, there, there won't be any because of fees
of everything. Right. But it is 140 pages and
I do give some kind of templates, uh, prompts
at the end of the book and some terms. And, uh,
I list out a bunch of different as of right now,
uh, podcasting platforms and things you should
know when you're building a site and, you know,
all of that. So there's, there's a lot of information
in there that it's like trial by fire over the
years. Uh, I'm in another podcasting group with,
uh, rss .com who hosts our shows. And, uh, I'm,
I'm in there giving a lot of notes and tidbits.
And so a lot of this was birthed from that and
just people asking me questions constantly, uh,
in my daily life. Plus, uh, a lot of the, uh,
events that I go to for, to discuss podcasting.
I'm like, you know, I really should write this
into a book because. I'm going to forget more
than I know. Yep. Absolutely. So at least, at
least with this, I can update as needed. Absolutely.
100%. New additions, you know, uh, but yeah,
it's, it should be pretty complete for what it
is. I, I literally added stuff to it like two
weeks ago, like right before I ordered my, my
proof from Amazon and I should be getting my,
uh, Barnes and Noble proof pretty quick here.
Probably before this episode airs. Well, depending
on how fast I get it edited, but yeah, that is
true. Probably. All right. Well, there you go,
folks. Altered audio podcasting, demystified
from Steven C Phillips. There you go, folks.
Go get that. Coming up here in August, August
8th, 2025, geekcastradio .com. Check it out.
Thank you for joining us here inside Studio 2009.
You can also check out shop .geekcastradio .com
where you can buy our stuff, T -shirts up to
4XL, mugs, mouse pads, question mark, and a bunch
of other stuff. You can send any email to feedback
at geekcastradio .com. You can check us out on
all the podcatching clients you choose to use.
You can follow us on Twitter at geekcastradio
for the network at itsstudio2009 for the show.
I am at TF2 at Mike. What is your Twitter? At
SCP21. Become a fan on Facebook. Go to facebook
.com slash geekcastradionetwork. You can also
check out Studio 2009 podcast over there as well.
Join us next time when Steve and I will be finishing
up Christmas in July with a good day to die hard.
For now, I am TFU and Mike with... Steve Megatron.
You'll hear us back in the studio soon. McClane!
Stay with me. Dad! When you're tombstone, you
should read always in the wrong place at the
wrong time. How about Yippee -ki -yay? Yippee
-ki -yay, Mr. Falcon. Yippee -ki -yay, motherfucker.