SWORDFISH!
It’s Die Hard in a bank!
This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK, we plug into SWORDFISH — the slick, post-Matrix cyber-thriller produced by Joel Silver and directed by Dominic Sena. With Hugh Jackman hacking mainframes under extreme duress, John Travolta dropping pseudo-Brechtian monologues, Halle Berry delivering the most famous topless scene of the early 2000s, and Don Cheadle constantly violating people’s civil rights, it’s a film that dares to ask: does it matter if a movie makes no sense, as long as it’s entertaining? We also dig into Swordfish's dense meta-layering and debate the broader question: when is too much meta actually bad for the form? As always we break the film down in detail in our ‘Anatomy of an Action Movie section’, hand out some ‘Die Hard Oscars’ and wrestle with some ‘Double Jeopardy’ brain teasers…heck, there’s even a Vinnie Jones impression thrown into the mix for good measure! What more could you possibly want?!
SWORDFISH trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFwtY1bxlNc
At the time of release, SWORDFISH is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms, as well as on physical media!
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Die Hard On A Blank
Welcome to the party, pals! This is DIE HARD ON A BLANK, the podcast that explores the influence of DIE HARD on action cinema -- one action movie at a time. In each episode of DIE HARD ON A BLANK, hosts Philip Gawthorne and Liam Billingham discuss one major mainstream action movie that was released after DIE HARD. Phil and Liam break down the story, heroes, villains, action, humor and the 'DIE HARD DNA' that infuse each film, including common cast and crew members. They rate each film and hand out DIE HARD-themed awards. For casual fans and action movie die hards, DIE HARD ON A BLANK is a fun movie discussion podcast that treats the action genre with real respect and love. DIE HARD ON A BLANK is produced by Liam Billingham and Philip Gawthorne. Mike Mayer and Michael Sugar are the executive producers. Tyson Hubley makes our artwork and videos. You can follow Die Hard On A Blank on Twitter and Instagram here. Follow @liamgbillingham and @philipgawthorne on twitter. You can e-mail us with questions at [email protected]Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- No. of episodes: 78
- Latest episode: 2025-07-02
- TV & Film Film History Film Reviews
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