Transcript

Billy Bedlam (Con Air)

Appears the United States Parole Commission then.

Billy Bedlam (Con Air)

Oh, man. Yeah.

Cameron Poe (Con Air)

Put the bunny back in the box.

Billy Bedlam (Con Air)

I knew you was a punk and I was right. You been playing us all along. You a free man.

Cameron Poe (Con Air)

I said put the bun back in The Box.

Steve

It's 2 Dads 1 movie. It's the podcast where two middle aged dads sit around and shoot the about the movies of the 80s and 90s. Here are your hosts, Steve Paulo and Nic Briana. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of 2 Dads 1 Movie.

Steve

I'm Steve.

Nic

And I'm Nic.

Steve

And today we are shedding our shock to fest movies. That was a ton of fun. We hope you enjoyed it, but it's a new month.

Nic

It is.

Steve

It's November. It's Cagevember. And today we are going to watch one of the like, kind of core 90s Nicholas Cage movies. We watched Con Air and this is going to be so much fun.

Steve

I just want to see in general, like real quick off the top. When I came up with the idea of doing a podcast like this, I asked Nic to join me and he was so gracious to say yes. One of the first ideas I had was I want to do a, like a, like a, like a marathon of Nicolas Cage movies.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Because Cage is like so to me, so synonymous with the way that Hollywood was wacky in the 90s.

Steve

Really crazy plots and premises. Every single action movie had to have two big stars. Like we see this in almost every action movie in the 90s, especially mid-90s. Got to have to Nicholas Cage was number was one of those two in several movies. We'll get into that.

Steve

But also just because I want to point it out for like lore again, eventually, if this podcast ever actually gets big, people will know that, like, this is where some of this came from. I was inspired to do that by the TV show Cougar Town. This is a deep cut of Bill Lawrence 2000s comedies, post Scrubs, pre Ted Lasso comedies. But in that movie, one of the characters and his friends, they're nerds. They do a Emilio Estevez festivez and watch a bunch of Emilio Estevez movies together.

Steve

And it was like, oh, I like that. But Nicolas Cage is so much cooler than Emilio Estevez. Let's do Nic. Let's do, let's do Nic Cage on that. So Cagevember was born and this is the first episode of Cagevember.

Steve

And I'm going to stop saying Cagevember now.

Nic

No, I think it's, I think it's perfect. And I think he suits the month Perfectly. This is the month that has Thanksgiving. And I think that Nic Cage's performances are a cornucopia of emotion and range and hilarity.

Nic

Intentional and unintentional.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

And, yeah, I mean, he really gives us a lot to discuss and he picks some really fun shit to talk about, especially like, in the spirit of, you know, sometimes we get into movies that are more, like, artistic and we're trying to analyze from the AP English style approach, but then sometimes it's just like, oh, yeah, me and my friends watch this dumbass movie and drink beer and laugh at it. And like, we've got a couple of those, I think, coming up with Cage because we know. We know what he produces.

Nic

So I'm very, very excited to talk about this one.

Steve

Yeah. The combination of an Academy Award for acting and the kind of crazy premises he would also act in, like, that does. That combination doesn't exist in anyone else. This is a uniquely Nicolas Cage thing.

Nic

And happening at the same time. Like, it's one if Leaving Las Vegas was 25 years before he started being crazy. But, like, yeah, it was parallel timelines. It's really. It's really great.

Steve

Yeah, it's really crazy. And we're going to. So. So just so you know, folks, were watching Con Air, we're not going to tell you the other movies we're going to do until we. Until we end each episode, but we are doing three more.

Steve

There's three more after this Wednesdays in November. So we'll be doing three more Nicholas Cage movies. And the final one will kind of tie together a lot of the stuff we're going to talk about. It really is sort of like this particular era of Nicholas Cage is kind of where we're focusing on maybe not 100% of the time, but, you know, we're going to get into all the different movies in this mid-90s era that he went into that are just nuts. And Con Air absolutely sets the bar for nuts super high.

Nic

Really, really.

Steve

Well. All right. You picked Con Air for us, sir. Tell us about it.

Steve

What's your history with it? Why'd you pick it? Other than, of course, it's Cage of Ember.

Nic

Oh, yeah. So I've got a couple things about conair, actually.

Nic

I mean, I think just the basic thing that you and I probably both saw it around the time that it came out. If not in theaters, this would have.

Steve

Been a theater watch for me, for sure.

Nic

Remember, in. I don't think this was at the theater that I worked at.

Nic

So there were kind of Two competing theaters where we grew up. There's the Crow Cannon and the Blackhawk Theater. And they didn't both get the same movies. Almost never always get different movies.

Steve

They were different brands.

Nic

So at the time, and I worked at the Blackhawk Theater, so everything there I was able to see a bunch of times and. And I would be pissed when there was a big blockbuster like this that went to the other theater. And I think this is one that went to the other theater.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Later in life, though, I mean, this is something that I've watched and referenced and everything, and it's been very funny.

Nic

My wife and I watched this early on when we were dating and really got a kick out of it. And we started around that same time collecting like, we both had a bunch of DVDs and we decided we're not going to get rid of them. We're just going to put them in books and keep them. And we started getting them from thrift stores and stuff. This will get somewhere, don't worry.

Nic

So if you rent a movie on on demand, it's like 399 at the low end or whatever, right? You can buy movies at the thrift store for like a buck 25 on DVD. So we started making this like a date activity where we'd go out and look for things. And Con Air. One time I wanted to buy it on like Amazon Digital.

Nic

She's like, no, like, you got to wait until we find it in the thrift store. You can't. You can't pay for it.

Steve

You can't do it.

Nic

Yeah, we can't do it.

Nic

Like things. It's like assigning that thrift store value to a thing in your life. So we called it the Con Air Promise. And we would not purchase Con Air until we came it at a thrift store. In years past, we never did.

Nic

End of story. We stole it from an Airbnb because they were overcharging us for cleaning. So. So, yeah, I love Con Air. And it's Cage.

Nic

And it's Cage in a Cage. This is about as cagey as we can get to start off the month.

Steve

I love it.

Nic

How about you, Steve?

Steve

Yeah, this was definitely a theater watch for me.

Steve

I was. This is exactly the kind of movie that I was into in high school pretty much. You know, there the. The big Quentin Tarantino hits came a little too young for me to convince my parents let me go in the theater. We were like 14 when Pulp Fiction came out, maybe 13 when Reservoir Dogs did.

Steve

So that was like not kind of a Non starter. But this, you know, this was like the summer between junior and senior year. This was like perfect timing for. For just, you know, going to the movies with the guys. Right.

Steve

And it was Nicholas Cage. And, you know, at the time, I don't think I had the same level of appreciation as I do now for like John Cusack or John Malkovich or Cole Meaney or Ving Rhames or Steve Buscemi, et cetera, et cetera. But when you look back on this cast now, it's like, holy crap, loaded. It's absolutely. I feel like it's stacked with B list folks for the most part.

Steve

Like, I don't really think of these guys outside of Cajun. Cusack are really A listers, but they're like high end. They're like B plusers, you know, supporting.

Nic

They're like the fifth best guy in A Champion, I guess.

Steve

Malcolm.

Steve

Yeah, Malkovich. Malkovich is an A lister. Like, I'm trying not to. I'm trying to be fair here. But like, yeah, they're even the kind of side guys we're like, oh, yeah, I know who.

Steve

Where he's from. Danny Trejo. Right. They're like the high end.

Nic

They show up and stuff that we like.

Steve

Yes. When they're in things, it's always great stuff. And so they are like the high, high end of that, like, second tier. So the whole cast is stacked. The premise is bonkers.

Steve

You know, everything's nuts about it. Tons of explos. You know, there's almost, Almost nothing to not like about the movie. I'm looking at you, Trisha Yearwood. Get the fuck out of my ears.

Steve

Get out of my ears. I tried listening to other earworm songs over the last few days to get.

Nic

Just to wash it out of your ear.

Steve

Out of my ears. And nothing worked.

Steve

Not even Bob Cajun by the Tragically Hip, which always gets stuck in my head. And that didn't work and I'm very upset. Shall we move on to the facts?

Nic

Yeah, let's move on to the facts. Sorry, Trisha Yearwood, no offense to you personally, personal offense, we don't like your song or your wor.

Steve

Offense to Trisha Yearwood. Thank you so much. Okay. All right. The movie Con air debuted on June 6, 1997 with an R rating and a running time of 115 minutes.

Steve

Directed by Simon west and written by Scott Rosenberg. The film stars lots of. We just mentioned, but. But primarily Nicholas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. Scores 59% on rotten tomatoes, which unfortunately is 1 percentage point lower than the, like, fresh threshold.

Steve

The threshold, as it were. So just a little bit of a rotten score there. 6.9 IMDb Nice. And we get a thumbs up from Roger Ebert. No rating from Mr. Gene Siskel.

Steve

This movie came out as his health was really deteriorating and he did not actually appear on the episode of Siskel and Ebert at the Movies with Roger Ebert to do this movie. So we don't get a thumbs up or down from Gene Siskel. RIP Gene.

Nic

Imagine being so messed up. Your job is to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down and you call in sick.

Steve

Cancer is a bitch.

Nic

I got some cancer from using this thing too much.

Steve

All right, Awards. Not a lot of wins. A couple, but a few.

Steve

I really want to mention a few nominations. Very much worth mentioning. This movie was nominated. I love this. For two Oscars.

Steve

I'll say it again because I know you think you misheard me. This movie was nominated for two Oscars. Now that the shock has washed over you, we'll dial it back a second. I'll point out it was for best sound, which always seems to be action movies, right? That's a regular action visual effects and sound and complicated work.

Steve

We've seen a couple sound editing Oscar wins and action movies, I kind of think. But the second one is for the song, Best original song, How Do I Live Perform at Trish Earwood. But the songwriter is Diane Warren. So she was nominated for. For that.

Steve

The movie was also nominated for a Grammy that year. That song as best song specifically written for a movie or television show. And then the wins that the. That the film received in. At the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in 1998.

Steve

We got to remember, like, this was the height of Blockbuster's power in the industry. So, yeah, both Nicholas Cage and John Cusack won awards. Cage for best favorite actor in a lead role, and then Cusack for favorite actor in a supporting role. That's how those. So Cajun.

Steve

Cusack was some blockbuster awards that year. And then the 1998 Rat Razzie Awards gave Con Air, and I quote, the award for worst reckless disregard for human life and public property, which has to be the best possible Razzie to win.

Nic

Yeah, that sounds like not a bad award. That's a. That's an honor.

Steve

That is absolutely. Like, I makes. It makes the movie so much better. We are going, yes, we landed a massive cargo plane on the strip specifically to have disregard for human life and public property. Thank you so much.

Steve

So it worked out great.

Nic

You mean instructional airline safety. Movie con wasn't exactly all right.

Steve

On a $75 million budget, which actually, in retrospect, seems pretty modest, given. Given the amount of power and the destruction.

Steve

You know, it pulled in 224 million, just shy of three times what it costs. So that is. If not like a true blockbuster. Blockbuster. It's certainly a hit movie.

Steve

It made a ton of money. It's a success. There's no. There's no kind of arguing that Con Air did its job in the box office.

Nic

That's right.

Steve

Okay. Those are the facts on Con Air. And. Okay, let's just get into it.

Nic

All right.

Steve

I mean.

Nic

Yeah, so. So this is kind of like the way that. And we've talked about this before. I like the way when.

Nic

When movies start like this, it just kind of takes you through just enough to get to the main action.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Just in similar to the way the Fugitive started.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

You know, where it's like the trial, all this stuff during the credits.

Nic

So we have Nic Cage. He's got his, like, Army Ranger retirement.

Steve

Right.

Nic

And the song is playing. Your favorite song is playing right from the beginning.

Nic

I do want to say this before I forget. I have an opposite experience with that song. The last time I was at the fair with my daughter, we go once a year. We ride all the rides together. It's really fun.

Nic

And we were doing that ride that's kind of like the burlap sack down the slide.

Steve

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nic

The giant slide, which is not worth it if you're paying for tickets, but if you have an unlimited wristband, dude hit that thing, like, 30 times. And we were having so much fun going down that slide. As concert performer, Leanne Rimes was doing her version of this song.

Nic

So I was like, you know, this may be, like, the last time I'll be going down this slide with my kid as the Leann Rimes song plays.

Steve

You know, not too bad.

Nic

Not the Trisha Yearwood version. So maybe it's not quite as much of a torture.

Steve

I actually would probably wager.

Steve

I would guess, actually, that Leann Rimes had actual more success with the song than Trisha Yearwood did. I think. I honestly think that's possible because she was a huge hit for Leann Rimes. Yeah.

Nic

Anyway, so, okay, back to the story.

Nic

So Cameron Poe, Nicholas Cage, he's retired from the Army Rangers, and, oh, know you. Great service to your country, and now you go out into the world like you don't need any cooling off time. You're probably. Your temperament is fine. Why don't you just go hang out with Everyone.

Nic

And. And he ends up going to see his girlfriend. Fiance. Oh, it was actually his. Okay.

Nic

He's too wholesome for that. I should have clocked that. And she's a. She's a bartender at this bar that's kind of like a rowdy country bar. He's like, oh, I'm here to be super romantic without considering maybe taking you to a different location first.

Nic

So he's trying to, like, slow dance with her while a bunch of guys that are ex sea bass from Dumb and Dumber are like, you know, shit kicking at the end of the bar and be like, oh, that should have been my girl. You know, you troops suck. Whatever.

Steve

Which. Okay, let's.

Steve

We gotta unpack a few.

Nic

Yes, let's.

Steve

Because you unpack. Yeah, you set up the. That is the opening.

Steve

You're right. It is sort of a cold open. The Fugitive Demolition Man. A few of the movies we've done have done this where it's like even before the title card, essentially, right? We get all this exposition and plot and a few things jump out at me.

Steve

Let's. I don't even know where to start. Okay, one, the bar is on the bayou or a river. Like, he takes a boat to get to his wife's place of work. There's obviously a parking lot because they end up in it later.

Steve

Where she drove to work. Where is he coming from that he's coming by boat.

Nic

There's a bunch of bars like that in Florida that I've been to.

Steve

Okay, so maybe. Maybe down on the co. Maybe this is Alabama, like, on the coast.

Steve

I don't really know for sure, but. Okay, so there's. That's a possibility. His accent. I love Nicolas Cage.

Steve

I'm a huge Nicholas Cage fan. This is one of the worst accents I've ever heard in any movie ever. His Forrest Gumpian, Alabama drawl is almost unlistenable. Like, I want to learn Spanish just so I can watch a dubbed version of this. Because whoever's doing this for the Spanish overdub didn't do this bad an accent.

Steve

There's no way. It's going to be a much more enjoyable experience. But I don't know Spanish well enough. There's that. And then.

Steve

Yeah, these like. These like good old boys. These like hillbillies, whatever they are at the bar. Sure, they're getting drunk. They want to hit on Monica Potter.

Steve

Trisha is actually her name, right? Trisha Poe. And they want to hit on her. Or maybe they have been and they've been trying to, like, get Her. And she's like, no, no, no.

Steve

I got a man. I got a man. And he's like, what do you mean got to do with me? I got a man.

Nic

Positive cage.

Steve

Positive cage. Nice. But, you know, but it's like, since. I mean, maybe I'm misremembering the 90s, but since when did good old boys think that soldiers sucked?

Nic

Yeah, you know what I mean?

Steve

It's like, is this just because it's pre 911 and so we didn't have all that.

Nic

Yeah, I bet. So it always portrays this fake guy. And I totally agree with that. I don't think this guy really exists.

Nic

Right. So it's like guys who would say, as a whole, I support everything that the military's ever done, but individually, I still have grievances with every person who has stuff that I don't have or whatever, I guess. And I'll say what I need to say to hurt the guy. So the guy was like, really being inappropriate, right? And then Nic Cage is like, gets mad for a second and then Trisha stops him and she goes, I thought you weren't that guy anymore.

Nic

I was hoping the army would make that guy grow up. He's like, oh, you thought that trained murder training for four years would make me less violent?

Steve

What the.

Nic

I'm sure it did many good things for him, but is that the thing that the army would cure?

Steve

Right?

Nic

I don't think so.

Steve

Hey, Lieutenant Huxley, Murder, death, kill is on the menu here. This is exactly what he's supposed to.

Nic

Do now is an Army Ranger. It's not like his job was like, push ups and administration.

Nic

He was like, supposed to be that guy.

Steve

He's not. He's not, you know, piloting drones in the Air Force. This is like boots on the ground doing the job. They.

Steve

That's what I say at the beginning, right? Rangers lead the way, the whole deal. The only other thing that I want to mention about this, and we can move to the next scene, but like, he also. So Monica Potter, Trisha's character, she's pregnant pose w. And he does this. Pretty embarrassing for her.

Steve

She's clearly not happy, uncomfortable with it. But he, like, leans down to, like, listen her belly and, like, talk to her belly. And he says, like, oh, my daughter's in there. You know, whatever. Like, oh, what's that, dear?

Steve

You going to be. We miss Alabama. Your daddy gonna be so proud. And I'm sorry you and I are fathers of daughters. Not interested in my daughter being a pageant.

Nic

Someday I hope that a teenage Version of yourself, stars in a Donald Trump run beauty pageant. Like, what the fuck?

Steve

Like, like a scientist, a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, anything.

Nic

What a fucking simpleton Cameron Poe is throughout the movie. And, like, talking to the belly and all these things, it is like, oh, you taught an eight year old to be really good at murdering.

Nic

He did not grow up. He didn't get any better at thinking through his life. He just has these hardcore principles that he will not betray, even if it's to the detriment of all this other shit that he should care about way more.

Steve

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Nic

But I love this movie.

Nic

And the accent too. Terrible. I swear to God. Nic Cage saw Cape Fear and he was like, I want to do a long hair and accent movie. And he just like, decided to make this.

Nic

Like, I don't understand it at all because it said it was his. Like, everything I read that that was his choice.

Steve

Oh, wow. So they were going to let him just be himself and he's like, no, I need to. Yeah.

Nic

Or some.

Steve

I mean, yeah. I mean, look, I like Nic Cage. He's got the Oscar win. I think he is an incredibly talented actor, but I think that this is a scenario where you can look at him and go, hey, buddy, you're not Bobby De Niro.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

You're just not.

Nic

He's like. He's like. Like a better version, but like one of those quarterbacks.

Nic

Like a Jameis Winston where he can be amazing and spectacular, but he throws a shit of interceptions and you just have to live with it. So who's a good example?

Steve

I like that analogy, but that is 100% the. The elite QB. Joe Flacco.

Steve

Yeah, that's who he is. He's Joe Flacco. He might win a Super Bowl.

Nic

He'll have a playoff run.

Steve

He'll.

Nic

Yeah, but. But yeah, it can't be counted on. So that's part of what makes Cage movies so interesting, because it's like you try to pick apart what came from the writer and director and what came from them just being like, fine, Nic, we'll fucking leave it in. Will you just do the next thing?

Steve

Okay, wonderful.

Steve

All right, we got to move through the plot. Okay, Right, So it gets to the. Gets to the parking lot. They're going to go home, it's the end of Trisha's shift. But those three idiots from the bar there making some crude remarks and then.

Steve

And then, you know, square them up. Basically. It's. It's elbows up, they got knives. And he at first is, like, incredibly careful.

Steve

And just, and just, you know, disarming them, knocking them down, like, whatever. But he gives one of these. And I remember Everybody in the 90s thinking that they knew how this worked and how to do this. But basically the palm of the hand up into the nose, supposedly like jams part of the nose bone, which is like all cartilage. I don't know how that works, but into the brain and it kills you.

Steve

Like that's the idea. Right.

Nic

And every fifth grader knew how to do it.

Steve

Oh, yeah, my dad taught me how to do the nose bone thrust, brain.

Nic

Kill, you know, so three on one fight.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

And he. So he ends up killing this guy, but the switchblade drops to the ground and his friends, before they run off, grab the knife and run away. And it doesn't really talk about it, but it's like, okay, that's how there was a better evidence that it was self defense.

Steve

It's almost like they didn't take his word or Monica's word or anybody else's that there were three men and a knife.

Steve

And so all it looked like is, there's Poe and this one guy and he's dead and that's it. And Poe doesn't have a scratch on him. Right. So it's like.

Nic

And it's raining, so there's no forensics there.

Steve

That's. And okay, that's all true. But it's like there's an eyewitness, like. And then it's like, oh, but he's his wife. Yeah, but it's not like she can't justify.

Steve

She's sober.

Nic

She's incredible. She's been working there all night. And he's like, as credible as you could get. You'd think he's probably sober too.

Steve

But if, I bet if he took a breath he has a single drink at that bar. Yeah. But anyway, so he is again, this is before the title card still, folks, but he, so we see him talk to his lawyer who basically tells him, hey man, take a plea deal if you don't. He's like, I didn't do it. I'm not guilty.

Steve

I want to go to trial. Which if he'd gone to trial, he goes. He goes home free. Oh yeah, 100%. No jury convicts this army ranger with all.

Steve

When all the facts come out. So. So there's that. But his lawyer convinces him, hey, man, if you go to trial and we lose, you get like 10 plus years. If you, if you plea down to like involuntary manslaughter, you'll only get like 3, 4, tops.

Steve

You'll be out in a year. Yeah, right. And so he. So he agrees. And the judge, for whatever reason, no explanation given, throws the book at him.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And it's like, you're an Army Ranger. You're a special case. Which is, by the way, just to make it absolutely clear, I am not a lawyer. Nic here is not a lawyer.

Steve

But I have done a little research on this. There is definitely no precedent in US Law that says that because you're a veteran or have special training that you are literally treated in regular criminal court like a completely different class of citizen that needs completely different punishments. Like, that's not a thing.

Nic

Like he's not Wolverine. Like, he doesn't have claws.

Nic

He just has regular hands and fists.

Steve

Yes, exactly.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

But he is. He is convicted and he is sentenced.

Steve

He pleads. And so then he is sentenced to seven years. And again. And there's another part that's funky, doesn't make sense, except that it has to for the movie. He's sentenced to federal time.

Steve

There's absolutely no reason why this should be a federal crime. The victim was not a federal officer. They were not on federal property. It was not about crossing state lines or drug trafficking or other. Or terrorism or other things where there's, like, federal statutes, but not state ones or something like that.

Steve

Right. Like this. This was a crime. The state of Alabama would have been prosecuting this. This case.

Steve

And he should have served time in an Alabama penitentiary. But then that wouldn't give him the opportunity to get on this.

Nic

That's right.

Steve

Right. So.

Steve

But throwing it out there. There is absolutely zero reason Cameron Poe should have ended up in California in a federal prison. He should have been in Alabama somewhere. I will say, though, all the things we know these days about the Department of Corrections there in Alabama, he's probably better off having been in California federal prison.

Nic

The movie would have been about him fighting to the death for money.

Steve

In prison.

Nic

Yeah, in prison. Yeah. And so he goes to jail and he gets seven years in prison. Seven.

Nic

And he goes there to grow his hair out and do yoga and learn Spanish and stuff. And there's a very silly montage of him, like, you know, becoming this, like, you know, focused machine. And all he cares about is his letters from his kid. I will say this. If we're using this movie as an instructional thing for what to do when you first get to prison, I believe there's three immediate strikes from Nicholas Cage.

Nic

One, hey, baby O ended up being a buddy, but in prison, you're not going to try to make friends with a person of a different race. Especially not by giving him food, which you don't do. You're not supposed to give people stuff and then immediately showing him a picture of your daughter. It's like, dude, you need to hire. He's like, too earnest, though.

Nic

But it never. That doesn't come back to bite him very much.

Steve

No, because you're right. It turns out baby's a good guy and, and a good friend. And so there's no big deal there.

Steve

And, and, and may. Look, we don't know exactly how much time passed.

Nic

No, not at all. The three things that they're showing him do. It's like, oh, every other prison thing I've seen says don't do that.

Nic

You know, it'd be like a vampire movie where the guy's just eating garlic with a crucifix. Like.

Steve

Yeah, you're eating a suntan. Yeah. I do love the learning Spanish part too.

Steve

Is that the sentence we hear him learn from his tapes? Learn Spanish is the most, like, out of touch, ludicrous sentence. It's like, my wife and I will have our margaritas on the yacht. Like, when are you gonna need that? That is not dondia salad.

Steve

Like, you know. Anyway.

Nic

All right, so now, now we're kind of into the main plot of the movie. And there's a plane. Basically, we're with the Department of Corrections guys and we have this plane that's gonna take kind of the worst of the worst criminals that we have, and it's going to take them to this new prison that we have, which we love.

Nic

New prisons here on movie. Keep building them. And, and Duncan Malloy is one of the characters played by Cole. Me.

Steve

Right.

Nic

And he's like a high ranking DEA guy.

Steve

Correct.

Nic

And then we've got John Cusack, who is Vince Larkin.

Steve

Larkin.

Nic

And he's a Department of corrections guy.

Steve

U.S. marshals.

Nic

U.S. marshals. But he's also kind of like a. Hey, you know, our system is what creates these monsters. Like, he'll get a line in here and there and gets made fun of for it.

Steve

He's basically a 90s liberal, quote, unquote. Like, you know, he's. He's into recycling. He's into Earth Day. He wears sandals with socks, which obviously that's.

Steve

Only liberals do that. But, you know, it's like he is. He has pointed out to us as a bit of a softer, you know, like, like honestly, the. The term bleeding heart liberal would have been used.

Nic

It's the stereotypical punching bag for that oh, granola.

Nic

You like granola? The food that only certain people.

Steve

He's the dad from Family Ties. Yeah, basically. Right.

Steve

So, but. So, yeah, so he's U.S. marshals, and then his boss is involved, but kind of a pushover. And then, yeah. Cole Meaney's character, Duncan Malloy, is dea. So the point about this is like, all right, there's this plane in Vacaville, California, at a supermax prison.

Steve

There isn't one of those there, I don't think, but whatever. They are going to load up the people. Some of the people they have there, including Cyrus the Virus, Diamond Dog, a couple other people. They're going to take them to Carson City where they're picking up another group of people, and that's going to include additional psychos like Swamp Thing and Garland Green and a bunch of other people. Right.

Steve

We'll get to all that as they approve. But the plan then is then they'll leave. Leave Carson City, Nevada, and fly all the way to Alabama, where that's where Cam Cameron gets to just, like, leave. Like, that's him getting. He'll go to the prison, get checked in, but then immediately be like, straight because it's back home.

Steve

And then all the other people are going to this brand new supermax there in Alabama. So that's the whole reason. That's the whole thing about getting Po back to Alabama is that. Is that. That's why he's on the flight is.

Nic

It's like.

Steve

It's like a ride home, which is like. I feel like that wouldn't happen as well. But whatever that. It works enough.

Nic

It's. Yeah, it's whatever. We don't. We have to suspend much disbelief here, but. And the DEA is involved because they have an undercover agent on the flight who's trying to, I think, get close to one of the subsequent pickups.

Nic

Who's like a main cartel, right?

Steve

One of the guys getting picked up in Carson City, San Dino, he is the son of, like, the head of one of the big cartels out of Colombia. And so what they're trying to do is get him to spill anything that he can, because then. And again, this is a great little piece of like, pre 9 11, pre Department of Homeland Security interagency rivalry is that Malloy is like, I'll be damned if the FBI gets their hands on him once he gets into this supermax prison. That's the dea.

Steve

This is their last chance to be the ones to get the information to go get his dad or something like that or whatever it is. They're trying to do. After that, it becomes the FBI's, like, you know, game to play. And he doesn't want that.

Nic

Right.

Nic

It's like the DEA's Hail Mary to, like, get this.

Steve

It's like, doesn't have anything to do with, like, getting the criminal busted or. Or whatever. It's all about our agency gets it. It's our caller.

Steve

Da, da, da. Which is a very pre 911 sort of attitude, but. But was very common, it seems, at least from movies and TV in the 90s.

Nic

Yeah, I know for sure.

Steve

So that's basically it.

Steve

We hear a little bit about who are some of the people getting on. Like I said, so John Malkovich is Cyrus the Virus. Just a horrible person altogether. There's Danny Trejo's Johnny 23, a serial rapist. There's Ving Rhames, Diamond Dog, a black militant who killed a whole bunch of people.

Steve

And then a handful of other guys, a guy named Billy.

Nic

Billy Bedlam.

Steve

Yeah. Billy Bedlam is there. And he's again, just.

Nic

He's like, crazy murderer. Yeah.

Steve

Cyrus, actually, I think, was in jail, hadn't killed anyone outside of prison, but then killed 17 people or something.

Nic

He gave some crazy number and like.

Steve

He killed three times or something, like.

Steve

Yeah. So he's just. Yeah, these are all the people.

Nic

Great scene, though. I. I love this type of scene in this kind of movie where it's just running through, like, the dossier and you're learning all the guidance.

Nic

And then finally when Cameron Poe steps off the bus to get onto the plane and the breeze hits his hair and the sun hits his face at the right angle and we get these few seconds of him just looking so satisfied. To have the sun be hitting his face is another Nic Cage. So fucking funny. And only would have come from him. That moment wouldn't have been as memorable coming from Stallone getting off the plane, being like, oh, I haven't seen that thing in years.

Nic

Yes, really, really funny.

Steve

So before they can all get on the plane to leave Vacaville and go to Carson City, Malloy wants his undercover agent to bring a gun. He's like, my. You know, my people don't go anywhere without their weapons or whatever. And Cusack and his boss are like, no, no, no, no, no.

Steve

There is a single pistol in the cockpit and there is an arsenal in the belly of the plane, but no other weapons come on board, period. Yeah. And he gives up the gun. They're like, okay, fine. Because he said, well, my.

Steve

My man doesn't get on the plane without his Gun. He's like, well, then he doesn't get on the plan. Plane. Yeah, your choice. Right.

Steve

But when it's time. Because now what? They also mention the. The undercover guy. Like, they don't.

Steve

Nobody knows, not even the other guards know that he's not a prisoner.

Nic

Right.

Steve

They're all going to treat him just like a prisoner so that there's no chance of things slipping up. Malloy is the one who then, like, oh, I'll pat this one down, or whatever. And he checks his mouth, whatever.

Steve

And he slides a gun back into his ankle, like, into his sock or whatever. So he is bringing a gun on board. Obviously. A terrible idea. Gee, I wonder if that'll come back to hunt them.

Steve

Oh, my God. Yes, it does. And then so I love. They're on the plane, and there's a guard, like, giving a bunch of info about, like, this is what you're going to do. You're going to listen to me.

Steve

You're going to shut up. You're going to do this. Da, da. Whatever. And the one guy is like, he's like, you spit on us.

Steve

You do anything, like, we have no problem, you know, like. Like securing you or whatever. And there's this guy who, like, spits on me, goes like, you know, you pig. And the guy just goes, gag and bag this Nazi muffin. Yeah, the guy's got, like, SS tattooed on his neck.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

They like, tape his mouth, throw the spit bag over his head.

Steve

Exactly. Yeah.

Nic

That's a.

Nic

That's a satisfying guy to see. Get it at that point. And not knowing that, he's probably, like, the third best guy in the entire flight.

Steve

And Nazi muffin is classic.

Nic

I do love a good Nazi muffin is.

Nic

Because how do you come back from that? Right.

Nic

So, yeah, we're on the plane, and then some of the passengers are in kind of regular seats, cuffed up, and some are in these special cells. Diamond Dog, Cyrus, Diamond Dog, Billy Bedlam are in there. And it kind of shows. Cyrus has, like, a little pin, like, a little piece of metal under his skin that he's going for. And all the guys are, like, doing.

Nic

Right?

Steve

Yeah, yeah. Both he and Diamond Dog have got, like, pins in the meat of their, like, palm, and they're pulling them out. Yeah.

Nic

And then we have Chappelle's character.

Steve

Pinball.

Nic

Pinball, yeah. And so they're doing that. Chappelle is just in a regular seat, and he starts, like, regurgitating, pulls something out of his mouth, and it's like a little, like, container of fuel in A match that's inside a condom that he regurgitates. And he lights the guy next to him on fire.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

As the distraction.

Steve

Very distracting. That is fair.

Nic

I'm a little concerned with, like, that little amount of fuel can really just blow somebody up that much.

Steve

I mean, it's like there's kerosene probably, or something like that. Lighter fluid, basically.

Nic

And just.

Steve

Yeah, that stuff just went. This guy's on fire.

Steve

Now. They got. Now the guards are rushing and they're opening gates and they're moving to, like, throughout the plane. At which point both Diamond Dog and Cyrus have gotten their cuffs off with those little pins. Because as we all know, picking the lock of a handcuff is incredibly simple.

Steve

Just stick anything in there. Yeah.

Nic

Anything that fits in there, just wiggle it around, like four or five seconds. Seconds. That should be it.

Steve

If you're ever captured somewhere, just. Just find any old stick or anything.

Nic

You can shove it in.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Swallow a paperclip, something like that, you know.

Steve

Exactly.

Nic

Yeah. And these cages are only open. There's no, like, double key situation. It seems like it's a lever on the door that opens that.

Nic

So Chappelle is able to get over and, like, let these guys out.

Steve

And so then Cyrus Malkovich has got, like, one of his. He's got the handcuffs on him, so it's open. And he kills a guard by jamming the, like, opened handcuff into his neck, which I just thought was a. Like.

Steve

That is some brutal work, Right? Gnarly. Pretty crazy. So they. They do all this.

Steve

They're. They're letting everybody out of their cages. They're beating people up. They're taking the guards hostage, like, all this kind of stuff. And then the.

Steve

The one of the pilots tries to come out with the gun from the cockpit and he gets in a fight with Cyrus, I believe. Right. And Cyrus is able to, like, shoot him. Like. Like turn the gun against him and shoot him.

Steve

So one of the pilots is now dead. And Cyrus has ostensibly or believed to be the only gun on the. On the plane.

Nic

Right.

Steve

Cause the prisoners don't know that there's an arsenal in the underbelly.

Nic

Right.

Steve

And they don't know that the undercover de. Agent has brought a gun on, obviously. So there's that. So Cyrus is.

Steve

And he does one. Something that happens in a lot of movies that we'll be talking about soon is welcome to the movie title. Yes. Because Cyrus goes, welcome to Con Air. So we get that moment.

Nic

It's like, that's the things that they film Just to like make sure that's in the trailer, we need a 30 second trailer. That's going to do it.

Steve

So good.

Nic

Yeah. And this is a brutal scene.

Nic

One thing I do want to point out, one of the guards on the flight, for some reason I feel like, you know, it makes the movie more interesting in real life. This wouldn't and shouldn't happen on this type of flight. But is a female guard, right. And it's just like, I'm sorry, some of these guys are going to go insane if there's any woman near them. And it's better to not do that.

Nic

So, you know, she's in jeopardy now. Some of the guards have been killed and some have just been like cuffed and, and restrained in the back of there. And Johnny 23, the Danny Trejo character who's like, you know, a serial rapist, he has tattoo to indicate his charges and stuff, is. Has already been threatening towards this guard. So this is something happening.

Nic

The other thing, and this, this is fucking stupid. This should not be in the movie. All right, okay, so Baby O, Nic Cage's buddy, he's a diabetic.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

And he didn't get his insulin shot before the flight.

Nic

And they're like, oh, don't worry, we'll give it to you in the flight. And then this melee happens, happens, and he's like, increasingly, he's just the sweatiest person that's ever been on film. And it sucks because that actor, he was Bubba in Forrest Gump, right? Good actor. He's had a long career.

Nic

He's been in a lot of shit in this movie. He has nothing to do except for Shiver and be fucking annoying. Oh, the plot's supposed to happen. Oh, I better go check on Bubba again. And at a certain point, like, the stakes are so high that why would you give a shit about this guy giving.

Nic

Getting his insulin shot anymore? So I feel like it's distracting. In a movie that could have been trimmed in certain places, I think that whole part could just be like, gone.

Steve

For a while, I think. I'll bet you, if I had to wager, I bet there is a version of this script that existed where there was no Baby O character.

Steve

He had no friend, he was a complete loner in prison, survived just by being completely alone. And then in the original version of the script, he. When Cameron, when Poe has a chance in a little bit to get off the plane and be out of all this, he decides to stay strictly for the female guard, right? And I feel like they had to bridge.

Nic

Like, he needed someone to save during that time from getting out of jail to needing.

Steve

No, no, no more. That. That wouldn't have been enough for him. Like. Like.

Steve

Like, for. Let's make it believable.

Nic

Because he had no previous relationship.

Steve

No previous relationship with the guard. Yeah.

Steve

He might feel bad that she's in incredible danger, but she has. He has a wife and daughter to get home to. Like, but if you combine that and then also, like, basically, the one friend in the world he has, he literally says later, I trust two men, and one of them's me. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're supposed to believe the other one's baby. Oh, it's.

Steve

It. That was in. The idea was that that would be enough to keep him there. So we had to have this character who is very vulnerable, very, you know, unable to, like, take care of himself, is not going to be able to defend himself, not be able to take care of himself, because he's going into, you know, basically spending half the movie going into insulin shock, like, without his. Any insulin.

Steve

And so I think that's why it's there. I agree with you that. That, like, feels like it doesn't really work necessarily, but, like, when they're flashing.

Nic

Back to it later, it's like, oh, we're.

Steve

We're past this.

Nic

Like, this could have gotten us to a point. And maybe he got the shot and got him off the plane or.

Steve

Or to have him die, even.

Nic

Yeah, like, have him.

Steve

Have him get shot by Cyrus or something.

Steve

And then that gives Poe even more impetus to, like, now get revenge. Maybe that would have been more interesting than continuing to have Baby O like, for so long, be almost dying, you know?

Nic

All right, that's. I just. This was a beef that I had with it.

Nic

But.

Steve

But, yeah. So basically. So Cyrus has a gun, and as Pinball is letting the DEA agent, who doesn't know is a DEA agent free from his restraints, that guy pulls his gun and puts it to Pinball's head and goes, cyrus, you know, dea freeze. Basically just like, dude, you are.

Steve

Read the room. You are not in here. Yeah, but he's basically like, whatever. And he goes, I'm gonna kill this guy. And Cyrus is like, you think I give a crap about a crackhead or whatever?

Steve

He's like, do whatever you want. Want. And then there's a little, like, struggle, and they're able to basically, like, Pinball's able to, like, duck, and then Cyrus is able to shoot the de. Agent. So they kill him, and they get a second Gun.

Steve

So now there's two guns and I love it. Pinball's got the gun. The second one, the one the agent has, and he. And he goes up to Cyrus and goes, hey, Cyrus, man, you didn't mean what you said, did you, about that. And he goes, let me have that gun.

Steve

He hands me. Hell yes, I meant it really good. I love that. Hell yes, I meant it.

Nic

And Cameron Poe intervened during this scene for some reason.

Nic

Like, he'd go up to the de agent and he's. He's like, you're in a situation you can't control. You know that, right? He wasn't really instructing him on how to help. He was just kind of like.

Nic

He's like, yeah, I have a fucking internal monologue. I know what's going on here. I don't need it in an idiot's voice too.

Steve

I'm well aware of how fucked I am, thank you very much. I'm trying to find a way out of this.

Steve

Yeah, that's right, because that's how he got distracted, basically, was Poe kind of like tried to talk to him and then another guy snuck up on him and actually got shot. Pinball gets over away. Cyrus shoots the cop. Da da da da da. So.

Nic

So this leg of the flight is not very long.

Steve

No. Because it's only vacuole to Carson City, Nevada. Very short.

Nic

So they're.

Nic

Yeah, so they're. They're coming up to the point and they. We find out that six men are supposed to get off the plane.

Steve

Correct.

Nic

As part of this transfer.

Nic

And basically three of the guys that are supposed to get off are dead. You know, the Nazi guy. Like various guys that got shot. So we need three volunteers to get off and they have to be white guys, right?

Steve

Because that's what they're expecting.

Nic

Because that's what they. They check. Nothing else other than white or black. Like, I guess that's probably on their sheet.

Steve

Yeah, I'm sure race is on there, whatever.

Steve

But they don't even. When they get to the point where they're actually swapping people, they don't seem to do anything looking at these guys whatsoever. They don't check their mouths or they're all bagged and gagged, so they're just walking them on to the next bus, whatever. I don't think it would have mattered until hours later potential as they're being like, processed. But by then people would have noticed.

Steve

Oh, this is not. This is a guard or whatever. Like this guy. So. Yeah.

Nic

So Cameron and baby. Oh, they. They're like, okay, cool. This is our way off. We can volunteer here.

Nic

Get off. But then they can't be.

Steve

Because, you know, because Michael T. Yeah, because, baby, you can't go.

Nic

And. And one of the guys that they have to send out, they're like, okay, we're short a white guy.

Nic

We're going to use this guard. Yeah, the guy from the beginning who was doing the whole, like, tough guy speech and, you know, got the Nazi muffin. So. So, yeah, so they do this prisoner exchange and there's a sandstorm that's right. Going on at the time, too.

Nic

So it's very, like, unclear what's happening. They're loading some guys on. And at the same time, we have the John Cusack character who's kind of, like, investigating. I don't know why they're looking in Cyrus cell. Or maybe they're just doing a cell inspection after he's left.

Nic

Like a standard inspection of a cell that you would do.

Steve

That's a good question.

Nic

The guard kind of discovers this chalkiness in the brick and there's this fake brick and he finds all this shit, which includes a blueprint for an airplane and all this. A thing that says Con Air by Cyrus the virus from Kevin McAllister's fucking burglary plan.

Steve

And a copy of the Anarchist Cookbook and a couple other things.

Nic

You wouldn't rip the COVID off if you had a piece of contraband. Like, have it say, you know, Peter Rabbit or something.

Steve

Right. I also love this real quick, the concept of, like, this. This.

Steve

This hidey hole that Cyrus supposedly made for himself. I'm. Maybe. Is it just a thing where, like, there was a dresser or bed in front of it normally? Because he obviously wasn't putting that fake brick, like, in place.

Steve

It was like. He must have sealed it back up.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

When he was done. But then I don't.

Steve

It's. It's a little odd, I guess. He just moved furniture around. No, normally. But, yeah, it's a very convoluted.

Steve

It's sort of like at the end of Shawshank where you're like, well, how did he, like, make the poster go back over the wall after he. It's sort of like, what is that? What. This doesn't really make sense.

Nic

But then Cyrus did the whole Shawshank thing just for storage.

Steve

Yeah, right. Exactly.

Nic

In his storage.

Steve

It's like, luckily there's not a cell next door.

Nic

I guess, like, I don't know.

Steve

There's a little space there, but. Yeah, so. So Cusack. Larkin is there and he's like, hey, you know, looking all this stuff. And then he's like, I'm gonna go do this.

Steve

I gotta go talk to somebody. Don't touch anything. Don't touch anything. And one of the guards, of course, picks up like a little doll or something. Right.

Steve

And. Or no.

Nic

Starts messing with it.

Steve

Something. Yeah.

Steve

And it. And it. Was it a doll? No, no, it was a box that said do not open.

Nic

Yes.

Steve

And he opens it. And I love a very Hollywood movie thing. If you see a couple of liquids start to bubble and mix and then it's like. And just explodes. So.

Steve

Yeah. So they know like Cyrus was planning something. He had a blueprint of the plane somehow. Like there's all this stuff. They basically know that at this point that there's been trouble on the flight.

Steve

Yeah. But they're not positive that there's been an issue until after they land. So they land and they're doing this. All this prison, prisoner transfer. A guy getting on his Swamp Thing.

Steve

MC Ganey one love that actor. Love him so much. And he's gonna. He apparently is a pilot. So he gets to come on and fly a plane.

Steve

And you know, there's like all these other people going on. And there's a last second addition that they nobody planned for. And Garland Green, or as I like to call him, Teemu Hannibal Lecter, gets pulled onto the flag played by Steve Buscemi. And he gets pulled on. He's got an even more crazy get up on a handcart, basically, than even Lecter had.

Steve

But yeah, like he gets to come on the flight and it's Steve Buscemi. And all they say is, like, he killed 31 people. I mean, some astronomical crazy number. Right. We don't really hear anything even about why he just did, apparently.

Steve

So.

Nic

And they're handling him like they handle the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. Like they're doing some serious, like, distancing from this guy. Yeah. And so at the same time as they're stopped, they anticipate the future problem of there's a transponder in the plane.

Steve

Right.

Nic

And we have to get rid of it.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

So they send Pinball, Chappelle's character. It was actually his suggestion.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

This sponder is trans.

Steve

Got to get it off the plane.

Nic

There's a transponder on the plane.

Steve

I got to get rid of it.

Nic

So he goes and he goes to stick it in another plane that's in one of the hangars and he ends.

Steve

Up like scenic tours. Yeah.

Nic

And he has A up, kind of like hitting on a woman there. So he gets delayed a bit getting back.

Steve

And so now there's kind of this convolution or this culmination of several things happening where the authorities have now realized there is a problem, that it is not that the plane is not in their control. They start sending people to the airfield to try to stop them. But everybody getting on the plane, including Swamp Thing, who's flying it, realizes that that's happening. So they all rush back onto the plane to start getting it up into the air. Well, Pinball hears the sound of the plane starting up, and he rushes out to go chase it down, down, but the plane's already going.

Steve

He actually ends up getting run over by some landing gear and kind of sucked up into the plane. Into the landing gear. Poor guy.

Nic

Yeah. Rough, rough go of it there.

Nic

And one of the things that Poe was able to do. So as they were putting the fake prisoners off the plane, the guy who was the guard who had been gagged and bagged.

Steve

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Nic

Cameron Poe had taken the tape recorder from the DEA agent and shoved it in that guy's, like, jacket. So he's like, good.

Nic

As soon as they take these guys off, they're gonna respectfully pat them down. They're gonna find this, and we're gonna be good. And instead, you know, he gets off on the plane, and this guy's struggling, and the prison guard, you know, being as empathetic, says, shut the fuck up, and just starts, you know, hitting him with his stick. And it breaks the tape recorder. Anyway, so they've made a discovery.

Nic

So this is happening just to your point.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

As the plane's about to take off, the ground is realizing, oh, shit. And then there's some communication there that the guards who are offloading the prisoners are not guards, prisoners. So Malkovich gets to shoot a guy in the head.

Steve

Oh, that's right. Because they send a guy over, be like, hey, just slow him down. Just delay him. He goes, hey, wanted to talk about. Da, da, da.

Steve

And then they go, yeah. So that poor guy, whoever he was. So, yeah, so they. They. They talk about shooting the plane down.

Steve

They're going to chase the plane. Oh, we got the transponder. We know where it is. So they. They send up some Apache helicopters, basically, or whatever they are to go take down the plane.

Steve

And Malloy and for some reason, Larkin, John Cusack's boss. Go there? Yeah. And they chase him down. And.

Steve

But he's kind of like. I don't like even Larkin's Kind of like, that doesn't sound right. Like, why are they heading to Arizona? This seems so strange because that's the transponder. Now this Uncle Bob Scenic Tours flight has actually taken off and they're able to track the.

Steve

What they think is the Con Air transponder. So they're going to go and try to shoot it down. Meanwhile, Con Air is in the air. And Billy Bedlam doesn't really believe Cameron Post story when he stayed on board. You know, we know it was because he wanted to pursue, protect the guard and baby.

Steve

Oh. But he had to give them a story. And he said, oh, I got 15 years left. Like, I want that sweet taste of freedom. And Billy says, hey, if you had 15 years, you would have been on a block or whatever.

Steve

Yeah, that's where I was. I don't remember seeing you. And he's like, well, that's funny. There were 160 prisoners there. I didn't see you either, kind of thing.

Steve

But Billy doesn't buy it. You get the sense Billy shouldn't. Yeah, you get the sense he's the kind of guy that probably knew every thing that went on in that cell block. Right. So.

Steve

So there's that. And so he's down in the. In the hold and Billy is snooping through stuff and he finds po's box of personal effects, which includes a bunny that he's bought for his daughter, a note, a card from her, and also his letter from the parole board, his parole letter. Cameron Poe, you've been paroled. You're.

Steve

Blah, blah, blah, blah. So now Billy knows this is wrong, but he's also got the. His hands on the bunny. And Poe has gone down into the hold after him. Him to then deliver.

Steve

Easily the best line in the movie. Oh, yeah, when Cameron Post says, put the bunny back in the box really good. I can't tell if I'm doing a Forrest Gump impression or Cameron pro impression.

Nic

But either way, I can't tell if Nic Cage was doing a forest gump.

Steve

So.

Steve

But they fight, and it's actually an interesting fight because they're ducked down. You gotta. You can't stand up. Yeah, they're both pretty tall guys, you know, and so. And they're.

Steve

They're having to crouch and fight to the. There's a lot of, like, grappling and.

Nic

Sort of ironically, it reminded me of being John Malkovich.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

With like, the mini, little mini rooms.

Steve

Oh, we skipped something, though, before that going down there. Ving rhames. Diamond Dog goes down with Poe. They're looking for something, and they find. Oh, no, that's right.

Steve

The. The Swamp Thing tells them, hey, the landing gear won't go all the way up. We're not going fast enough because the landing gear, they find Pinball stuck in it, and they got to shove him down, basically just like, drop him through the thing so the thing can close. But in the meantime, what with Diamond Dog's back turn, Poe is able to write the note, a note on his white shirt, Pinball shirt, that says, like, Vince Larkin, Lerner Airfield, because that's where they're headed, is Lerner Airfield somewhere in the desert, in the Mojave Desert in California. Not near.

Steve

Or maybe Nevada, whatever. Not near anything. You know, he said like 50 or 60 miles from anything remotely like Authority, basically.

Nic

Right.

Steve

That's where they're going to pick up a different plane.

Steve

This is the Sandino D deal. This is why this is all happening, is that Cyrus has been working with Sandino's father to get him out, and they're all going to get rewarded. That's the plan, right? So they have to go to this place, Lerner Airfield. So Poe has written that on Pinball.

Steve

Shirt dropped him down, he falls. I think they're flying over Fresno at the time, I believe.

Nic

Fresno.

Steve

And, and. And the guy drops Prinball does.

Steve

Onto a car in the middle of an intersection.

Nic

Kind of a funny thing. Like the passenger of the car, the guy, the car had just been pooped on, and then the wife's like, oh, oh, bird poop. That's good luck. And then the body crashes through.

Nic

So kind of a cool. Kind of a cool effect there. Yeah. So very important for the plot. And the reason that Poe knew to write Vince Larkin's name is when he was in the cockpit earlier, he had overheard the radio chatter.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

He knew, like, who to send it to.

Steve

Yeah, yeah, yeah, good point.

Nic

Yeah. So Billy Bedlam is he discovered Poe and he's outy now.

Nic

So Poe stashed his body, so he should have thrown him through the hole, but maybe the landing gear came up soon as it was unclogged.

Steve

Yeah, as soon as Poe Pinball came out, the linear went up. The plane started flying better. You wouldn't have been able, I don't think, to open it again from there, or that would have caused a bunch of suspicion and, like, what the hell happened? Right?

Steve

So he does kind of stash him behind some boxes where he's sure to smell great. But yeah, so they. So now Po goes back up, and he's Sitting with Baby oh, who's not doing great. He's, you know, he needs his insulin. He's not getting it.

Steve

He's not doing great. But they're looking over at Carlin Green. I love this line. Baby oh. Goes.

Steve

What's wrong with him? And Po says this. My first thought would be a lot. Yes.

Nic

And.

Nic

And garlic green. I mean, I think the. The character is very funny because his lines all contribute to it, you know? And so he comes back. When Po comes back after killing Billy Bed Garland turns over to him.

Nic

He's like, two men went down, one came up. He's observing everything that's going on, but not really participating in.

Steve

Yeah, yeah. Well, because he definitely wasn't a. He wasn't planned for, right?

Steve

Like, Cyrus and Diamond Dog didn't know he was coming, and it was all last minute, so he's not really part of this. But they're also just like. Like, Cyrus even says something about, like, I'm a huge fan of your work or like, whatever, you know, because of course he does. Yeah.

Nic

So.

Nic

So in the pursuit of the plane now, so we've got. We've got the helicopters which are all following this tour plane, right? And then we've got. Larkin receives this message and he's like, okay, I gotta get to Lerner Airfield. And he goes to one of the mechanics, he's like, I need a plane or a helicopter.

Nic

And the guy's like, yeah, me too.

Steve

All out. Out.

Nic

Fresh out. So he's like, oh, you got a fast car.

Nic

You could drive there. So this is a great scene where Larkin runs out and he's got like a VW Golf or something like that. Some hatchback vw, dirty as shit, looks terrible.

Steve

Running on biodiesel.

Nic

And then he looks at it, and then he sees.

Nic

He sees Coleman's car there. This, like, 67 Corvette, like, mint condition. Beautiful. And he's like, fuck that, and gets in there and peels away, which.

Steve

Why did.

Steve

Why does Malloy not have his own keys? Why did he leave the keys in that car? That's insane. The license plate, by the way, says as kicker. Like, as kicker.

Steve

Because Malloy's a super douchebag. Yeah. But so basically he. Because the guy says, like, oh, well, if you got a fast car, you get there in like 50 minutes or, like, whatever. And so he just starts driving right there.

Steve

And, I mean, ostensibly now he's in Vacaville, right? You cannot get to Fresno from Vacaville in any amount of reasonable time. It's very strange change. But also, at Some point in here. Trisha has been flown from Alabama to California.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Because Larkin met with her to talk about, like, I think your husband is like, stayed on board when he didn't need to. Maybe you could help me understand why. And she's like, well, I don't know either. But, you know, he's always trying to help people or whatever.

Steve

Right?

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Just so they give an idea that Larkin now thinks. Yeah, I think. I think.

Steve

Right. I think if I can hold this guy, we can maybe make something happen. And so there's that.

Nic

As they're about to land in this airfield, which is a really cool setting. It's like good abandoned, like, airplane junkyard.

Nic

Like, cool there. And. And Garland Bumi is getting into Po's head, you know, with everything. And you could tell just Po cannot deal. He's a guy that would like, storm out of a counseling session like, five minutes in, you know, he just can't examine himself that much.

Nic

But then he starts being like, oh, say psychotic, lunatic. Please leave me alone. It's my daughter's birthday.

Steve

It's like, don't talk about that shit.

Nic

What is wrong with you?

Steve

Do not not give the crazy man personal information. That is that again. Same thing that Clarice Starling was told. Don't tell him anything personal. This is.

Steve

This is Teemu. Hannibal Lecter, but it's basically Hannibal Lecter. Don't tell him anything. Cameron, stop.

Nic

The key under my mat is not for you.

Nic

It's from my wife, so do not use it to enter my house. Like, Jesus Christ, dude.

Steve

I will also mention, as we're just getting to Learner Airfield, I did. I want to notice this when it happens, but the price of gas, the price.

Nic

106.

Steve

103 for regular. I think 107 or something. Or 106 for premium. That was for the. For the 89 octane.

Steve

Yeah. Dollar and three cents, man.

Nic

That is wild. Love to see.

Steve

But yeah.

Steve

So. So they are coming into Learner Airfield. They do not have enough gas. Like, they're running out of gas. That's.

Steve

It's. You know, they just need to get down to the ground, basically. And it's. And Swamp Thing tells them, like, this is not gonna be a soft landing. We're gonna do our best.

Steve

Right? But as they're even trying to land, they have an additional problem where a tiny little jet or a little plane, little prop plane, is also landing. Landing based on the same Runway from the opposite angle. And so Swamp Thing, which I thought this was amazing. They here's here's my thought.

Steve

They're leaving that plane there. In their plan, they're leaving Conair the plane at Lerner Airfield. They're taking a plane with San Dino's men to leave the country to go to Columbia. So why do they give a crap either about that man in that little prop jet or the condition of their own plane? Why wouldn't they just stay on the ground and crash right through it?

Steve

But they don't.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Up to go kind of over the plane that's coming, ends up having to go back down and then starts crashing through stuff because now there's not enough Runway. And the classic. They even do this in the Star Tours attraction at Disneyland.

Steve

Almost hitting the propane tank right as you come to a stop. Just so close. We almost all blew up.

Nic

You know the guy, the guy flying that plane, it showed him flying the plane. He's trying to radio into the tower.

Nic

He's like, hey, I'm landing. Make sure it's safe. And there's like, the dash can full of crushed beer cans on his plane. And. And at the same time, Larkin is there.

Steve

Right.

Nic

He stashed the Corvette in a little garage. And he goes up to the tower and he hears this call coming in. And he sees that the dispatcher has been shot. So, you know, probably Santino's or Sandino's.

Steve

Sandino, yeah. I think is what it is.

Nic

Whatever. The cartel guys.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

So, yeah, very funny. But, yeah, he could have exploded that plane and gone through it. Based on what we see later on.

Steve

Absolutely.

Nic

When he's just going through, like, a line of SUVs that are just exploding on sides of him, it's like, shit.

Steve

Yeah. The indestructible nature of the plane, the fact that he did anything to avoid that little tiny prop plane is really insane in retrospect.

Nic

Yeah. Really funny. Okay, so we are here now.

Nic

So there's a couple things happening. So they're offloading the plane. They think we're going to get a ride with the cartel guys. We don't need this plane anymore. And Diamond Dog's like, cool, I can't wait to kill these prison guards.

Nic

And he brings them out. He's about to execute them.

Steve

Him.

Nic

And with some quick thinking, Cameron Poe's like, oh, that's the only leverage we have.

Steve

Right, right.

Nic

How well do you know this Sandino guy? It's like he's making good points. Actually pretty savvy for the first time in this.

Steve

That's true.

Nic

Right.

Steve

It really is a very, like, high level Intelligence sort of play like he.

Nic

Knows what will convince this guy.

Steve

Right? Right.

Nic

He's not trying to appeal to morality or that wouldn't work.

Nic

So he's able to save their lives. And they've sent various guys on different quests, and they say, po, go find the fuel truck. And he's also looking for a syringe because the main plot of the movie, the most important thing, his friend needs medicine.

Steve

Right. I will say there's a little.

Steve

A couple. Little, like, details here. So, like, they land, and immediately Cyrus was expecting the plane to be sitting there waiting for all of them, ready to go. And he's saying, dino, where's the plane? He's like, I'll be here.

Steve

Don't worry, Cyrus. It'll be here. So he's starting to already get a little antsy, which is why when Poe mentions, hey, how well do you know this guy? We should have some leverage. Cyrus goes, yeah, Diamond Dog, put the gun away.

Steve

Let's hold on to these guys until we're sure we don't need them. And then the whole fuel truck thing, that wasn't part of the plan either, but it was like, hey, we're going to have to refuel this plane, and we're just gonna go. We're not gonna wait here. Yeah, like, I'm not sitting around. We'll take this plane to Columbia.

Steve

We just need to refuel it. So Po, go find the fuel truck. But while Po is going and finding the fuel truck, what he actually stumbles upon is another little private jet in a hangar and several men with guns. Yes, at least three, I think, but they're speaking Spanish.

Nic

How can he understand them?

Steve

Right. Luckily, he learned all about, my wife and I will take our margaritas on the yacht. So, yeah, he can speak Spanish, so he tries to, like, reason with them or whatever. But basically, Larkin shows up at the same hangar and is like, you know, like, freeze or whatever. And that starts, like.

Steve

Everybody gets distracted. He starts attacking. Larkin's shooting. They're shooting. Like there's all this stuff happening or whatever.

Steve

And basically, Poe and Larkin are able to put down the three cartel guys. And Poe gets a gun and one from one of them. And now he's got a gun on Larkin Larson and has a gun on him. And I really. One of John Cusack's best moments in this movie is sort of like, can I put this gun down?

Steve

And Poe's like, you can go ahead. I'm not putting mine down. You know? And it's like. And that's when he says, I only trust two men in this world now.

Steve

I'm one of them. You're not the other one. The other one's not you. The other one's not you. And it's like.

Steve

And I'm guessing he's referring to baby O. Like, I'm not positive, but I think that's what we're supposed to believe. There wouldn't be somebody else. Is he saying God? Like, God's the other person he trusts?

Steve

I don't know. Know. But anyway, so.

Nic

So when Po is first encountered by these cartel guys, when they discover him, the guy pulls his gun out. He's got it on Poe.

Steve

Oh, that's right.

Nic

And Poe's solution there, he's like, you pull that trigger, there's going to be 20 angry cons that'll hear you, whatever. And then the guy just looks at him and very casually screws a silencer onto the gun. I love that scene.

Steve

It's a good moment.

Steve

So, yeah. So then. So, yeah, he does the whole, like, the other one's not you kind of thing. But basically, at this point, the, like, Sandino saw Po run into the hangar with where he knows his plane is. Like, what we're finding out now is that the whole point of Sandino was going to, like, abandon these guys.

Nic

Right?

Steve

Just be taken back to Columbia by himself. Everybody else could sit here and rot. Nobody's getting any money. There's no anything.

Steve

They were all promised, like, millions of dollars or something, whatever. That's all. And so Sandino sees Po run into that hangar and gets real nervous because he's like, oh, my God, I was going to find. Yeah. And so then he heads that way after posement.

Steve

Gone for a few minutes. And basically there was one other guy inside the private jet room. Go. Basically, the pilot. He wasn't out there because he's not like a hitman.

Steve

He's not like a cartel soldier. So he was just waiting in the plane. Sandino gets to that hangar, gets into it, and they bust out. And now everybody's noticing what the hell is going on. Yeah.

Steve

And I don't even remember exactly how they stop it.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

What's the.

Nic

So. So the plane's going, right?

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

And. And then Larkin sees it and he's like, oh, shit, I gotta stop. I know exactly what to do. And he runs to, like, a crane that's kind of in the path that the plane is going down within half a second.

Nic

Knows exactly how to lower the arm on the crane. He lowers it to the perfect height to chop off the Tail of the plane. So this plane is like, it's in half and it goes and it crashes into the fuel station and then there's all this gas spraying around.

Steve

Yeah. And so Sandino is like hanging out.

Steve

The pilot's dead. Sandino's hanging out the back of it. Cyrus runs up to him and Dino's like, please. Sigh. And Cyrus goes Anara and shoots.

Nic

Oh, he throws. He throws. He takes a cigarette from the other guy's mouth.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Swamp Thing's mouth and throws it into.

Steve

That's what it is.

Nic

But it's like, oh my God.

Steve

Please. Sigh. So dumb.

Nic

That's one of those things though, that this movie, it's like, thank you for going there. Oh yeah, no, it's great.

Steve

Great.

Nic

I'm glad.

Steve

Stupid.

Nic

I'm glad it's that dumb.

Steve

I agree. Actually, I think we missed one little thing. It'll. It'll become a more important in a moment.

Steve

But at some point while all these guys are trying to dig the plane out or whatever, Garland wanders off and the, the most tense. And I remember from the first time watching this movie, the most tense piece of this movie is that he sits down and starts chatting with this dirty little maybe six or seven year old girl playing with dolls. Dolls sitting in an empty dry swimming pool. Yeah, right. And she's like doing like a tea party with her dolls and invites him to join him.

Steve

And all we know of this guy is that he's an absolute lunatic psychotic who's killed 30 plus people. And I'm like immediately thinking, oh my God, they're gonna kill this little girl. He's gonna kill this little girl or, or worse, I gotta know. But oh my God.

Nic

Or take her or whatever.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

With like, I mean holy, like I'm so nervous for this girl.

Nic

Definitely.

Steve

And they really did a fantastic job of like making us wonder. Right.

Steve

About what is going on.

Nic

Totally.

Steve

To this little girl.

Nic

They dragged it out as long as they could, I think.

Steve

Yeah.

Steve

So now basically the cops are coming. So. So, so there's off in the distance. So Danny Trejo, Johnny23 has been sent up to the top of the tower to keep an eye out, basically. And there's now dust all way off in the distance.

Nic

Right.

Steve

It's coming and they're surrounded by deserts. You can see for miles and miles and miles and miles. And you know that the big dust getting kicked up like that. There's vehicles coming and there's no reason why there would be a caravan of vehicles coming unless they're coming, coming for them.

Steve

Right. So he yells down, we've got company. We've got company. You know, Diamond Dog goes and checks it out. Cyrus goes and checks it out.

Steve

We've got maybe 10, maybe 12 minutes tops. Dog says, so they. Now they need to plan and they.

Nic

Make a sweet little model. Oh, yeah, that's right.

Nic

So Cyrus makes like a little model using bits of junk that look very, very much like the piece they found to represent the airplane was great. You know, they really. They really had some nice little things. So another funny moment in there where he's pointing out, okay, this is where the cops are going to come in. This is the plane, or whatever.

Nic

And then one of the prisoners is like, well, what's this rock? And he's like, that's just a rock. And he kicks it out of the way. Funny, funny stuff. So, yeah, they're on their way.

Nic

They have 10 minutes. And the plan that they kind of figure out is we're going to create this death chamber, essentially. We can lead them down this corridor and we have gas, we have all kinds of weapons. Because in the belly of the plane there was this arsenal. So now they have access to that.

Steve

And they found it right away, which, like, maybe they did know it was there. Although if they knew it was there, why would. No, I think they just went looking.

Nic

Well, they were digging through other, like. Yeah, they were digging through sunglasses and all that stuff.

Steve

So. So they find this, like, arsenal. It's got grenade launchers, shotguns, rifles, machine guns, like all kinds of stuff. And so they all fill up. Yeah, they're going to try to destroy the front vehicle in.

Steve

You know, disable or destroy the front vehicle in the caravan, then the rear vehicle in the caravan. And that will trap everybody in the boneyard. And you gotta love when the only way to get to a place is to drive through something called the boneyard. This is literally the part of the pride lands that the fucking lions don't control, for God's sake. Like, this is like the darkness touches, you know, whatever.

Steve

So, yeah, but they got to go. You know, the cops have to come through the boneyard, so they're going to pincer attack them, whatever little killing fields right there. And this, like, that's basically what happens. This, they all hide. The cops show up.

Steve

And it's like cops and army and all kinds. I mean, it's like military fatigue.

Nic

It's so many guys.

Steve

I don't know what it was, but it's a bunch of dudes, dudes a bunch of trucks and, you know, good tension, too.

Nic

Because it keeps flashing to the various, like, propane cylinders that they've opened.

Nic

I don't know why there'd be that many full propane cylinders there.

Steve

That is very strange, because there's pro. You would expect there to be one of those really big sort of tanks you fill from, or.

Nic

Sure.

Steve

You know, run a building from or whatever.

Steve

And you could fill your little ones from that. Yeah. Why are there so many five gallons?

Nic

Because if you were disposing of a five gallon tank, you wouldn't.

Steve

Anyway, point being, they do have a bunch.

Steve

Yeah, yeah, yeah. In the grand scheme of this movie is on the totem pole, but. Yeah.

Nic

So this is a bloodbath. Right.

Nic

These guys.

Steve

Let me, let me, let me. Before we get there. Yeah. Did you.

Steve

I kept thinking, when they're showing the, like, soldiers, people coming to the boneyard, were they, like, twitching their noses like they could smell the propane? I was not, because I kind of thought they were. But then I don't, like. I think in my memory, I'm like, oh, yeah, they smell the propane. But then I was watching for it.

Steve

I'm like, oh, I don't know. Maybe nobody does react.

Nic

Yeah. So I don't think they did. And I was looking at this too, because when I watched it this time, I knew what happened happened.

Nic

And I was like, did they have mask on or. Like, why would they not.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Smell that.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

And it. Yeah. No masks or anything. I mean, you. You know that smell.

Nic

Very small amount of it.

Steve

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Even just a tiny bit gets through the, you know, grill thing. Whatever is you're attaching it, it smells horribly.

Steve

So to have it sitting there open and all these different ones, you'd expect the whole place to smell like rotten eggs.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

But nobody really reacts to it.

Nic

But basically, they all did smelling salts to psych themselves up beforehand, and it fried their. Their receptors.

Steve

They thought they had to kick field goals, but no. So. So we get a grenade launch into basically the front vehicle, which then, of course, also lights a bunch of the propane. It causes you. Right.

Steve

Bedlam, mass havoc, shooting all directions. There's just all kinds of stuff going on. At one point, Larkin gets like, a bulldozer or something with a huge angled shovel in front of it.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Some kind of whatever.

Steve

And, you know, it was like a snowplow or something, but it's like, it's able to at least be a bit a. Of. Of a bulletproof guard for bullets.

Nic

Going off the plow blade is cool. I enjoy that.

Steve

It's very cool. And the guys. The other soldiers kind of hide behind it. So they're, you know, they're not totally screwed. They do, actually.

Steve

Eventually the prisoners do have to retreat. Yeah. It gets to the point where if they continue to stay in their positions and try to keep fighting, they would lose.

Nic

Right.

Steve

But they did a ton of damage.

Nic

They did.

Steve

They did a ton of damage, and.

Nic

They have to get out of there. And the plane is kind of, like, barely ready to get going.

Steve

Right.

Nic

So they're getting going. They're retreating to the plane. PO has found the needle. Hey, for everyone who's worried, don't worry. We've got the needle.

Nic

So Baby O is, you know, just drink the insulin. That's my medical advice. Just take a shot of it.

Steve

Does that work?

Nic

Yeah, I think so.

Nic

So he's back to the plane, and, you know, Johnny 23 is going into the plane. He's going straight after the female guard who's cuffed up in there.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Which, you know, this is very tense because she's just in there with baby O. So there's nobody who's in position to.

Nic

To help her.

Steve

Nobody can help her. And none of the other. None of the other people besides poor would.

Nic

Right.

Steve

I mean, Cyrus made a comment about hating rapists, but I still don't think he would have, on his own necessarily stopped it, to be honest.

Nic

Probably not.

Steve

Probably not. But because Poe does show up in time to kind of fight with Johnny23 and stop him, Cyrus actually sides with Poe at the beginning when that happens and is like, you know, you need to knock that off.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

But before Poe gets on the plane, he actually saw there's a. A big. I guess it's like a concrete pillar. I'm thinking, is that. Is it, like, attached to the plane already as a tow line of some kind?

Steve

And then, yeah, because he wraps it around a concrete pillar. But I'm not sure how it's attached to the plane. It clearly is, because they are attached to it, and they can't get away. And so Cyrus and Diamond Dog, like, shoot the pillar with machine guns until it breaks apart enough for it to. To keep going.

Steve

But now there's this big rope and hook flying off that thing, and it goes. Where does it go? Right into the little garage where Cole Meaney's car is hiding and grabs the Corvette.

Nic

I love. I love this so much.

Nic

And I love that the plane comes. Can still take off.

Steve

Yeah, sure. With that hanging off of it. And I love that Meanie's there.

Steve

Malloy is there to witness this.

Nic

Too, which is great. So he had gotten there with all these other guys, right? And the plane's flying away, and it's towing the car behind it, and they're looking at it out, like the cargo door in the plane. And Poe's line is, on any other day that might seem strange.

Steve

And from the ground, Meanie's like, Malloy is like. Like, is that my car? That couldn't be my car. You know? And, of course, then I love.

Steve

It's like, they're not able to get high enough because it's. There's drag, right? But it ends up slamming into the actual air traffic control tower and falling to the ground on its top, upside down, right in front of Q Sac and Meanie. And then the, like, license. The ass kicker license plate, like, spins on its corner and shows.

Steve

Yep, sure enough, buddy, that was your car.

Nic

Like, such a ridiculous. Like, I mean, that almost seems like, hey, if we don't spend the whole budget, we're not going to get a high enough budget on the next movie. So we got to make sure we spend this budget. But great, great stuff there.

Nic

So now the prisoners are celebrating on the plane. We got away. We're playing Sweet Home Alabama. We're jamming out. Garland makes a very funny observation.

Nic

He's like, define irony. Bunch of idiots on a plane dancing to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.

Steve

Perfect. The whole band didn't die, of course. No.

Steve

But I think that the songwriting brain trust were all involved in that.

Nic

Yeah. Yeah. So let's see. So the other thing is that Cyrus is kind of putting the pieces together.

Steve

Yeah. Somebody attached.

Nic

How did they know we were going to be here?

Steve

Right.

Nic

Why would there be something hooked up to the point, you know, all these things can't be a coincidence.

Nic

Like, there's too many of them. There must be some kind of mole inside here. And I'm going to kill the guard. Guard. The female guard.

Steve

I'm gonna threaten because somebody's been protecting her, too.

Nic

Yeah, right. I'm gonna threaten her, kill her, and that'll sn. That'll bring him out.

Steve

Exactly.

Nic

And so it's very tense for, like, half a second. And then baby O is just like, it was me. Yeah, you dumb. You thought I had diabetes. It was me the whole time.

Nic

And then he gets shot immediately. So, hey, remember when you were feeling healthy in this movie and ready to help the second your insulin kicks in and. And pose. Excuse. Like, after he volunteered for it, pose like, hey, don't listen to him, man.

Nic

The Insulin's got him crazy.

Steve

Is that what. I don't think that's a thing. If you're a type 1 diabetic that takes insulin shots, maybe you could write us at the show@2dads1movie.com and let us know. Is that a thing?

Steve

Because it doesn't seem like a thing. But neither Nic or I are diabetic, so I'm not sure. But, yeah, you could let us know.

Nic

Oh, my God.

Steve

So, yeah, so then a couple of things I want to mention.

Steve

So as they took off from Learner and they're back in the air, we do see that little girl that Garland Green was with, like, wave goodbye. And so it's like, okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. He didn't do anything to her. She's not, like, with them. Like, she's safe and fine.

Steve

I was very, very happy that they.

Nic

Totally, totally one favor, this movie. Exactly.

Steve

So there's that. But back up in the air, Diamond Dog is going through more of the personal effects of people's stuff, and he finds Poe.

Steve

The card that Casey Poe's daughter wrote to him.

Nic

Right.

Steve

It doesn't say his name on it because of course it wouldn't. Right. She wouldn't write a letter or a note or a crayon card to Cameron Poe.

Steve

It would just be to Daddy. And it's like, my dad, you know, my day. Today's my seventh birthday. My daddy. I'm going to meet my daddy on my birthday, or whatever the heck it was.

Steve

Right?

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

But they bring that up and it's.

Nic

Like, I think, has anyone on this plane been talking about how it's their daughter's birthday?

Steve

There is that, but like, that.

Steve

Suppose that was, I think, what kind of pushed Cyrus to choose to, like, actually, like, okay, now, like. Like somebody here is screwing with us. I think there's a lead up to that. But basically they're now in a position where they don't have enough fuel to get much anywhere there is. I know there's a fight on the plane and Poe gets a hold of a gun, right?

Steve

Yeah. Because there's a lot of chaos. I'm trying to, like, remember exactly.

Nic

There's a bit of a standoff here. And Cyrus even has his classic line where he's holding up the bunny, which Poe has bought for his daughter.

Nic

Make a move, and the bunny gets. And he's like, holding the gun to its head. But at this point, the. The helicopter squad has caught up with this.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

Right. So Cyrus, his attention is elsewhere because he's Getting shot at by the helicopter. He's shooting at him and stuff.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

And.

Nic

And Po is trying to get to the cockpit.

Steve

Right.

Nic

He's so singularly focused. He's raging to the cockpit. He, like, kills a guy with a glass bottle or something, and then he storms ahead.

Nic

He gets shot in the arm and does not react.

Steve

Does not flinch. No flinch.

Nic

To the point that they probably had to film that with, like, CGI after the fact because the actor would have reacted to a squib in some way, and they didn't. Couldn't risk any of it.

Nic

Yeah. So he's got a gun, and he's, like, making his way up to the cockpit. But it's, like, not much he can do there because he can't fly.

Steve

No. But he's able to, like, shut the levers for the different gates and stuff.

Steve

That makes it harder for Cyrus to get to him. He's able to lock the cockpit door. Now it's just him and swamp thing in the cockpit. And he's got a gun. He puts a gun to his head and says, put this plane down.

Steve

And he contacts Larkin over the radio, and he's like, larkin, Larkin. I've got control of the plane. Larkin. And so he's like, okay, cool. There's McCarran Airport.

Steve

Right. It's right next to the strip, if you've been to Vegas, you know. Yeah. The airport literally runs parallel to the strip. Yeah, There it is.

Steve

Covid and Swamp. Things like, man, I don't have enough fuel to even get that far. We're taking it down on the strip. And so sure enough, they start coming down, and they land on Las Vegas Boulevard and just start, you know, like you said, the blowing. Blowing stuff up.

Steve

And I was so. This was a fun thing. I thought when we were watching that, I of was kind going, I wonder how many of these casinos still exist?

Nic

Oh, yeah.

Steve

And I wrote down a list of every casino we see in any shot as we're driving by.

Steve

Circus Circus, I believe is still there in Vegas somehow. Yeah. But I believe the rest of these. Literally all the rest of these, I think, are all gone, with maybe one more exception. The Sahara, the Riviera, El Rancho, the Stardust, the Flamingo, the Hard Rock.

Steve

Maybe that one's still there.

Nic

Hard Rock, I think. Still there. There.

Steve

The Barbary coast, rip, Silver City, the Strat, which I know they blew up.

Steve

The Oasis, Treasure island, which might still be there. Or if it maybe. I think it was rethemed something else. And then the Sands and the Sands is never. Not there anymore.

Steve

But that's the one that they actually crash into at the end is the Sands.

Nic

Okay. And I, and I did read that they. There was an actual demolition of one of those buildings that was happening. So they were able to do a lot, lot with the crash.

Steve

It must have been the Sands. Right?

Nic

So, yeah. So that's kind of cool to have this setting where they're like, oh, yeah, we don't care what you do to it. Just in a month we're gonna explode it.

Nic

So do it. Go crazy.

Steve

Perfect.

Nic

So, yeah, this crash sequence is very long.

Steve

It's.

Steve

Oh, God, it's like six, seven minutes. It's so crazy.

Nic

It's like, how long does it take this plane to slow down?

Steve

Yeah, because it's not. Anyway, there's friction, there's.

Steve

There's ground and cars and, and over.

Nic

And something's gonna catch a wing.

Steve

It's gonna get internal.

Nic

Anyway.

Steve

Yeah, it's pretty wild that they basically travels.

Steve

I mean, look, I've walked, I've given myself plantar fasciitis. I've walked so far down the Strip at times. Like, that's a long street and there's lots of things in between. So if they're able to see out the window. 14.

Steve

Yeah, 14 different casinos. You've traveled a long way. Yeah, totally sliding right along, like it's on ice or something.

Nic

And I don't like seeing the Vegas Strip get destroyed. Especially that area of the Vegas Strip.

Nic

I would have loved to see McCarran Airport get destroyed because I never like it when I'm there. I always hate that place. Fuck that place.

Steve

Yeah, this was like. This was like post family friendly Vegas, pre, like international Vegas where I think it is now.

Steve

Yeah, this was like a sweet spot. The mid to late 90s, early 2000s. The hangover deal, swingers somewhere. Yeah, there was, there was. And there was a lot like pop culture there.

Steve

But like I. The first time I went to Vegas was like 90 with my family. We stayed at the MGM and went to the theme park. You know what I mean? That kind of thing.

Steve

This was post that era.

Nic

So the plane has come to a stop here and we have different things happening as it's crashed. One thing is that Poe and Cyrus are facing off against each other. And it looks like Poe's kind of fucked, right? Him and Cyrus are face to face. And then as part of the crash, a propeller comes off the plane and perfectly boomerangs through the side of it and then right between them, which breaks up their like Little interaction and then saves the day there.

Steve

Yeah, it actually makes perfect sense. As it turns out, the. The plane was manufactured in Australia, so the fact that totally makes sense.

Steve

Yeah, so. So they crash. They crash. You know, cops fire. Everybody shows up.

Steve

They start, you know, people are dead inside, flying out, whatever. But there's a handful of our, you know, kind of nastiest folks. Swamp Thing, Cyrus and Diamond Dog all crawl through like a. There's apparently a way out from the bottom. It's like they were in the hold and then there's another, like, door down so they're able to get out and they steal a fire truck.

Steve

And when we. And when Poe, for whatever reason, when Poe and Larkin, these are the two pope, by the way, still a convict, still a, you know, still the responsibility of the Bureau of Prison for sure, like, needs to get to another prison and be released officially not. Has not happened. He and Larkin jump on, they steal cop motorcycle to just drive after them. And then the bunch of other cops are following and joining the chase.

Steve

And I love. There's a moment where there's. You see the shot and this was like, I can't believe this wasn't a Michael Bay movie, because this is such a Michael Bay shot. But it's between two cop motorcycles and a donut with one bite out of it hits the ground and then they drive off.

Nic

Oh, yeah, they had to get that one in there.

Steve

Got to get the cops eat donuts jokes in.

Nic

Man, it was funny watching them steal their matching motorcycles.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

It reminded me of those. The Guinness Book of World Records, World's fattest twins, the Maguire brothers who rode around on their special sized motorcycles.

Nic

So, yeah, so there are some of like the authorities are on the plane and they're kind of getting. They don't leave any time. It's like you would be like, first of all, nobody goes anywhere near here until it cools down and then this. But they're like pulling shit out right away. And they go to pick up Johnny 23 and they're like, we think this guy's dead.

Nic

And he had been handcuffed in there. And they carry him away. And you see his arm is still dangling from the handcuffs. So that was kind of cool. Hey, 2Dads, one movie.

Nic

It's got to happen every time, right?

Steve

Missing arm.

Nic

We love limbs. We love limbs going away. Yeah.

Nic

So it is really funny that Larkin is taking this, this other criminal, like in the eyes of the state with him to go on this thing.

Steve

Right?

Nic

Kind of a cool chase on this fire truck. Everything you'd want to see. There's a point where I think the Ving Rhames character gets killed because Nic Cage like grabs the ladder and then just ghost rides the whip his motorcycle like into the back of the fire truck and it blows Diamond Dog.

Steve

As we know, all motor vehicles of any kind, the second they come into contact with anything else, burst into flame and explode. That's a totally normal thing that happens. So that's what happened there to Diamond Dog.

Nic

We live in the Pinto Imperium.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Swamp Thing is driving the truck and Cyrus is up on top. And so now Poe is like hanging onto the ladder, right? And Cyrus has got the hook, right? It's a hook and ladder, trucks.

Steve

He's got the big hook thing and he's like trying to stab Poe through. Poe's able to get a hold of the hook from him and break part of it and jam it through Cyrus's ankles, which is just. Yeah, I. I have a few. Like, I know everybody probably has some of these things, but like, for whatever reason, the thought of anything negative occurring to like my Achilles tendon gives me the worst shivers. And like, like, like toe curling feeling.

Steve

Oh God, Chucky. Like the first child's play has it. It's like, okay, so. But like. Yeah, so this was kind of hit that same note for me.

Steve

So they're fighting and.

Nic

And there's a cool. Like they're going through a bridge and.

Steve

Then Hoover Dam or something. Is that where they are?

Steve

It's so bizarre that there's a tunnel there.

Nic

Yeah. I don't know what's happening here. And. And it's a cool like satisfying like big chase at the end.

Nic

They keep hitting cool shit or whatever.

Steve

Ramming into other cars and doing all kinds of stuff.

Nic

So Poe ends up. And at the same time Larkin is trying to get into the cab of the fire truck and he can't get in there. So he sticks a hose in and pumps a bunch of water through.

Nic

So he floods the cab of the.

Steve

Fire truck, which makes it crash and finally stop.

Nic

It finally crashes. So at this point we've got Cyrus, who is on the ladder, which has been elevated. So the ladder's up and it's like this Looney Tunes shit where he goes face first into a walking bridge of some sort of sort.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

And then, well, I don't know. Are you ready to do the bad guy death?

Steve

Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, yeah.

Nic

So he like hits like a walk something overpass, right? And then he falls. And they're very close to the Vegas Strip, where apparently there's this, like, quarry they hit.

Steve

They hit Fremont Street. That whole overpass thing was the opening of Fremont Street.

Steve

So they're off the Strip now they're on Fremont Street. A construction site.

Nic

Maybe it's more.

Steve

It feels like.

Nic

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

So there's a rock smasher and all this stuff. So he basically falls from there after already hitting the overpass through power lines and lands on a conveyor belt. And the conveyor belt slowly taking him towards this device, this pneumatic device which is just smashing rock into gravel. And he goes up there and his head gets smashed and it's.

Steve

That's it.

Steve

That's it for Cyrus.

Nic

That's like five deaths.

Steve

You know, the power lines alone should have done it for sure. But yeah, he's got to be Wile E. Coyote. All over Vegas, like.

Steve

Yeah. At this point, Poe is reunited with his wife. The fucking Trisha Yearwood song kicks back on again. Getting back into my head. And there is this really sweet like, dad daughter moment where he goes to offer Casey, his daughter, who's never met before, this bunny.

Steve

But it is up, it is destroyed. It's all burned and the ears falling off, like, whatever. And she kind of shies away. And, you know, her mom tries to be like, no, no, come on, take your daddy's gift. And he's like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Steve

Like, like, let's let her ease into this, you know, Which I thought was like a really great kind of like, dad moment. And sure enough, she decides to come and kind of take the bunny and give him a little hug and stuff. And it was very touching. Yeah. And so there is that.

Steve

But then, of course, we. We can't end there. Yep. Right. We have to do a little teeny weeny epilogue.

Steve

I can't remember who. What is the. Do you remember the line that leads us to seeing Garland at the craps table? Because there's Somebody says something and it's kind of.

Nic

It's just the dealer saying like, oh, hot shoe, next shooter.

Nic

Like, coming up. Are you feeling lucky today? Something like that.

Steve

I am feeling lucky, yeah. So, so basically, Garland Green is just hanging out in a casino gambling, which like, bro, you got to be handed.

Nic

Like a big ass daiquiri.

Steve

Which, like, okay, what's your long term plan here? Because unless you're taking on an alias, people are going to wonder where. How the fuck Garland Green is sitting here, craps table at the Sands or whatever face.

Nic

If he has that many.

Steve

He's Jeffrey Dahmer.

Nic

Yeah. Yeah, That's. You know, he just had to live it up for a little bit. And that is a funny way to end it, though, that there's just one guy who supposedly made out okay.

Nic

But, yeah, that place is surrounded by feds and, you know, who's taken down in 15 seconds.

Steve

He's not going far.

Nic

Satisfying. He at least got a couple sips of that drink. Yeah.

Steve

There you go. I'm sure he finished the daiquiri. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure he finished it.

Nic

Yeah. So that ends up.

Nic

And then we go to Sweet Home Alabama for the credits.

Steve

Right. So two whole songs in the entire, entire movie, basically.

Nic

And I want to point this out here before we get into our reviews, both How Do I Live, which was Oscar nominated, and Sweet Home Alabama, which is a very significant song in this movie, are not on the Con Air soundtrack.

Steve

Interesting.

Nic

What the fuck?

Steve

That's pretty wild. I guess they just released the score, I guess. I don't know. Interesting.

Steve

All right, man, that was Con Air.

Nic

Con Air, baby.

Steve

This was your pick. You want to give us your rating first?

Nic

Yeah.

Nic

Yeah. So this movie, I mean, it's kind of like we were talking a couple episodes back about certain things just being like a delivery system for the stuff that you like and not necessarily held together as a cohesive piece of art or whatever. So, like, as a movie. Oh, the plot. Oh, the character development, whatever.

Nic

This movie is for, like, explosions. It's for good lines, it's for good bad guy deaths. You know, it has a ton of that shit in it. And being imaginative in the stupidest possible way, like with the car getting pulled up by the plane and all this kind of shit. Shit, really fun, really dumb.

Nic

I mean, this is not a date movie. As much as you and your lady dance to How Do I Live for your first dance at your wedding, this is probably not the movie you want to watch as a date. But if you have a sense of humor, you don't need to take it too seriously. And all you want is to be entertained. This is a really, really good one.

Nic

And it's one that I'll continue to check back in on from time to time. I am going to go ahead and give Con Air a four out of five. I don't want to check it against other fours out of fives because it's probably objectively worse than some of them. But as far as me, the person reviewing my enjoyment of this film, it's very fun. And.

Nic

And it's some really good Cage.

Steve

Yeah, I agree. I think I think, accent aside, it's really good. Nicolas Cage, the accent almost like it really. I think I probably knocked half a point off this movie for having to listen to him do that Southern drawl the entire time.

Steve

But I love this movie. It's so much fun. It's a popcorn flick. The. The things that are wrong with it, like, why is he in the federal prison system?

Steve

Why would he. You know, why. Yeah, why is like, baby. Oh, there with all the incidents. There's all these little things you can kind of pick out.

Steve

But, like, really, it's like, it's a big budget, crazy mid-90s action movie. And there were so many at the time. I mean, the Broken Arrow and Face off and, you know, the Replacement Killers and like, whatever. There's so many crazy action movies from that era. And, you know, this is just another one of them, and it fits into that genre.

Steve

So if you like, you know, if you think of, like, action movies of having sub genres, like, you know, it might be a cop action movie or might be like a, you know, medieval action movie or like, whatever it might be, Right. This is like just bonkers premise action movie. And this is a really great version of it. I am also a four out of five, actually, on Con Air. I think that's a perfect score for it.

Steve

8 out of 10 from the 2 dads. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving 8 points to con Air, even if it is. Does put a significantly higher than like, Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. I think the Rotten Tomatoes audience score on this was like 75%. So that's actually kind of right.

Nic

Yeah, it's kind of like, if it's for you, then you'll like it. Like, if there's a store. Oh, I don't like anything in the store. Well, don't walk in that store. But if you'd like that kind of shit, like, you're gonna love this place, you know?

Steve

Exactly.

Nic

And God damn it, Nic Cage. So we have some more Cage. So we see what we're gonna next.

Steve

We're gonna continue on to the.

Steve

On the Cagevember theme. And we're going to go. Actually, funny enough, 364 days before con Air came out, Nicholas Cage was in another movie in the theaters.

Nic

Okay.

Steve

It starred also, like, very, you know, bigger than Cusack.

Steve

Big star to do this movie. I love anything set in the San Francisco Bay area. Yes. Home. There's so many great movies set here, and this is one of them.

Steve

So let's take a year back from Con Air. We're going to go to 1996 and we are going to join Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery on the Rock.

Nic

Hell, yeah.

Steve

Love this movie. This is also one of the earliest, earlier, at least, Michael Bay films.

Steve

Very much his study. Bad Boys was before this one, but, like, it really was kind of like an early Michael Bay. And his signature cinematographic style is everywhere in this movie. So that'll be a lot of fun to talk about. But, yeah, we are gonna go.

Steve

We're gonna watch the Rock, man. It's gonna be awesome.

Nic

Hell, yeah. I can't wait. Dude, that is some great Cage as well.

Nic

And we have him in his regular accent again, so everyone will be happy about that.

Steve

Yes, it's still. Still interesting choices and this is something that we'll have to get into because there's definitely parts of this that were. You know, the script said that this is how it should go. And some of it might be Cage, but his character in the Rock, Stanley Goodspeed, never swears.

Steve

It's a rated R movie and there's lots of cursing, but he never says a bad word.

Nic

Good for him.

Steve

So, all right, that about wraps it up. So if you like what you hear, and we hope you do, please consider heading over to Apple or Spotify and leaving us a five star review. It really helps new folks find the show and tell your friends, tell your family.

Steve

If you want to drop us a line, share your thoughts on an episode, tell us what we got wrong, or suggest a movie we should do next, you can do so at the show@2dads1movie.com. That's the number two and the number one. You can also follow us on Instagram @2dads1movie. Once again, this has been Con Air, another episode of 2 Dads 1 Movie. I'm Steve.

Nic

And I'm Nic.

Steve

Thank you so much for listening and we'll catch you next week.

Nic

Thanks, everyone.