It's Die Hard 2 Review time, and because it's Christmas Eve, lightning has apparently decided to strike twice. After saving Nakatomi Plaza barefoot and bleeding in 1988, John McClane is back in 1990, this time trading skyscrapers for snowstorms, terrorists, and one very inconvenient airport. Die Hard 2: Die Harder had massive shoes to fill, and the big question is simple: Did it deliver, or did it just repeat the formula louder?

In this episode of Born to Watch, Whitey, Damo, and Dan reunite for a festive breakdown of one of the most debated action sequels of all time. Expectations were sky-high after the original Die Hard rewrote the action rulebook, and Die Hard 2 wastes no time reminding us of that pressure. Bigger explosions, more moving parts, and a whole airport at stake instead of one building. On paper, it should work perfectly.

What follows is a classic Born to Watch deep dive. From nude Tai Chi villains with suspiciously zero side-dick continuity to John McClane apparently teleporting between airport locations, nothing escapes scrutiny. The boys unpack the strange creative choices, including the baffling need for a full SWAT team that exists solely to be wiped out, the world's loudest baggage-area shootout that nobody hears, and the endless Basil Exposition dialogue that explains things we can already see happening on screen.

William Sadler's villain, Stuart, comes under the microscope, a tough gig when you're following one of cinema's all-time great bad guys. Is he intimidating, forgettable, or just unfairly compared to Hans Gruber? Meanwhile, William Atherton's return as Dick Thornburg raises serious questions about whether this character needed to exist at all, beyond being professionally annoying.

The conversation drifts exactly where you'd expect, into airport etiquette, old-school plane phones that cost more than the flight itself, snowmobiles that definitely don't work on water, and the absolute insanity of an airport runway having a convenient metal grate in the middle of it. There's also love for Renny Harlin's maximalist direction, acknowledging that while Die Hard 2 may not be subtle, it is relentlessly committed to spectacle.

As always, the episode isn't just about what doesn't work. The lads give Die Hard 2 its flowers where deserved, recognising the impossible task of following a cultural phenomenon and the genuine effort to recreate the tone, humour, and pacing of the original. There are discussions around box office success, audience expectations, and why some sequels are remembered more harshly than they deserve.

The episode rounds out with the full Born to Watch experience, sleepers, duds, snorbs reports, random 1990 nostalgia, and side tangents that spiral into Ford Fairlane, Chuck Norris, and the best movie years of all time. It's chaotic, opinionated, and exactly how Die Hard 2 should be discussed, loudly, critically, and with mates.

If Die Hard is a perfect Christmas miracle, Die Hard 2 is the messy, over-decorated sequel that still shows up to the party. Strap in, because this one absolutely earns the Die Harder title.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

• Is Die Hard 2 unfairly judged because of the original?
• Is this still a Christmas movie, or just airport chaos?
• What’s the most ridiculous moment you'll always defend?

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or at BornToWatch.com.au

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There are movies you enjoy, movies you love, and then there are Life Changing Movies, the ones that hit you at the exact right moment and quietly shape how you see the world. In this special Born to Watch episode, Whitey and Gow sit down on the couch for a rare daytime recording to unpack the films that genuinely changed them, not just as movie fans, but as people.

Originally planned as a solo episode, Whitey quickly realised this topic needed conversation, reflection, and a bit of friendly back-and-forth. What follows is a deeply personal walk through cinema history, from classic black and white films through to modern blockbusters, with each movie tied to a specific time, place, and feeling. These are not rankings, not reviews, and not necessarily the “greatest films of all time”. These are the films that left a permanent mark.

The rules were simple. The films had to be movies Born to Watch has never reviewed before, and they had to be experienced in the order Whitey first saw them. What unfolds is a cinematic timeline that mirrors growing up, discovering new genres, and realising that movies can be far more than mere entertainment. They can be confronting, comforting, terrifying, inspiring, and sometimes completely overwhelming.

The episode kicks off with The African Queen, a film Whitey first watched as a kid with his Nan, and a gateway into old cinema that opened the door to classics like Casablanca and Captain's Courageous. From there, the conversation moves into The Great Escape, a film both hosts hold in incredibly high regard, not just for its iconic moments, but for its storytelling, tension, and emotional weight that still holds up decades later.

As the timeline moves forward, the episode touches on cultural moments that defined entire generations. Seeing Batman (1989) in a packed cinema, complete with Prince's soundtrack and Jack Nicholson's Joker, becomes more than just a movie memory. It becomes a snapshot of adolescence, crushes, embarrassment, and the shared chaos of opening night at the local cinema.

The conversation does not shy away from darker territory. Films like Deliverance, The Evil Dead, Psycho, and Schindler's List are discussed not for shock value, but for the way they challenged expectations and forced viewers to confront uncomfortable truths. These are films that stay with you long after the credits roll, sometimes in ways you do not fully understand until years later.

Blockbusters also have their place. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is remembered as a near-perfect cinematic experience, combining groundbreaking visual effects with emotional storytelling and characters that audiences genuinely cared about. It is a reminder that big movies can still have heart and depth when done correctly.
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The episode closes by reflecting on films driven by dialogue and ideas, particularly JFK, a movie that became comfort viewing for Whitey despite its heavy subject matter. It represents how movies can evolve with us, revealing new layers each time we revisit them.

This is an episode about memory, growth, and the quiet power of cinema. Whether you agree with every pick or not, these Life Changing Movies will almost certainly spark memories of your own.

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On this week's Born to Watch, the boys dive headfirst into one of the great underappreciated modern buddy cop films with their "The Nice Guys" (2016) Review. Every so often, a newer movie sneaks into the sacred eighties and nineties space, demanding a full BTW breakdown, and this Shane Black masterpiece absolutely earns its spot.
With Russell Crowe as the grizzled enforcer Jackson Healy and Ryan Gosling delivering one of the funniest performances of his career as hopeless private eye Holland March, this film feels like it could have been made in 1987 and left on a dusty VHS shelf for us to rediscover.

Set in a grimy, neon-soaked 1977 Los Angeles, The Nice Guys blends noir, slapstick, mystery, porn conspiracies, corruption, and one of the great chemistry pairings of the last decade. As Whitey says, this flick is a chuckle fest. Not belly laughs all the way through, but constant, rolling moments of Gosling brilliance. From falling off balconies while holding a drink, to screaming in a toilet cubicle mid-assassination attempt, to the endless stream of quotable lines, Gosling proves he might be one of the most underrated comedic actors working today.

The episode kicks off with the BTW boys returning to their familiar chaos, discussing missed recording sessions, RSI from too much… research, yacht rock, power ballads, and the Black Sorrows ruining Gow's weekend. Once the dust settles, the team dives deep into first watches, overs and unders, cinema memories, and how this movie became a cult favourite despite its disappointing box-office returns. Whitey even reveals he attended one of those old radio promo premieres and laughed himself stupid the entire time.

Gow delivers a huge research effort, running through the Shane Black universe, returning stars Kim Basinger and Russell Crowe (who he argues could literally be Bud White 20 years later), and a brilliant breakdown of Gosling's Mickey Mouse Club origins, career breakout roles, and upcoming work in the new Star Wars project, Star Fighter. The boys also praise the incredible Angourie Rice, who holds her own with two Hollywood heavyweights and often steals the film.

They unpack the bad reviews (including one from a critic who somehow thinks Crowe and Gosling have no chemistry), explode with joy over the bowling alley toilet scene, analyse the poor neighbour shot by Blueface, and debate how on earth police didn’t arrive after John Boy unleashed the loudest gunfight in seventies LA history.

There is the usual dose of Snorbs Report chaos, including an award-winning muff dive scene from "Below Her Mouth", some questionable memories from Morgz in London, references to Buck Rogers, pool tugging, and a Rick's Leash callback that nearly kills the room again. The Spotify Wrapped thanks, the voicemail from the foreign correspondent, and the pure BTW banter make this episode an all-timer.

If you love this movie, you’ll love this episode. If you’ve never seen The Nice Guys, this will send you straight to your couch to fix that mistake.

Seen The Nice Guys?
Think Gosling should only do comedy from now on?
Slide into our socials and tell us your favourite quote. And if you haven't watched it yet, pause this episode, fix that, and then come back for the full Born to Watch treatment.

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