PonchoMysticism t1_j2bpzt0 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 1:51 AM

Reply to comment by blackrabbitsrun in Was Bruce Willis in Die Hard the ushering in of the modern everyman action star? by SquatOnAPitbull

John wick isn't more impossible than John McClaine. There are extensive videos about the dozens of times the homie should have died in that movie.

blackrabbitsrun t1_j2bqzee wrote on December 31, 2022 at 1:59 AM

Show me where John McClain walks through a night club and bodies a dozen well trained body guards without a problem. Or where he does the same in catacombs, or where he straight up chews through entire groups of highly trained assassins with his bare hands/a pistol and maybe a sword or a knife.

FormerIceCreamEater t1_j2bwc09 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:39 AM

John McClain basically became John wick by the 4th one

blackrabbitsrun t1_j2bxk7l wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:48 AM

I'm not denying that. His character fell into the tropes that I'm decrying. But that's not what is being talked about, and debated here. We are talking about the first movie and only the first movie. I'm comparing Die Hard 1 (one) 1988 to modern action movies where the character is always some current or former special forces or super trained fighter of some sort, chewing through enemies like a bandsaw through paper with minimal injury.

PonchoMysticism t1_j2c9nd9 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 4:26 AM

He doesn't do either thing without "a problem" -- you have zero reason to believe they are well trained as there isn't any indication of their training. The club body guards are dummies and demonstrate that in the movie. That said I don't think something can be "more impossible" than something else. I'm pretty sure impossible is "binary."

blackrabbitsrun t1_j2cginm wrote on December 31, 2022 at 5:28 AM

"zero reason to believe they are well trained"

Are you honestly putting forth the position, that one can't watch the tactical awareness, combat skills, hand/eye coordination, ability to plan and execute, not to mention pain tolerance and rationally infer that all that took decades of training to achieve? Or are you saying that anyone can do what John Wick does, with absolutely 0 training?

PonchoMysticism t1_j2cpx6s wrote on December 31, 2022 at 7:10 AM

You have zero reason to believe that rando muscle within a Russia mob family has "elite training."

This is the less important aspect of my argument. John Wick is in some ways more realistic and some ways less realistic than Die Hard however they are both entirely impossible or at the very least incredibly unlikely. Arguing that a movie is "more impossible" is like arguing that a sandwich is "more perfect." It's an on/off switch its either true or untrue. A scale of impossibility is silly.