Tonight's marathon is all about the holidays going from being a traditional time period of being a fun and exciting time of peace and love to ultimately becoming a deadly game for survival but not without being ultimately thrilling. Through the combination of both holidays such as Christmas and New Years Eve, we see either one man or a group of people banding together in a fight to survive with a story and setting that provides for a claustrophobic atmosphere. The first Poseidon Adventure gives us a setting that centers around a capsized ship that forces its survivors to find their way through the wreckage to the exit which is now the engine room. Die Hard centers around a 40 story building named Nakatomi Powers that becomes taken under siege by a group of terrorists in a heist scheme with the hostages only hope being an off duty New York police detective who goes throughout the building taking out the terrorists one by one. The marathon gives two different scenarios of people fighting for survival along with the combination being both Christmas and New Years related. One deals with human nature being the enemy and the main characters going against all odds, and the other is terrorists seizing a building or an airport, forcing one of the hostages to take the initiative and fight back against all odds to rescue not only the other hostages but the woman he loves and fights for. For tonight's epic marathon, we have the following films on the menu:
The Poseidon Adventure 1972, Die Hard 1988, Poseidon 2006, Die Hard 2: Die Harder 1990
One thing about this marathon that makes it standout from the typical holiday lineup, is that this one is action packed and uses the holidays as a way of making the story realistic and timeless. Die Hard is a film that can essentially be watched every Christmas because of the holiday serving as a useful plot device to the story, and the same can be said with Poseidon Adventure because of the New Years Eve factor. With the holidays playing a role in these movies, their latter remakes or sequel allows the theme of repetition to happen in this line up with history repeating itself a second time whether its with the same persons or not. The first two Die Hards complete the Christmas arc of movies that made the series so popular in the first place. While Poseidon never reaches the heights of the 1972 original classic The Poseidon Adventure, the film takes the same concept and puts it in modern times giving it a then and now perspective. In terms of delivering thrills and excitement with strong characters that you care about and root for, this is the perfect marathon to watch if you want a different kind of holiday moviethon.
The first movie of the evening is the 1972 disaster movie classic and blockbuster epic titled The Poseidon Adventure starring Gene Hackmen, Shirley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, and Leslie Nielsen. Based on true events with other sail vessels but presented as a true story of its own, The Poseidon Adventure centers around a vessel named The Poseidon hitting a rogue wave on New Years Eve and the ship capsizing. The tragedy leaves a group of passengers fighting to survive and escaping the doomed Ocean liner that's slowly sinking. Nominated for a total of nine academy awards and winner of one for Best music, The Poseidon Adventure is one of the greatest disaster films ever made as well as one of the best New Years Eve movies. The film presents a real scenario with real characters that you come to care about from the start and have fun watching as they debate on the appropriate way of escaping. The Poseidon Adventure glorifies what's great about 1970's disaster movies but also gives a story that's built around humanity and wall to wall suspense. It's the perfect starting point for this marathon given the holiday theme, the claustrophobic atmosphere, and characters going against the odds to fight for survival.
The second movie of the evening is the 1988 blockbuster titled Die Hard starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, and Bonnie Bedelia. The story centers around an off duty New York Police Officer named John McClane whose been invited to a Christmas Eve party by his wide Holly McClane. While attending the party, McClane is forced to go into hiding as the tower is seized by a group of terrorists, forcing McClane to take action as he is the only hope for the fate of the hostages. Nominated for four academy awards, the film was not only a surprise hit during the Summer of 1988 but became one of the best Christmas movies of all time. The film balances humanity with wall to wall action perfectly, making it one of cinemas greatest thrill rides. It is also credited as the film that made Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman movie stars as well as spawning one of the most successful R rated movie franchises of all time.
The third movie of the marathon is the 2006 remake of the 1972 classic The Poseidon Adventure titled Poseidon starring Kurt Russell and Emmy Rossum. Nominated for an Oscar for Best visual effects and directed of Air Force One and The Perfect Storm named Wolfgang Peterson, the film much like the first movie is centered around New Years Eve with the luxery liner Poseidon capsizing after being struck by a rogue wave. Also like the first movie, the survivors are left with no options other than to fight for their lives as they make attempts to escape the sinking ship. While the remake of The Poseidon Adventure improves on the original in regards to being visually stunning, it falls short of the strong character developments and relationships that the first movie established. Still, it serves as being a fitting predecessor to the first Poseidon Adventure as well as showing the same scenario happening twice except this time it's with different characters.
The fourth and final movie of the evening is the 1990 blockbuster sequel to the original 1988 classic Die Hard titled Die Hard 2: Die Harder. Taking place a year after the events of the first Die Hard, the sequel places John McClane in the same time period from where the first movie ended on Christmas Eve. This time the setting is at an airport with the terrorists taking control of it and forcing McClane to advert disaster once again as he battles the terrorists and seizes Dulles International Airport free of terrorist control. Although a bigger box office success than the first Die Hard upon it's release, the sequel never received the same kind of critical acclaim as it's predecessor upon it's release but still maintained itself as an above average sequel that followed the first movie carefully and made a sequel worthy of being watched with it's predecessor. Die Hard 2 is a significant sequel because it's the last one which is centered around Christmas Eve like the original film, as well as being the last film to feature McClanes wife Holly in the film. At one point she asks John in a fashion that appears to be the film being self aware that it's a repeat of the first movie: "John, why does this keep happening to us?". Although not the best sequel in the series, Die Hard 2 is a fitting end to a night that's centered around extroadinary events unfolding during the Christmas and New Years eve. Not only does it bring it with the action but it gave you characters that you ultimately came to care about.
So what does this marathon say when you put all the movies together as a whole? The marathon says that when you're placed in a situation such as the events in Die Hard and The Poseidon Adventure, someone is gonna have to take the initiative and lead the way in terms of preserving the safety and survival of everyone else in the same situation. A natural disaster such as the one in The Poseidon Adventure and Poseidon can't be controlled but through teamwork, everyone can work together to emerge from that experience as one and alive. You should never underestimate the power of a rogue wave. Die Hard and Die Hard 2 says that sometimes the same thing can happen to the same guy twice or that guy can be placed in extroadinary circumstances, forcing him to do the unthinkable and fight back not just for the safety of himself, but for the safety of the woman he loves and the rest of the hostages. Sometimes we need a man like John McClane, who doesn't take orders to step in and make things better,
Our characters for this evening:
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