John McTiernan

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Titanic (1997): 1 line

1. unmapped (shared-technology) · through Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), which they were tied to as once attached to direct an adaptation (Touchstone): Titanic ⇒ Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (the host's read). The film exists because James Cameron's Mexican Titanic tank, with a gimbal, was still usable for the ship set.

   “James Cameron had done the legwork to build out the system to be able to basically shoot this on a gimbal in a tank of a proper set.”

   Blank Check with Griffin & David · Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with John Hodgman · 1:30:47 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

No line says anything drew on them or a film of theirs.

What the speakers said they did

Directing (14) everyone in directing

• director, Die Hard (The Rewatchables, ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey)
• director, Die Hard (The Rewatchables, ‘Die Hard 2’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
• director (committed to), The Hunt for Red October (The Rewatchables, ‘Die Hard 2’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
• director, Nomads (Blank Check — Patreon, Eraserhead (Ad-Free))
• director, The 13th Warrior (Blank Check — Patreon, The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free))
• director, The Thomas Crown Affair (Blank Check — Patreon, The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free))
• director, Rollerball (Blank Check — Patreon, The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free))
• director, Basic (Blank Check — Patreon, The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free))
• director, Die Hard with a Vengeance (Blank Check — Patreon, The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free))
• director, Die Hard (Blank Check — Patreon, The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free))
• director, Last Action Hero (Blank Check — Patreon, The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free))
• director, The 13th Warrior (Blank Check — Patreon, The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free))
• director, Die Hard (Blank Check — Patreon, The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free))
• director, The Hunt for Red October (Blank Check — Patreon, Blue Steel with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free))

Other (1) everyone in other

• once attached to direct an adaptation (Touchstone), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Blank Check with Griffin & David, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with John Hodgman)

What was said about them, by kind

career (1)

1. career (career): Rollerball → John McTiernan. Rollerball is the true bomb that killed McTiernan's career; Basic did poorly too.

   “Basic was didn't do well, but rollerball is the true bomb.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) · 0:11:14 · unknown (0.45 sure it was them)

contrast (1)

1. contrast (contrast): Michael Crichton → John McTiernan. Crichton is literal in conveying information; McTiernan evokes. Their styles clashed on the reshoots.

   “Michael Creighton's a very literal minded man in the way he conveys information.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) · 1:19:52 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)

craft (4)

1. craft (craft): John McTiernan → Michael Crichton. McTiernan and Crichton both journeymen in terms of signature style; McTiernan's strength is geography of an action scene.

   “McTiernan's like the god of I know how to communicate the geography of an action scene”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) · 0:22:25 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
2. craft (craft): John McTiernan → Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning. Dead Reckoning feels McTiernan-like in its problem-solving approach with no signature style.

   “Dead Reckoning Part one, maybe now called Dead Reckoning Part only.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) · 1:36:38 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
3. craft (craft): John McTiernan → Die Hard. McTiernan's quiet genius is dialogue scenes as exciting as action; the best-cited Die Hard moments are not action.

   “So much of what we, you know, all the great moments from Die Hard are actually not even the action”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) · 1:37:52 · unknown (0.55 sure it was them)
4. craft (craft): The Thomas Crown Affair → John McTiernan. McTiernan's fine-art eye is literal in Thomas Crown: he picked all the paintings.

   “he picked all the paintings”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) · 1:55:45 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

people (1)

1. people (director): John McTiernan → The 13th Warrior. The 13th Warrior is saved for a McTiernan series.

   “Save that for McTiernan.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:19:19 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

1. fun, about John McTiernan: McTiernan's visual inspiration is fine art, not other movies.

   “my visual inspirations are from fine art.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) · 1:32:58 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)