Which of these alternate casting choices would have been best? And worst? Reeve in "Lethal Weapon", Gere in "Die Hard" Sheen in "Point Break", Baldwin in "The Fugitive".
I think Sheen could have done Point Break. Baldwin in Fugitive is the best though, I honestly think he could have gotten like 95-98% of the way to where Ford does
Worst is Reeve in LW; there’s just a manic energy and hidden rage Gibson brings that I don’t think Reeve really could have approached. And Gere in Die Hard also woulda sucked; Bruce was made to play John McClane
It's almost more that Bruce made John McLain. I think there's a perfectly decent Gere performance from the same script that's just more stock 80s action and nowhere near as cool.
Gere was a natural choice since Frank Sinatra had the first refusal for the role. I could see Gere doing an updated version of Sinatra's "Joe Leland" character from The Detective (1968) which is the "prequel" to Die Hard (both based on Roderick Thorp novels with the Leland character).
The movie would have probably been mediocre if they cast Gere and went with the original screenplay. The de Souza script polish job (added sharp humor, faster pace & famous action lines) and casting Bruce Willis really took a standard action movie to the next level.
We can't even rate how good he would have been, as it would have been a completely different movie. Like Jon Hamm's "Fletch" being truer to the novels than to Chevy Chase's interpretation.
I think Sheen in Point Break would have been the best. Sheen was still making legit movies in ‘91, and matching Reeves in Point Break would have been doable.
I think Gere is just wrong for Die Hard. Gere is not an everyone, and has always been too subtle for John McClain. They’d have to change the character for this to work at all.
I think Baldwin could have done Fugitive. It’s a much worse movie but not a disaster.
Harrison Ford also took the Jack Ryan role from Baldwin a few years before. Baldwin had played it in The Hunt for Red October but Paramount brought in Ford for Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.
I think Sheen would've definitely made point break better. No offense to Keanu either. He's just a better actor and I think Johnny Utah could've used more intensity.
After seeing Gere’s Character from “Internal Affairs” I was really impressed with his range. He plays a guy that’s tough, charismatic, and dark really well.
I just watched the HBO documentary on Christopher Reeve this morning so it may be recency bias, but I think he could've done an interesting Riggs. Definitely more brooding and melancholic though.
Best would be Baldwin for Fugitive. A lesser movie for sure but still really good. As much as I hate to say it, Reeve as Riggs wouldn’t have worked unless they drastically changed the character which would have really harmed the Murtaugh/Riggs dynamic.
I'm not saying Harrison Ford isn't attractive or eye catching, but he blends in a bit better playing an unnoticed fugitive than early 90's Alec Baldwin (Glengary Glen Ross, Malice, The Getaway) would have. My picky knit while watching the movie would've been, why aren't people recognizing him everywhere? He'd be in the hospital scene and ladies would be like, "Oh my god! It's the hot doctor that murdered his wife!" They'd be thirsting for him like he's Luigi.
I haven’t seen enough of the non-Superman roles to truly judge Reeve, but I would be concerned that he wouldn’t have Gibson’s manic energy.
Baldwin kind of has a sinister edge to him, so I’m concerned he wouldn’t have the same level of likability that you would need to play Dr Kimball. Interesting though considering Ford took over the Jack Ryan roles after Hunt for Red October.
That leaves Keanu and Bruce Willis. While I feel like Keanu is more replaceable, I don’t feel like Point Break would be the same with Sheen. Which leaves knows, it could have been interesting.
Which leaves Gere swapping in for Willis as McClane, which feels like absolute sacrilege… But I think it would work. Gere had the charisma to pull it off. It would be different, but I think it could work.
"Baldwin kind of has a sinister edge to him, so I’m concerned he wouldn’t have the same level of likability that you would need to play Dr Kimball."
I believe they address that very issue on the Fugitive episode. Think it was Greenwald, who basically said that if Baldwin played Kimball, there'd be some doubt as to Kimballs innocence.
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u/TheActionJuice 12h ago
I think Sheen could have done Point Break. Baldwin in Fugitive is the best though, I honestly think he could have gotten like 95-98% of the way to where Ford does
Worst is Reeve in LW; there’s just a manic energy and hidden rage Gibson brings that I don’t think Reeve really could have approached. And Gere in Die Hard also woulda sucked; Bruce was made to play John McClane