15 Movies That Copied the "Die Hard" Formula

See how Seagal, Stallone, and Macaulay Culkin all ripped off an action movie classic.

50 best 80s movies die hard
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50 best 80s movies die hard

This feature was originally published on July 15, 2013.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, the action genre reigned supreme above everything else at the box office, including good taste. From mercenary soldiers to vigilantes and terminators, a new testosterone-fueled tough guy appeared on the big screen wach month with an axe to grind against evil. But in an ironic twist, the most iconic celluloid hero of this period didn’t have the rippling muscles, square-jawed good looks, or even the full head of hair of his contemporaries. Instead, the biggest badass of the genre was none other than John McClane, a jaded NYPD officer played to perfection by Bruce Willis in the hit 1988 flick, Die Hard.

McClane wasn’t a foreign street fighter like Jean-Claude Van Damme, a world-class bodybuilder like Arnold Schwarzenegger, or a heap of twitching muscle like Sylvester Stallone. In a refreshing twist, he was just like the rest of us; he had problems with his wife and got his ass kicked by the villains. You weren't sure if he'd even make it to see the credits roll. This relatable hero made Die Hard rise above the typical action fare of the time and allowed it become a cinematic phenomenon.

The story was a simple one: the outgunned McClane is forced to fight his way—solo—through a cramped L.A. office high-rise that's been overrun with terrorists. He's the only guy in the inside capable of stopping them. He is the James Bond of Plainfield, New Jersey. 

Once the movie shattered the box office in 1988, an endless supply of Die Hard clones hit theaters in an attempt to recreate the magic. Even the original spawned a series of sequels that never quite got it right. Now, on the 25th anniversary of its release, we’re taking a look back at 15 Movies That Copied the Die Hard Formula.

Related: The 50 Best Action Movies of All Time 

Related: The 50 Best Action Stars in Movie History 

Related: The 100 Best Movies Streaming on Netflix Right Now 

Home Alone (1990)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: An eight-year-old boy has to fight off a pair of criminals who attempt to break into his house.

Stand-in for John McClane: Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin)

If you've never thought of Home Alone as nothing but a filthy Die Hard clone, get ready to have your mind blown. Think about it: Both movies are set during Christmas, star a wise-cracking protagonist, and feature that same hero taking down a group of criminals with an improvised arsenal of everyday items within the claustrophobic confines of a single building. Plus, both spawned numerous sequels that got progressively worse as they went along. 

Now that you have the secret knowledge,  go out and have a double feature, and remind yourself that clones come in the most unlikely of places. Next time we’ll explain how Tommy Boy is nothing but a low-brow adaptation of Hamlet.

Toy Soldiers (1991)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: Students fight back when their all-male boarding school is overrun by terrorists.

Stand-in for John McClane: William Tepper (Sean Astin)

Back when a group of kids running through a school brandishing machine guns was still the product of Hollywood’s overactive imagination, Toy Soldiers hit theaters and gave the world its most violent pre-pubescent Die Hard rip-off yet. Starring future geek icons Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) and Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), the movie focuses on a group of terrorists taking over a teenage boarding school, leaving the students to fight back.

Without the sharp dialogue, memorable characters, or sophisticated set pieces of Die Hard, Toy Soldiers is the type of movie you've forgotten about before the VHS tape is out of the rewinder.

Under Siege (1992)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: Mercenaries seize control of a battleship.

Stand-in for John McClane: Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal)

It’s an out-and-out tragedy that kids today are growing up without the legend that is Steven Seagal. In 1992’s Under Siege, the Buddhist bruiser gave the world one of the most obvious, yet thoroughly entertaining, Die Hard knock-offs yet. Here he plays Casey Ryback, a naval officer demoted to cook at the orders of his dastardly superior, played with maniacal aplomb by Gary Busey.

When a group of mercenaries take control of the ship, it’s up to Seagal to save the lives of his fellow sailors and a Playboy Playmate who's also aboard.

Yet again, nameless mercenaries are the villains here and Seagal brutally takes them all out in the cramped quarters of the ship. Copying this successful formula jump-started the career of Steven Seagal and, in the process, opened the door for a myriad of Die Hard-esque action flicks to follow over the years.

Passenger 57 (1992)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: A former cop has to battle a group of aircraft-hijacking terrorists.

Stand-in for John McClane: John Cutter (Wesley Snipes)

In Passenger 57, Wesley Snipes plays a former police officer named John Cutter, who's dealing with the emotional baggage of his departed wife. When terrorists take control of the plane he’s flying on, he's forced to fight back.

Unlike Die HardPassenger 57 features a completely bland plot and direct-to-video direction that is a far cry from what John McTiernan brought to Die Hard. The only positives here are the performances by Snipes and Bruce Payne, who plays terrorist Charles Rayne.

Cliffhanger (1993)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: A disgraced climbing guide takes down a group of terrorists on a mountain.

Stand-in for John McClane: Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone)

In another film where a disgraced hero is forced to take down a group of terrorists on his own, Cliffhanger takes the key Die Hard elements and moves them to the top of a mountain. Predictably, Sylvester Stallone can’t muster the everyman charisma of Bruce Willis, but he manages to bring enough pathos to the character of Gabe Walker to avoid becoming just another tepid doppelganger.

Sudden Death (1995)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: A disgraced fireman has to battle terrorists who have taken over the Pittsburgh Civic Arena during the NHL Finals.

Stand-in for John McClane: Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme)

In the ‘90s, it felt like a Die Hard clone was being released each month, and in 1995 one of the most blatant rip-offs of the situation hit theaters: Sudden Death. This time, JCVD played the disgraced hero attempting to redeem himself and save the day in the cramped confines of Pittsburgh's Civic Arena during the NHL Finals.

Sudden Death touts a cardboard plot, tepid special effects, and acting that's stiffer than a shot of whiskey. But, in the movie’s defense, it does serve up a rather surreal fight scene between Van Damme and a female terrorist wearing a penguin suit. Few fails can claim this.

Meltdown (1995)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: A disgraced former police officer fights a group of terrorists who are attempting to rob jewels from a hotel.

Stand-in for John McClane: Kit Li (Jet Li)

There are few movies more aggressively American than Die Hard. It’s brash, profane, pervasively violent, and driven by a lone hero who saves the day (with the help of his black friend, but usually McClane gets all the credit). However, the red, white, and blue running through each frame of the film didn’t stop the Chinese action flick, Meltdown, from ripping it off nearly beat for beat, almost to the point of satire.

The movie stars Jet Li as a former police officer who now works as a stuntman after the accidental deaths of his wife and child forced him into retirement. But he gets back into the action as Russian terrorists—even the Chinese used the Russians as villains during the ‘90—break into a hotel to steal some rare jewels.

Skyscraper (1996)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: It’s really just Die Hard with boobs.

Stand-in for John McClane: Carrie Wink (Anna Nicole Smith)

With a flat performance by Anna Nicole Smith and a direct-to-video budget, Skyscraper should be a lost relic of the ‘90s VHS market; however, because it's almost a shot-for-shot rip-off of Die Hard, we're bringing it back from the beyond. In the movie, Smith plays Carrie Wink, a helicopter pilot who somehow gets involved in a fight against terrorists who have infiltrated an L.A. skyscraper.

Skyscraper has no use for subtlty, and flaunts its rip-off status. The setting, plot, and even some of the action sequences are all shamelessly lifted from the original, just without any of the charm. We would say that Skyscraper is the worst movie that Die Hard ever spawned, but that would ignore the existence of A Good Day to Die Hard.

The Rock (1996)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: An unlikely pair has to fight their way through Alcatraz after terrorists take over the island.

Stand-ins for John McClane: Captain John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage)

Part Die Hard, part Perfect Strangers, The Rock pits the mismatched pair of straight-laced Sean Connery and legendary madman Nicolas Cage against a group of terrorists (again with the terrorists!) who have taken control of Alcatraz in an attempt to bomb San Francisco with a biological agent. Like we've seen so many times before, our outgunned heroes are forced to duke it out with a small army inside the tight quarters of the hijacked stronghold.

The Rock ramps up the decibel level and unleashes a maelstrom of deafening action, courtesy of Michael Bay. It's one of the auteur's better movies, something we hope he'll never apologize for.

Air Force One (1997)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: The president is forced to battle a group of terrorists who have taken over Air Force One

Stand-in for John McClane: U.S. President James Marshall (Harrison Ford)

Not satisfied with giving us yet another straight-up rip on the Die Hard formula, Air Force One kicked up the action by turning Harrison Ford’s version of John McClane into the President of the United States and placing the bulk of the movie’s action on the titular aircraft, as opposed to an office building. The movie is cramped and suspenseful as President James Marshall is tasked with kicking the asses of a group of Soviet terrorists who have taken over the plane in a way that would make Bruce Willis blush.

It’s not often that we endorse a movie that was so obviously inspired by one that came before like this one, but Air Force One is such a testosterone-dripping good time that we’ll give it a pass. Sure it borrows liberally from the Die Hard model, but it still manages to stand on its own as a great example of '90s action. 

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: An FBI agent has to battle a group of snakes unleashed to kill a trial witness on a plane

Stand-in for John McClane: Agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson)

Snakes on a Plane takes the contained action scenes and endless one-liners that Die Hard made famous and gives it a reptilian twist. Here we see Samuel L. Jackson playing an FBI agent who has to do battle with a plane full of poisonous snakes that were released by a criminal organization in order to silence a mob trial witness.

Snakes adds a bit more horror and camp to the original Die Hard formula, but it’s hard to ignore just how closely this movie follows McClane’s lead, especially when it comes to foul-mouthed rants. Apparently Jackson didn’t get enough of the franchise after starring in Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: A middle-aged security guard must stop a gang that has overtaken a shopping mall

Stand-in for John McClane: Paul Blart (Kevin James)

Well, this is it. This is where the Die Hard concept completely jumped the shark. Paul Blart: Mall Cop takes the basic plot of an unlikely hero taking down a group of criminal on his own and puts a uniquely unfunny Kevin James spin to it. Instead of channeling the sardonic heroics of John McClane, Blart can barely muster the charm to meet the charisma of Die Hard’s Henchman No. 2. In fact, the only thing these two movies have in common are the waistlines of Reginald VelJohnson and James.

Lockout (2012)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: A disgraced government agent must save the president’s daughter from an orbital prison overrun by inmates

Stand-in for John McClane: Marion Snow (Guy Pearce)

Lockout has affectionately been crowned “Die Hard in space” among snarky Internet bloggers since its release last year, and with good reason. The movie focuses on yet another disgraced hero who has been brought in to save the president’s daughter from an outer space prison overrun with inmates. It's a lone hero against an army of bloodthristy villains. How original. 

Of course, being a modern action movie, Lockout is also filled with cheap CGI and an onion-skin-thin script, but the performance by Guy Pearce is a loving tribute to what Willis did 25 years ago. He’s jaded and snarky with a touch of vulnerability that makes the character come to life. Unfortunately, everything else around him can’t rise above being a cliff notes version of a much better movie.

Dredd (2012)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: A futuristic law enforcer must battle his way through a 200-story tall highrise to stop a criminal organization

Stand-in for John McClane: Judge Dredd (Karl Urban)

In a year when The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises became colossal hits at the box office, we stand firmly behind our opinion that 2012’s most all-around entertaining comic book movie was Dredd. Yet as we watched the mayhem unfold on the screen, we couldn’t help but feel like we've seen all this before. Then we realized what was gnawing at us the whole time: Dredd completely rips on the Die Hard formula.

In the movie, Judge Dredd is an anti-social law enforcement agent forced to do battle with a deadly criminal organization throughout an ominous highrise stronghold. The contained setting adds to the movie’s tension as Dredd blasts his way through countless floors of enemies, much like John McClane did decades earlier. However, unlike most movies on this list, Dredd does enough differently to make it stand out, while completely nailing the familiar elements. Both movies are tough, gruff, and full of blood, and both set new standards for American action films. As far as rip-offs go, Dredd actually makes good use of the formula.

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

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Use of the Die Hard scenario: A disgraced Secret Service agent must save the president from a terrorist attack on the White House.

Stand-in for John McClane: Mike Banning (Gerard Butler)

The most recent Die Hard clone, Olympus has Fallen, also happens to be one of the most egregious. Sure Gerard Butler’s character has the same jaded, disgruntled demeanor of John McClane, but he has none of the wit and charm that Willis brought to the role. Instead of being a loveable everyman, Butler is nothing more than John McClone—a weak, humorless imposter whose fate we’re not even concerned about once the bullets start flying.

While the folks behind Olympus got the action and terrorism angle right, the movie just settles into an innocuous void that will likely be forgotten within an hour of seeing it. You're much better off watching your old, worn out VHS copy of Die Hard for the 100th time this year, rather than sit through this two-hour Quaalude.

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