Yet, after John McTiernan made his ‘88 film, it became the genre definition.
Most recently,the movieCleaner(2025) starring Daisy Ridleyrepeated theDie Hardformula with fun results.
With Van Damme’s kickboxing stunts, it’s an absurdly over-the-top entertaining action movie.
A part of theDie Hardformula is the restricted space available for the hero’s various confrontations.
Sylvester Stallone’sCliffhangeris an exception to this rule despite being aDie Hard-like movie.
It’s set in the sprawling icy lands of the Rocky Mountains.
Custom image by Yeider Chacon
He plays a Navy SEAL who’s been demoted to battleship cook after punching a superior officer.
The imposing setting of Alcatraz provides the perfect backdrop for theDie Hard-like narrative.
The imposing setting of Alcatraz provides the perfect backdrop for theDie Hard-like narrative.
Following a brain injury, a woman suspects her husband is an impostor and struggles with unsettling visions and calls from someone claiming to be her real spouse, pushing her to question her sanity.
Nicolas Cage plays one ofthe most unintentionally funny movie charactersin his version ofDie Hard.
The hero is still like John McClane and hasthe superior ability to pick off henchmen one by one.
President James Marshall is one of the mosticonic Harrison Ford rolesto this day.
This refreshing change in demeanor makes him an endearing hero to follow.
Cliffhanger, directed by Renny Harlin, follows former ranger Gabe Walker as he confronts his past on a treacherous peak. Initially returning to aid stranded climbers, Walker discovers they are hijackers searching for lost money, complicating an already perilous rescue mission.
Under Siege is an action-thriller film starring Steven Seagal as Casey Ryback, a former Navy SEAL and cook on the USS Missouri, who must stop a group of terrorists led by William Strannix, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who have taken control of the ship.
The Rock is a 1996 action film from director Michael Bay. The story revolves around a chemist named Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) and John Mason (Sean Connery), an ex-con who escaped from Alcatraz, who are tasked to lead a counterstrike to protect San Francisco from a lethal nerve gas attack.
Con-Air is a 1990s action crime-thriller starring Nicholas Cage as former U.S. Ranger turned to convict Cameron Poe. Poe, in an act of self-defense and passion, is court-martialed for accidentally killing the man he protected his wife from. Having served his time and achieving Parole, Poe is on his way home with one problem - the transport plane he’s on has been hijacked by several dangerous convicts, led by one of the worst in the United States.
Olympus Has Fallen an action thriller film and is the first in the franchise. The film follows former army ranger/special service agent Mike Banning who lost his position after the death of the President’s wife. When a North Korean terrorist group attacks the White House, Banning must tune back into his old skill set to save the president and the country from nuclear devastation.
In the 1997 action thriller Air Force One, President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) is forced to defend his plane from Russian hijackers while trying to save his family and administration. It is directed by Wolfgang Petersen, with Gary Oldman playing terrorist Egor Korshunov and Glenn Close appearing as Vice President Kathryn Bennett.
In Jan de Bont’s 1994 action thriller Speed, LAPD officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) works alongside passenger Annie (Sandra Bullock) to safely stop a bus that will explode if it goes below 50 mph.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a holiday comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes. Preparing for another family trip, the McCallister family heads to Florida - but in the enormous family holiday hustle, young Kevin is separated from his family and redirected to New York City alone. Set loose on the town, Kevin looks to have the time of his life - but his former enemies have escaped prison and made their way to the Big Apple.
