Die Hard on an X: Difference between revisions

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Bad guys have [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us|taken over the good guys' ship/station/what have you]], but, unbeknownst to the villains, [[One-Man Army|one]] or more good guys are hiding out in their midst, [[Spanner in the Works|engineering their overthrow]]. At least one [[Air Vent Passageway|air vent]] will be crawled through. At least one hostage will be a member of [[The Hero]]'s family and another will be executed while trying to negotiate with the villains.

Named after a meme within the entertainment industry based on the [[Die Hard|movie of the same name]], starring [[Bruce Willis]]. One of the most important action films of all time, if [[Follow the Leader|all the copycat ripoffs]] are any indication. An old story says that the pitches for many action films basically went "[[X Meets Y|Die Hard on a...]]", until one day, someone tried to pitch a movie as "''Die Hard'' in an Office Building." Apparently, they [[Critical Research Failure|were unaware]] that the original ''Die Hard''

''did'' take place in an office building.

This plot can be used as the action for a [[Bottle Episode]]. The bad guys may unknowingly have [[Bruce Wayne Held Hostage]]. Expect to see at least one [[Bulletproof Human Shield]] show up.

See also [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us]], [[Spanner in the Works]].

[[Recycled in Space]] is the general trope for remaking works in a new setting.

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** The title of a chapter in the corresponding manga storyarc? "Titanic Episode 4 - With a Vengeance".

* The events on the Sand Steamer in ''[[Trigun]]''.

* Parodied/Lampshaded in the ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'' light novels. In this case, it's the good guys pretending to be terrorists in order to catch real terrorists, and they nickname the heroic troublemaker among the passengers [[Die Hard|John McClane]].

** Also played straight in ''Into The Blue'' and the corresponding anime arc, in which Gauron hijacks the Tuatha de Danaan, with Sousuke, Kurz, and (eventually, thanks to Tessa's efforts) Kaname loose on board.

* ''[[Early Reins]]'': ''Die Hard'' on a train! In [[The Wild West]]! And the heroes are [[Girls with Guns]]!

* The 1931 story arc of ''[[Baccano]]'', AKA "The Grand Punk Railroad" takes it [[Up to Eleven]]. On a train! With ''three'' gangs hijacking at the same time, two serial killers, and three immortals! You almost forget hostages are involved, sometimes.

* The 1931 story arc of ''[[Baccano!]]'', AKA "The Grand Punk Railroad" takes it [[Up to Eleven]]. On a train! With ''three'' gangs hijacking at the same time, two serial killers, and three immortals! You almost forget hostages are involved, sometimes.

* ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'' plays with this when Aramaki and the Major go to London. While visiting a friend who runs a wine bank, Aramaki and his friend are taken hostage by ex-mob bank robbers, but the mob itself gets tipped off, and the bribed police force then besieges the bank. Aramaki manages to convince the robbers to work with him so that they can figure a way out of the police siege.

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== Film ==

* ''[[Die Hard]]''

** The first film is [[Shaped Like Itself|''Die Hard'']] (on a high-rise).

** ''[[Die Hard]] II'' is ''[[Die Hard]]'' in a snowed-in airport.

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** ''[[Die Hard]] II'' was also written as a standalone film, adapted from an entirely different novel (''58 Minutes'' by Walter Wager) than the first film (adapted from Roderick Thorp's ''Nothing Lasts Forever'').

* ''[[Under Siege]]'' and ''Under Siege 2'': ''Die Hard'' on a warship and train, respectively.

* ''[[Sudden Death]]'' has Jean-Claude Van Damme as a security guard trying to stop ''Die Hard'' in a stadium.

* The second half of the [[John Woo]] classic ''[[Hard Boiled]]'' is essentially ''Die Hard'' in a Hospital in true [[Heroic Bloodshed]] style, as the bad guys take everybody hostage at the hospital. Tequila and Alan, along with the rest of the force in the hospital, have to get everyone out before the bad guys blow everything to hell.

* ''[[Cliffhanger]]'' is ''Die Hard'' on a mountain.

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* The Canadian b-movie ''Lethal Tender'' is ''Die Hard'' in a water treatment plant.

* The b-movie ''Final Voyage'' is ''Die Hard'' on a cruise ship, and even features Erika Eleniak as [[The Load]].

* The short ''Joyride'' is ''Die Hard'' in the trunk of a car.

* ''Demolition High'' - ''Die Hard'' in a high school

* ''[[Day of the Wolves]]'' is ''Die Hard'' in a small town. However, being made in 1971, it predates ''Die Hard''. A gang of bad guys have a plan for [[Taking Over the Town]]. What they hadn't counted on was the police chief being fired that morning, and so being at home instead of where they expected him to be.

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* In the 9th and worse season ''[[Roseanne]]'' copied "Under Siege II... of course, [[It Was All Just a Dream]].

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' has done ''Die Hard'' on a spaceship for a number of episodes across the series:

** ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'': "[[Star Trek/Recap/S1 E22 Space Seed|Space Seed]]". However, this aired before ''[[Die Hard]]'' was released. So ''[[Die Hard]]'' is sort of "''Space Seed'' in an office building"! Sort of...

** ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'': "[[Star Trek/Recap/S1/E22 Space Seed|Space Seed]]". However, this aired before ''[[Die Hard]]'' was released. So ''[[Die Hard]]'' is sort of "''Space Seed'' in an office building"! Sort of...

** ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'': "Starship Mine" and "Rascals" (with the added dis-/advantage that Picard, Guinan, Ro and Keiko were transformed into children before the Ferengi takeover). Arguably, ''[[Star Trek: First Contact|Star Trek First Contact]]'' is like this as well.

** TNG: "Timescape" has elements of "''Die Hard'' in a temporal anomaly".

** ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'': For the first part of Season 6, the eponymous station is in enemy hands. Also, the beginning of Season 2 sees the crew temporarily handing the station over to Bajoran radicals. And then there's the shrunken shuttlecraft episode, definitely the [[Spiritual Successor]] of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|The Next Generation]]''.

** ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek Voyager]]'': "Basics," "Macrocosm," and "Message in a Bottle". The Doctor was frequently the Bruce Willis, his [[Projected Man]] status making him immune to whatever incapacitated everyone else.

** ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Star Trek Enterprise]]'': "Acquisition", "Catwalk", and "Chosen Realm".

** Usually any time that Jefferies Tubes are mentioned, you know there's going to be a ''Die Hard'' plot, except for that one episode where Picard ended up playing the flute in them like an insane homeless man.

* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'': "The Box".

* ''[[Blake's ~~Seven~~|Blakes Seven]]'' did this once.

* ''[[Blake's 7|Blakes Seven]]'' did this once.

** The episode was "Power Play" by Terry Nation, in case anyone was curious. Although bad guys taking over the Liberator wasn't exactly a rare occurrence...

* ''[[The Sentinel (TV series)|The Sentinel]]'' had an episode called "Dead Drop", which involved the main character trying to catch the bad guy by going up elevator shafts, [[Stairwell Chase|running up stairs]], and, in a true ''Die Hard'' moment, swinging in through a window.

** The second episode of the series fit this trope as well, but it advanced the plot by forcing Jim to use his abilities around his boss several times, [[Reasonable Authority Figure|letting him in on the secret]].

* A second-season episode of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' admits that it's ripping off this device by entitling the episode where everyone is trapped in a vampire-infested school (''Die Hard'' at Sunnydale High) with Buffy as their only hope "School Hard".

* In the pilot of ''[[Entourage]]'', Vince gets pitched a script that is described as "''Die Hard'' at Disneyland."

* ''[[Farscape]]'': "I Shrink Therefore I Am". ''Die Hard'' is even mentioned by name.

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'''Daniel:''' "John McClane? What?"

'''Teal'c:''' "''[[Die Hard]]''." }}

** They've played it straight a few times. The ''Prometheus'' has been taken over by alien or human bad guys on at least two occasions, and once SG-1 had to take it back from an alternate SG-1. (Long story.) The SGC has also been the target of this a few times. (In "Foothold", for example, the {{spoiler|aliens were masquerading as the regular characters, and Sam was the only one who was really herself}}). ''Die Hard''... In Colorado?

* ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' is fond of this trope:

** "The Storm" and "The Eye" is a very deliberate reference, because the [[Big Bad]] (Acastus Kolya) is Robert Davi - who was one of the FBI agents in the original ''Die Hard''. "The Return" does it as well, and also the final season's "The Prodigal", which even ends with Teyla tossing series [[Big Bad]] off the top floor of the Atlantis main tower. Note that "The Storm/The Eye", "The Return," and the above-mentioned SG-1 episode "Bad Guys" were all penned by staff writer Martin Gero, who apparently has a favorite movie.

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** Alyx lampshades Dr. Freeman's proclivity for air-vent exploration in ''Episode One''.

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' was "''Die Hard'' on an Alaskan Military Base".

** Come to think of it, ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater]]: Snake Eater'' was "''Die Hard'' on a Russian Military Base During the Cold War".

** Come to think of it, ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]: Snake Eater'' was "''Die Hard'' on a Russian Military Base During the Cold War".

*** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' manages to cover "DH on a ship" and "DH in a clean up facility." ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' is a bit like ''Live Free or Die Hard'' in the sense that Snake does quite a bit of traveling in the game. This game lets us add "DH in the Middle East, South America, Europe and Alaska" before coming back to being on a ship again (which this time around is more like [[Storming the Castle]])

** Of course the original ''[[Metal Gear]]'' (and sequels) came out in 1987 pre-dating ''Die Hard'' and with the same basic plot. Many also differ in that the "terrorists" often aren't taking over anything, but staying at home being evil and Snake needs to infiltrate them.