Die Hard-like action thriller movies?

I just finished watching The Negotiator with Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey and actually really really enjoyed it, I got a strong Die Hard vibe while watching it for some obvious reasons (incompetent police/FBI, skyscraper, alot of walkie talkie action, 1 man with no one on his side and I mean that more than the usual badass hero against the world sort of way, wife heavily involved) so i'm REALLY in the mood for more stuff like it. I know The Raid and Dredd were compared to Die Hard a lot recently but they don't really meet the rest of the above criteria. So send me a few suggestions people, if you would be so kind.

The Siege, Patriot Games, Man on Fire, Street Kings maybe.

Moved to Off Topic. General is for topics about games or the site.

both of those white house movies that came out recently.

Jackie Chan's a Rumble in the Bronx & early Police Story films

John Woo's early Chinese films like A Better Tomorrow and Hard Boiled. Some of his early hollywood films weren't bad either like Broken/Arrow & Face Off.

Mid-90's Nic Cage films like The Rock and Con-Air

The Dirty Harry Films

Death Wish films with Charles Bronson and his stache.

Nobody else will say this, but Sudden Death is pretty great. It's essentially Die Hard at an ice hockey arena, and easily one of Van Damme's best movies. That or Under Siege which is Die Hard on a boat... funnily this is one of Seagal's best movies.

If we're talking about DIe Hard on a boat I think we all know that's Speed 2. She survived a speeding bus but can Sandra Bullock survive a speeding cruise ship? People forget there was a sequel to Speed 1 which in itself is a film I'd recommend.

Passenger 57, Under Siege, Air Force One, The Rock, Con-Air, Cliffhanger, Executive Decision, etc...

Oh shit. I had avoided Speed 2 for over ten years ( love love love the original.) But I managed to see it all a couple of weeks ago. There's so little action of the traditional kind. For a film with speed in the title it moves so damn slow.

Ok, got a few that I'm interested in here. Olympus Has Fallen, Under Siege (I saw Under Siege 2 a few times as a kid but never Under Siege 1) and I had somehow never seen Cliffhanger despite it generally being well known.

I really don't like Japanese action films. i'll watch anything with subtitles except an action film. And there's no way i'm watching Speed 2, even with Williem Dafoe's over the top fun performance.
And I have a policy of rarely watching anything with less than 50% positive rating on RT, so that rules out a few suggestions.

Wish I could watch The Rock, Con Air and Face/Off again for the first time. So good.

So even though some movies are compared to Die Hard you want a movie that almost exactly rips off of it? If you haven't seen The Raid 1/2 and Dredd then go see them anyway. They are amazing.

@flacracker: I''ve seen The Raid 1 and Dredd. the similarities begin and end with the skyscraper idea. The Raid has a squad and Dredd has that female partner.

Leon: The Professional probably won't fit all your criteria, but is one of the best action movie of the 90's, so... that. Just don't bother with the extended version.

Maybe "The Jackal"? Its been years since I have seen it, maybe it wont fit your criteria.

@markwahlberg: What's wrong with the extended version? I know the dinner table bit is super weird, but the scene where he takes her on an assassination / Russian roulette are great.

I also agree this is a great movie. One of my personal favourites.

Cliffhanger is essentialy Die Hard on a mountain staring Stallone directed by the same guy who directed Die Hard 2. Most American action films from 89 until the Matrix was a variance of like Die Hard but on a _____

Olympus Has Fallen is shite, watch White House Down, that one is way better.

He said, without a trace of bias.

Where did that come from? :S

white house down is pretty much a remake of die hard. it could be summarized as "obama and mc claine fight terrorists"

@damodar: I guess I meant Japanese/Chinese martial arts action films, as in the ones mentioned above.

@sweep: Lol, I weighed the two of them up and decided on Olympus Has Fallen.

The VFX on Olympus was done by a Belgium studio on the cheap and it's laughably bad. The VFX on White House Down, on the other hand, was done by me.

In fairness, it seems like most of America made the same mistake. The Box Office sales for Olympus were much higher, a statistic which has been blamed on the fact that it came out first and was so terrible that it ruined the premise for the audience.

Welp, that sort of rules out both White House Down (51%) and Olympus Has Fallen (48%), which are pretty much what you're looking for.

Edit: I was just reminded of Taken, which is sort of a Die Hard-like with its ridiculous action on top of a family drama / political commentary, but it has a 58% Rotten Tomatoes rating? I feel like a lot of these critics are just too jaded for action movies these days.

I mean, it's not actively bad or anything, but it just felt like the added scenes either don't actually add anything to the story or change the tone of their relationship in a way I didn't care for. The original version is so well done that throwing in more stuff just seems unnecessary.

And speaking of Luc Besson movies, The Fifth Element (which is a must-see in general) might qualify for OP just for the cruise-ship sequence.

The Long Kiss Goodnight. Pretty much Die Hard 3, including Sam Jackson, just with a female lead.

Dredd and Raid The Redemption are extremely similar to Die Hard and the two best action movies to come out in over a decade.

@seppli: I'd say it has more in common with the first Bourne film with her being a killer with amnesia and all. Fantastic film either way.

It might not be a pure action movie, but I feel like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang should be listed as well. If only because it's set during Christmas. XD

Blown Away

70's TV movie Trapped is Die Hard in a department store, with dogs instead of terrorists.

Plot-wise certainly. I meant more in spirit and feel. It feels like a very similar product of the same era - and a good one at that.

Olympus Has Fallen pretty much IS a Die Hard film. You've made the right choice. I guess that also means White House Down would be too, but that movie looks kinda junky, so I don't know.

@sweep is about to ban you so hard right now.

Having watched both Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down recently, I thought White House Down was the better movie. Olympus Has Fallen felt like it took itself too seriously.

Ha, yeah. It's one of Shane Black's so it has all the great banter to go along with people getting murdered.

If you like Die Hard you can't go wrong with The Last Boyscout, also starring Bruce Willis. It basically could have been re-written as Die Hard 3 just as easily as Simon Says was.

Under Siege doesn't get enough credit as a really solid action movie. Tommy Lee is fantastic in it.

If we're talking films with badass dudes who maybe ain't exactly good but are still good ya know then I recommend The Man From Nowhere mostly 'cause I try to recommend that film as much as possible.

Cliffhanger is the closest thing to the original Die Hard, even more so than any of the Die Hard sequels.

Paul Blart Mall Cop. I enjoyed it as a sort-of Die Hard parody, I wish they went further with that.

I liked the Jason Statham movie Safe, the fight choreography was really good.

Have you seen Punisher War Zone? It's brilliant, too.

Also, see Raid 2. The hero is more alone and against a very brutal world. No skyscraper, but don't let that deter you. More like Infernal Affairs this time around. It's also the best action movie in a decade.

Definitely Dredd. That film is great, and I can't walk away from any action movie conversation without recommending Point Break.

12 Rounds, directed by Renny Harlin

Tough guy cop John Cena vs arms dealer Little Finger

It's basically Die Hard 3, but...with John Cena, and he fits the action hero role perfectly (and I'm not a huge wrestling guy)