The Trend: The 'Die Hard on a (insert mode of transport/location here)' sub-genre of action movies. Despite Bruce Willis being content to sully the reputation of the first movie by cranking out lackluster sequels, Die Hard remains one of the greatest action movies ever made. As well as launching its star into the Hollywood A-list and ushering in a new type of action hero after the 1980s were dominated by musclebound supermen, it also spawned countless thinly-veiled imitations, although many of them are pretty good in their own right. Thanks to the increasing popularity of the high-concept blockbuster, movies could now be easily marketed in the space of a single sentence. With a premise as brilliant as Die Hard's 'ordinary cop in extraordinary circumstances in a single location', it was only a matter of time before it became the go-to pitch for the action genre. Whether it be a boat (Under Siege), a bus (Speed), a plane (Passenger 57) or even Alcatraz (The Rock), the fingerprints of John McTiernan's classic are all over 1990s action cinema. The trend continues to this day, with Olympus has Fallen and White House Down providing 2013 with two movies that were billed as 'Die Hard in the White House'. Over 25 years later Die Hard remains one of the most influential action movies ever made, which is ironic considering how little resemblance last year's awful A Good Day To Die Hard bears to the timeless original.
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