The Best Die Hard Rip-Off Is One You've Never Seen

Why Cliffhanger Is The Best Die Hard Copycat

TriStar Pictures

The 1990s saw a boatload of Die Hard imitators but only a few that really did the premise justice - the 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme actioner Sudden Death (Die Hard in an ice hockey stadium), and Jan de Bont's Keanu Reeves-led Speed the two most notable.

However, despite my love for the Muscles from Brussels and Theodore Logan himself, the Renny Harlin-directed Cliffhanger has always stood out as the best of the bunch - an adrenaline-fuelled, vertigo-laden vehicle for Sly to flex his muscles while pivoting into an era where it wasn't enough for action heroes to win anymore - they had to have their struggles too. It's a unique, glistening gem from Stallone's most forgettable decade, sandwiched awkwardly between the nadir of Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, and the charming but flawed Demolition Man.

As far as Die Hard copycats go Cliffhanger hasn't been largely forgotten, but coming in an era where Stallone was on a downward trajectory and all the Die Hard sequels themselves were still really strong, it'd be understandable if folks had missed it. However, those lucky enough to go see Cliffhanger (and plenty did at the time - it grossed $255 million at the box office) will be treated to a thrilling spin on the Die Hard formula, with Stallone playing an expert mountain rescuer forced to do battle with an insidious former British intelligence officer attempting to steal from the US treasury.

Cliffhanger is most noteworthy for its impeccable and brutal opening, as well as for featuring the most expensive aerial stunt of all time, which involved stuntman Simon Crane moving between two planes at high altitude (he was reportedly paid $1 million for accomplishing the feat). But the whole package itself is great, illustrating not only the brilliance of Sly, but also director Renny Harlin, whose other nineties action highlights include Die Hard 2 and The Long Kiss Goodnight.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.