This is a detailed list of all the films that inspired the Die Hard Scenario movies out there. For a list of actual Die Hard scenario films, see here. Any film that also resembles the DHS formula is also included here as well.
For a list of actors and actresses who appeared in these films, see here.
This list is incomplete. You can continue to help us by expanding it.
0-100[]
- 36 Ghante (1974): Bollywood remake of the original Desperate Hours.
A[]
- Airplane! (1980): Popular parody of the Airplane disaster films.
- Airplane II: The Sequel (1982): Sequel to the first parody film.
- Airport (1970): The first of many airline disaster films that inspired various DHS films including: Die Hard 2, Passenger 57, Executive Decision, Air Force One, Con Air, Turbulence, Flightplan, Snakes on a Plane and Non-Stop among others. [1]
- Airport 1975 (1974)
- Airport '77 (1977)
- Aliens (1986)
- Assault on Precinct 13 (1976): Action thriller by John Carpenter that's based on the premise of 1959's Rio Bravo. Remake later on in 2005.
- At Gunpoint (1955): Another rip-off of the High Noon formula. [2]
- Avalanche (1978) [3] [4]
B[]
- Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
- Black Sunday (1977)
- The Blazing Tower (1974 TV movie) (A.K.A. Terror on the 40th Floor) [5]
- The Bullet Train (1975): Japanese action thriller that inspired many DHS films set on moving vehicles with bombs on them. One such example is 1994's Speed.
C[]
- Cave In! (1983 TV movie): Hostages are taken by a man inside an interior earthquake laden cave. [6]
- City on Fire (1979) [7]
- Commando (1985): Hit cult action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and which began Steven E. de Souza's series of scripted action films which featured a one-man army. Also features the fictional country Val Verde which was later used in Die Hard 2. Unlike previously believed, it wasn't meant to be a sequel to the original Die Hard.
- The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
D[]
- The Dark Past (1947): Another pre-Desperate Hours type film.
- Day of the Wolves (1971) [8]
- Death Before Dishonor (1987)
- The Delta Force (1986)
- Desperate Hours (1955) [9]
- Disaster on the Coastliner (1979 TV movie)
- Dog Day Afternoon [10]
E[]
- Earthquake (1974)
- Enemy Territory (1987): Another film that is influenced by the Assault on Precinct 13 and Rio Bravo formula.
- Escape from New York (1981)
F[]
- The Final Option (1982) (A.K.A. He Dare Wins)
- Fire! (1977 TV movie) [11] [12]
- Flight to Holocaust (1977 TV movie) [13]
- Flood! (1976 TV movie) [14] [15]
G[]
- Goldfinger: Many have noted the resemblances in the main villain's heist in both this James Bond film and the 1995 sequel Die Hard with a Vengeance.
H[]
- He Ran All the Way (1951): Noir film that appears to be based on some of the true-life material that inspired the play and 1955 original version of The Desperate Hours.
- High Noon (1952); Later had a made-for-television remake in 2000. [16]
- High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane (1980 telefilm): Made for television sequel to the original 1952 film.
- Hostage (1987): Wings Hauser action film in the late eighties.
- Hostage Flight (1985 TV movie)
- The Hostage Tower (1980 TV movie)
I[]
- Inferno in Paradise (1974) [17]
- Invasion U.S.A. (1985)
J[]
- Juggernaut (1974)
K[]
- Key Largo (1948) [18]
- The Kidnapping of the President (1980)
L[]
M[]
N[]
- The Night Holds Terror (1951) [19]
- Nighthawks (1981)
O[]
- Outland (1981)
P[]
- People's Hero (1987): Hong Kong remake of 1975's Dog Day Afternoon. [20]
- The Petrified Forest (1936)
- The Poseidon Adventure (1972) [21]
- Puzzle (1986): A bank robbery goes wrong. The robbers, two of them unemployed family men, take two hostages, one of them needing heart medication, and leave them in an apartment, tied to a bomb. Notable for also starring a young Antonio Banderas.
Q[]
R[]
- Rabid Dogs (1977) [22]
- Red Dawn (1984): Action-War Thriller about a hokey scenario involving the Russians invading the United States in a World War III scenario. Later remade in 2012.
- Rio Bravo (1959): John Wayne Western film which in many ways impacts what films feel like rip-offs of Assault on Precinct 13 or any other DHS films. [23]
- Rollercoaster (1977) [24]
- Rosebud (1975)
- Runaway Train (1985)
S[]
- Saboteur (1942): In this Alfred Hitchcock thriller, the ending is clearly references in the original and fifth Die Hard films.
- Silver Lode (1954): Western often considered to be a film that capitalized on the success of High Noon. [25] [26] [27] [28]
- Silver Streak (1975)
- Skyjacked
- The Soldier (1982)
- SST-Death Flight (1977 TV film): A made-for-TV film capitalizing on the success of the Airport series of films.
T[]
- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974): Later remake as a TV movie in 1998 and as a DHS film in 2009.
- Taps
- The Terrorists (1974; A.K.A. Ransom): Action thriller starring Sean Connery.
- Time Bomb (1984 TV movie)
- The Towering Inferno (1974) [29] [30]
- Thunder Run (1986)
- Two Minute Warning (1976) [31]
U[]
V[]
W[]
- When Time Ran Out... (1980) [32]