Die Hard is one of the greatest action movies of all time and is essential viewing. For the uninitiated, it’s a movie about terrorists taking over a skyscraper and holding it’s occupants hostage for money, and the only man who can do anything about it is John McClane, an off duty cop from out of town, armed with his pistol, his wits and his bare feet. The movie inspired countless knock offs, Die Hard on a bus/ train/ stadium, you name it. None of these ever live up to the original Die Hard, but in their varying degrees of quality, they are a great deal of fun. I have identified a very specific subset of these die hard knock offs that entail a Die Hard style movie involving the President of the United States. Why write about this you ask? Why not? This is a list of 3 movies, two of which were made in 2013. They are twin movies, made in the same year with the same premise; the Armageddon and Deep impact of their time. You may be asking yourself if we really needed two Die Hard style movies set in the White House in the same year, and the answer would be no… but also a resounding YES. Anytime someone wants to make a Die Hard on an anything movie, let alone the White House, it is a gift to the people, especially fans of action movies. So without further ado, allow me to present the power ranking of the Die Hard style president movies.
3. Olympus Has Fallen (2013) directed by Antoine Fuqua
Coming in at third is Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler as a disgraced secret service agent who must rescue the President (Aaron Eckhart), who is taken hostage by North Korean terrorists when they take over the White House in a violent assault. Their plan is to use the President as a hostage to force the United States to pull out of North Korea. This is the most straight forward of the three movies on this list, also the darkest, grittiest, and most violent. Olympus Has Fallen is a very self serious action movie, the violence in the movie is a little more gruesome than it needed to be. Gerry Butler is a kind of B plus action movie star who you can invest in and brings his own fun energy to some bad action dialogue. Though it doesn’t crack the top two, it’s still a fun action movie with a lot to recommend it.
2. White House Down (2013) directed by Roland Emmerich
The runner up on the list is White House Down, starring Channing Tatum as a Capitol Police officer who desperately wants to work for the Secret Service, and Jamie Foxx as the President. The White House is captured by former Special Forces who have a bone to pick about how their unit and others like it are left for dead behind enemy lines by their government. This movie is flashier and plays more like a buddy cop movie, with the officer and the President teaming up to foil the bad guy’s plans. Tatum and Foxx bring some comedic chemistry and banter to the proceedings, with White House Down having a decidedly lighter tone than it’s movie twin. The action here is more flashy and over the top, with a more fun brand of violence and mayhem, and a good measure less blood and gore.
1. Air Force One (1997) directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Finally we get to our number one Die Hard style President movie, the title holder, the gold standard. Allow me to pitch it to you. Die Hard on an airplane. But not just any airplane, Air Force One. Our fly in the ointment? Our monkey in the wrench? Our John McClane figure who must thwart the plot of the Russian terrorists? None other than the President himself. And who should play the President? None other than one Harrison fucking Ford. And who should we get to play the leader of the Russian terrorists who want to use the President and his family as leverage to have their extremist General released from prison? Why not Gary Oldman in a rivetingly villainous performance where he threatens the President’s family and staff at gunpoint. Nothing was ever going to top this movie, with Harrison Ford hitting all the right notes as a man under extraordinary pressure, but determined to act to save his family and his people.
There are no losers here. How can you lose with a Presidential Die Hard style action movie? Or any Die Hard knock off for that matter. It’s insanely satisfying to sneak around a White House or Air Force One that has fallen into enemy hands and must be retaken. Air Force One is the essential viewing here, if you have not yet seen it, I suggest you do so at your earliest convenience. Otherwise you can “GET OFF MY PLANE.”