Ever since Die Hard hit theaters and was instantly recognized as a perfect action movie, filmmakers have been ripping it off. Die Hard sees an everyman protagonist fending off terrorists who have taken over a skyscraper. Switch out the skyscraper for any other confined setting — or, if you’re Dwayne Johnson, just go with a skyscraper — and you’ve got a solid premise for an action movie.

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So many action movies can be described as “Die Hard in a...” or “Die Hard on a...” that it’s pretty much become its own genre. The heroes of these movies adhere so closely to the John McClane archetype that one could call them McClones.

Jack Traven (Speed)

Jack points his gun on the bus in Speed

What made the original Die Hard work so beautifully was the dynamic between John McClane and Hans Gruber. The movie didn’t just have the quintessential action movie protagonist; it also had the quintessential action movie villain, and Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman shared fascinating chemistry in the roles.

This was recaptured in Speed, described as “Die Hard on a bus,” in which Keanu Reeves’ McClane stand-in Jack Traven develops a grudge against Dennis Hopper’s bomb-happy antagonist, Howard Payne.

Mike Banning (Olympus Has Fallen)

Mike Banning in Olympus Has Fallen

Die Hard in the White House” movies are apparently like buses. After action movie fans waited for years for a “Die Hard in the White House” movie to come along, two were released in 2013. Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen cost half as much to produce as Roland Emmerich’s White House Down, but it was ten times as exciting.

Gerard Butler stars as Mike Banning, a Secret Service agent who protects the U.S. President from invading forces in the White House, and his committed performance is a huge part of what makes the movie work so well.

John Cutter (Passenger 57)

Wesley Snipes holding a gun next to a fire truck in in Passenger 57

Initially, Passenger 57 was written for Clint Eastwood and it revolved around Iranian terrorists. Fearing retaliation from actual terrorists, the studio retooled the script as a vehicle for Wesley Snipes.

The role of John Cutter, an ex-cop who now works in airline security, made Snipes one of the most recognizable action movie stars in the world.

Will Sawyer (Skyscraper)

Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Skyscraper has been described as “Die Hard meets The Towering Inferno.” That’s presumably how Thurber sold the project to Universal, and it was later used to deride the movie in its many negative reviews.

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Dwayne Johnson stars as Will Sawyer, an ex-Marine who evaluates the security of skyscrapers. When he’s working on the tallest building in the world, the building is taken over by terrorists and it sets on fire.

Darren McCord (Sudden Death)

Jean-Claude Van Damme in Sudden Death holding onto an overhead pipe and doing a kick.

Darren McCord is the McClane clone played by Jean-Claude Van Damme in Sudden Death, a movie that can be described as “Die Hard in a hockey stadium,” or basically Threat Level Midnight.

McCord is the fire marshal at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena who goes up against a band of terrorists who take the Vice President hostage during the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals.

President James Marshall (Air Force One)

Harrison Ford looking at the camera in Air Force One

In Air Force One, the President’s plane is hijacked by terrorists. His security detail fails to handle the threat, so he takes matters into his own hands. James Marshall is one of Harrison Ford’s most badass characters, which is saying a lot, because he also played Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard.

The whole point of John McClane is that he’s an everyman, so it’s tough to compare him to a U.S. President, but McClane and Marshall have a lot in common (and it’s not just their initials).

Paul Blart (Paul Blart: Mall Cop)

Still of Kevin James from the first Paul Blart Mall Cop movie.

Kevin James’ title character in Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a parody of John McClane types. The premise of an action comedy about a terrorist siege in a mall where a down-on-his-luck mall cop has to become John McClane is a doozy.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the movie that was made out of it. Seth Rogen made a pitch-black comedy with a similar premise, Observe and Report, but that movie channels Taxi Driver more than Die Hard.

Casey Ryback (Under Siege)

Steven Seagal as a chef in Under Siege

These days, Steven Seagal is most famous for a whole host of unsavory allegations and behavior. But back in the ‘90s, he was a beloved star. One of his most popular movies was Under Siege, also known as “Die Hard on a boat.”

Mercenaries take over a U.S. Navy battleship and their best hope is the cook, who happens to be a former Navy SEAL. This is Casey Ryback, Seagal’s lead character. Whereas there was a relatability in McClane’s lack of preparedness for dealing with the terrorists in Nakatomi Plaza, Casey is absurdly well-equipped to take on the terrorists aboard his ship.

Gabe Walker (Cliffhanger)

Gabe Walker rock-climbing in Cliffhanger.

Die Hard on a mountain” might not sound like a Die Hard rip-off at all, but Cliffhanger is very much a copycat of John McTiernan’s classic. Sylvester Stallone plays a mountain climber named Gabe Walker who gets swept up in a terrorist plot to hijack a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains.

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Gabe falls into the "wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time" category where John McClane can be found, while Stallone brings an everyman quality to the role.

John Cale (White House Down)

Out of 2013’s two “Die Hard in the White House” movies, White House Down is the one that sticks most closely to the Die Hard formula. Its McClane stand-in is even called John and he wears a grubby white vest for the majority of the movie.

Channing Tatum plays John Cale, a Capitol Police officer who aspires to work for the Secret Service. In the movie’s painfully predictable story arc, he protects the President from domestic terrorists and earns a spot on the Secret Service.

NEXT: Die Hard With A Vengeance: 10 Reasons It's The Best Die Hard Sequel (By Far)