History YMMV / DieHard2

** Colonel Stuart's plans involve shutting down air traffic control at Washington Dulles International Airport so as to prevent interference with his operation. This creates drama via the fact that a lot of planes are unable to be given instructions to land at the airport, so they're all circling the airport with dwindling fuel supplies. Except that FAA regulations state that all passenger airline flights are required to carry enough fuel to not only fly from their origin airport to their destination, but also enough divert to another major airport close by in case of an emergency (and any airport capable of landing an aircraft in distress must do so), like the one depicted in the film. The film takes place in Washington DC, where there are three major airports: Reagan National is explicitly stated by Trudeau to be shut down, but there should still be Andrews Air Force Base, which is more than capable of landing most civilian aircraft, since it is where they land Air Force One. Furthermore, Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport is also close by, and the distance to Philadelphia International Airport or any of the three New York City airports (Newark, [=LaGuardia=] and JFK) isn't terribly far either, but for some reason the only alternate airports Barnes can think of are Memphis, Nashville, and Atlanta (to be fair, Atlanta at minimum would also work as a diversion destination). In short, the suspense of the movie '''never should have happened.'''

* HilariousInHindsight: The old lady sitting next to [=McClane's=] wife on the plane complains that she "[[Film/{{Speed}} should have taken the bus]]." [[DieHardOnAnX Well, actually...]] And then in ''With A Vengeance'', he has to stop a bomber from exploding a bomb on a subway. It would seem ''Film/{{Speed}}'' is [[DieHardOnAnX even more like Die Hard]] (On A Bus [[spoiler:and Subway Train]]) than first supposed.

* ToughActToFollow: Let's face it, the first ''Film/DieHard'' was such an epic among action films that it was inevitable that the sequel would struggle to match it.

* CompleteMonster: Colonel Stuart is willing to betray his entire nation out of sympathy for the ideals of a brutal dictator to whom he was closely associated with and out of spite for being blacklisted by the U.S. Army due to this association. Not only does he unhesitatingly order the execution of any policemen or civilians who interfere with his plans, but he engineers the crash of a passenger plane with hundreds of innocent passengers aboard just to prove a point, and shows absolutely no remorse of any kind once the act is carried out. Once he has freed his dictatorial ally, he leaves the air traffic controllers without any means whatsoever to turn the runways or tower communications back on, having rigged his own gear to explode while he and his crew make their planned escape on a stolen aircraft. That said, Stuart was perfectly content to leave untold hundreds or more innocent people on well over a dozen aircraft to meet their deaths as their planes ran out of fuel one by one above Washington while he and his allies fled to the safety of the tropics.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Aviation doesn't work that way. At all. In fact, ''{{Film/Airplane}}'' is probably more accurate. The villains' plan involves shutting down air traffic control at Washington Dulles International Airport so as to prevent interference with their plot. This creates drama via the fact that a lot of planes are unable to be given instructions to land at the airport, so they're all circling the airport with dwindling fuel supplies. There's just one problem: FAA regulations state that all passenger airline flights must carry enough fuel to divert to another major airport close by in case of an emergency (And any airport capable of landing an aircraft in distress must do so), like the one depicted in the film. The film takes place in Washington DC, where there are three major airports: Reagan National is explicitly stated by Trudeau to be shut down, but there should still be Andrews Air Force Base, which is more than capable of landing most civilian aircraft, since it is designed to land Air Force One. Furthermore, Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport is close by, and the distance to Philadelphia International Airport or any of the three New York City airports (Newark, [=LaGuardia=] and JFK) isn't terribly far either, but for some reason the only alternate airports Barnes can think of are in Memphis, Nashville, and Atlanta. In short, the suspense of the movie '''never should have happened.'''

* MemeticMutation: The [[ElectricBoogaloo subtitle]] has been popular for parodic snowclones on the formula " X Something 2: X Harder", such as ''WebVideo/DesertBusForHope 2: Bus Harder''.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: During the firefight in the annex when McClane sends a scaffold falling atop one of Stuart's mooks, it's pretty hard to miss that he's been replaced by a rather cheap-looking dummy in some shots.

* ToughActToFollow: Let's face it, the first ''DieHard'' was such an epic among action films that it was inevitable that the sequel would struggle to match it.

* RetroactiveRecognition: The mook O'Reilly is [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay the T-1000]]. In fact, it was in this film where Creator/JamesCameron first saw Robert Patrick and offered him the role that would make him famous.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Aviation doesn't work that way. At all. In fact, ''{{Film/Airplane}}'' is probably more accurate. The villains' plan involves shutting down air traffic control at Washington Dulles International Airport so as to prevent interference with their plot. This creates drama via the fact that a lot of planes are unable to be given instructions to land at the airport, so they're all circling the airport with dwindling fuel supplies. There's just one problem: FAA regulations state that all passenger airline flights must carry enough fuel to divert to another major airport close by in case of an emergency (And any airport capable of landing an aircraft in distress must do so), like the one depicted in the film. The film takes place in Washington DC, where there are three major airports: Reagan National is explicitly stated by Trudeau to be shut down, but there should still be Andrews Air Force Base, which is more than capable of landing most civilian aircraft, since it is designed to land Air Force One. Furthermore, Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport is close by, and the distance to Philadelphia International Airport or any of the three New York City airports (Newark, [=LaGuardia=] and JFK) isn't terribly far either. In short, the suspense of the movie '''never should have happened.'''

* CriticalResearchFailure: Aviation doesn't work that way. At all. In fact, ''{{Film/Airplane}}'' is probably more accurate. The villains' plan involves shutting down air traffic control at Washington Dulles International Airport so as to prevent interference with their plot. This creates drama via the fact that a lot of planes are unable to be given instructions to land at the airport, so they're all circling the airport with dwindling fuel supplies. There's just one problem: FAA regulations state that all passenger airline flights must carry enough fuel to divert to another major airport close by in case of an emergency, like the one depicted in the film. The film takes place in Washington DC, where there are three major airports: Reagan National is explicitly stated by Trudeau to be shut down, but there should still be Andrews Air Force Base, which is more than capable of landing most civilian aircraft, since it is designed to land Air Force One. Furthermore, Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport is close by, and the distance to Philadelphia International Airport or any of the three New York City airports (Newark, [=LaGuardia=] and JFK) isn't terribly far either. In short, the suspense of the movie '''never should have happened.'''

* MemeticMutation: The [[ElectricBoogaloo subtitle]] has been popular for parodic snowclones on the formula " X Something 2: X Harder", such as ''DesertBusForHope 2: Bus Harder''.

* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Col. Stuart crashes a plan full of innocent people]] just to make it clear that he's in charge. John tries desperately to avert this, but fails, and bitterly ''weeps'' ManlyTears for them in his most vulnerable and ''humane'' moment in the franchise.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Aviation doesn't work that way. At all. In fact, ''{{Film/Airplane}}'' is probably more accurate. The villains' plan involves shutting down air traffic control at Washington Dulles International Airport so as to prevent interference with their plot. This creates drama via the fact that a lot of planes are unable to be given instructions to land at the airport, so they're all circling the airport with dwindling fuel supplies. There's just one problem: FAA regulations state that all passenger airline flights must carry enough fuel to divert to another major airport close by in case of an emergency, like the one depicted in the film. The film takes place in Washington D.C. National (now known as Reagan) was shut down, but there was still Andrews Air Force Base, which is more than capable of landing civilian airliners, as it is the home base of the President's 747. Furthermore, Baltimore is close by and Newark, Philadelphia and New York City (two major airports in the city) aren't a terribly long distance away either. In short, the suspense of the movie '''never should have happened.'''

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The airline ticket desk woman who asks John out. It serves no purpose except to show John is faithful, which was never in question anyway.
** Or that he is attractive, which was also never in question.
** Or that Bruce Willis can tell make an IncrediblyLamePun, which was also never in question.
** It's probably mostly a case of ValuesDissonance. The movie came out at the tail end of the "party decade" eighties where casual sex hadn't yet attained the reputation of being the next best thing to Russian Roulette (despite that AIDS started around the mid-1980s, but most people back then thought it was a disease you could only get if you were a gay man or a heroin addict).

** Or that Bruce Willis can tell make an IncrediblyLamePun, which was also [[ Series/Moonlighting never in question]].

** Or that Bruce Willis can tell make an IncrediblyLamePun, which was also [[Series/Moonlighting never in question]].

** Or that Bruce Willis can make an IncrediblyLamePun, which was also never in question.

** Or that Bruce Willis can make an IncrediblyLamePun, which was also [[Moonlighting never in question]].

** It's probably mostly a case of ValuesDissonance. The movie came out at the tail end of the "party decade" eighties where casual sex hadn't yet attained the reputation of being the next best thing to Russian Roulette (despite that AIDS started around the mid-1980s, but most people back then thought it was a disease you could get if you were a gay man or a heroin addict).

* CompleteMonster: Col. Stuart, by far the most sadistic villain in the series, crashing an airplane just to prove a point. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even some of his own men seem appalled]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: Aviation doesn't work that way. At all. In fact, ''{{Film/Airplane}}'' is probably more accurate. The villains' plan involves shutting down air traffic control at Washington Dulles International Airport so as to prevent interference with their plot. This creates drama via the fact that a lot of planes are unable to be given instructions to land at the airport, so they're all circling the airport with dwindling fuel supplies. There's just one problem: FAA regulations state that all passenger airline flights must carry enough fuel to divert to another major airport close by in case of an emergency, like the one depicted in the film. The film takes place in Washington D.C. There is a second major airport in DC (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) and a third if you count Andrews Air Force Base, which is more than capable of landing civilian airliners, as it is the home base of the President's 747. Furthermore, Baltimore is close by and Newark, Philadelphia and New York City (two major airports in the city) aren't a terribly long distance away either. In short, the suspense of the movie '''never should have happened.'''