History YMMV / DieHard2

* AdaptationDisplacement: The film is based on the novel ''58 Minutes'' by Walter Wager.

*** It could loop back over into FridgeBrilliance as Lorenzo is shown to be an idiot who's not interested in either protocol or hearing whatever John has to say, so John could be deliberately making things up just to try and get some level of cooperation out of him. The movie doesn't do anything to show how the firearms were supposed to be undetectable through metal detectors, so it's just John being John to an ObstructiveBeurecrat.

* MoralEventHorizon: Colonel Stuart guides a plane full of innocent passengers into crashing into the runway. All because [=McClane=] had the ''audacity'' to kill the men they had stationed at the annex skywalk.

** ''And'' John also claims that the gun cost more than one makes in a month (or year?); the guns are relatively inexpensive. More than $1.98 though.

** Third, every pilot flying into Dulles forgetting an FAA regulation stating that any airfield, civilian or military, that is capable of accepting an aircraft in distress must do so. Even though the nearest alternate airfield (Reagan National) was stated to have shut down due to the weather, any aircraft with enough fuel to fly in circles for two hours has enough fuel to fly to another airport. Here's what would have happened if this scheme had been attempted in real life: Within half an hour or Dulles Control warning all the airplanes about the runway being shut down (And even if Dulles couldn't use their radio, there were still three other airports in the immediate area whose communications Stuart had not compromised, any of which could easily relay any further messages), every one of those planes would be lining up outside of BWI or Andrews AFB asking for landing clearance, depriving Stuart of any hostages. Then Dulles Control would announce that they are shutting down (Probably blaming the weather to avoid a panic) and asking all civilians and employees not essential to flight control operations to leave. Once they all left, they'd have the government bring in whatever firepower was necessary to regain control of the airport.

* MoralEventHorizon: Stuart's [[spoiler:murder of a plane full of innocents]].

* FridgeBrilliance: When Colonel Grant gets on the walkie talkie and snarls threats at Stuart, Stuart and his men are smiling broadly, seemingly unaffected. But the revelation that [[spoiler: Grant is working with Stuart]] has it make a lot more sense as [[spoiler: they're enjoying how Grant is hamming it up around Lorenzo and the cops to sell the act.]]

* FridgeLogic: When Colonel Grant gets on the walkie talkie and snarls threats at Stuart, Stuart and his men are smiling broadly, seemingly unaffected. But the revelation that [[spoiler: Grant is working with Stuart]] has it make a lot more sense as [[spoiler: they're enjoying how Grant is hamming it up around Lorenzo and the cops to sell the act.]]

* SpecialEffectFailure: 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.

** ''And'' John also claims that the gun cost more than one makes in a month (or year?); the guns are relatively inexpensive.

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

* MemeticMutation: The [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo subtitle]] has been popular for parodic snowclones on the formula " X Something 2: X Harder", such as ''WebVideo/DesertBusForHope 2: Bus Harder''.

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

** There's also the whole "Glock 7" debacle. In reality, Glock pistols are a combination of a polymer frame and metal slide and moving parts, as opposed to porcelain like John claims. Even if such a pistol did exist and couldn't be detected by X-Ray machines, the ammunition would be. Further, Glock has never made a pistol designated "Glock 7"; their model designations start at 17 and increase (for record, the pistols depicted here are Glock 17s).

* Asspull: McClane surviving the explosion of Esperanza's plane; who knew hand grenades took their sweet time exploding?

* CriticalResearchFailure: Aviation doesn't work that way. At all. In fact, ''{{Film/Airplane}}'' is probably more accurate.
** 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 addition, Trudeau could have just as easily used a telephone to call up Reagan National, Andrews AFB, or BWI, and asked one of ''them'' to contact the planes circling Dulles, since there was nothing wrong with ''their'' radios. In short, either the snow storm is so bad that it shut down almost all airports on the East Coast bar Dulles (making it improbably ''apocalyptic''), or the suspense of the movie '''never should have happened.'''
** There's also the whole "Glock 7" debacle. In reality, Glock pistols are a combination of a polymer frame and metal slide and moving parts, as opposed to porcelain like John claims. Even if such a pistol did exist and couldn't be detected by X-Ray machines, the ammunition would be.

* TheyJustDidntCare: The "Glock 7" scene. The movie's armorer even tried to explain to the filmmakers that the entire concept was totally preposterous, but they blew him off and insisted on keeping the exchange as is. Especially galling because there are dozens of ways the writers could have demonstrated how serious the situation was without making up any nonsense about porcelain handguns.

* 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.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Odds are you'll never find airport security this lax in the post-9/11 era.

* SpecialEffectFailure: 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.

** 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 addition, Trudeau could have just as easily used a telephone to call up Reagan National, Andrews AFB, or BWI, and asked one of ''them'' to contact the planes circling Dulles, since there was nothing wrong with ''their'' radios. In short, the suspense of the movie '''never should have happened.'''

* MagnumOpus: For Renny Harlin.