By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Part of what did Buffy The Vampire Slayer Such a fun spectacle was its countless references to pop culture. It quickly became clear that these characters were just as cheesy as the audience of the series, and that made scoopies like Xander and Willow much more endearing. However, one of the best pop culture references in the series came in the form of an entire tribute from an episode to the greatest action film ever made. THE Buffy The episode “School Hard” was vaguely created in tribute to Die hard, With Sarah Michelle Gellar’s titular killer moving the emblematic character of John McClane played by Bruce Willis.
Buffy transforms harshly into school
Even for Buffy fans, it is easy to miss that “difficult school” is a tribute to Die hard… Like, of course, the name does it seem Obvious episode titles, but later, like “Beer Bad”, imply that “the school lasts” is only an ironic observation of one of our characters. Nevertheless, the similarities with this seminal action film of the 80s are completely apparent: it is an episode where the vampires have resumed a school, similar to the terrorist leader of Alan Rickman who resumes Nakatomi Plaza Plaza Die hard. And Buffy Must become an action hero to a woman with John McClane, until use the school’s vents to dodge her attackers.
To really appreciate how much Buffy episode Die hardYou may need a rapid intrigue summary. This episode presents Future Big Bad (and future scooby) Spike, a vampire that makes an entry entry by continuing the slayer during a parents / teachers evening at the Sunnydale High School. This creates a sticky situation for Buffy, who must quickly take care of and protect assorted parents, including her own mother who does not yet know that her daughter is essentially a superhero.
Part of the reasons why it is difficult to achieve this Buffy The episode is a Die hard Tribute to the first vision is intentional poor orientation. At the time, vampires openly attacking large groups of people in high school rather than isolated targets were practically unknown, so the intrigue of the school seemed to be more in Buffy to keep his mother away from director Snyder than anything else. Spike’s cheeky attack against adolescents and gathered adults is appropriately, and as with John McClane, it is rewarding to look at our hero capable on the rear foot and rush to eliminate the wicked, one by one.
Aside from premise and similarities like Buffy crawling through air vents to escape its attackers, similarities with Die hard are relatively subtle. For example, Spike’s accent and daring planning recall the memorable cinematic villain of Alan Rickman, but this vampire is not in it for money … Instead, he came to Sunnydale High specifically to kill Buffy, boasting with the Oordonnée on the way he previously killed two killers. In addition, unlike the character Hans Gruber de Rickman, Spike does not die at the end, but it is not for lack of trying; If he was not a vampire, a strong pivot of ax from Buffy’s mother would have immediately killed him.
Even if you are a Buffy Fan who doesn’t like Die hard (And first of all, how dare you!), It is worth seeing “difficult school” for the introduction of Spike and the additional tradition on the relationship of this new vamp with Angel. In addition, it is a real pleasure to see Buffy show his skills as a leader and a fighter in front of adults like his mother who are normally in the dark about their children living in central Spook. Finally, the episode ends (spoilers, sweety) with Spike killing the anointed, who feels remarkably cathartic for anyone, like us, thought that season 1 was beyond boring.
