Jump to content

Olympus Has Fallen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 109.77.106.179 (talk) at 15:34, 25 May 2013 (Editor does not understand that writing for a supposed encyclopedia should be different and aim to be specific. Also someone doesn't understand that name references should have a short name.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Olympus Has Fallen
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAntoine Fuqua
Written byCreighton Rothenberger
Katrin Benedikt
Produced byGerard Butler
Alan Siegel
Mark Gill
StarringGerard Butler
Aaron Eckhart
Morgan Freeman
Angela Bassett
Robert Forster
Cole Hauser
Finley Jacobsen
Ashley Judd
Melissa Leo
Dylan McDermott
Radha Mitchell
Rick Yune
CinematographyConrad W. Hall
Edited byJohn Refoua
Music byTrevor Morris
Production
company
Distributed byFilmDistrict
Release date
  • March 22, 2013 (2013-03-22) (United States)
Running time
120 minutes[1][2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70 million[3]
Box office$132,598,713[3]

Olympus Has Fallen is a 2013 American action-thriller[4] film. This film was directed by Antoine Fuqua, director of Training Day. It stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman.[5] The film depicts a North Korean-led guerilla assault on the White House, and focuses on a former Secret Service agent who tries to stop them. Olympus Has Fallen received mixed critical reception but earned over $132 million against a $70 million production budget.

Plot

Former U.S. Army Ranger Mike Banning (Butler) is the lead Secret Service agent assigned to head the Presidential Detail. He maintains a personal, friendly relationship with President Benjamin Asher (Eckhart), First Lady Margaret Asher (Judd) and particularly their son Connor Asher (Jacobsen). During a Christmas evening drive from Camp David to a campaign fundraiser, a tree falls in front of the President’s convoy, making the vehicles skid out of control on black ice on a bridge. The lead vehicle in the convoy falls into an icy river; while the Presidential limousine teeters on the edge for a minute before falling as well. Banning is able to save President Asher, but Margaret, along with two other agents, dies in the crash.

Eighteen months later, Banning works at the Treasury Department, within eyesight of the White House; he has been demoted from the Presidential Detail as the sight of him triggers Asher’s memories of the night Margaret died. During a meeting between Asher and South Korean Prime Minister Lee Tae-Woo (Sim), Korean-led guerrilla forces, aided by treasonous members of Prime Minister Lee’s own detail, which include Dave Forbes (McDermott), an ex-US Secret Service agent turned private contractor, mount an air and ground assault that results in the capture of the White House. The remaining Secret Service agents within the White House mount an unsuccessful counter attack but inflict casualties on the terrorists. Asher and several top officials are held hostage in the White House bunker, where Prime Minister Tae-Woo is killed. Before he is killed, Agent Roma (Hauser) alerts head of Secret Service Lynne Jacobs (Bassett) that “Olympus has fallen.”

The attack has been masterminded by Kang Yeonsak (Yune), an ex-North Korean terrorist who appears to be motivated by hope for a reunification of Korea. Kang seeks to use Asher’s hostage status as leverage to force the U.S. military to withdraw from the Korean Peninsula, allowing the civil war to end. He also seeks to destroy all of America’s nuclear weapons in their silos and turn the United States into an irradiated wasteland as revenge for the death of his parents when his mother was killed by an American landmine and his father was executed for crimes against North Korea. To accomplish this, he requires the access codes to a system in the bunker called Cerberus: a fail-safe device that self-detonates any U.S. nuclear missiles during an abort, which are held by three top government officials within the bunker, including the President. Asher orders the other two officials to reveal their codes to save their lives, certain that he will not give up his code.

During the assault by Kang’s forces on the front lawn, Banning joins the side of the White House’s defenders. He falls back into the White House, disables the internal surveillance and gains access to Asher’s satellite phone, which he uses to maintain contact with Allan Trumbull (Freeman), the Speaker of the House who is now the Acting President. Authorized to proceed, Banning’s first act is to save Connor, who Kang plans to use to force Asher to reveal his Cerberus code. Despite resistance, he finds Connor hiding in the walls, thanks to the training Banning had given him, and sneaks him out of the White House before beginning reconnaissance and reducing the terrorists’ numbers one by one. This includes Forbes, but not before convincing the traitor to report to Kang that Banning is dead. Meanwhile, Trumbull orders an aerial SEAL assault on the White House, but Kang’s team deploys an advanced anti-aircraft gun system in his possession owned by the United States, called the Hydra 6. Discovering this, Banning advises Trumbull and General Edward Clegg (Forster), Army Chief of Staff, to abort the mission, but it proceeds and Kang’s henchwoman Lim (Lea) annihilates the assault force before Banning can stop it. Kang retaliates for the attempted infiltration by killing Vice President Charlie Rodriguez (Austin).

After Banning disables Kang’s communications, the terrorist tries to execute Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan (Leo) outside the front door in front of the media, but Banning rescues her and takes out several more of Kang’s men in the process. With Kang’s forces dwindling, he fakes his own death, as well as Asher’s, by sacrificing several of his men and the remaining hostages. Kang, Asher, and the few remaining terrorists stay in the bunker, unknown to the outside world. Kang eventually cracks Asher’s code and activates Cerberus as Banning realizes that his apparent suicide was faked. As Kang attempts to escape, Banning dispatches the remaining terrorists and kills Kang in a knife fight. He then ultimately disables Cerberus with the assistance of Trumbull. Banning and Asher escape the White House. After the events, Washington begins to heal from the attack, and Banning once again becomes head of the Presidential Detail, with Banning observing President Asher as he addresses the public.

Cast

Production

Olympus Has Fallen is directed by Antoine Fuqua based on a script by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt in their first screenwriting effort. The production company Millennium Films acquired the spec script in March 2012, and Gerard Butler was cast later in the month as the star.[6] The rest of the characters were cast throughout June and July. In 2012, Millennium Films competed against Sony Pictures, which was producing White House Down (also about a takeover of the White House) to complete casting and to begin filming.[18]

Filming began in Shreveport, Louisiana, in mid-July 2012.[13] Because Olympus Has Fallen was filmed so far from its actual setting of Washington, D.C., the entire production relied heavily upon visual effects, particularly computer-generated imagery.[19] For example, computers created nearly all of the opening sequence in which the First Lady is killed in a car accident, with chroma key greenscreen technology used to composite the actors into the computer-generated snowy scenery.[19]

For scenes in which actors were filmed walking in or out of the White House, a first floor façade and entrance were built, and then computers added the second floor and roof, as well as the rest of the D.C. downtown landscape.[19] Action scenes that merely had the White House in the background were actually filmed in open fields, and then the White House and D.C. were added in post-production.[19]

Score

Musician and orchestral composer Trevor Morris produced the score. His past projects include shows The Tudors and The Borgias.[20]

All music is composed by Trevor Morris

No.TitleLength
1."Land of the Free" 
2."The Full Package/ Snowy Car Talk" 
3."Stage Coach Crashes / Death of the First Lady" 
4."Rocky Road Ice Cream" 
5."White House: Air Attack" 
6."White House: Ground Attack" 
7."Olympus Has Fallen" 
8."P.E.O.C. Incarceration" 
9."Banning Steps Into Action" 
10."Triage" 
11."Banning Gathers Intelligence" 
12."Hunting Banning" 
13."He’s in the Walls" 
14."Saving Spark Plug" 
15."Breaking Madame Secretary" 
16."How Do You Know Kang’s Name?" 
17."Any Regrets" 
18."S.E.A.L. Helicopter Incursion" 
19."Walking the Plank" 
20."Pulling the Fleet" 
21."Mano e Mano" 
22."Stopping Cerberus" 
23."Day Break / We Will Rise" 

Release

Olympus Has Fallen was released in the United States on March 22, 2013.[8] It was initially scheduled for an April 5, 2013 release, but moved to avoid competition with The Heat, which was to open at the same time. FilmDistrict distributed the film.[21]

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 48% based on reviews from 128 critics, with a rating average of 5.4/10 with the site's consensus being "It's far from original, but Olympus Has Fallen benefits from Antoine Fuqua's tense direction and a strong performance from Gerard Butler – which might be just enough for action junkies".[22] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 41% based on 29 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews."[23]

Bill Zwecker of rogerebert.com awarded the film three stars.[24]

Box office

At the end of the first weekend, the film earned $30.5 million, and exceeded Hollywood experts' predictions by $7 million.[25][26] The film also was rated an "A-Minus" on CinemaScore.[27] As of May 25, 2013 it had made a total of $132 million at the box-office worldwide.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Digital Cinema Package (DCP) – FilmDistrict USA Release
  2. ^ "OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. March 21, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Olympus Has Fallen (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
  4. ^ Vejvoda, Jim (January 23, 2013). "Olympus Has Fallen is Like Die Hard in the White House". IGN (News Corp). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Director Antoine Fuqua on Olympus Has Fallen". ComingSoon.net. January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b Sneider, Jeff (March 16, 2012). "Gerard Butler climbs 'Olympus Has Fallen'". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Sneider, Jeff (June 22, 2012). "Aaron Eckhart joins 'Olympus Has Fallen'". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b Fleming, Mike (December 14, 2012). "FilmDistrict Moves 'Olympus Has Fallen' To March 22, 2013". Deadline.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Sneider, Jeff; McNary, Dave (June 25, 2012). "Angela Bassett joins 'Olympus'". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b Kit, Borys (July 10, 2012). "Melissa Leo and Rick Yune Joining 'Olympus Has Fallen'". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Kroll, Justin (June 29, 2012). "Dylan McDermott climbs 'Olympus'". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Patten, Dominic (July 7, 2012). "'Olympus Has Fallen' Adds Radha Mitchell". Deadline.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ a b c Kit, Borys (July 12, 2012). "Ashley Judd, Robert Forster Join 'Olympus Has Fallen'". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Kit, Borys (July 9, 2012). "Cole Hauser Joins Action Movie 'Olympus Has Fallen'". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Lance Broadway Goes from Major League Baseball to OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN".
  16. ^ Kit, Borys (July 25, 2012). "Tory Kittles Joins 'Olympus Has Fallen'". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "Interview with Malana Lea".
  18. ^ Kit, Borys (April 10, 2012). "Antoine Fuqua Circling 'Olympus' as White House Thriller Race Heats Up". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b c d Ian Failes, "How VFX saved Washington: Olympus Has Fallen", Fxguide, 25 March 2013.
  20. ^ "Trevor Morris to Score 'Olympus Has Fallen'". Film Music Reporter. January 14, 2013. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "FilmDistrict to Distribute Olympus Has Fallen". ComingSoon.net. October 26, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  22. ^ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/olympus_has_fallen_2013/ Rotten Tomatoes Flixster
  23. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/olympus-has-fallen Metacritic CBS Interactive
  24. ^ Zwecker, Bill (March 20, 2013). "Olympus Has Fallen". rogerebert.com. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  25. ^ "Weekend Box Office Report: 'The Croods' and 'Olympus' Lead New Releases, Movies With Butter.com". Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  26. ^ "Box office has risen: Patriotic 'Olympus Has Fallen' beats Hollywood's expectations". The Washington Post. March 25, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  27. ^ "Box Office Report: 'Croods' Opens to Solid $44.7 Million; 'Olympus Has Fallen' Nabs $30.5 Million". The Hollywood Reporter. March 24, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olympus_Has_Fallen&oldid=556741627"