Olympus Has Fallen
Olympus Has Fallen | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Antoine Fuqua |
Produced by | Gerard Butler Alan Siegel Mark Gill |
Written by | Creighton Rothenberger Katrin Benedikt |
Starring | Gerard Butler Aaron Eckhart Morgan Freeman Angela Bassett Robert Forster Cole Hauser Finley Jacobsen Ashley Judd Melissa Leo Dylan McDermott Radha Mitchell Rick Yune |
Music by | Trevor Morris |
Cinematography | Conrad W. Hall |
Editing by | John Refoua |
Studio | Millennium Films |
Distributed by | FilmDistrict |
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Running time | 120 minutes[2][3] |
Country | United States |
Language | English Korean |
Budget | $70 million[4] |
Box office | $161,025,640[4] |
Olympus Has Fallen is a 2013 American action–thriller[5] film. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, it stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman.[6] The film depicts a North Korean-led guerrilla assault on the White House, and focuses on a Secret Service agent who tries to stop them. Olympus Has Fallen was released on March 22, 2013 by FilmDistrict and received mixed critical reception but earned over $160 million against a $70 million production budget.
Plot
Former U.S. Army Ranger Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is the lead Secret Service agent assigned to head the Presidential Detail. He maintains a personal, friendly relationship with President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart), First Lady Margaret Asher (Ashley Judd) and particularly their son Connor Asher (Finley 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 and the Presidential limousine fall into the icy river below. Banning is able to save President Asher, but Margaret and two other agents die 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 (Keong Sim), Korean-led guerrilla forces, aided by treasonous members of Prime Minister Lee’s own detail, which include Dave Forbes (Dylan 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. Asher and several top officials are held hostage in the White House bunker where Prime Minister Lee is killed. Before he is killed, Agent Roma (Cole Hauser) alerts the Director of the Secret Service Lynne Jacobs (Angela Bassett) that “Olympus has fallen.”
Our Thoughts:
The only reason I didn’t give this movie 5 stars is because it was just like the original Die Hard, save for the location and the actors. A lone badass in a building, against a mob of terrorists, is still the same plot. Sort of like Rambo in the forest with a bunch of hick locals. These gripes are also major compliments, as those movies defined my taste. Gerard Butler is great, as are Freeman and the others. This is a top notch action thriller. Highly Recommended – MR