2013 Was the Year of Dueling White House Action Movies

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2013 Was the Year of Dueling White House Action Movies


2013 was the 12 months that the Die Hard franchise lastly met its bitter finish. Although opinions on 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard had been blended, the resounding response to 2013’s A Good Day To Die Hard was that it was lastly to let this franchise relaxation with Hans Gruber in its grave. It was getting more and more ridiculous to see John McClane (Bruce Willis) introduced in to unravel one other worldwide disaster, and the fifth installment within the collection was clearly unfit of Willis’ skills. However, the Die Hard affect remained sturdy that very same film season, as inside a couple of months there have been two Die Hard-inspired motion films that had been revamped for contemporary audiences. Surprisingly, additionally they occurred to have the identical setting: The White House in Washington, D.C. —Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down.

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Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Olympus Has Fallen follows the Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) on the element for President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart); whereas the 2 had as soon as been fairly shut, they’re relationship has by no means been the identical after Banning saved Asher from a automobile crash, however failed to avoid wasting his spouse from demise. Roland Emmerich’s White House Down follows the Capital Police Officer John Cale (Channing Tatum) as he goes to the White House to interview for a place on the private safety element for President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx); whereas it might clearly be a serious step up in his profession, it might additionally give him the power to impress his daughter, Emily (Joey King), who he hasn’t been capable of join with since his divorce.

Of course, each of the movies proceed in the way in which that you simply may anticipate from a “Die Hard in The White House” premise; the capital is attacked, the President is taken hostage, and a John McClane-esque hero is named into the forefront and faces insurmountable odds. It was unusual that two seemingly equivalent films had been launched so shut to one another, as Olympus Has Fallen ran in the midst of March earlier than White House Down slid into the summer time film season in June. This was usually cited for example of Hollywood’s unoriginality on the time, however neither of those movies had been primarily based on beforehand established properties; in 2023, it might be refreshing to see two old style motion films that aren’t taking themselves significantly amidst an overreliance on superhero films and sequels. These two movies symbolize alternative ways to strategy the motion film style, and so they each have oddly turn into underrated gems.

RELATED: 35 Things to Know About Roland Emmerich’s WHITE HOUSE DOWN Starring Channing Tatum


How Are ‘White House Down’ & ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Different?

Aaron Eckhart in Olympus has fallen
Image through Millenium Films

While each movies are distinctly old style of their strategy, Olympus Has Fallen actually falls in keeping with the wave of overtly patriotic R-Rated blockbusters that had been so profitable within the Nineties. It’s a crass, brutal movie the place Gerard Butler actually takes out a terrorist utilizing a bust of Abraham Lincoln, and someway delivers one-liners like “let’s play a game of f**k off, you go first” with a straight face. While the movie sadly brings alongside among the cultural baggage that got here in ‘90s action movies with its slightly xenophobic Korean villains, it’s refreshingly not tongue-in-cheek within the slightest. Rather than making an attempt to continuously let the viewers know that the characters are in on the joke in the way in which that the Fast and Furious movies are recognized to do, Fuqua performs issues so straight that it’s virtually absurd.

Conversely, White House Down is basic Emmerich. The man likes blowing up well-known monuments, and after devastating The White House in Independence Day, he will get to wreak havoc on almost all the capital metropolis as Cale and Sawyer crew up in a ridiculous buddy cop journey. Emmerich’s blockbusters had seemingly declined in recognition after 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, however White House Down reveals us every thing he does nicely. It’s gleefully silly, putting Cale and Sawyer right into a automobile chase that defies each legislation of physics conceivable. There’s additionally Emmerich’s trademark out-of-place humor; Sawyer has to cease firing a rocket launcher at one level in an effort to modify his glasses.

How Do the Teams in ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ & ‘White House Down’ Compare?

Yet, each movies work due to their main males; whereas neither was handled with optimistic opinions on the time, each Gerard Butler and Channing Tatum proceed to be stable motion stars ten years later. Butler has basically launched a subgenre of “guy in the wrong place” motion films with Geostorm, Plane, Greenland, and Den of Thieves, and Olympus Has Fallen was the inception of this period of implausible ridiculousness. Tatum realized from White House Down that he had the comedic chops to tackle extra overtly goofy motion roles, and has gone on to seek out a large amount of success with movies like 21 Jump Street and The Lost City.

Both movies even have fairly nice Presidents; they each neatly keep away from giving freely too many particulars about their insurance policies or platforms (different than simply genuinely being good guys), and embrace a couple of private moments from every that present why they’re a superb chief. Asher will get a couple of intimate moments along with his son the place they bond over his summer time studying, and Sawyer reveals his friendliness when he agrees to seem in a video for Emily’s class challenge. This creates stress once they’re put in peril; not solely does the viewers have motive to consider they’re making the nation higher, however they look after them on a private stage.

In an period the place blockbusters are sometimes handed to youthful administrators which are extra inclined to studio affect, it is inspiring to see two motion movies which are so signature in model. Fuqua has a dirty depth to his work that traces again to Training Day, and that very same on-the-ground tactility is current in Olympus Has Fallen’s hostage negotiation scenes. Emmerich hardly ever fails to ship bombast; the ultimate moments the place Emily waves an American flag in an effort to acquire the eye of rescuers that may save the President’s life epitomizes the saccharine corniness that he’s recognized for. In the last decade since, each have discovered success in a technique or one other; Fuqua continues to direct gritty thrillers like The Guilty and Southpaw, and Emmerich has not less than discovered a cult fan base for Moonfall.

It’s at all times odd when two movies which are so comparable are launched in the identical 12 months; Armageddon and Deep Impact is maybe essentially the most notable instance. Perhaps Olympus Has Fallen had the good thing about doing it first, because it was profitable sufficient to spawn two sequels; sadly, White House Down underperformed. Both movies are easy, simple motion movies with no agenda aside from being entertaining, and it’s attention-grabbing {that a} decade later, these easy targets are a rarity.

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