Olympus Has Fallen
Short description
Olympus Has Fallen is an American action thriller about Mike Banning, a Secret Service agent reassigned to a desk job after a tragic accident during his time guarding President Benjamin Asher. Years later, armed attackers seize the White House and take the President and his staff hostage. Trapped inside the building himself, Banning becomes the one person with the knowledge and position to strike back while the national security team outside works frantically to respond.
Antoine Fuqua directed the film from a screenplay by Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger. It was the ninth of the nineteen features Fuqua has directed, following Brooklyn's Finest and preceding The Equalizer. Gerard Butler, who also produced, stars as Banning, with Aaron Eckhart as President Asher, Rick Yune as the attackers' leader Kang, Morgan Freeman as Alan Trumbull, Dylan McDermott as Forbes, and Finley Jacobsen as Connor. The production involved 62 credited cast members and 234 credited crew.
Made for about 70 million dollars, the film returned roughly 170 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.5 from around 306,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.4 from more than 7,000 votes, indicating a broadly favorable audience response. A film critics' rating of 5.4 from 198 reviews places critical opinion below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- At the beginning of the film, after the limousine carrying the First Lady falls into the river from the bridge, it crashes into the frozen surface and doesn't sink. A second later, when the camera changes its angle, only a hole in the ice is visible, and the limousine itself is gone.
- There are several moments in the film where the White House is misspelled in news reports as 'Whitehouse' instead of 'White House'.
- Initially, the studio wanted Winona Ryder for the role of the First Lady.
- When footage shows injured people after the attack on the White House in the hospital, there is a special forces operative in camouflage in the frame. However, the special forces arrived after the attack on the White House and did not engage in clashes with the terrorists, so none of the special forces could have been wounded.
- Morgan Freeman filmed a scene in the crisis room at the height of the internet rumor about his death. He often started the filming day by humming old jazz songs to the other actors, charming the unsuspecting crew.
- Angela Bassett agreed to the role in this film only because she had long wanted to act alongside Morgan Freeman.
- Between takes, Melissa Leo did physical exercises to induce a rapid heartbeat and appear out of breath when required by the script. She also wore a wig, as she had grown her hair long for filming the series 'Three Rivers' (2010-2013).
- When Mike and Kahn talk to each other via webcam, from Kahn's side it's visible that Mike is looking directly at the screen, but from Mike's side it's noticeable that his head is turned to look directly into the camera.
- The choice of North Korea as the villain in this film proved somewhat prophetic. In 2013, there was a certain tension in relations between North Korea and the United States. The choice had been made for the script years earlier. Director Antoine Fuqua said in an interview that he didn’t want the villains to be people from the Middle East, as that was a tired trope. And North Korea was interesting to him because the country is completely closed off from the outside world and creates the impression that no one can guess what they want or are capable of.
- Morgan Freeman openly admitted that he starred in this film, as well as the sequels, solely for the fee.
- It's highly improbable that, after being absent from the White House for 18 months, Mike remembers all the security codes exactly as they were.
- After Mike Banning exits the cafe with Secret Service agent Lynn Jacobs, he appears clean-shaven. He then calls his wife (still clean-shaven), but she doesn't answer. He leaves a message, and at this point, it's clear that he is now unshaven.
- After the weapons were destroyed, there was no smoke visible over the building in the news footage. But in a later scene, smoke is clearly billowing from it.
- The role of the Secret Service Director was initially written for a man. Director Antoine Fuqua then convinced Angela Bassett to audition, after which the role was rewritten for a woman.
- Gerard Butler was once considered for the role of CIA agent Mitch Rapp in a never-realized adaptation of Vince Flynn’s novel “Consent to Kill.” The first novel featuring the character Mitch Rapp is Transfer of Power, whose plot is strikingly similar to that of “Olympus Has Fallen” (2013). It features terrorists taking control of the White House, and Rapp must reach the president, hiding in a bunker, before they do.
- This is the second time Dylan McDermott has played a Secret Service agent. He played a similar role in “In the Line of Fire” (1993).
- During the filming of scenes at the White House set in Louisiana, it was so hot that an animal welfare representative insisted that the German Shepherds, used as K-9 guard dogs, be placed in an air-conditioned trailer between takes.
- The White House is not as brightly white as it is depicted in the film. And the lawn is much longer.
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