Olympus Has Fallen

"Is he alive?"
"Ask me a serious question."

After the First Lady died on his watch, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Butler) is reassigned to the desk duty.  Banning wants to get back to Presidental detail and can see the White House from his office.

President Benjamin Asher (Eckhart) has an important meeting with the Prime Minister of South Korea, Lee Tae-Woo (Keong Sim).  During the meeting, the White House is attacked by air and President Asher and important officials are relocated to the White House bunker while the Secret Service deal with the threat.  But they are overwhelmed by North Korean guerrilla forces, who manage to take down the security in 13 minutes.  In the bunker, the South Korean Prime Minister is shot and killed, along with the Secret Service presence.

During the initial attack, Banning manages to get inside the White House.  He is able to get a connection to the Pentagon, where his boss, Lynne Jacobs (Bassett), and other officials are meeting.  With the President and Vice President held hostage in the bunker, they name Speaker Allan Trumbull (Freeman) as the Acting President and place him under protection.  Can Banning rescue the President and stop terrorist Kang (Yune) from destroying the world?


I discovered this film through Netflix and based on the cast list, decided to give it a chance (on New Year's Eve).  This is one of 2 films released in 2013 about an attack on the White House (the other is White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx).  The other film was better received.

It is an interesting film.  The body count is high (according to IMDb.com it is 168) along with the violence and explosions.  Most of the cast is killed or injured by the end of the story.  The story itself is ok, fast paced and intense.  The cast works in their roles and it was an enjoyable film.  I look forward to seeing White House Down to compare the two.  Also, apparently the principle cast is reuniting for a sequel (with the same writing team and a different director), called London Has Fallen, which could be interesting.  The sequel is set to premiere in 2016.

Olympus Has Fallen (2013) 119 minutes
Rating: R for strong violence and language throughout
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Gerard Butler as Mike Banning
Aaron Eckhart as President Benjamin Asher
Morgan Freeman as Speaker Allan Trumbull
Angela Bassett as Lynne Jacobs
Rick Yune as Kang Yeonsak
Dylan McDermott as Dave Forbes
Finley Jacobsen as Connor
Melissa Leo as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan