View Poll Results: What did you think of Olympus has Fallen?
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Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thread
#1
DVD Talk God
Thread Starter
Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thread
Trailer:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/74F_pts7Uhg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2302755/?ref_=sr_1
Synopsis:
An ex-Special Forces operative and former presidential bodyguard must fight to take back the White House from terrorists who have kidnapped the Commander in Chief in this high-stakes action thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter) and starring Gerard Butler. In the aftermath of a tragic accident involving the president (Aaron Eckhart) and the first lady (Ashley Judd), Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Butler) is handed his walking papers. When a powerful terrorist group seizes command of the White House and takes the president hostage, the entire nation watches as the Speaker of the House (Morgan Freeman) becomes the acting president, and plans his response. Meanwhile, Banning finds himself trapped in the White House as it comes under siege from all sides. With no choice but to fight back against the heavily-armed invaders, Banning must rely on his extensive knowledge of the building to rescue the president, and prevent the situation from spiraling into all-out war. Melissa Leo, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, and Radha Mitchell co-star
#2
DVD Talk God
Thread Starter
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I know there is a love/hate thing with big budget action movies like this in this forum. Seeing this Saturday. Can't wait. Hope it blows away Die Hard. That was a big disappointment. The more hard R rated action movies the better.
At least Butler is finally playing an action role and not some POS Romantic Comedy.
Deadline is predicting $10M on Friday and $25M for the weekend.
http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/frid...ands-for-2-5m/
At least Butler is finally playing an action role and not some POS Romantic Comedy.
Deadline is predicting $10M on Friday and $25M for the weekend.
http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/frid...ands-for-2-5m/
#3
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Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
Saw it this afternoon and was entertained. There were at least 3 or 4 scenes from that were lifted from the original Die Hard. Best part of the movie is the assault on the White House. Total carnage. Movie losses some steam in the 2nd half and the conclusion is generic. But overall not a bad movie to see in the theatre.
#4
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
This movie was hella dumb, but I had a good time watching it. The person I saw it with did not. I think it helps having no expectations for this movie, along with being cool with seeing a badass dude fuck some fools up.
#5
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I really enjoyed it. The two hours just flew by.
Towards the end, when
Mesmerizing.
Towards the end, when
Spoiler:
Mesmerizing.
Last edited by GatorDeb; 03-23-13 at 08:43 PM.
#6
DVD Talk God
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Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
Just got out of seeing it. Loved it. Butler was badass and the 2 hours flew by.
This is what the 24 movie needs to be. I'll share more thoughts later.
This is what the 24 movie needs to be. I'll share more thoughts later.
#7
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Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
Okay I just got back from the theatre.
Let me just say this is the type of movie that A Good to Die Hard could have been, but fucked up royally.
It delivered everything that I could have hoped for in this type of movie. insane badass action, a badass no-nonsene hero who fucks up a shit load of terrorists, and a strong cast. Antoine Fuqua was IMO the perfect choice to direct this movie.
The raid on the White House was probably one of the most intense and terrifying sequences in this movie. Also I loved the crazy ass sequence with the B17 bomber destroying the shit out of Washington DC and annihilating hundreds of innocents. Very well directed sequences. My heart is still racing after watching that.
Butler's character Mike Banning was kind of a mix between Jack Bauer and Bryan Mills with a little mix of a brutish Scottsman He had alot of great lines and loved all his fight scenes and shootouts. He was sticking knives in the terrorists heads, breaking necks. Everything you can expect from a badass action hero.
Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Eckhart were all solid as the supporting cast.
Rick Yune's Kang wasn't the most unique or creative villain. Pretty much a been then, done that. Alot of his dialogue was standard cliched villain. But his character was pretty ruthless. He's a really tall guy, who obviously has some solid fighting skills, so I can see why he was cast in the part.
If a 24 movie ever gets made, this is the model that it needs to follow.
After being sorely disappointed with A Good Day to Die Hard, this movie more than made up for it.
Day 1 purchase as soon as it hits home video. A Good Day to Die Hard can go fuck itself when it hits BD.
BTW, I was impressed Fuqua was able to make this movie on a $70M budget from an Indie company like Film District.
at FOX (a huge multi-billion dollar major studio) wanting to make 24 on a $30M budget.
Let me just say this is the type of movie that A Good to Die Hard could have been, but fucked up royally.
It delivered everything that I could have hoped for in this type of movie. insane badass action, a badass no-nonsene hero who fucks up a shit load of terrorists, and a strong cast. Antoine Fuqua was IMO the perfect choice to direct this movie.
The raid on the White House was probably one of the most intense and terrifying sequences in this movie. Also I loved the crazy ass sequence with the B17 bomber destroying the shit out of Washington DC and annihilating hundreds of innocents. Very well directed sequences. My heart is still racing after watching that.
Butler's character Mike Banning was kind of a mix between Jack Bauer and Bryan Mills with a little mix of a brutish Scottsman He had alot of great lines and loved all his fight scenes and shootouts. He was sticking knives in the terrorists heads, breaking necks. Everything you can expect from a badass action hero.
Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Eckhart were all solid as the supporting cast.
Rick Yune's Kang wasn't the most unique or creative villain. Pretty much a been then, done that. Alot of his dialogue was standard cliched villain. But his character was pretty ruthless. He's a really tall guy, who obviously has some solid fighting skills, so I can see why he was cast in the part.
If a 24 movie ever gets made, this is the model that it needs to follow.
After being sorely disappointed with A Good Day to Die Hard, this movie more than made up for it.
Day 1 purchase as soon as it hits home video. A Good Day to Die Hard can go fuck itself when it hits BD.
BTW, I was impressed Fuqua was able to make this movie on a $70M budget from an Indie company like Film District.
at FOX (a huge multi-billion dollar major studio) wanting to make 24 on a $30M budget.
Last edited by DJariya; 03-23-13 at 10:18 PM.
#8
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
Thought it was awesome. We need more action films like this.
Amazed at how good the effects were. Can't remember a single scene where it didn't look like they at the real White House. I know they didn't film there but nothing looked like an obvious fake F/X shot.
Amazed at how good the effects were. Can't remember a single scene where it didn't look like they at the real White House. I know they didn't film there but nothing looked like an obvious fake F/X shot.
#9
DVD Talk God
Thread Starter
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
According to IMDB & another article, the movie was filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana. That's freaking amazing. Huge kudos to the effects and set design team.
#10
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I really enjoyed it. Yeah it was dumb and implausible in about a million different ways but it was very entertaining. Just a great badass hard R action movie. Butler is a GREAT action hero. He really needs to stay away from the dumb as fuck Hilary Swank and Jennifer Aniston romantic comedies and stick to action movies. This was like Jack Bauer meets Leonidas and it was awesome.
Kang was a good villain. He made it really easy to hate him.
Really the only negative was Melissa Leo as the Secretary of Defense. She was absolutely atrocious. There was a recent thread about overacting and she immediately went to the top of that list. She was fine until she started to get beat up and then she was just brutal. Extremely hard to watch and not because of the violence. Her overacting was distracting and downright abysmal. Luckily that didn't last long and we got to see Butler kick some more ass.
Kang was a good villain. He made it really easy to hate him.
Really the only negative was Melissa Leo as the Secretary of Defense. She was absolutely atrocious. There was a recent thread about overacting and she immediately went to the top of that list. She was fine until she started to get beat up and then she was just brutal. Extremely hard to watch and not because of the violence. Her overacting was distracting and downright abysmal. Luckily that didn't last long and we got to see Butler kick some more ass.
#11
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I sat through this crap today. So generic and mind-numbingly stupid, completely uninteresting in every regard yet ready made for the built-in dolt demographic. Couldn't wait for it to end.
I voted "It sucked" but to be fair I probably should have voted "Won't see it. Not my thing."
I voted "It sucked" but to be fair I probably should have voted "Won't see it. Not my thing."
#12
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I found it funny that the President couldnt stand to see the Sec of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs getting beat up and told them to give up their codes, but kept stating that he wouldnt give up his. If he couldnt stand to see them getting hurt, what did he think the terrorists were gonna do when it was time for his code?
#13
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I found it funny that the President couldnt stand to see the Sec of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs getting beat up and told them to give up their codes, but kept stating that he wouldnt give up his. If he couldnt stand to see them getting hurt, what did he think the terrorists were gonna do when it was time for his code?
I'd love to see all these Presidents-in-peril movies remade as historical thrillers with presidents like Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge. That would be pretty funny.
There actually are a couple like that. JONAH HEX has Aidan Quinn as President Ulysses S. Grant under attack in D.C. by a terrorist army of ex-Confederates led by John Malkovich. Also, a much older film, THE TALL TARGET (1951), has Lincoln on a train headed for his first inauguration in Washington with conspirators led by businessmen and generals trying to have him killed en route. A New York City detective (played by Dick Powell) gets wind of the plot and tries to stop it. The detective's name? John Kennedy! Look it up.
Last edited by Ash Ketchum; 03-24-13 at 06:40 AM.
#14
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Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I found it funny that the President couldnt stand to see the Sec of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs getting beat up and told them to give up their codes, but kept stating that he wouldnt give up his. If he couldnt stand to see them getting hurt, what did he think the terrorists were gonna do when it was time for his code?
I enjoyed this movie - I voted "good, but not great" but I think it was better than good. One thing I caught during the film (and I might have been towards the end) was one of the news feed had the text "Whitehouse". Not sure why I noticed that, but I found it funny.
#15
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I agree with everything DJariya said. It was a great old school brutal action film. Saw it with a packed house and it got great reaction. Die Hard 5 is even worse now.
#16
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
Saw it yesterday. The theater was mostly full with older people (senior citizens) , but even they got into the movie enough to applaud. Rare for an afternoon matinee. Fun movie, but that said, it is also incredibly jingoistic and rivals 1985's Rambo. Also, since when do Secret Servicemen talk with Scottish accents? Dermot Mulroney played a great bad guy as well.
Entertaining, but when you start to think about it, a lot doesn't hold up that well.
Entertaining, but when you start to think about it, a lot doesn't hold up that well.
#17
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I voted Good, not great. Actually I thought the action sequences were f'in awesome. I thought they kept most of the hand to hand combat and shooting scenes raw and as realistic as possible. The siege was extremely well done and edge of seat excitement. It's only fault, and I understand you have to park your common sense at the door, is the implausibility. The delay of the fighter jets, the police and SWAT/ARMY responses to an attack took me out of it. If you've ever been to DC you know the constant presence of police and military. Also I don't believe the secretary would acquiesce to kidnappers and put the whole country at risk to save the life of one person even if it was the President.
That being said, just like Air Force One you have to appreciate the whole and not dwell on the details. As a total entertainment package, I give it 4/5 and look forward to the eventual release on BR
That being said, just like Air Force One you have to appreciate the whole and not dwell on the details. As a total entertainment package, I give it 4/5 and look forward to the eventual release on BR
#18
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
Antonie Fuqua SHOULD HAVE been the person to take over the DH franchise after working with Bruce on Tears of the Sun. This was a fun time at the movies. An R rated action movie with some balls. Something modern action movies are definitely missing.
#19
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
By the way did anybody think the movie was overly dark? A lot of the scenes were at night or in dimly lit rooms but I thought the entire movie, even the outside daylight scenes were extremely dark. I had a hard time following the action at times. Did you think the same or was it just my theater?
#20
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
same here. My only thought is that Gerard Butler is not a martial artist, maybe they were keeping things dark to his hide moves and stunt man swaps.
#21
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
Can we make the poster in the OP this?
I'll be checking it out tomorrow night when the wife gets off work.
I'll be checking it out tomorrow night when the wife gets off work.
#22
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
By the way did anybody think the movie was overly dark? A lot of the scenes were at night or in dimly lit rooms but I thought the entire movie, even the outside daylight scenes were extremely dark. I had a hard time following the action at times. Did you think the same or was it just my theater?
#23
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
I attended a Hobbit live streaming event where Peter Jackson took the viewers around his production studio offices. He showed off a large collection of James Bond posters from the days when action movies had painted artwork for their sheets and lamented that it's seldom done nowadays. I truly think this (Olympus) is a movie that could benefit from one of those kinds of posters.
#24
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
A bunch of my friends wanted to see a movie last night and this was what got picked (I didn't really care to see it but went along with it). I thought it was okay I suppose. It was essentially what I expected, just a lot of big dumb action and Gerard Butler kicking ass. Overall I'd say it's a decent rental but not one that necessarily has to be seen in theaters.
#25
DVD Talk God
Re: Olympus has Fallen (2013) -- D: Fuqua, S: Butler, Freeman, Eckhart -- Reviews Thr
By the way did anybody think the movie was overly dark? A lot of the scenes were at night or in dimly lit rooms but I thought the entire movie, even the outside daylight scenes were extremely dark. I had a hard time following the action at times. Did you think the same or was it just my theater?