Olympus Has Fallen

Where were you on 9/11? As Alan Jackson sang, “Were you teaching a class full of innocent children or driving down some cold interstate? Did you burst out with pride for the red, white, and blue or all the heroes who died just doing what they do? Did you cry out in anger with fear for your neighbor? Or did you just sit down and cry?”

When a terrorist attack destroys the White House and captures our president inside, Mike Banning (Gerald Butler), former Secret Service Agent becomes trapped inside the White House. Banning has to use his overall knowledge and floor plan of the White House to work with National Security on saving President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart).
The movie was released in 2013 and directed by Antoine Fuqua. Gerald Butler, Morgan Freeman, and Aaron Eckhart are the starring characters. Gerald Butler, who played the Secret Service Agent, performed excellently throughout the movie. Butler’s compassion for the president’s son can be seen fully to the extent of an almost uncle. For never seeing Aaron Eckhart perform, I thought he did exceptionally well. His passion for his country was fully developed, and he showed how much he cared for his country. It’d be great to see him in other movies! The famous Morgan Freeman took a step down from his normal roles. In other previous movies, he played God and the president. During this movie, he played the important part of Speaker of the House. Secretary of Defense is the Oscar-winning Melissa Leo, who was brave and amazing throughout. The man who was the lead terrorist, Rick Yune, was perfect. Yune performed to the point of lethal, yet polite towards the beginning of the movie. Fuqua was lucky to have a cast full of veterans who were cooperative.
The plot is very creative, has high conflict, and serves a purpose. “It takes fifteen minutes for your armed forces to reach the White House. We took it down in thirteen.” This quotation brings the reality of the movie to life. It’s chilling to think if this were true. Secondly, even though the movie is action-packed, the director adds humorous comments. The Speaker of the House (Morgan Freeman) said, “Get me some coffee. Half and half. Three sweet’n lows. In a real cup. Not one of those paper or styrofoam things.” Finally, in this world we think about terrorists all the time, what if they received access to our Security codes? Could something like this movie happen? I love how this movie portrays and helps us visualize this scenario!
Unfortunately, it does not need to have all the rated R violence; however, some effects are needed to portray the message to the audience. It has scenes that if you are not one for gruesome details, you should look away, or this just might not be your movie. I am disappointed because this movie isn’t required to be rated R.
Although, everything in the movie hasn’t happened yet, it’s very lifelike in an approach that I could see it happening in our future. I recommend this movie to others because the movie reminded me how amazing our country really can be. I realized how many people fight for our country every day and would sacrifice their lives at any moment’s notice. Olympus Has Fallen sinks into your heart so you won’t fail to recall it.
Finally, Olympus Has Fallen reminded me of the dreadful 9/11 tragedy. Nineteen hijackers boarded four planes and attacked the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and sought to attack Washington D.C. Within two hours, the North and South World Trade Center towers collapsed, causing surrounding buildings to have damage. September 11th, 2001 developed into a day no one in the United States of America will ever forget with nearly 3,000 loved ones dead.



Overall, I recommend this movie for anyone with a spark for action! Even though I love action movies, this movie particularly revived my patriotism for the United States of America. Throughout history we have overcome every misfortune together and as one sturdy country! We have faced our enemies with bravery during every conflict we’ve won or lost. Harry Truman proclaimed, “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” Since history seems to repeat itself, tragedy will probably continue happening in our future. An outstanding president, named John F. Kennedy, once vowed, “Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” How would the United States react to another terrorist attack like Olympus Has Fallen? Fuqua captures the mind to exclusively illustrate an incident possible in our future.