Which White House Thriller is the Right Time-Killer?

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domino harvey
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Which White House Thriller is the Right Time-Killer?

#1 Post by domino harvey » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:46 pm

Turns out there's nothing to worry about concerning Focus Features' ongoing output, assuming of course what you liked best about Focus was the possibility that they'd produce a sequel to Olympus Has Fallen

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knives
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Re: Focus Features

#2 Post by knives » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:16 pm

Did anyone like that movie especially in the face of that other identical yet better version that came out a month later?

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John Cope
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Re: Focus Features

#3 Post by John Cope » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:23 pm

Well, as luck would have it (or not) I was just going to watch that one tonight (I know it's supposed to be garbage but Fuqua is an underrated director and capable of more than he's given credit for so we'll see...).

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Matt
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Re: Focus Features

#4 Post by Matt » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:29 pm

Somebody must have liked it:
That's right, the man who led "Olympus Has Fallen" this spring to a rather surprising $161 million worldwide (not bad for something on a $70 million budget, and a better ROI than the $204 million haul versus $150 million budget of "White House Down") is back for "London Has Fallen."

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knives
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Re: Focus Features

#5 Post by knives » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:35 pm

You'd be much better served by watching the Emmerich film which is a very nice throwback. This is pretty easily by leagues the worst Fuqua I've seen dealing with its cliches so seriously that they would be comedy if not attached to such a gorey film so involved in its own bloodlust. The only thing to be praised is the occasional character actor who doesn't completely embarrass themself. At best it is the worst remake of Die Hard possible. Nearly all of the scenes are redone to emphasize the cliche like showing us how whatshisface became bad parent MacLane or having the "Gruber pretends to be a hostage" scene restaged as some lame meeting of old friends turned enemies deal. It's deplorable.

Edit: I firmly believe watching and liking can be unrelated.

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Gregory
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Re: Focus Features

#6 Post by Gregory » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:53 pm

How could anyone not love a film about an action hero who fires his handgun with his hand turned 90 degrees to the side, firing it sideways while running, and who says things like, "Why don't you and I play a game of fuck off. You go first." ? Clearly, this is a man who plays by his own rules.

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John Cope
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#7 Post by John Cope » Wed Oct 30, 2013 3:56 am

Well, I've got to be honest with you; I really kind of enjoyed this (on its own terms, for what it is). I mean it is almost alarmingly earnest about its deployment of cliches and its overall pandering tone but I have a certain affection for that stuff, especially when it's as committed as what we get here. This is indeed the straight faced version of what I gather Emmerich plays as much broader virtual farce. I think there's a place for both approaches as long as you can accept what you're getting. Here the ultra straight down the line presentation provides the kind of satisfaction one expects. It's not as much like Die Hard in the White House though as it is a return to mid-80's Chuck Norris era action pictures like Invasion U.S.A. Obviously it's supremely jingoistic but, once again, I take that as part of its cock eyed charm (though I know many will take it with the same sober seriousness with which the film dishes it out). But it's hard not to be bemused by such tropes as the bullet ravaged American flag being tossed down disdainfully by occupiers or the knock out blow Butler delivers with a bust of Lincoln or the always pleasurable doomsday clock stopping three seconds before fatality.

The picture really does play to hysterical reactionaries though. The emphasis seems very much to be on the current fears amongst some that occur whenever there's not an explicitly hawkish president in the White House--or one, at least, comparatively less so. We're not strong enough, not willing to stand up and take the fight to them, stand our ground, etc. Here that theme gets encapulated by the endless and obvious emphasis placed on Butler as the reliably capable and strong individual who we need to appreciate more. Anyway, I gather once again that the Emmerich film may be a kind of parody of that hysteria. Those are two totally different things tone wise. Olympus also features one of Butler's more tolerable screen performances and I think that's because it fits the form so well. It's as machine tooled for precision as the entire plot and it plays to his strength as a screen presence so there is that. The line Gregory refers to is pretty damn funny actually and really should enter the vernacular.

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Gregory
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#8 Post by Gregory » Wed Oct 30, 2013 7:46 pm

Lines like that just seem like such a gratuitous crowd-pleasing slam for a certain kind of writer. Thanks to a Mamet line (of a different type, sampled by Saint Etienne), I guess I've often found this type of put-down really funny, especially when it's delivered in any type of jingoistic context. I wish I had enough knowledge of action films to have more real examples, but here are some made-up ones, free for the taking to any screenwriters reading this:

Stock foreign villain: In my country, we have a saying: [insert banality here]
Hero: Oh yeah? In my country we have a saying: Go fuck yourself! [slams phone down]

Stock foreign villain, to restrained hero: Where are your armed forces to save you now? The—how you say—Red, White ...
Hero: The Red, White, and fuck you! [spits in villain's face]

Stock foreign villain: I'll never understand why your system allows people such freedoms.
Hero: Pfff. Because this is America, asshole, and that's how we roll [pulls out hidden gun or explosive device]
Last edited by Gregory on Wed Oct 30, 2013 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#9 Post by Mr Sausage » Wed Oct 30, 2013 8:02 pm

I've always appreciated this one. It gets right to the point.

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Forrest Taft
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#10 Post by Forrest Taft » Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:48 am

The best one I can think of is from the little seen DTV Into the Sun (mink, 2005): "I couldn't sleep well knowing I hadn't chopped off your balls yet".

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thirtyframesasecond
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#11 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Fri Nov 01, 2013 6:08 am

Olympus... was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen, mainly because of the ease of the North Koreans in taking over the White House (whilst dressed as tourists), who then suddenly become shit bad guys as soon as Gerard Butler shows up on the scene, single handed.

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Forrest Taft
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#12 Post by Forrest Taft » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:58 pm

Roland Emmerich discusses the five main influences on his White House thriller. Hilariously, two of those are movies directed by Roland Emmerich.

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jindianajonz
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#13 Post by jindianajonz » Wed Nov 06, 2013 5:05 pm

RobertAltman wrote:Hilariously, two of those are movies directed by Roland Emmerich.
And a European Nation!

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domino harvey
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#14 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 17, 2019 2:30 am

Someone living a very different life than me wrote:Give me a third Has Fallen movie, please!

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tenia
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#15 Post by tenia » Fri May 17, 2019 3:52 am

Olympus has fallen was quite funny in a very dumb way, and way better than White House Down, but London has fallen was absolutely godawful, including in a purely technical point of view.
Hopefully, Angel will be closer to the first one than the second one, but I guess it should have remained a single movie and not a franchise.

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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#16 Post by cdnchris » Fri May 17, 2019 11:36 am


tenia wrote:but London has fallen was absolutely godawful
How can you not love a movie with the line "go back to Fuckanistan" in it?

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tenia
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#17 Post by tenia » Fri May 17, 2019 11:43 am

For pretty much every other line of dialogue !

Poorly tasted jokes aside, I was also vastly surprised by how awful looking it was. It reminded me of Suicide Squad : tons of random places in the dark to shoot nameless-faceless bad guys that you have no idea where they come from and how the good guy arrived here. After 30 seconds of shooting, I just started not to care anymore about what was happening, since I couldn't "relate" to it. I also have a memory of the movie taking way too long to setup (30 minutes ?) and of me thinking "wow, that's a lot of pointless exposition just to justify moving the movie to London."

The original movie felt like some updated rehash of Commando ("told you I would stick my knife through your brain"), the sequel like a racist and technically very poorly assembled movie.
Last edited by tenia on Fri May 17, 2019 11:53 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#18 Post by cdnchris » Fri May 17, 2019 11:48 am

It is a piece of shit. My wife loves it for some reason. Yes, we're still together.

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colinr0380
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Re: Which White House thriller is the right time-killer?

#19 Post by colinr0380 » Fri May 17, 2019 11:49 am

Its not a thriller but surely Dave is the best White House set film of recent times, in which not only is the rather frustrated First Lady played by Sigourney Weaver but Kevin Kline gets to lead her off through the secret tunnels under the White House for a romantic evening on the town! If only Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx could have done that rather than having to lamely recreate situations from Under Siege.

(Though Mars Attacks! has the best attack on the White House and exit of a First Lady in film history, which immediately makes all these films seem rather staid in comparison!)

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