United 93

Image of bomber onboard United 93

The movie United 93 was based on a re-enactment of the terror that faced the passengers on Flight United 93 from New York to San Francisco, United States of America and by extension the world on September 11th 2001.  It detailed the events and the mind-set of those involved from the time the first plane - American Airline 11 bound from Boston to LAX, struck the World Trade Centre in New York, with its 92 persons on board.  At the time of realizing that AA11 was unresponsive to demands and requests from the Air Traffic Control tower, the thought of it being a high jacking was a passing joke as there has not been a high jacking for almost 20years. NORAD (Northern Air Defence) was contacted and still required further confirmation on the status of AA11.  After receiving confirmation NORAD becomes battle ready but throughout the movie they never received any ROE (Rules of Engagement) or as needed in this case a 'shoot down authority' which can only be received from the President. 

AA11 disappears from the radar, at 8:46 a.m. a plane crashes into the northern tower of the World Trade Centre, all on-board are killed.    

United 175, attempts to hail this aircraft proves futile as it has vied off its path and was in the path of Delta 2317.  United 175 is confirmed as another high jacking and is approaching New York, descending rapidly.  The plane is seen on monitors turning and crashing into tower two of the World Trade Centre, all on -board were killed.

Four Ottis jet fighters are positioned over Manhattan.

FAA closes air space of the United States

American Airlines 77 is confirmed missing out of Dallas

NORAD engages and as yet has not received the ROE or shoot down authority.

Delta 1989 is suspected to be high jacked.

Smoke emanates from the Pentegon as a plane crashed into it.

United 93. One of the bombers strap himself with explosives and the cockpit is taken over by the Islamic militants.  The passengers on -board United 93 learn of the other planes and the World Trade Centre when they call their loved ones and decide to retaliate. Although the passengers retaliate, and the plane not reaching its intended target, at 10:36 a.m United 93 crashed into Shanksville field Pennsylvania, all persons on board was confirmed dead.

NORAD jets were 100 miles off.  

September, 11th opened the eyes of the world on the missteps taken on national security and each country took steps to minimize the instant of this or any such attack occurring in their country.  Over 3,000 persons died that day.September 11th 2001September 11th 2001 statisticsSeptember 11, 2001 statistics.

Olympus has Fallen

Issues of national security are more than often shown on the big screen with the US being the victim of either an alien invasion or terrorist attack and you can almost always expect there to be a traitor. The epitome of a national security issue, Olympus has fallen. Olympus, in greek mythology is a place where the Gods called home. The irony that the White House is being called Olympus but that's a whole other discussion altogether.

Gerard Butler stars as Mike Banning, an agent who was once on the president’s security detail. However following a car accident on a bridge where he chose to save the president which resulted in the first lady being killed. More than a year later, Banning is no longer on the president’s service. The movie also stars Angela Basset, Aaron Eckhart, Dylan McDermott and Morgan Freeman.

As the president meets with the Korean prime minister, a heavily armed military plane attacks the capital shooting down military jets and killing civilians in the streets below prompting the meeting to be cut short and the president ushered to the bunker beneath the white house. There it is revealed that Kang who arrived with the Korean prime minister is the one responsible for the attacks and has another plan in mind which is to see America as a wasteland.

Banning finds his way into the white house and must first find the president’s son then rescue the president from his kidnappers before they are able to retrieve the nuclear missile codes.

Forbes played by Dylan McDermott has betrayed his country and has joined forces with the North Korean rebels to take down America. Forbes is sent by Kang to kill Banning but is no match for him; in an effort to help undo his betrayal he tells Kang that he has killed Banning then Banning finally kills him.

After a failed attempt by the SEALs to gain back the white house, Banning has to try to save the president alone. 

When the helicopter requested by Kang is blown up with the remaining hostages on board it is assumed that he has taken his own life along with the president’s. However, Banning isn’t convinced and goes in search of Kang and the president. Banning is able to kill Kang and save the president but the countdown for the nuclear detonation has already begun. With 3 seconds to spare the nuclear bombs’ detonation is stopped and all is well for the United States.

What’s a good movie without a group of people in a room cheering about being alive and the safety of the Republic?

All in all what can be said about this movie and the realities are that a bunch of men play chess as it relates to the lives of the people of their countries. Their motivations based solely on greed, power or revenge and fueled by egos. 

“Olympus” did fall but only for 24 hours, Banning was quite efficient.

White House Down

"America will not be destroyed

From the outside.

If we falter

And lose our freedom,

It will be because

We destroy ourselves"

- Abraham Lincoln

So who would have thought that those words, uttered by the 16th president of the United States, would be prominent in a movie shot in 2013. America's war on terrorism is as surreal as it is gripping, but when the war occurs on American soil, both America and the rest of the world surely sits up and takes notice.

White House Down is just that, the war on terror brought home in stunning detail and riveting action, by Award winning director Roland Emmerich. And he's no stranger to chaos on a national level: who could forget his jaw-dropping work on Independence Day? Only this time he's ditched the aliens for a group of home-spun dissidents, the nation owes its survival to a single dad, who happens to be a street cop and the President reflects current trends, so to speak. Add in some mind-blowing visual effects (pardon the pun; a lot of minds are gonna be blown), a fairly solid storyline, dialogue that can be better and a thrill ride that at times forgets the 'thrill' part.

Channing Tatum plays John Cale, average working-class dad and Capitol officer who so desperately wants to join the exclusive Secret Service. He's inspired, brave and determined...but he also scores poorly in the tests and draws the wrath of recruiting officer Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhall), who thinks that he should just enjoy his job and his daughter Emily, played by a sprightly Joey King. But, he doesn't want his daughter to think less of him, so he endures the insults and the scorn by Finnerty. And since his daughter shares his patriotic passion for the single-most important symbol of American freedom, he decides to take his daughter to the White House for a tour and gets more than he bargained if he really gets the job.

Just as Cale begins to enjoy the day with his daughter, the Whie House security is suddenly and woefully overwhelmed by heavily armed men, lead by 'Walker', who thinks he can run the nation better than the current Head of State. Played in fine style by James Wood, Walker plan is fairly simple: remove the President, declare himself leader of the free world and reshape the global politics of the day. Only factor he didn't incorporate was a fairly determined Cale and a less than agreeable President Sawyer, done quite nicely by Jamie Foxx. Between Cale and Sawyer, they endure everything from slugfests in the Oval Office to dodging attack helicopters; racing the Presidential limo across the front lawn to staring down tanks along the Reflective Pool. But hey, it’s Emmerich, so all this feels quite like home.

Now this being an action movie, the action rolls out in spades. The drawback: sometimes the action 'stops' for no major reason to incorporate the dialogue. It comes across as forced or simply a 'filler' between the fight sceens and the humor between the two main protagonists doesn't always flow as naturally as it should. Then the scale of conviction is about as believable as Bush's reasons for war: the White House goes down really easily to thugs who barely shoot straight and for God's sake, where are the video cameras and security checkpoints? Yeah, feel free to just waltz in, the doors basically unlocked....

All in all, WHD isn't the WMD that producers thought it could have been, in light of the other survival successes that hit the big screen earlier this year. But, it isn't as bad as the Syrian crisis either. Depends on what your reason for seeing this blockbuster, you're sure to leave with two things, some degree of fulfillment and the burning question of "Can that REALLY happen?"