After screening several minutes of Olympus Has Fallen before it hit theaters, Movie Fanatic described it to the film’s publicist as Die Hard in the White House and she could not have been more thrilled. See, there have been lots of attempts to replicate the action and explosive personality that that Bruce Willis actioner achieved in the late 1980s, but few have succeeded. All you have to do is witness the Olympus Has Fallen trailer and you can see how true to the Die Hard mold Olympus Has Fallen is... and in the best of ways.
As our theatrical Olympus Has Fallen review stated, Gerard Butler has a field day in the movie and the audience is the beneficiary of the great fun that Butler’s joy emits.
Olympus Has Fallen has debuted on DVD and Blu-Ray and for those that missed it in theaters or those who simply want to see it again -- it is an utter delight on home video. The all-star cast brings its A-game including Aaron Eckhart as the President, Morgan Freeman as the Speaker of the House, Angela Bassett as the head of the Secret Service, Ashley Judd as the First Lady, Melissa Leo as the Secretary of Defense and Dylan McDermott as a Secret Service Agent.
But, Olympus Has Fallen is the Butler show, from beginning to end. Butler is a Secret Service Agent who loses his way when a terrible accident claims someone in the First Family. He leaves the Oval Office detail and heads over to the Treasury Department where he feels he cannot hurt anyone anymore. Then… the White House is attacked and our movie hits high gear.
Butler announced himself as a star in 300, and honestly we’ve been waiting for him to match that mettle since. In Olympus Has Fallen, he is in his element on so many levels. Watching him work his way through the White House, like John McClane did in the Nakatomi Towers in Die Hard, is what makes this film so electric.
And when it comes to extras on the DVD and Blu-Ray, there are a quite a few that shine. Given the movie is pedal to the metal action, you know there had to be light moments to relieve the tension of filming and they are all captured brilliantly in the blooper reel. Many home video releases toss in actors flubbing their lines and pass them off as “hilarious” bloopers. But, on the Olympus Has Fallen Blu-Ray and DVD, these bloopers are pure comedy gold.
The all-star cast we mentioned before gets its close-up on the featurette The Epic Ensemble, and the title could not be more perfect. Behind-the-scenes featurettes Under Siege: The Making of Olympus Has Fallen, Creating the Action: VFX & Design and Ground Combat: Fighting the Terrorists all take a different angle on bringing the magic of Hollywood into people’s homes. Each has its merit and after witnessing the movie as a whole, provides priceless insight into the making of the action fest.
For action movie fans, the documentary Deconstructing the Black Hawk Experience is not to be missed. After seeing the Black Hawk scene in the movie, Movie Fanatic guarantees you will be wondering, “How did they do that?” Well, now you know!