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''White House Down'' is a 2013 American
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...
action thriller film directed by Roland Emmerich and written by James Vanderbilt. In the film, a divorced US Capitol Police officer attempts to rescue both his daughter and the
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
when a destructive terrorist assault occurs in the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. The film stars
Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film '' Step Up''. He gained wider attention for his leading rol ...
,
Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...
,
Maggie Gyllenhaal Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal (; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs, and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenh ...
,
Joey King Joey Lynn King (born July 30, 1999) is an American actress. She first gained recognition for portraying Ramona Quimby in the comedy film ''Ramona and Beezus'' (2010) and has since gained wider recognition for her lead role in ''The Kissing Booth ...
, Jason Clarke,
Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tri ...
, and James Woods. Released on June 28, 2013 by
Sony Pictures Releasing Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (commonly known as Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainmen ...
, ''White House Down'' received mixed reviews from critics toward the screenwriting and the clichéd storyline, although the performances and action sequences were praised. The film grossed over $205 million worldwide at the box office, against a budget of $150 million. ''White House Down'' was one of two films released in 2013 that dealt with a terrorist attack on the White House; the other, ''
Olympus Has Fallen ''Olympus Has Fallen'' is a 2013 American action thriller film directed and co-produced by Antoine Fuqua from a screenplay written by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, and is the first installment in the ''Has Fallen'' film series. T ...
'', was released three months earlier.


Plot

U.S. President James Sawyer makes a controversial proposal to remove military forces from the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. Divorced
veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...
John Cale works as a Capitol Police officer assigned to
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...
Eli Raphelson, whose nephew he saved while serving in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
. Cale hopes to impress his daughter Emily by interviewing for the
Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. Fo ...
, getting tickets for them to tour the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. His interviewer, Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge Carol Finnerty, a college acquaintance, deems him unqualified for the job. Meanwhile, Cale and his daughter take a guided tour of the White House. Meanwhile, a mysterious man disguised as a janitor detonate a bomb in the
United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
, collapsing the rotunda and sending Washington, D.C. into lockdown. Finnerty escorts Raphelson to an underground command center in
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
, while
Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
Alvin Hammond is taken aboard Air Force Two. At the same time, a paramilitary team of
mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes Pseudonym, also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a memb ...
led by ex-
Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...
and
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
operative Emil Stenz infiltrate the White House and overwhelm the Secret Service, seizing the building. The tour group is taken hostage in the Blue Room by white nationalist Carl Killick, but Cale escapes to search for Emily, separated during the tour. Retiring Head of the Presidential Detail, Special Agent-in-Charge Martin Walker brings Sawyer to the PEOC beneath the
White House Library The White House Library is on the Ground Floor of the White House, the official home of the president of the United States. The room is approximately and is in the northeast of the ground floor. The Library is used for teas and meetings hoste ...
. Inside, Walker kills Sawyer's detail, including fellow agent Ted Hope, revealing himself as the leader of the attack, apparently seeking vengeance against Sawyer for his
Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...
son, Kevin Walker, who was killed in a botched mission in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
the year prior. Cale kills a mercenary, taking his weapon and radio, and rescues Sawyer after overhearing Walker. Walker brings in ex-
NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collec ...
analyst Skip Tyler to hack the PEOC's defense system, but requires Sawyer to activate the nuclear football. Killick catches Emily filming the intruders on her phone and takes her hostage. Cale and Sawyer contact the command structure via a
scrambled Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs) stirred, whipped or beaten together while being gently heated, typically with salt, butter, oil and sometimes other ingredients. Preparation Only eggs are necessary to make scramble ...
satellite phone A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio through orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. The advantage of a sa ...
in the residence, whereas Finnerty uses Emily's
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
video to discover the mercenaries' identities. Cale and Sawyer try to escape via a secret tunnel, but find the exit rigged with explosives. They escape in the presidential limo but are chased by Stenz and fall into the White House pool. With Sawyer and Cale presumed dead in an explosion in the cabana, the
25th amendment The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with presidential succession and disability. It clarifies that the vice president becomes president if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, a ...
is invoked; Hammond is sworn in as president. Cale and Sawyer, still alive, learn Hammond has ordered an aerial incursion to re-acquire the White House, but the mercenaries shoot down the helicopters. Learning Emily's identity from the video, Stenz takes her to Walker in the
Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped roo ...
. Hacking into
NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...
, Tyler launches a laser-guided missile at the now
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and us ...
from Piketon, Ohio, killing Hammond and everyone on board. Raphelson is sworn in as president and orders an air strike on the White House. Sawyer surrenders himself to save Emily. Walker, blaming Iran rather than Sawyer for Kevin's death, demands Sawyer use the football to launch nuclear missiles against various Iranian cities. Sawyer refuses, while Cale sets fire to several rooms as a diversion. Tyler inadvertently triggers the tunnel explosives and is vaporized. Killing most of the mercenaries and freeing the hostages with the help of tour guide Donnie Donaldson, Cale fights against Stenz and blows him up with a grenade belt. Sawyer attacks Walker, but in the fight Walker uses Sawyer's handprint to activate the football and shoots Sawyer, much to Emily's fury. Before Walker can finally launch the missiles from the , Cale crashes a reinforced
Chevrolet Suburban The Chevrolet Suburban is a series of automobiles built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. The name started in 1934 for the 1935 U.S. model year, making it the longest continuously used automobile nameplate in production. It has trad ...
into the Oval Office and kills him with the car's
rotary cannon A rotary cannon, rotary autocannon, rotary gun or Gatling cannon, is any large- caliber multiple-barreled automatic firearm that uses a Gatling-type rotating barrel assembly to deliver a sustained saturational direct fire at much greater r ...
. Emily runs outside and waves off the incoming fighter planes with a presidential flag, calling off the air strike. Sawyer survives thanks to a pocket watch once belonging to
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
that stopped Walker's bullet. With Finnerty's help, Cale realizes that Raphelson was the one who gave Walker the launch codes, having acted at the behest of the corrupt
military–industrial complex The expression military–industrial complex (MIC) describes the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy. A driving factor behind the ...
. Believing Sawyer dead and that Cale will never be believed, Raphelson is tricked into confessing and arrested for
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
when Sawyer appears and thus removing Raphelson from the position of President. Sawyer names Cale his new special agent and takes him and Emily on an aerial tour of DC on
Marine One Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president of the United States. It usually denotes a helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) "Nighthawks", consisting of either the large ...
, aboard which he receives word that
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
have agreed to his peace deal after learning of the events at the White House, calling for an end to all wars.


Cast

*
Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film '' Step Up''. He gained wider attention for his leading rol ...
as John Cale, an
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
veteran and Capitol policeman who gets his daughter tickets to a special White House tour but they get trapped in the middle of an attack. *
Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...
as James Sawyer,
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
, who is the main target of an attack on the White House. *
Maggie Gyllenhaal Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal (; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs, and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenh ...
as Carol Wilkes Finnerty,
Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. Fo ...
Presidential Detail Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge. * Jason Clarke as Emil Stenz, an ex-
Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...
and
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
operative who leads a group of mercenaries in infiltrating and taking over the White House. *
Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tri ...
as Eli Raphelson, a corrupt
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the ...
, who briefly assumes the Presidency after Sawyer is predicted dead and after his Vice President dies during an attack on Air Force One. *
Joey King Joey Lynn King (born July 30, 1999) is an American actress. She first gained recognition for portraying Ramona Quimby in the comedy film ''Ramona and Beezus'' (2010) and has since gained wider recognition for her lead role in ''The Kissing Booth ...
as Emily Cale, the daughter of John Cale. * James Woods as Martin Walker, a rogue Secret Service Presidential Detail Special Agent-in-Charge, and the leader of the attack on the White House. *
Nicolas Wright Nicolas Wright (born March 23, 1982 in Montreal, QuebecCBS biography of ...
as Donnie Donaldson, White House Tour Guide. *
Jimmi Simpson Jimmi Simpson (born November 21, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his work on television, which includes recurring roles as Liam McPoyle on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–2013), Lyle the Intern on ''The Late Show ...
as Skip Tyler, an ex-
NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collec ...
cyber-security analyst turned hacker and the technical specialist in Stenz's group. * Michael Murphy as Alvin Hammond,
Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...
who briefly assumes the Presidency after Sawyer is claimed dead. He is later killed after Air Force One is attacked. *
Rachelle Lefevre Rachelle Marie Lefèvre (, ; born February 1, 1979) is a Canadian actress. She has starred in the television series ''Big Wolf on Campus'' and had recurring roles in '' What About Brian'', ''Boston Legal'', and ''Swingtown''. She played the vamp ...
as Melanie Schopp-Cale, John's former wife and Emily's mother. *
Lance Reddick Lance Reddick (born December 31, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Cedric Daniels in '' The Wire'' (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe'' (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in '' Bosch'' (2014–2020 ...
as General Caulfield,
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VJCS) is, by U.S. law, the second highest-ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, - Vice Chairman ranking just below the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vice chairman ...
. *
Matt Craven Matt may refer to: * Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) * Matt, Switzerland, a ...
as Kellerman, Capitol Police officer. * Jake Weber as Ted Hope, Secret Service agent. * Peter Jacobson as Wallace, Vice President Chief of Staff. * Garcelle Beauvais as Alison Sawyer,
First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...
. * Kevin Rankin as Carl Killick, a sociopathic white nationalist and one of Stenz's henchmen. * Barbara Williams as Muriel Walker, Martin Walker's wife. * Falk Hentschel as Motts, Stenz's German petty sidekick. * Jackie Geary as Jenna Bydwell, Hammond's aid and Cale's trusted confident. * Andrew Simms as Roger Skinner, a sleazy reporter and right-wing political commentator who criticizes Sawyer on his show. *
Vincent Leclerc Vincent Leclerc is a Canadian actor from Trois-Rivières, Quebec. He is most noted for his performance in the 2018 film ''The Fall of the American Empire (La chute de l'empire américain)'', for which he received a Prix Iris nomination for Best S ...
as Ryan Todd, Secret Service agent. * Anthony Lemke as Captain Paul Hutton, * Kyle Gatehouse as Conrad Cern, Killick's associate, who bombs the Capitol rotunda as a diversion for the mercenaries. * Patrick Sabongui as Bobby, Stenz's best friend for ten years.


Production

''White House Down'' is directed by Roland Emmerich and based on a screenplay by James Vanderbilt, who is also one of the film's producers. Sony Pictures purchased Vanderbilt's spec script in March 2012 for , in what ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' called "one of the biggest spec sales in quite a while". The journal said the script was similar "tonally and thematically" to the films '' Die Hard'' (1988) and ''
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and us ...
'' (1997). In the following April, Sony hired Roland Emmerich as director. Emmerich began filming in July 2012 at the La Cité Du Cinéma in
Montreal, Quebec, Canada Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
. Cinematographer
Anna Foerster Anna J. Foerster (born 1971) is a German-born American film and television cinematographer and director. She is best known for collaborations with director Roland Emmerich, working under different capacities on every film directed by him dating ...
shot the film with Arri Alexa
Plus Plus may refer to: Mathematics * Addition * +, the mathematical sign Music * ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011 * ''Plus'' (Cannonball Adderley Quintet album), 1961 * ''Plus'' (Matt Nathanson EP), 2003 * ''Plus'' (Martin Ga ...
digital cameras. In 2012, Sony competed with Millennium Films, who were producing ''
Olympus Has Fallen ''Olympus Has Fallen'' is a 2013 American action thriller film directed and co-produced by Antoine Fuqua from a screenplay written by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, and is the first installment in the ''Has Fallen'' film series. T ...
'' ( also about a takeover of the White House) to complete casting and to begin filming.


Release

''White House Down'' was originally scheduled for a November 1, 2013 release, but was moved up to a June 28, 2013 release. The film was released on DVD and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
on November 5, 2013.


Reception


Critical response

On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
the film holds an approval rating of 52% based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "''White House Down'' benefits from the leads' chemistry, but director Roland Emmerich smothers the film with narrative clichés and choppily edited action." At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Roth Cornet of IGN gave the film a score of 6.5/10, concluding: "''White House Down'' is a pretty silly rehashing of previously tread action movie territory, but if you're willing to laugh along with (or even at) it, it can be a highly entertaining experience." Andrew Chan of the
Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...
wrote, "I am not entirely sure, whether I should be happy or sad that I laughed when someone got shot or bombed, but such is the manner of how the film is played out."
Mark Kermode Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine '' Sight & Sound'', pr ...
of ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' gave the film 3/5 stars, writing that it "at least has the good grace to laugh at itself as it rolls out the dingbat-daft action-movie cliches." Shubhra Gupta of ''
The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...
'' gave the film 2.5/5 stars, writing: "Trouble is, it goes on too long. It has several climactic moments, but every time you ready for the exit, the film bounces back again for the next round." Peter Bradshaw of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' gave the film 2/5 stars, saying that "real thrills – dependent on real, believable jeopardy – are not on offer: just cheerfully absurd spectacle and a little bit of humour."


Box office

''White House Down'' grossed $73.1 million in the United States, and $132.3 million internationally, for a total gross of $205.4 million, against a budget of $150 million, effectively making the film a major box office failure for its studio. The film made $24.8 million in North America during its opening weekend, coming in below expectations and finishing fourth at the box office.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:White House Down 2013 films 2013 action thriller films 2010s buddy films American films about revenge American action thriller films American buddy films American political thriller films Centropolis Entertainment films Columbia Pictures films Films about Delta Force Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films about United States Army Special Forces Films about fictional presidents of the United States Films about terrorism in the United States Films about the United States Secret Service Films about World War III Films directed by Roland Emmerich Films produced by James Vanderbilt Films scored by Harald Kloser Films set in 2014 Films set in the White House Films set in Iran Films set in Israel Films set in France Films set in China Films set in Russia Films shot in Montreal Films with screenplays by James Vanderbilt IMAX films United States presidential succession in fiction Films about coups d'état Films about nuclear war and weapons 2010s English-language films 2010s American films