Give up a whole country for one man's life?

I was thinking the same thing. Call back the 7th fleet and give up the codes for ONE guy? Nobody is that important.




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I agree about giving up the codes. The President had less gumption than the people that were up to be killed. He was the weakling. While no one wants to be tortured or killed, they have to be people who understand that they can be tortured and killed for those codes. The President couldn't handle seeing a knife to his guy's throat, so he had him give up one. Now the woman, she was getting some serious crap beat out of her and she appeared ready to take that code with her to her death. Once again, the President intervenes, and orders her to give up the other code. The gritty look on her face was there was no way in heck she was going to give it out, no matter what. She had more b*lls than the President (who kinda reminds me of Obama in his wimpish handling of foreign affairs, and terrorists domestically and abroad).

That was one of the major problems I had with the movie. I have no idea what protocol is, maybe that's what they would do for the President, but it seems asinine. The President is just a man. He's not a monarch who is going to rule forever. He has a very limited time in office. You've already got someone there to be President (Freeman's character) so in my view, there was absolutely no reason to negotiate with terrorists to spare the life of a man who has at most seven years left in office when you have a perfectly suitable man already acting in his place.

I should have just launched big missile on white house to save whole country.
Real president must have agreed to do so.

Well you have to take certain kind of leap of fates when watching these kind of film, but I agree that this premise was a bit too much. :) It doesn't ruin the film, but if you think it afterwards, its kind of silly.

Head of states must be ofcourse protected, but imo you don't go changing a foreign policy just because some terrorist holds a knife on president's throath. Presidents like all head of states are just men (or women). No matter how important they're, there are not that important.

Thats the whole idea of a succession. If the president is killed, someone else can always take his place and lead the country. If the vice president is killed as well, there is the next guy in line ready to take his place.

Besides its part the job description. No job comes without certain risks.

This type of sycophantic nonsense is actually a common view in America. You have a 18th century view of your monarchs.

Totally agree, harahauk! I suppose it's an American thing, but this concept of the life of the president being worth more than anyone else's is idiotic in the extreme...yet it appears again and again in movies. Why??? The president is only one person...and backed up by a vice-president, anyway. S/he is not a god.

I remember when Kennedy was assassinated. Of course the free world mourned, but life went on pretty much uninterrupted. I suppose it works in movies because Americans like to perceive their "first family" as ersatz royalty and have great difficulty in accepting that they fawn over and grovel to people who are actually no different to themselves! 😃

Can't believe I'm the only one saying this! The problem wasn't them giving up the mythical codes, since as was stated a few times, the nukes don't go off, the missiles are destroyed, which is bad enough, leaving us open to nuclear attack by anyone.

The problem, which ruined this potentially decent action film, was the ridiculously insane order by acting President, Speaker Trumbull, to sacrifice South Korea & the USA's reputation, by pulling out our troops from Korea & turning the fleet around. Everyone in that room except the General, were weak, stupid & traitors to let the order stand. It should be law, that the President, the administration & family are ALWAYS expendable, rather than give into demands of terrorists or States. That's what line of succession is for. Power has its privileges and its dangers. I would have felt bad if the kid was killed, but what about the rest of us and our families and those in South Korea? "The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Spock

Yes, it's impossible for most people to take torture forever (even though nobody was being tortured), but it's easy, not to give into ridiculous demands and offer our country up as cannon fodder by people who were in no immediate danger and should have had the USA's interests in mind, not the President or anyone other small group or individual.

In one week I've seen this, White House Down & London Has Fallen. White House has Fallen is by far the worst of the three and gets one star because it's a movie.