An editorial by Brooks Rich
The terrorists have seized whatever location they attacked. The hero is currently hiding somewhere, waiting for the right moment to strike. The terrorist leader then contacts whoever is in charge away from the location and lists their demands. More often than not they contact a situation room somewhere that is full of high ranking officials, usually military. I call these rooms "the room full of Admirals" and they were prevalent a lot in '90s action cinema, especially in Die Hard clones. My favorite comes from Under Siege. You can see a picture of the room below.
The room full of Admirals is both an ally to the hero, often in the first two acts, and a danger to the hero in the third act. For example, in Under Siege the room is for the most part working with Casey Ryback to regain control of the seized battleship. But in the third act they send in an airstrike to destroy the ship and prevent the launch of a nuclear missile. Ryback of course stops the terrorists and saves the day but the room of Admirals doesn't do much to help.
That's the thing about the room of Admirals. I love when they're featured in a movie but they generally never do much to aid the hero. It's a room full of bureaucrats who think everything has to be done by the book. They might offer the hero intel on the villains but usually they just sit back as the hero picks off the bad guys one by one, this after they've told the hero to stand down, that he can't possibly help them. Sure. Never mind the hero has probably already killed three or four bad guys.
Sometimes you might even have a third string antagonist working against the hero inside the room full of Admirals. For example Dean Stockwell's character in Air Force One, who keeps trying to execute an executive order to deem the president unfit to lead. There's also General Clegg in Olympus Has Fallen, who never listens to Secret Service John McClane Mike Banning.
The room full of Admirals has a disaster movie counterpart. The best examples of this are Houston in any space disaster film, such as Apollo 13 and Armageddon. They're fun as well but I prefer the action movie room full of Admirals, especially if it's a Die Hard clone. One of the best parts of an action film is at the end when the room of Admirals celebrates. It drives home how awesome it is that our hero stopped the terrorists and saved the world.
The room full of Admirals will always be something I hold close to my heart. If I see a film has one, I know it's going to be a fun kickass ride to the end. I was so happy when the one in Olympus Has Fallen showed up. It felt like it had been forever since I had seen. So here's to the room full od Admirals, not a requirement for an action movie but it certainly helps.
The terrorists have seized whatever location they attacked. The hero is currently hiding somewhere, waiting for the right moment to strike. The terrorist leader then contacts whoever is in charge away from the location and lists their demands. More often than not they contact a situation room somewhere that is full of high ranking officials, usually military. I call these rooms "the room full of Admirals" and they were prevalent a lot in '90s action cinema, especially in Die Hard clones. My favorite comes from Under Siege. You can see a picture of the room below.
The room full of Admirals is both an ally to the hero, often in the first two acts, and a danger to the hero in the third act. For example, in Under Siege the room is for the most part working with Casey Ryback to regain control of the seized battleship. But in the third act they send in an airstrike to destroy the ship and prevent the launch of a nuclear missile. Ryback of course stops the terrorists and saves the day but the room of Admirals doesn't do much to help.
That's the thing about the room of Admirals. I love when they're featured in a movie but they generally never do much to aid the hero. It's a room full of bureaucrats who think everything has to be done by the book. They might offer the hero intel on the villains but usually they just sit back as the hero picks off the bad guys one by one, this after they've told the hero to stand down, that he can't possibly help them. Sure. Never mind the hero has probably already killed three or four bad guys.
Sometimes you might even have a third string antagonist working against the hero inside the room full of Admirals. For example Dean Stockwell's character in Air Force One, who keeps trying to execute an executive order to deem the president unfit to lead. There's also General Clegg in Olympus Has Fallen, who never listens to Secret Service John McClane Mike Banning.
The room full of Admirals has a disaster movie counterpart. The best examples of this are Houston in any space disaster film, such as Apollo 13 and Armageddon. They're fun as well but I prefer the action movie room full of Admirals, especially if it's a Die Hard clone. One of the best parts of an action film is at the end when the room of Admirals celebrates. It drives home how awesome it is that our hero stopped the terrorists and saved the world.
The room full of Admirals will always be something I hold close to my heart. If I see a film has one, I know it's going to be a fun kickass ride to the end. I was so happy when the one in Olympus Has Fallen showed up. It felt like it had been forever since I had seen. So here's to the room full od Admirals, not a requirement for an action movie but it certainly helps.
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