5 films that target the White House

Published 5:00 am Saturday, March 16, 2013

Gerard Butler, photographed at a Washington hotel on March 12, stars as former presidential guard Mike Banning in the disaster movie "Olympus Has Fallen." In the movie Banning is trapped inside the White House after a terrorist attack and tries to rescue the president from kidnappers.

“Olympus Has Fallen” is just one of the movies coming out this year featuring an endangered White House. Here’s a look at five films future and past in which the president’s mansion is assaulted by outside forces:

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“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” (2013)

The sequel stars Channing Tatum with Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis as operatives tasked with taking out the enemy Cobra. Trailers indicate that the British Parliament gets the brunt of the destruction, but when the president is replaced by an evil doppelganger, the facade of 1600 Penn gets a little makeover – a couple of black and red curtains with snake eyes.

“White House Down” (2013)

Director Roland Emmerich’s name is practically synonymous with apocalyptic devastation. In addition to “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012,” Emmerich directs Tatum in an “Olympus”-like movie about another Secret Service agent saving the day.

“Idiocracy” (2006)

Mike Judge’s comedy looks at a future world ruled by half-wits, including the U.S. president, a one-time porn star, who adds rusted-out cars, a tire swing and an aboveground pool to the White House grounds.

“Independence Day” (1996)

Perhaps the most iconic image of White House wreckage comes from yet another of Emmerich’s cataclysmic action flicks. This time aliens are the enemy, delivering a laser from their spaceship that demolishes the president’s home, among other landmarks.

“Mars Attacks!” (1996)

This sci-fi parody features flying saucers that shoot destructive beams at the Washington Monument. A killer martian, disguised as a lovely human woman, sneaks into the White House intent on killing the president, played by Jack Nicholson.