Hugh's Pre-Views: Olympus Has Fallen versus White House Down

O.k This is genuinely going to be a quick one, this is a discussion to be done in you're head.

Here I present you with two trailers, one for Olympus Has Fallen, one for White House Down.

Both these films tell almost exactly the same story. Essentially Die Hard in the White House.

Observe

Olympus Has Fallen:

White House Down:

Now ask yourself, which one of these would you rather see?

I imagine a number of you would answer 'neither one, they both look equally shit'. If this is you're response, you are welcome to it, but move on. This discussion is not for you.

For me though, it is easily White House Down.

I should point out that although it has already been released, I have not seen Olympus Has Fallen so this is an unbiased response.

It really boils down to the tone. I would say the action looks better but more than this, it just looks like a hell of a lot more fun. You can tell straight away that OHF comes from a place of angst and takes this whole rescuing the president thing way too seriously. WHD on the other hand clearly wants to have a laugh with it.

If you think back to the original Die Hard, in my opinion the pinnacle of the genre, it is really the humour and Bruce Willis' delivery of it that elevates it above other pretenders. Whilst I am in no way saying WHD will be as good as that, the chemistry between Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx is already clearly evident and it gives me high hopes.

You shouldn't have to analyse it though. It is ultimately about head versus gut. You can take the elements of the OHF trailer and say a + b x c should theoretically equal a good time but in my eyes, WHF does this without trying. My response to it comes through reaction, not qualification and that for me is the work of a good trailer.

What say you?