Depths of danger
Butler enlists Navy’s help for sub thriller ‘Hunter Killer’
As producer and star of Friday’s submarine thriller “Hunter Killer,” Gerard Butler was instrumental in getting vital U.S. Navy cooperation for authenticity’s sake.
“A Hunter Killer submarine is actually a type of U.S. naval submarine, a nuclear attack sub used to stealthily approach the enemy and engage other subs, surface ships and on land,” Butler, 48, said.
“A lot of these subs literally can sit undetected on the shore of a country and spy on them for months. They’re a very dynamic and multipurpose craft, and this Virginia class is the new state of the art. It’s all visual mask and LCD computers with multiple layers of information — you’re stepping into a different world.
“The film is, ‘Let’s take the audience into a submarine today with all its potential and the raised peril that you have.’ There’s a greater danger because the stakes are so much higher: That sub is capable of taking out a country.”
Adapted from retired attack sub commander George Wallace’s novel “Firing Point,” “Hunter Killer” chronicles the desperate efforts of the Pentagon, Butler’s sub commander Joe Glass, his Russian counterpart (played by the late Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist) and a black ops team of ex-Navy SEALS who must unite to stop a rogue Russian general from launching World War III.
This right-wing nutcase has taken the Russian president hostage and staged a coup to foment nuclear war with the West.
“These slow-burning fuses form all these stories and become,” Butler said, “this burning powder keg. ‘Hunter Killer’ always keeps the audience surprised. That’s my favorite thing in a movie — surprise, surprise within the story.
“It allowed us to be complex but not confuse the audience. We’re under the water, back on land, with that flow where it’s moving from one location to the other with the threat of violence always there.”
More violence is due when Butler returns as Mike Banning, the Secret Service presidential protector in “Angel Has Fallen.”
“Yes, Mike Banning is back but this time it’s a completely different guy, not the Mike Banning you’re used to” in “Olympus Has Fallen” and “London Has Fallen,” Butler said.
“We took away the superhuman idea of him. He doesn’t feel he’s capable anymore. So this is more gritty ‘Fugitive’ style as he’s chased by both the good guys and bad guys.”