Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans were taken hostage. However, six managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA was ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devised a daring plan: create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez created the ruse and proceeded to Iran as its associate producer. However, time was running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House had grave doubts about the operation themselves.Written by
Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Ben Affleck, a longtime Led Zeppelin fan, admits he was desperate to use the track "When the Levee Breaks" (from "Led Zeppelin IV") and vigorously pursued the rockers to win permission, but they asked him to make a very specific change. The scene was originally shot with Tate Donovan placing the record needle on the beginning of the album, which was wrong: "When the Levee Breaks" is actually the last song on the second side of the album. Affleck agreed to make the change, and he headed back to the editing suite in order to make the band happy. He later told the Los Angeles Times he appreciated the band's attention to detail, despite having to pay for another shoot. See more »
Goofs
Noticeable on the uniforms and caps of immigration officials working at Tehran's airport passport control, is the former coat-of-arms of Iran used during Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's reign. After the 1979 revolution, the coat of arm featuring a lion holding a sword surrounded by olive leaves and a crown (symbolizing the Shah) above the lion was immediately replaced by the new theocratic government with a Persian-inspired script symbolizing "Allah" ("God"). The new coat of arms (which appears in the center of Iran's flag today) contains no imagery or symbols relating to the Shah and the Pahlavi dynasty. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Sahar:
[narration]
This is the Persian Empire known today as Iran. For 2,500 years, this land was ruled by a series of kings, known as shahs. In 1950, the people of Iran elected Mohammad Mossadeqh, a secular democrat, as Prime Minister. He nationalized British and U.S. petroleum holdings, returning Iran's oil to it's people. But in 1953, the U.S. and Great Britain engineered a coup d'etat that deposed Mossadeqh and installed Reza Pahlavi as shah. The young Shah was known for opulence and ...
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Crazy Credits
The movie opens with the 1970s-era Warner Bros. slash logo that eventually became the logo of Warner Music, which was designed by Saul Bass, instead of the traditional shield logo. However, the corporate copy below the logo refers to Time Warner, the current incarnation of Warner Communications since 1990, in the same typeface that was used decades ago. See more »
Alternate Versions
After it screened at the Toronto International Film Festival the postscript at the end credits was changed because it was felt that it slighted the Canada's involvement in the rescue of the American hostages. See more »
The film is well done, and exciting, though Ben Affleck made clear in interviews that the actual rescue was not quite so dramatic but was punched up for dramatic purposes. It worked for me! Affleck does a nice job of subduing his own personality in the character he portrays. It is also clear from the pictures the end that the filmmakers were careful to recreate the scenes as closely as possible from archival pictures and videos. Affleck and company did a good job of balancing history and the artistic needs of a commercial movie.
Does anybody know the name of the earlier version of this same rescue? I saw it on video cassette in 1991 but don't remember the name of it or who starred in it.
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The film is well done, and exciting, though Ben Affleck made clear in interviews that the actual rescue was not quite so dramatic but was punched up for dramatic purposes. It worked for me! Affleck does a nice job of subduing his own personality in the character he portrays. It is also clear from the pictures the end that the filmmakers were careful to recreate the scenes as closely as possible from archival pictures and videos. Affleck and company did a good job of balancing history and the artistic needs of a commercial movie.
Does anybody know the name of the earlier version of this same rescue? I saw it on video cassette in 1991 but don't remember the name of it or who starred in it.