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.
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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)
The main person who pushed the story to be published was former C.I.A. Director George Tenet (tenure 1997-2004). While the story was never published, because of bureaucracy, and the yet-to-be-concluded Iran hostage crisis, it was only when Tenet assumed the Directorship of the C.I.A., and in conjunction with the Agency's fiftieth anniversary, that he persuaded Tony Mendez to write his account and memoir of the mission. See more »
Goofs
The long shot of an airliner taking off from Dulles Airport for London shows a twin-engine jet, and these were not generally approved for use on transatlantic flights until 1985. 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 ...
See more »
Crazy Credits
Past the photos of cast members and the real people they play, there's audio from an interview with then-President Jimmy Carter talking about the crisis. See more »
Alternate Versions
An extended version of the film was released on Blu-Ray in 2013 with 9 minutes worth of alternate or extended footage. Many of the new scenes explored Tony Mendez's family background. 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.