Question: Why was July 5th the day of the planned terrorist plot? Was it just a coincidence, or did they think that the day after Independence Day would be the day people would least suspect and therein catch DC off guard?
Question: Why does Director Jacobs authorize Secret Service protection for Speaker Trumbull when he becomes Acting President when the Speaker of the House already has a protection detail? Or, does the Speaker of the House normally not have any? Was that just for a dramatic moment in the film to show that, even in a crisis, things still happen by arrangement?
Question: How does Mike not know about Cerberus? Wouldn't the Secret Service be informed about what that is, since they are the ones who guard the President and the other code holders with their lives?
Question: When the terrorists masquerading as Lee's protection detail were being scanned as they came in, how was Kang's face not immediately red flagged? Since he was "one of the most wanted terrorists in the world", wouldn't that facial recognition data go through all FBI, CIA, INTERPOL, and Homeland Security databases?
Question: What happened to the terrorists in the garbage trucks after the attack moved inside the White House? We just see their trucks there when the response team arrives. I figured they would be told to engage the response team in a sort of last stand to cause as much chaos as possible.
Question: If the terrorists in the AC-130 gunship were to directly attack the White House, then what was the purpose of them shooting and killing civilians before doing so? Was it simply because Kang's group was maniacally there to kill people and they didn't care who?
Answer: Whilst this is never explicitly explained in the film, I do believe that it was exactly that: kill as many people, civilian or authorities, as possible before achieving their final goal.
Question: How did Mike know that Forbes was a traitor and working with the terrorists?
Answer: Forbes slipped up by mentioning the head bad guy's name. And, as good an agent as Forbes was, it is highly doubtful, not to mention suspicious, that he'd still be roaming around by himself this long after the fall of the White House. Plus Mike ain't stupid and most likely smelled a rat. And he was correct. Forbes was dirty.
Answer: Mike was told that there was no other agent alive in the White House, and they didn't send any more to attempt a rescue, that means if all the good agents are dead, only a rogue one can know who the mastermind was.
Question: The terrorists' attempt to obtain the three Cerberus pass-codes was a major plot point. After they obtained the first two, the third was apparently somehow obtained without it being provided by the president. How?
Question: As the Cerberus codes have been entered, with the time limit set prior to the missile's destruction, how did Jang expect to leave the country within what I assume was the 5 minute time limit and not feel the fallout from the nuclear missiles, or be killed or at least full of radiation, and also, why take the president then?
Answer: Kang wanted the USA to suffer famine and be a 3rd world country. His plan was to get in, set off all the warheads and plunge the USA into the dark ages. During one of the exchanges between Kang and Mike, Kang says "I just want the USA to experience poverty and famine." So he had no plans to survive his mission. He needed the president to gain the 3rd code incase it couldn't be broken by the hacker. He faked the presidents death to give himself more time with the president.
Answer: My best guess is they went in knowing it was a suicide mission.
That suggested answer doesn't make any sense. Jang idea was to capture the code to start a war presumably between N &S Korea. There is no indication that Jang's computer whiz had the ability crack the code, or was even trying, and that sounds unlikely. I think the whole story line went off the tracks at that point and they were trying to wrap up the shooting. Pretty shaky in my opinion. Just a movie with some good stars and and a lot of stuff got blown-up and the good guys won.
Answer: The Washington monument is destroyed in one scene and in a later scene, it is fully erect.
This isn't an answer, this seems to be a mistake entry.
Question: How did Dave Forbes initially survive being stabbed in the heart by Mike?
Answer: He didn't survive, he was mortally wounded, that means he would be dead anyway even if Mike didn't kill him.
Answer: Perhaps Mike, being skilled as he was in torture and extracting information - as we saw earlier, stabbed Dave to the extreme right, or left of Dave's aortic pump. It just looked like Mike stabbed Dave directly in the heart.
Question: Why deploy SEALs by air? Why not on the ground where they wouldn't be seen?
Answer: There could be any number of reasons. For one, arriving by air is faster and more efficient than going in on the ground. However, I suspect there is no "real world" reason for this and instead, the filmmakers chose to portray it this way for a more dramatic effect and to make the action move more quickly, rather than depict the longer, slower process of traveling over land.
Question: Did the first lady compliment Gerard Butler's earring suggestion to wear the small classy ones for a classy lady but then wear the long dangling earrings as shown in the car scene?
Answer: Mike suggested the small classy ones, but the first lady opted for the long ones instead.
Question: As the attack on the White House is underway, a relief column is detached from a nearby military base, which is going to take 10-15 minutes to get there. Flying with the column are several Apache attack helicopters. Why do the Apaches fly with the column and not on ahead to engage the attackers asap. A couple of Apaches would have made a huge difference to the White House's defence.
Answer: The Apaches were air support for the column.
Answer: Surely those Apaches would have just ended up being shot down - as evidenced later on in the film, which only would have added to the carnage on the ground.
Answer: One of the garbage man terrorists was killed; the others were fully prepared to die for the cause. After all, they had accomplished their objective. They were no longer needed.
ChristmasJonesfan