Trivia: John Travolta's car is a TVR Tuscan which cannot be sold in the United States because it does not comply with federal emission level standards.
Trivia: Don Cheadle improvised a large portion of his dialogue in the movie. He also embellished many scenes with improvisation like when he pushes the door on the lawyer in the beginning of the movie.
Trivia: The scene with the helicopter putting the bus on the building was technically impossible as no building roof could hold that weight safely. So the crew built a set of the roof that was reinforced to hold the bus. The rest of the city was CGI inserted around it.
Trivia: Very little of the bus/helicopter scene was CGI. The director insisted that a real helicopter be used that could handle the load. This made the crew and the pilot extremely nervous as the load was almost 80% of the helicopter's capacity. The stunt crew held firm on the scene where the bus crashes into a meeting however. That was completely CGI as the pilot insisted that it was way too dangerous to attempt it even with a fake building.
Trivia: John Travolta turned down the role of Gabriel a total of six times. He eventually changed his mind when he heard director Dominic Sena's take on it.
Answer: JT is exactly who he says he is. He leaves a body behind to fool the FBI/CIA into thinking he is dead. Jackman would have believed it too had he not seen him heading down the stairs and the surgically altered corpse. Berry was not hurt, the wire, the DEA story and her getting shot were all parts of a ploy for Jackman to trust and confide in her, making it easier for Travolta to make Jackman do what he wanted. Travolta didn't actually kill any hostages directly himself, (though he did put them in that situation, he is by no means Mr. Innocent) - had the police done what he asked, no one would have been hurt at all. So basically, he IS a good guy, but his methods are somewhat morally lacking.
Grumpy Scot