The Guardian (2006 film)
| The Guardian | |
|---|---|
| File:20060723-guardian ver2.jpg The poster for the film. | |
| Directed by | Andrew Davis |
| Written by | Ron L. Brinkerhoff |
| Produced by | Armyan Bernstein Lowell D. Blank Zanne Devine Beau Flynn Charlie Lyons Peter Macgregor-Scott Tripp Vinson |
| Starring | Kevin Costner Ashton Kutcher Melissa Sagemiller |
| Cinematography | Stephen St. John |
| Edited by | Thomas J. Nordberg Dennis Virkler |
| Music by | Trevor Rabin |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures Beacon Communications |
Release dates | September 29, 2006 |
Running time | 136 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million(expected) |
The Guardian is a 2006 film starring Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, and Melissa Sagemiller that was released on September 29, 2006. The film was directed by Andrew Davis. The setting for the film is the United States Coast Guard and their Aviation Survival Technician (AST) program. It is inspired by the 2004 Japanese summer blockbuster film "Umizaru" (Sea Monkeys) and later 2005 TV drama series "Umizaru Evolution", which were based on a Japanese manga of the same name about the rescue diver trainees with Japan Coast Guard.
Plot
The plot follows Senior Chief Petty Officer Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) and Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) at the United States Coast Guard's Aviation Survival Technician (AST) Program. Ben Randall is the top rescue swimmer who continues to work against regulation past the age of 40. Jake Fischer is a hot-shot candidate for AST who was ranked as a top competitive swimmer in high school. The movie title is introduced by a mythic tale: People lost at sea often claim they feel a presence lifting them to the surface, breathing life into their bodies while they are waiting for help to arrive. They call this presence "The Guardian."
Randall, who has been juggling his home life and work as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, is confronted by his wife asking for a separation due to his frequent time at work. During the argument, he receives a page for an immediate rescue. Out at sea he loses his rescue team in a helicopter accident, and while waiting in a survival raft, his best friend, Carl Billings, dies due to injury, cold and shock, not to mention, the victim he had on the helicopter's rescue harness, that he was trying to rescue, was abruptly pulled under with the sinking helicopter before his very eyes and was never seen again. Shaken, he is forced to either retire or to teach at a Coast Guard training school to recompose in which he reluctantly chooses the latter. Here, Jake Fischer arrives as a hopeful AST candidate at the academy. Randall is considered a legend with countless number of saves.
Ben Randall goes against protocol as an instructor and teaches as he wills, while Fischer is the usual arrogant, but good-hearted student. During the training, Fischer meets a local schoolteacher, Emily Thomas, and begins a "casual" relationship, as they both know his time there is limited. Once the initial, grueling weeks of training are over, and more than half of the students dropped (the school's Commandant almost boasts of an attrition rate of more than 50%), detailed instruction begins at the academy. After sleeping at his girlfriend’s house, Fischer arrives late to class and is confronted by the waiting Randall. Unexpectedly, Fischer is not dropped, although he is punished for his tardiness. Ben tries to force Jake into quitting, but he later sees his persistence and dedication. Meeting Emily in a bar, Jake tells her about him beating all of his instructor's, Ben Randall's, records. However, Maggie the barkeep, an old friend of Randall's, tells Jake of an unbreakable record: On a rescue at a ship fire, Ben worked tirelessly to save all the victims. With one man left and a broken winch, Randall held the man by his fingertips for the entire flight to land, resulting in extensive injuries to his hand and shoulder; a record that could never be broken. Jake is then embarrassed.
That night, Jake and Emily are at her house and Jake proposes they go on a date. Emily denies the date with Jake to stick to their "casual relationship" but later gives in to the date and they sleep together again. Later, during instruction, Jake's friend Charlie Hodge is unable to cope with panicked victims in the water and is afraid of failing school, so Fischer takes him out for a drink before his date with Emily to cheer him up. After ending up in a Navy bar, they get involved in a fight and land in jail, leaving Jake's girlfriend stood up. Fischer arrives back at base beaten and bandaged where he takes the blame entirely. Randall confronts Fischer as to why he left his prospects as a competitive swimmer to join the AST program, and tells Jake what he learned about Jake's past: on a late night out, Jake, the designated driver, got into an accidental automobile crash, resulting in the deaths of his high school relay team. After a moment of sorrow, Randall and Fischer share common ground, now they both know how it feels like to be the only survivor. Fischer asks what Randall’s real number of saves is; no answer is given. Instruction is nearing completion and Fischer takes to the role of leader during exercises. At graduation only a handful of the original candidates remain. Emily comes to see her boyfriend graduate, but the two must say goodbye because Jake is leaving town. Jake and Emily find saying goodbye to each other overwhelming by sharing a hug and kiss, then they slowly walk away from each other.
Jake is assigned to CG Air Station Kodiak, Alaska for protection of the Bering Sea, Randall’s post and the same post Jake wants to be assigned to in the first place. On a mission together they are sent to rescue two kayakers. Fischer enters the cave and lights a flare. This brings back painful memories as Ben flashes back to his crew's disaster. After rescuing the first victim Fischer returns to find Randall locked up unable to move. Randall's victim had hit a log and had a head laceration, which reminded him of the night he lost his crew. Jake continues to rescue both the second victim and Ben. At this point Randall realizes he cannot continue. Against his commander's wishes he retires. Jake again asks Ben what the number is. Twenty-two is the answer, the number of people Randall couldn't save, the only number he kept track of. Finding his wife’s house, Ben goes in to apologize. He gives her the divorce papers and his wedding ring while they both act remorseful. Ben reveals that he has retired and slowly makes his way out. Ben returns to station to clear his office when he hears the radio chatter of a rescuer needed. Fischer is to be sent to rescue four sailors trapped on a sinking vessel. Three seamen are rescued while the ship's captain is trapped in the hull. While Jake refuses to leave the captain, the chopper leaves to refuel. Finally freeing the captain, the door to the room is sealed shut by water and debris. Trapped in the room the hull begins to fill with seawater. Moreover, waves hit the vessel, causing the captain to hit his head against a pipe. In addition, an oxygen tank falls on the captain's body, killing him in the process. Ben Randall is the only rescue swimmer available to save Jake. He promptly begins to gather his gear. On scene, Ben is lowered onto the vessel. Getting snagged on the mast he is forced to unhook and climb down. At this point Jake has very little breathing room. Finding the sealed door, the water is released and Fischer is freed. Back on deck they both hook to the rescue cable. Halfway up, the winch jams and the cable begins to unravel. Ben, realizing it can't hold both of them, unhooks and tries to fall. Jake catches and will not let him go, holding onto him by his glove simply saying, "I won't let go." Ben understandingly says, "I know." and unstraps his glove, plummeting from a fatal height into the ocean. Desperate to go in, Fischer isn't allowed, as the only cable they have is broken and are afraid to lose Jake as well; the spotlights never see Randall resurface.
Then, Jake Fischer begins to narrate. "The Coast Guard conducted one of the largest search-and-rescue missions for a single man in its history, but the body of Senior Chief Ben Randall was never found. What makes a legend? Is it what someone did when they were alive... or how they're remembered after they're gone? Some people actually believe Senior Chief made the swim to the Aleutian Islands. He's standing on a distant beach somewhere with a fishing pole in his hand. But I found my answer a couple of weeks later..." Weeks later, Jake is again sent to rescue a man. Upon retrieval, the victim keeps asking where the other man is. Jake realizes that 'someone' helped him, staying with him until help came. "He never let go", the man said. Jake attributes this to Ben's presence and continues his narration. "There's a legend -- of a man who lives beneath the sea. He's a fisher of men. A last hope for all those who have been left behind. He is known as The Guardian (Senior Chief Ben Randall)."
"Ben Randall always said life is about making choices. In the end, by making his, he helped me make mine." This narration Jake makes refers to being reunited with Emily for good. In saying so, he visits Emily at the elementary school she teaches at. Because her class was interrupted by Jake, Emily pauses her class, approaches him and asks, "What are you doing here?" Jake answers, "I lied to you -- I can't do casual." There, Emily kisses Jake happily.
Cast
Many of the supporting actors, including ASTC instructors, helicopter pilots, and support personnel, are actual U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers, pilots, and ground personnel. Several characters, including Kutcher's, identify themselves as Airman. Airman actually is the correct rank given to an E-3 in the United States Coast Guard designated by three green stripes worn on the left sleeve. An Airman is the title and rank of an enlisted person whom is undesignated and/or currently undergoing training in an aviation related field. Similar ranks within the Coast Guard are those of Seaman and Fireman.
One of the students was Mark Gangloff. He was an Olympic swimmer who received a gold medal in the Athens Olympic Games. *Clancy Brown "reprises" his role in The Guardian as another "Captain Hadley" — in the movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Shawshank Redemption, Brown played the chief of the prison's guards as Captain Byron Hadley.
- Kevin Costner as Ben Randall
- Ashton Kutcher as Jake Fischer
- Neal McDonough as Jack Skinner
- Melissa Sagemiller as Emily Thomas
- Clancy Brown as Captain William Hadley
- Brian Geraghty as Billy Hodge
- Sela Ward as Helen Randall
- Omari Hardwick as Carl Billings
- Michael Rady as Zingaro
- Peter Gail as Danny Doran
- Shelby Fenner as Cate Lindsey
- Damon Lipari as Bennett/ Damon Bennett
- Bonnie Bramlett as Maggie McGlone
- John Heard as Capt. Frank Larson
- Dulé Hill as Ken Weatherly
- Joe Arquette as Co-Pilot Antunez
- Andrew Schanno as Pilot Henry Mitchell
Production
- The production company hired local contractors to build a massive indoor wave pool for production.
- Following the series of hurricanes in the southern United States in 2005, production moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. Some of the "base" scenes were filmed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana and also at Camp Minden in Minden, Louisiana.
- The film was revised after Hurricane Katrina, with the addition of several comments on the storm and the rescues following. The end credits are replete with "glory" shots of U.S. Coast Guard helicopters conducting rescues in the greater New Orleans area. The DVD contains a special feature on U.S. Coast Guard rescue operations, especially in the aftermath of Katrina.
- Some of the scenes that were supposed to be filmed in Kodiak, Alaska were filmed CG Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina instead. 60,000 pounds of ice were needed on the set.
- The training pool used in the movie was LSU Shreveport's natatorium.
History
The mishap where Randall loses his crew is loosely based on an actual U.S. Coast Guard aviation mishap in Alaska. The aircraft was an HH-3F Pelican (USCG variant of the Sea King), instead of the HH-60J Jayhawk (USCG variant of the Blackhawk/Seahawk) pictured in the movie.[1]
"Never Let Go"
The major theme throughout the film is the idea of letting go. Taking many forms, this idea is both physically and figuratively illustrated. The first mention of this idea is in the opening, where Randall is trying to save the husband and wife. As the husband tries to grab ahold of the basket, Randall can be heard saying 'Let Go'. The idea reappears for a second time when Randall's wife looks at him and begs him to 'let her go', a reference to her leaving him. The irony is that neither character can really 'let go' of the other, evidenced after the helicopter crash and Randall's death. Figuratively, 'Letting Go' is illustrated by the tale of Randall's heroism holding onto the man during the helicopter flight to safety. Fischer re-creates the same scenario during the final, climactic rescue, only to have Randall undo his glove and fall to his death. Randall is also forced to 'Let Go' of his career after a PTSD attack during a rescue. An irony here is that Randall is called back into service the same day to rescue Fischer. "Never Let Go" is also the title of the song played during the ending credits of the song.
Alternate ending
In an alternate ending found on the DVD, Randall survives. As he unhooks and tries to fall, Jake again grabs him and vows not to let go. Instead of unstrapping his glove, Randall lets the cable pull them up and it breaks just as they get into the helicopter. This ending was added because some of the writers were worried that the original ending was too strong for viewers. Nonetheless, it was scrapped when Disney chairman, Dick Cook applauded the original ending.