The Guardian (2006 film)

2006 film by Andrew Davis

Touchstone Pictures
Beacon Pictures

The film was revised after Hurricane Katrina, with the addition of several comments on the storm and the rescues. 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. Many of the supporting actors in The Guardian, 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 airmen. An airman is the enlisted rating of a Coast Guardsman who is undesignated and/or currently undergoing training in an aviation related field. Similar ratings within the Coast Guard are those of seaman and fireman. One of the students was Mark Gangloff, an Olympic swimmer who received a gold medal in the Athens Olympic Games. The production company hired local contractors to build a massive indoor wave pool for production.

The mishap in The Guardian 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 Jolly Green Giant) instead of the HH 60J Jayhawk (USCG variant of the Blackhawk/Seahawk) pictured in the movie.

In an alternate ending to The Guardian, found on the DVD, Ben survives. As he unhooks and tries to fall, Jake again grabs him and vows not to let go. Instead of unstrapping his glove, Ben 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.

The Guardian earned $18 million on its opening weekend (#2 at the box office behind Open Season), and almost $95 million worldwide by January 4, 2007.

At Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian received a 37% "Rotten" rating, based on 149 reviews. The site's consensus states: "The Coast Guard gets its chance for a heroic movie tribute, but The Guardian does it no justice, borrowing cliche after cliche from other (and better) military branch movies." While Metacritic rates it a 53/100 based on 29 reviews. Stephen Hunter pans it in The Washington Post, calling it "a good little film" for the first hour then it "begins to overload its frail reed of a structure with giant sloppages of cliches from other movies, some so bad it's almost comical", concluding that the movie "veers off into slobbery touchy feeliness, and the tone becomes mock religious, almost liturgical." Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe called it "dutiful but dull." A. O. Scott, in his review for The New York Times, notes that participation by actual members of the Coast Guard "lends an air of authenticity" and concludes " [i]t's not a great movie, but it's certainly one of the finest Coast Guard pictures you're likely to see anytime soon." In a Variety review, Joe Leydon says the movie is "overlong but [the] involving drama has obvious cross generational appeal." Ed Blank in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review gave a mixed review, saying "The Guardian regurgitates formulaic elements in a way that pays off repeatedly and potently."