Film / 6 Days

6 Days is a 2017 action-thriller film directed by Toa Fraser, based off the events surrounding the real-life Iranian Embassy siege.

On the early afternoon of 30th April 1980, a group of six gunmen force their way into the Iranian Embassy in London, taking 26 embassy workers—including one attached local police constable—hostage. While the terrorists hunker down, a regiment of the elite Special Air Service is called in by the Army to be on standby should the situation deteriorate. Corporal Rusty Firmin (Jamie Bell), a new young member of the S.A.S, is eager to prove himself to the older lads and suddenly finds himself with a startling amount of responsibility befitting his new position as a team leader. London Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector Max Vernon (Mark Strong) is assigned as the head negotiator in order to de-escalate the standoff, while BBC news reporter Kate Adie (Abbie Cornish) stays outside the police cordon in the hopes of making her career break with the developing situation.

As several long days pass by, the hostage-takers grow increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress while the negotiators have to work around the fact that their government insists on a heavy-handed resolution to take place. Day Six arrives and many deadlines later, every side poises itself for the inevitable confrontation.

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This film provides examples of:

• Absurdly Ineffective Barricade: Downplayed. The terrorists block several doors with random furniture during the 6 days of preparation they had. A door is effectively sealed off due to one of these, but the S.A.S resort to sending a man outside to the next balcony and into the adjacent room with the debris. With no small amount of elbow grease, he dismantles the barricade and the team finally escapes the burning room.
• All for Nothing: The terrorist's cause fizzled up in smoke the moment they took the Embassy staff hostage, as the UK government had no intention with playing along. Inspector Max's attempts at a peaceful resolution ends with him lying to the confidant who trusted him resulting in the latter's (somewhat justified) deaths.
• Artistic License – History: While the SAS assault is a fairly accurate representation of what happened, there are a scant few divergences from how things actually played out.
  • The biggest change is the invention of a fictional character,Rusty Firmin as the SAS commander, instead of Michael Rose, the SAS's actual commander during the assault.
  • The staircase scene has two differences associated with it that were likely cut out for ease of filming and safety reasons:
    • The hostages were simply portrayed as being freely able to run down the staircase. In reality, the SAS would throw the hostages from shoulder to shoulder in order to ensure that they were in control of their movement and also to ensure that any terrorist among them could not react quickly.
    • The scene where the disguised terrorist with the grenade is shot involves the SAS soldier grabbing him by the shirt and killing him with a few shots from his MP5. In reality, the terrorist was actually pushed to the bottom of the stairs by an SAS soldier and then shot with multiple magazine's worth of ammunition by multiple SAS soldiers. Since the terrorist was holding a grenade in his hand, this was vital to ensure he would be dead and unable to detonate it.
  • The scene where Constable Lock wrestles with Oan is has no dialogue, when in reality the SAS soldiers shouted at Lock to get away before they shot Oan.
  • The SAS soldier who catches on fire is depicted in the movie to have his leg caught on fire. In reality, his gas mask was the section that was burnt, with the SAS soldier simply taking it off and entering a room filled with CS Gas. In addition, the SAS Soldier in real life would have encountered another terrorist in the room, although his gun would have jammed and the terrorist would be killed with a headshot from his sidearm. Said terrorist in the movie is moved to the Telex Room where he is killed by the SAS soldiers storming the room. (It's worth noting he did attempt to reach that room in the actual raid but was killed before he could do so)
• Bittersweet Ending: The Embassy siege finally ends after the titular 6 Days, but unfortunately a total of two hostages also lost their lives. All but one terrorist were killed, and their cause, while just, ultimately goes unfulfilled thanks to their violent actions. Made worse especially in real-life, where the following news coverage of the Iran Hostage Crisis and the subsequent Iran–Iraq War then completely overshadowed the plight of the people of Arabistan.
  • The sole surviving terrorist, Fowzi Nejad, was released from prison in 2008. He could not be deported back to Iran as he would be tortured or executed, so was allowed to remain in the UK under a new identity.
• Blatant Lies: While on call with Salim on Day 6, a S.A.S trooper accidentally kicks in a window. Salim tells Max about the sudden noise, but Max (under orders to stall for time) blatantly tells him that there is no suspicious sound. Salim does not buy it for one second.
• Blinded by the Light: The S.A.S team has large flashlights attached to their sub-machine guns and make liberal use of flashbangs throughout the raid on the Embassy. Subverted as none of the flash grenades blinds any terrorists. In fact, one accidentally sets a curtain on fire that ends up burning the leg of one S.A.S soldier badly.
• Brave Scot: Most of the Special Air Service team are depicted as Scottish, adding to their already badass credentials.
• Chekhov's Gun: During the downtimes of the S.A.S, they are constantly reminded to memorize the faces of both the hostages, but especially that of the hostage takers. It helps at a crucial moment when one of them identifies a terrorist hiding within the hostages.
• Convenient Misfire: A S.A.S soldier tries to fire his sub-machine gun at a terrorist trying to set the Embassy on fire, but his MP5 suddenly jams. The terrorist fires his own gun and misses, but the S.A.S soldier whips out his sidearm and returns the favor, but misses as well while the terrorist flees.
• Death Glare: Corporal Rusty gives one to Faisal through his gas mask when the former recognizes the latter during the raid.
• The Dragon: Faisal is Salim's second in command of the takeover, but the S.A.S clearly sees the former as the more potentially dangerous of the terrorist group just by looking at his Dark and Troubled Past.
• Drone of Dread: Most of the original score is littered with it. Appropriate considering the copious amounts of tension during the siege itself. Especially during the last 30 minutes left of the siege which abruptly stops when an SAS trooper abseiling down from the embassy during the lead up for the assault hits the glass, alerting Salim.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: The British Army's Special Air Service are called in for their public debut when the crisis begins.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The leader of the terrorists, Salim may have no compulsions in taking innocents hostage and threatening to kill them, but when it finally comes down to it, he is very reluctant to actually carry out his threats and constantly buys time for them. Faisal on the other hand is much less patient than his boss.
• "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner: The Iranian hostage defiantly screams at Faisal shortly before he is executed on Day 6.
  Hostage (in Farsi): I welcome my death, if it leads to yours!
• Foregone Conclusion: Anyone who's read up on their history will know how the raid will end. Mainly two dead hostages and all but one terrorist killed, while Britain makes its point to the world that they will not budge one inch for future terror attacks on their soil.
• Gas Mask Mooks: The entire S.A.S team wears these to the raid. They're anything but mooks though.
• Greater-Scope Villain: A little probing into the terrorists' backgrounds indicates that they recently came into contact with an Iraqi ambassador, who is speculated to have provided them with weapons smuggled through diplomatic bags. By the time the British police attempt to confront the ambassador, he has long left British soil, and Iraq of course denies any involvement.
• Gun Struggle: One breaks out between Salim and PC Trevor Locke over Salim's machine-pistol when the S.A.S begins their raid.
• Hostage Situation: The basis of the entire movie.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Ray declares his need for one after watching footage of the first dead hostage being collected from the Embassy.
• Insufferable Imbecile: Jimmy, the tabloid journalist who doesn't give a toss that it's a life-or-death situation but only wants a headline, and who remains convinced until the last possible second that the government will not attempt to rescue the hostages.
• Intrepid Reporter: Kate Adie and her cameraman were the only news crew to stay behind when the first explosions rang out on Day 6. For this, she is rewarded with exclusive live coverage of the S.A.S incursion into the Embassy which skyrockets her career in the years to come.
• In-Universe Factoid Failure: Rusty and his team take a break from drilling for the assault to find a random Asian guy inspecting their model of the embassy and saying "Oh no, this is all wrong." Rusty is indignant, until the learns that the man is the building's janitor. The janitor points out that their model is seriously inaccurate, noting that one room in their model is actually a closet, and some of the building's doors don't open the way the model shows that they do. Rusty rather embarrassedly asks the logistical support guy to fix the model.
• Kill It with Fire: Thankfully averted. One S.A.S soldier catches a terrorist attempting to douse the Embassy in gasoline. The perpetrator drops the gas can and the two instead break into a firefight.
• Lost in a Crowd: The last two terrorists attempt to do this among the rescued hostages, but are easily recognized. One is shot, while the other is later arrested when the police conduct their post-operation headcount.
• Middle Eastern Terrorists: The perpetrators are Iranian Arabs (yes, non-Persian Iranians exist) who are demanding the release of their comrades from prison in Iran who were fighting their Iranian oppressors for the formation of an independent Arabistan.
• Miss Exposition: Kate provides a straightforward narration of the entire raid after the first explosions ring out. Justified, she is after all a news reporter explaining the latest developments live on television.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Faisal does show a brief moment of regret after he executes the first hostage when he slumps into a chair, hand over his mouth.
• No Range Like Point-Blank Range: Corporal Rusty thoroughly ventilates Faisal with his MP5 sub-machine gun point-blank when the latter is caught trying to escape among the hostages, grenade in hand.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Rusty examines the known profile of Faisal, one of the hostage takers and remarks that his military training, troubled background and nothing-to-lose attitude is eerily similar to himself.
  Rusty: Apart from well-educated.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • On Day 5, despite requests from the UK government and the hostage takers, the domestic BBC radio plays an extremely brief version of the terrorists' manifesto, then skipping it completely in favor of less-pressing, mundane news. The negotiation team listening to the radio then brace themselves for the probable backlash coming from the terrorists.... Fortunately, the BBC World Service properly broadcasts the whole thing on-time, which is thankfully what the hostage-takers were listening to all along.
  • Colonel Rose when he sees the troopers accidentally hit the glass, prematurely tipping off Salim.
  • Salim when sees two heavily armed S.A.S men bursting into the room where he and PC Trevor Locke are currently struggling over the former's machine pistol.
• Only a Flesh Wound: One S.A.S soldier gets his left leg severely burnt due to a fire while dangling on a botched rappeling attempt, and later, when his rope is cut, he plummets about ten feet and lands on his back on a stone balcony. He shrugs off the injury and continues the mission as the point man, but later he does clutch his leg in agony. He is the only S.A.S wounded throughout the entire operation.
• The Siege: The London Metropolitan Police and the British Army are forced to lay one against the terrorists holding the Iranian Embassy with its occupants hostage.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Downplayed. Max Vernon, the negotiator forms rapport with the terrorist's leader Salim and is genuinely invested in helping them all get out of this situation alive. He is initially aghast when instructed by his government to lie to the terrorists to buy time for the S.A.S team to breach, but ultimately concedes that saving the hostages was of the highest priority.
• Stuff Blowing Up: The S.A.S teams use frame charges to blow quick entry points into the Embassy windows during the raid.
• Time Title: About a six-day-long hostage taking.
• Training Montage: The introduction of the S.A.S characters begins with one. Afterwards, they're called in for real and immediately pack up for London. Later they are seen running drills in an empty hanger for a bus assault (which wasn't approved and ultimately scrapped), then later with a life-sized mockup of the Embassy's floorplan.
• Violence is the Only Option: Enforced. The UK government (especially one Margaret Thatcher) makes it clear to all the top brass involved in handling the siege that they will absolutely take no option that would allow the terrorists any sort of freedom through negotiations or outside influence.
• We Have Reserves: The Iranian government seems to have this attitude regarding their diplomatic personnel, in contrast to their Western counterparts.
  Farsi Interpreter: They welcome all the hostages to be martyrs for the great Islamic State of Iran.

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