Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts.
Critics of use of the term "collateral damage" see it as a euphemism that dehumanizes non-combatants killed or injured during combat, used to reduce the perceived culpability of military leadership in failing to prevent non-combatant casualties.
Collateral damage does not include civilian casualties caused by military operations that are intended to terrorize or kill enemy civilians (e.g. some of the strategic bombing during World War II).
A bomb detonates in the plaza of the Colombian Consulate building in Los Angeles, killing nine people, including a caravan of Colombian officials and American intelligence agents. Among the civilians killed are the wife and son of an LAFD firefighter, Captain Gordon "Gordy" Brewer, who was injured in the explosion. A tape is sent to the U.S. State Department, in which a masked man calling himself "El Lobo" (The Wolf) claims responsibility, justifying it as retaliation for the oppression of Colombia by the United States. The FBI believes El Lobo is a Colombian terrorist named Claudio Perrini. CIA Special Agent Peter Brandt, the Colombia Station Chief, is harshly reprimanded for the incident by a Senate Oversight Committee, which promptly terminates all CIA operations in Colombia. Brandt angrily returns to Mompós and meets with his paramilitary allies to plan a major offensive to take down Claudio.
Frustrated at the political red tape regarding the investigation, Brewer travels to Mompós to personally hunt down Claudio but is quickly arrested for illegal entry. The guerrillas stage a prison break to free their comrades and abduct Brewer to demand a large ransom for him. Brandt's unit is alerted to Brewer's presence in Colombia but arrive too late. Brewer escapes the prison, evades capture, and secures a guerrilla zone pass from Canadian mechanic Sean Armstrong. Armstrong introduces him to drug runner Felix Ramirez, the manager of the cocaine distribution facility that finances the guerrillas. Masquerading as a "mechanic", Brewer rigs several improvised explosives and destroys the facility. Felix is blamed for the destruction of the drug plant and is executed in front of a hiding Brewer's eyes. Brewer infiltrates Claudio's headquarters and plants a bomb to kill him, but he is captured when he tries to prevent a woman, Selena, from being caught in the blast radius along with her son, Mauro. At Claudio's home compound, Selena reveals she is Claudio's wife. She and Claudio once lost their own child during an American attack, which compelled Claudio to become a terrorist; Selena found and adopted Mauro, whose parents were killed in the attack. Regardless, Selena eventually sympathizes with Brewer and admits that Claudio is planning another bombing in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Brandt's unit locates Claudio's compound and launches an attack. During the ensuing shootout, Selena helps free Brewer and, along with Brandt, travels back to the State Department in Washington, D.C. to help the search effort for Claudio. Selena identifies Union Station as the target, and the FBI investigates. On the pretense of using the lavatory, Selena excuses herself from the command room and becomes irritated when Mauro refuses to come with her. When Brewer sees Selena make the same gesture as the masked man who claimed to be El Lobo in the tape, he realizes that she was the Wolf all along, and Claudio serves as her figurehead, and that the entire motive behind their cause is personal revenge for the death of their daughter at the hands of the US. Furthermore, Brewer surmises the real target is the State Department, and that he was used to help Selena get past the building's security. Brewer quickly throws Mauro's bomb-laden toy dinosaur out a window seconds before it explodes. Brandt, realizing Brewer's suspicions, is shot and killed trying to stop Selena from fleeing the building.
Brewer chases Selena to the basement of the building where she and Claudio ride off through the tunnels on a motorcycle. Brewer finds the tunnel control console and shuts the gates, preventing their escape. Brewer uses an axe to rupture some gas lines along the walls of the tunnel and, as they ride back, Selena shoots at Brewer, unwittingly igniting the gas. Brewer jumps through a doorway just as the entire tunnel explodes. Selena and Claudio survive the blast, however, and attack him simultaneously. After a short, hand-to-hand fight, Selena is electrocuted by being tossed on the exposed circuitry of the control panel, and Claudio is himself killed when Brewer throws an axe into his chest.
In the aftermath, Brewer carries Mauro in his arms as they leave the State Department. A newscast voiceover explains that Brewer will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom for preventing one of the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history from taking place.
Casting
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Captain Gordon "Gordy" Brewer, A Los Angeles firefighter who seeks Colombian terrorists responsible for the killing of his wife and son.
- Elias Koteas as Peter Brandt, the head of the CIA station of Colombia.
- Francesca Neri as Selena Perrini, the wife of Claudio.
- Cliff Curtis as Claudio 'El Lobo' Perrini, a Colombian terrorist known as the Wolf.
- John Leguizamo as Felix Ramirez, the manager of cocaine distribution facility.
- John Turturro as Sean Armstrong, a Canadian mechanic.
- Lindsay Frost as Anne Brewer, Gordy's wife.
- Ethan Dampf as Matt Brewer, Gordy's son.
- Miguel Sandoval as FBI Special Agent Joe Phipps, the FBI agent in charge.
- Harry Lennix as FBI Agent Dray, Phipps's FBI partner
- Jane Lynch as Agent Russo
- Tyler Posey as Mauro, the adopted son of Selena and Claudio.
- Fernando Sarfati as Federale
- Jsu Garcia as Roman, Claudio's right-hand man.
- Michael Milhoan as Jack, Gordy's fellow fireman.
- Rick Worthy as Ronnie, Gordy's fellow fireman.
- Raymond Cruz as Junior, Gordy's fellow fireman.
- J. Kenneth Campbell as Ed Coonts, the former military advisor of Colombia who gives Brewer advice to survive Colombia.
- Rodrigo Obregón as Rodrigo
- Michael Cavanaugh as Chairman Paul Devereaux
- Nicholas Pryor as Senator Delich
The film was shot in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.. The scenes that represent Colombia were shot in the town of Coatepec in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Filming in Mexico lasted ten weeks. First were shot during first eight weeks and then returned to roll other two.
The September 11, 2001 attacks affected the release and editing of the final film. The original trailer was scrapped because it showed a major bomb attack in the United States. The film was originally scheduled to be released on October 5, 2001, but it was postponed due to its terrorism theme and eventually released on February 8, 2002. The premiere was held four days earlier. Collateral Damage was also supposed to include Colombian actress SofÃa Vergara in the role of an airplane hijacker; however the scene where Vergara would hijack a plane was cut from the film.
