Former FBI Hostage Rescue Team member Chris Whitcomb rates 10 rescue scenes for realism in movies and TV shows. Whitcomb worked for the FBI for 16 years and for the Hostage Rescue Team for 12 of those years. He's been involved in dozens of high-profile rescue operations around the world, such as the siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and at the siege at Waco, Texas.
Whitcomb rates the realism of hostage-rescue tactics portrayed in films such as "Die Hard" (1988), "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014), and "The Dark Knight" (2008). He breaks down the historical accuracy of films such as "Captain Phillips" (2013); "Patriots Day" (2016), which portrays the events of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; and "6 Days" (2017), which depicts the Special Air Service storming of the Iranian Embassy in 1980.
Whitcomb also discusses the differences between his lived experiences and what is portrayed in the film "The Siege at Ruby Ridge" (1996) and the limited series "Waco" (2018). He talks about the importance of timing when taking a shot at a hostage taker by analyzing scenes from "The Taking of Pelham 123" (2009) and "NCIS" (2009).