Plane Is Blowing Up Netflix—and Real Combat Vets Made It Happen

What looked like another standard "Butler-punches-his-way-out-of-trouble" flick turns out to pack a serious edge — and that's thanks to real Navy SEALs working both behind and in front of the camera.

The setup: Butler plays Brodie Torrance, a commercial pilot who pulls off an emergency landing on a war-torn island after a lightning strike downs his plane. Things go from bad to worse when armed rebels take the passengers hostage. To get them out alive, Torrance teams up with a mysterious prisoner played by Mike Colter. So far, so action movie.

But here's the twist: instead of hiring actors to play the tactical rescue team, director Jean-François Richet insisted on casting actual former Navy SEALs — guys like Remi Adeleke and Pete Scobell — who brought real-world experience to everything from room-clearing to the way they held their weapons.

Butler explained:

"Initially we were looking at actors for those roles, and Jean-François said no. He insisted that we got military who could act."

That decision wasn't just for show. Every movement, every line of dialogue, every firefight in Plane has that cold, professional tone that feels lived-in rather than choreographed. Even Colter noticed the difference on set:

"With that many people having that many weapons on set, it's good to have people who actually eat, sleep and breathe that life... so you don't have to worry about them doing something silly."

The result? Plane doesn't feel like a comic book fever dream — it feels tense, grounded, and earned. It's not pretending to be gritty; it just is. Butler said it best:

"You know you're with the real deal... so when they're fighting, you're like, 'Okay, this is not pretend.'"

Audiences clearly picked up on that, too. The film holds a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's been dominating Netflix's trending charts since it dropped. In a genre flooded with CGI chaos and cartoon physics, Plane stands out by actually treating action like it matters.