Air Force One (1997)

This movie is awesome. Sure, it's a little flawed, and you obviously need to suspend some belief in order to enjoy it, but don't you have to do that with most action movies? I mean, it's 'Die Hard on a plane', you're gonna have to suspend some belief.

The plot centers around US president John Marshall, who has just announced that America will not negotiate with terrorists after a successful kidnapping of a foreign dictator. However, terrorists from the dictator's country seize control of Air Force One during a flight, and Marshall, who is on trapped board, is forced to fight to save his family and the rest of the hostages on board.

Andrew W. Marlowe has written an excellent script, which is greatly complimented by a spellbinding performance by Harrison Ford, and an excellent villain performance from Gary Oldman. Ford usually delivers excellent performances on screen, and really makes us care about his characters and what happens to them, and this is no exception. Ford really draws us in and sells his role as the president. He is one of my favorite actors, and one of the finest working actors out there. Oldman's performance as the terrorist leader is excellent too, and he is a pretty menacing villain.

Wolfgang Petersen helms the project, directing with style and flare, and he really makes the film work, giving an at times tight, almost claustrophobic feel, which I really liked. He competently handles the action sequences, and I'm surprised he hasn't made more action films, his only other real foray into the genre being In the Line of Fire (1993), another political action thriller starring Clint Eastwood. But nevertheless, wether or not his resume has few action films, he does his best here.

Now obviously, like others have noted, there are flaws, as with a lot of films. Little things, like;

1. How did the terrorists take over the plane? Is that even possible?

2. Even with military training, could the president really defeat an armed group of terrorists?

3. What's with all the weapons on the plane?

4. How could the terrorists so easily overtake all of the secret service guys on board? Etc.

There are things like this that one does have to suspend belief for, and I did, but these things didn't bother me because the movie was so well-written and acted, and I was engaged in the plot and the characters. The good honestly outweighs the bad, and the performances really bring the script to life, particularly (as mentioned earlier) Ford and Oldman.

There's some good action, with some well-made, realistic-looking fist fights, some great gun-battles, and an excellent climax and plane crash (even if the special effects are really dated by today's standards). The fights in particular are really great and brutal, and the action is violent and hard-hitting, and there was a surprising amount for a political action thriller. I have to say that I think Harrison Ford does some of the best fight scenes out there. They look vicious, realistic, and brutal, and they're not these drawn-out martial arts ballets. He gets tired and clumsy, and looks like a real person fighting for their life.

I highly recommend this film, since it's such a good action-thriller, and surprisingly safe for an R rated film (no sex or nudity, and only one f-bomb). I would honestly put it my top 5 (or even 3) Harrison Ford films, and highly recommend it to fans of Ford, Oldman, or the action genre, or just if you want to be en

Fmovies: An Action movie is made to entertain, and should always be taken at face value. With this in mind Air Force One hits the mark, despite some minor flaws it still delivers tension, drama and action in abundance.

The cast is strong and full of believable characters, the story is compelling and the traditional dose of sentiment is added sparingly and to good effect. Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman both put in solid performances and they are well supported by the likes of Glenn Close and Wendy Crewson.

Overall Air Force One is an safe bet for the average movie fan and should entertain most, without ever really excelling.

7/10

Air Force One is one great ride. What makes it work so well is the conviction that Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman bring to their roles. You can see in each actor's eyes that they stand behind what they believe in. Gary Oldman makes a perfect villian and a very complex one at that. He is not just an average, run of the mill madman. He has a family, he is someone's son and those facts make him that much more real. Harrison Ford is great as the president. He's strong, quick witted, and will do anything he can to save his family and staff from the hijackers. A good ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat for two hours, just as long as you don't ask any questions.

Air Force One fmovies. Harrison Ford plays a president who refuses to negotiate with terrorists. But after one terrorist (Gary Oldman) hijacks the Air Force One and the president's wife and daughter, maybe he will have to rethink his position.

Allegedly, Kevin Costner was supposed to be playing the president. Boy am I glad he was too busy making "The Postman" for this movie. Not only did he make a great Postman, but he would have made a horrible president. When you want drama, you call Costner. When you want action, you call Bruce Willis. When you want the perfect blend of drama and action, you call Harrison Ford (think "The Fugitive", for example... don't think "Star Wars").

Ford is great as a diplomat, but equally as good with a gun and in a fight. But the real star of this is Gary Oldman, who plays an evil and soulless terrorist determined to get his old general freed from prison. Oldman plays it like he means it, killing mercilessly while still appearing cold and calculated rather than insane. The writer even had the decency to have Oldman deliver lines condemning the president for bombing villages while being against terror.

Glenn Close and Dean Stockwell made great supporting stars, and even William H. Macy seemed a little less flamboyant than usual in his role as a military man.

This film is especially interesting in the context of our current president, George W. Bush. Bush has also gone on record many times for not negotiating with terrorists and takes a hardline approach similar to Harrison Ford. What would Bush do if terrorists hijacked his plane or kidnapped his family? Even giving me that visual image made this film worth the viewing.

Why can't our president kick this much ***? Air Force One seemed like a pure action movie to me. And I loved it. Some parts could have been a little more believeable, but it was still very fun and entertaining.

The acting in this movie was good. Harrison Ford, as always, did an excellent job as the star of this movie. Gary Oldman, the greatest movie bad guy of all time, did not disappoint. It was cool to see Glenn Close as the vice president, keeping the blood-sucking politicians at bay. Another great performance, although not given enough credit, is from William H. Macy, who is one of my favorite of the lesser known actors.

The storyline is fair, but nothing special or too original. The only difference is in this case, the president is not a hostage but the man fighting the terrorists. Terrorists manage to hijack Air Force One and kidnap many important people, the presidents kids, some politicans, some secret service guys and a bunch of extras they threw in to fill up the plane. They thought the president had escaped, but the truth was he stayed behind to fight the terrorists, retake the plane and save his family.

This movie is a great action flick which I enjoyed a lot. It's not meant to be ground-breaking or anything like that, it's just meant to be enjoyed. So go out and enjoy it!

Nonstop action, thrilling suspense, dark humor, and a brilliant concept, this flag waving over the top action adventure was a good two hours in 1997.

The story: Enroute back to the States from Russia, Russian Nationals hijack the President's plane and hold him and his family (as well as most of his staff) hostage aboard Air Force One in order to release a Rouge General captured earlier.

Harrison Ford from his first minute to his last looks comfortable in his Presidential role. That's to say, Ford appears, acts and just plain feels like he should be President. (Come one who saw this movie and wanted him to run). Gary Oldman's performance as the main villain (Ivan) should be up there with the likes of Alan Rickman's Hans from Die Hard and John Malkovich's Leary-Booth-Carney from In the Line of Fire (coincidentally directed by Wolfgang Peterson as well). Glenn Close pulls of the Vice President role with smirks and spunk.

Stars aside I think the supporting cast should get an equal if not harder pat on the back. These guysÂ…and girlsÂ…. really made the movie. They're the ones that brought the chuckles and caused gasps. Wendy Crewson (The Good Son) nailed her role with more grace than a first lady has actually shown in the last recallable years. Paul Guilfoyle ("CSI", The Negotiator), was the kind gentle, "best buddy", chief-of-staff, who brought a small smile to your face every time he is on-screen. Xander Berkeley ("24", Terminator 2), plays the chilling secret service agent Gibbs. The lovable William H. Macy plays the good-mannered Air Force Officer who puts himself in harm's way for the President more time than the Secret Service agents do. He just doesn't get enough screen time toward the beginning. And Dean Stockwell will have you cussing under your breath as the power-hungry Secretary of Defense. And it seems that Wolfgang Peterson watched every great Action/Military movie of the past 3 years and hired all those "briefing room generals". For this I applaud him. As for the terrorist, they rival those of Die hard. Cold, stone-faced, funny, smooth, and just plain hateable, they did their job.

The bulk of the movie takes place aboard the Air Force One no kidding eh?). And boy do you believe it. The production designer (Williams Sandell) obviously paid attention to detail, mimicking the real Presidential Aircraft. Small, claustrophobic and believable.

Andrew W. Marlowe's script gets it job done as well. Nothing award winning. It's everything you would expect given the story it has to tell. Couple times it will make you cringe, but again, look what it needs to accomplish.

The late Jerry Goldsmith's score for this movie is a hands down classic. Only having two weeks to score the film after Peterson rejected Randy Newman's work, Goldsmith with the help of Joel Mcneely composed one of the most bombastic, riveting, emotional, suspenseful, and patriotic scores I've heard come out of the film world. It works perfectly with the movie.

A few times your mind is going to be stretch you may have to resort to the "It's just a movie" mindset. Overall its fun. Not a bad way to spend 2 hours. Harrison Ford for President.