Air Force One (1997)

the audience applauded

Boring, long, and too preachy.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Yes good in technically terms and in terms of action, acting and direction. But the story is rather weak and even a bit illogical. It's a unreal fantasy to conceive that a ductator in Kazakhstan tries through terrorismo to restore Russia as the world power that she was before the implosion of USSR and that a group of those terrorists hijack the plane where the President of USA is returning home from Moscow. Well but forgetting this you can watch this movie with some pleasure due to the constant action and suspense.

I had never seen this until last weekend, when it was on an afternoon television marathon. It wasn't good. Whether you're a huge Harrison Ford fan or not, AF1 is contrived and silly. In typical Hollywood fashion, all the "bad guys" are white and Russian. Over the top acting by most of the cast and idiotic plot/subplots can't be salvaged by action sequences that make you wonder just how smart the bad guys could be since they can't seem to keep guns trained on hostages. Ford as the fictional U.S. President slinks around and growls the whole movie,looking like he's about to pass a kidney stone. The CGI of the plane crashing into the ocean at the end of the movie looks like you're watching a gaming screen. It so wants to be DIE HARD on an airplane but fails on every level to make you even care about the story or characters.

For a movie that recycles most of its ingredients from past action movies (especially "Die Hard"), "Air Force One" still manages to stand out relatively well in its own right. This is partially due to the high concept premise that's chock full of potential.In the movie, a group of terrorists hijack Air Force One, which is the official call sign of the aircraft carrying the President of the United States of America. Luckily, the President just happens to be a tough-as-nails Medal of Honor recipient (rather than, say, a blowhard with a combover). Obviously, these terrorists are about to experience some major turbulence.Starring as the President is Harrison Ford. There aren't too many actors that could pull off this role but Ford is one of them. His pedigree as an action hero is unquestionable but he's also convincing as a stalwart leader and a loving husband & father. His worthy adversary is played by the always captivating Gary Oldman, who contributes a deliciously villainous performance. The supporting cast is headed by the formidable Glenn Close as the Vice President and is otherwise studded with the likes of Dean Stockwell, William H. Macy & Philip Baker Hall.As I alluded to above, the story borrows heavily from other (better) action movies, particularly "Die Hard". In fact, there are so many parallels that you could say that this movie is basically "Die Hard" on a plane, with the President in place of John McClane. That being said, the "Die Hard" template translates very well to the setting of "Air Force One". Unfortunately, in the later stages the action gets somewhat ludicrous, possibly in an attempt to distinguish the movie from other similar excursions.The sometimes over-the-top action isn't the only problem with the narrative, though. The catalyst for the story is a betrayal by one of the American Secret Service agents. However, director Wolfgang Peterson felt that it was unnecessary to provide a glimpse into this character's motivation, so he ended up leaving an explanatory scene on the cutting room floor. This is particularly baffling since the character figures into the action fairly significantly but he basically remains a mystery.Generally, though, from a directorial standpoint, Wolfgang Peterson did a fine job. Before eventually going overboard, the movie is quite suspenseful. Unfortunately, another drawback of the excesses in the action department is that the special effects aren't quite convincing. At least the Jerry Goldsmith score provides a rousing backdrop even when the story goes off the rails.Ultimately, "Air Force One" is a decent action movie but one that loses its way in the late stages. Apart from the aforementioned misguided action sequences, the final showdown with the terrorists also leaves something to be desired. Even so, the movie's still worth watching since Ford & Oldman going head to head makes for compelling viewing for a large chunk of the movie's runtime.

Just imagine if we had Harrison Ford as President. You can't beat him as a fantasy holder of the highest office in the land."Air Force One" from 1997 is like many special effects films - it's preposterous. I for one, could not have cared less. It was so exciting, so suspenseful, so tension-filled that I couldn't stop watching. It's also strangely prescient of 9/11; we just had the fifteenth anniversary of that yesterday, and it was sad and horrible.The film begins with an American Special Forces unit capturing General Ivan Radek (Jurgen Prochnow), the dictator of Kazakhstan, being captured by the American Special Forces. His regime was bloody, and he was rumored to be stockpiling nuclear weapons. The capture was due to the joint effort of the President and President Petrov of Russia. A short time later, Marshall and his family (Wendy Crewson and Liesel Matthews) travel to Russia, where Marshall is honored for his help. Marshall takes the opportunity to break from his prepared speech, stating that the world has been too slow to act against terrorism, and says that the U.S. is beginning a "zero tolerance" policy against it. The film begins with an American Special Forces unit capturing General Ivan Radek (Jurgen Prochnow), the dictator of Kazakhstan. Radek's regime had caused an enormous amount of bloodshed for Kazakhstan, and there was word that his stockpiling of nuclear weapons would have plunged the world into a second cold war. His capture was made through the joint cooperation of President James Marshall (Harrison Ford), and Russian President Petrov (Alan Woolf).The Marshall's return to Air Force One, which will take them back to D.C. Meanwhile, a mole, Gibbs (Xander Berkeley) is allowing supporters of Radek on the plane, disguised as journalists. The terrorists help themselves to guns used by the Secret Service and hijack the plane. Their terms? The main man, Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman) wants the the release Radek from prison or one hostage will be killed every half hour.The Secret Service has managed to get the President into a pod and release it from the plane. But the President didn't leave. From the downstairs area, he makes trouble for the hostages, who believe that it's a Secret Service man. The President, a former soldier, has plenty of tricks up his sleeve.Thrilling movie with great effects. Glenn Close plays the Vice President, and Bill Macy is part of the President's team. For some trivia, the little girl who plays the daughter, Liesel Matthews, is the Hyatt Hotel heiress and worth about $500 million today. I don't understand the point of watching a film like this and then itemizing all the unrealistic things about it. Movies like this are never realistic, so why not just enjoy them? And fantasize about tough, brave, loyal Harrison Ford as President James Marshall running the country.