Air Force One (1997)

Simply A Masterpiece

Powerful

Fresh and Exciting

Absolutely Brilliant!

Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)USA 1997 English/Russian (Colour); Action/Thriller/Drama (Beacon/Columbia/Radiant); 125 minutes (15 certificate)Crew includes: Wolfgang Petersen (Director); Andrew W. Marlowe (Screenwriter); Wolfgang Petersen, Gail Katz, Armyan Bernstein, Jon Shestack (Producers); Thomas A. Bliss, Marc Abraham, David Lester (Executive Producers); Michael Ballhaus (Cinematographer); William Sandell (Production Designer); Richard Francis-Bruce (Editor); Jerry Goldsmith (Composer)Cast includes: Harrison Ford (President James Marshall), Gary Oldman (Egor Korshunov), Glenn Close (Vice President Kathryn Bennett), Wendy Crewson (Grace Marshall), Liesel Matthews (Alice Marshall), Paul Guilfoyle (Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd), Xander Berkeley (Agent Gibbs), William H. Macy (Major Caldwell), Dean Stockwell (Defense Secretary Walter Dean), Tom Everett (National Security Advisor Jack Doherty), Jürgen Prochnow (General Ivan Radek), Donna Bullock (Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell), Elya Baskin (Andrei Kolchak), David Vadim (Igor Nevsky), Spencer Garrett (White House Aide Thomas Lee), Bill Smitrovich (General Northwood), Philip Baker Hall (US Attorney General Andrew Ward)Academy Award nominations (2): Film Editing, Sound"Five miles up, the President of the United States is waging war on terrorism. Face to face."When Russian radicals hijack Air Force One, with the US President (Ford), the First Family (supportive wife, pretty daughter) and important members of his staff aboard, it is left to the president himself, a decorated war hero, to defeat the terrorists (led by a scarily fanatical Oldman), save his family (and other hostages), and prevent a just-apprehended nationalist leader from being released from captivity.Spectacular action and special effects are over the top even for this type of jingoistic nonsense, with, once again, a British character actor in a foreign accent playing the main villain (exceptionally well), and the USA coming up roses.If only it weren't quite so entertaining...Blu-ray Extras: Featurette, Trivia Track, Movie Showcase, Trailer. ** (4/10)

This is from 1997 and I just now got the chance to see this on TV by accident.Wow, what utter tosh! I don't even know where to begin. Harrison Ford as president with Ninja skills, Glenn Close with ridiculous peroxide hair trying to sound serious? Nah, my favourite thing is that it - of course - is the evil, evil Russians who capture the president's plane, I mean, who ever else, right? We all know that Russia is oh so evil (and I mean really EVERYbody there, no exception) as the media constantly tells us. And of course the baddie's name is even Iwan - played by Gary Oldmn, who is as Russian as I am a nuclear scientist.So yeah, hail to the good old prejudice and please US movie makers, make another one with evil Russians, I just can't get enough Oo

"Air Force One" comes packed with some considerable talent; not just the leads, but a wide array of well qualified supporting actors (and Jerry Goldsmith for good measure). That all of this talent is nearly blown on a story riddled with clichés is more than a little disappointing. This is a stock mid-'90s "Die Hard" clone (I mean, it's almost note-for-note), and it speaks volumes that Gary Oldman is wasted on an ill-defined character.But it's no secret that the movie's selling point is Harrison Ford kicking ass and turning the tables on the bad guys. And why wouldn't it be? Ford's got the believable ruggedness and it's always cool to see a take-charge commander-in-chief on the big screen. If this movie works, it's because of some of the action (the initial siege is pretty gripping) and because of its star. And some good flag-waving patriotism fits right in here, but as a whole, the movie also has a knack for overstaying its welcome. 6/10

Air Force One is not a good film. It is just an alright film. The things that were not good about Air Force One is that the special effects looked horrible, unconvincing, unbelievable and looked like they did not even belong to the picture in the first place. I felt sick looking at them. The movie also lacked in breathlessness and in being spectacular and had a poor filmmaking quality feel to it. However, the movie was arguably redeemed by impressive performances from Ford, Oldman and Close, a strong emotional side to it and a flawless, sharp direction from Wolfgang Petersen. Moreover, Gary Oldman was an attractive and cold villain and by his behavior and actions managed to make me feel cold and feel hatred toward him. Well done on all of that. My rating: 6.2/10