Air Force One
America and Russia have joined forces to capture General Radek, a dictator and leader of a terrorist regime in Kazakhstan.
On the way back to the US from Russia, Air Force One is hijacked by six Radek supporters – who hold the plane hostage, vowing to kill hostages unless Radek is released.
President James Marshall, a former Vietnam Vet and Medal of Honor winner, opts out of an escape, instead stays aboard – and vows to bring the hostages down himself.
Direction
Some good ups, as most of the film is confined to the tight confines of the inside of the plane, and the action sequences are aplenty.
There is also some downs in the use of CGI. It is considerably aged, even for 1997 – with some almost comically bad scenes including the parachute escapes, and both crash sequences (the refueling plane, and the final crash).
Cast/Characters
Harrison Ford plays a great ‘fake’ President, who gets to be the one to save the day.
Gary Oldman is brilliantly over the top, and completely malevolent as Ivan Korshunov, the leader of the Radek supporters.
Glenn Close is particularly strong as the Vice President, who must negotiate with the terrorists back at the White House.
Wendy Crewson and Liesel Matthews play Marshall’s wife and daughter respectively.
A who’s who of big names play supporting roles in the film, with the likes of William H Macy, Paul Guilfoyle, Xander Berkeley as those on Air Force One. Playing alongside Close are names such as Phillip Baker Hall and Dean Stockwell,
Breakdown
Set in two locations (the confines of Air Force One) and in the offices of The White House; it has an easy enough to follow narrative, this doesn’t really take too long to get going, and the action/tension doesn’t seem to slow down until the final few minutes.
Oldman’s villain, is actually one of the more sadistic villains of the 90s, happily killing with no remorse. Generally villains say they ‘will execute a hostage every hour’ – and this one finally does.
There are also some well delivered ‘tense situations’ (the initial “almost landing”, and the refilling plane sequence).
One part of the film that bugged me was why Berkeley’s Gibbs was a bad guy. It is never explained why he was, and he could have gotten away with it, and essentially died a hero going down with the plane. Just a stupid addition to the film.
Score/Soundtrack
I absolutely LOVED that score! The late great Jerry Goldsmith was one of a kind, and is one of my favourite composers.
Overall
Completely silly. Completely unbelievable. But done so well.
Some of the WORST CGI to ever be put on screen too, but for some reason this still holds up as a solid action romp.
3.5/5
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