Air Force One

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.

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

During a flight, Air Force One is taken over by terrorists. The security forces rush the president to the escape pod but he stays to help his family. However with the terrorists making great demands and starting to kill hostages on the plane the President has to make contact with the ground but also take on the terrorists.

It's not an original idea – Die Hard on a plane. But hang on we've done Die Hard on a plane at least a few times in Passenger 57 and Executive Decision so how can we do it again? By putting it on air force one of course. So the President becomes John McClane and Gary Oldman is the usual Brit playing Euro-trash terrorist. The difference between this and Die Hard is that here the action is a lot more stilted and underplayed – which is a surprise for an action movie. However it does manage to have a good tension so it's still good.

It adds interest by having the action in the ground along with the political fighting in the White House over control of the situation. It isn't an earth shattering script but it is good enough to get you carried away easily. The only downside is that you can nearly always see where the formula is going at any one time.

The cast is good and is deep. Ford has the age to play a President but the action status to give him that fighting edge. Oldman is no stranger to hamming up his bad guys and doing iffy accents and here turns in a so-so performance as a cartoon terrorist. The support cast is good – even if they have little to do. Glenn Close, Dean Stcokwell et al don't have much to do but talk loud but do it well. Macy, Berkeley, Prochnow and other big names add weight but have few lines.

Overall this is a big Hollywood blockbuster that no doubt helped America feel good about itself. It sticks close to the formula but the action is slick and quite tense and makes for an enjoyable, if unoriginal, 2 hours.

Nobody messes with the president. And for ford this time around it means saving airforce one from a hijacking. Gary oldman plays a great villian along with great performances by glenn close and the rest of the cast. Really great action and some intense scenes make this a solid action thriller.

Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, and Glenn Close are the main stars in director Wolfgang Petersen's action thriller 'Air Force One', a film about the scenario of the famous presidential jet being taken over by a group of terrorists. The terrorists, led by Ivan Korshunov (Oldman) want one thing, the release of one of their comrades named General Redek. However, little do they know the President is a very intelligent and lethal man, and the film becomes a cat and mouse game onboard the air liner between the terrorists and the president. The suspense works out well, there are some good moments of surprise and plenty of good action sequences. The film keeps its momentum and pace going, despite some lame moments through out (e.g. the 'parachuting' scene). Harrison Ford is enjoyable in the role of the tough- as- nails president, but it's not particularly anything new for the actor. Gary Oldman is spectacular as the cold blooded terrorist, he is very commanding and daunting in the role. Close also her role well, making the character live, also worth nothing is William H. Macy as a major on board the flight. The script has some nice lines to it, and some strongly written scenes of action, though there are still notable clichés. Petersen's direction is almost furious in style, he tries his hardest to not let the film fall apart, and in some way he succeeds. All in all, 'Air Force One' is worth watching, it's not necessarily one of the top action films of all time, but it has plenty of moments and is definitely entertaining. Oldman is also a very nice treat. 8/10