Air Force One is what you get when you put Executive Decision and Die Hard in a blender and hit mix. The product would taste better if it had more of Executive Decision's subtlety and Die Hard's suspense.
Harrison Ford is the president fighting to re take the Air Force One 747 from the hands of Russian terrorists led by Gary Oldman. There are 50 hostages on board, including the first lady and daughter, who (of course) end up with a priority seat away from the others next to Oldman on the flight deck. I might add that this particular flight deck has so many colourful switchboards and avionics that you would swear you were on a spacecraft. This is one of many examples of the way that Air Force One is too distracting to get emerged in. Another example is the blaring and overwhelmingly brassy score which never seems to let up. Then there is Gary Oldman as the terrorist leader, who does less with an entire molonogue than David Suchet (Executive Decision) was able to do with a single glare.
As for Harrison Ford, He seems to do better as the president than as an action hero. He gives a good banquet speech early in the movie, but once he is forced to pick up a machine gun, he seems so rusty and poorly coordinated. His character is a former marine and 'Nam veteran, so says one member of his cabinet to another, (purely for the audiences sake). Based on his performance, you'd think otherwise. Doesn't he know that it's dangerous to engage or institute open fire with machine guns in a pressurized plane at 30,000 feet. the fact that the bad guys do it is always forgivable, because they are supposed to be idiots.
When the good guys win the day, everyone in the White House erupts into an unconvincing unprofessional mass of cheers as if it were superbowl night, accompanied by a comically unneeded swirling camera. And then the movie is pretty much over.
The punchline: America always wins
Harrison Ford is the president fighting to re take the Air Force One 747 from the hands of Russian terrorists led by Gary Oldman. There are 50 hostages on board, including the first lady and daughter, who (of course) end up with a priority seat away from the others next to Oldman on the flight deck. I might add that this particular flight deck has so many colourful switchboards and avionics that you would swear you were on a spacecraft. This is one of many examples of the way that Air Force One is too distracting to get emerged in. Another example is the blaring and overwhelmingly brassy score which never seems to let up. Then there is Gary Oldman as the terrorist leader, who does less with an entire molonogue than David Suchet (Executive Decision) was able to do with a single glare.
As for Harrison Ford, He seems to do better as the president than as an action hero. He gives a good banquet speech early in the movie, but once he is forced to pick up a machine gun, he seems so rusty and poorly coordinated. His character is a former marine and 'Nam veteran, so says one member of his cabinet to another, (purely for the audiences sake). Based on his performance, you'd think otherwise. Doesn't he know that it's dangerous to engage or institute open fire with machine guns in a pressurized plane at 30,000 feet. the fact that the bad guys do it is always forgivable, because they are supposed to be idiots.
When the good guys win the day, everyone in the White House erupts into an unconvincing unprofessional mass of cheers as if it were superbowl night, accompanied by a comically unneeded swirling camera. And then the movie is pretty much over.
The punchline: America always wins