Air Force One
In Theaters NOW
Rating: R
Review Date: July 25, 1997
Studio site: Air
Force One
Stars: Harrison Ford, Glenn Close, Gary Oldman, William H.
Macy
Harrison Ford is President James Marshall in this new film from director
Wolfgang Petersen. The film opens with President Marshall breaking away
from his scheduled speech to deliver a get tough on terrorists speech that
comes from his gut. His advisors are upset at him, but this is how he feels
and he is standing up for the principles that he believes in. Little does
he know the principles he speaks of now are soon to be tested to the fullest
extent.
How can someone get Air Force One? The seemingly untouchable presidential
aircraft is no longer untouchable. Air Force One is hijacked by a band
of Russian nationalists and they want the return of the General Alexander
Radek from a Russian jail. The President was hurried by the Secret Service
into Air Force One's waiting escape pod to get him to safety. Or was he?
Air Force One features an all star cast including Harrison Ford
(President Marshall), Glenn Close (Vice President Bennett) and Gary Oldman
(Ivan Korshunov). There are excellent supporting actors as well including
Wendy Crewson, Liesel Matthews, William H. Macy, Dean Stockwell, and J(rgen
Prochnow. Harrison Ford though, is clearly the star of this film. Ford
delivers another crowd pleasing role as the President who is tough on terrorism.
He flows through a variety of emotions and situations with relative ease
and shows why he is a huge box office draw. Oldman is a decent bad guy,
though he's not as good as John Malkovich in Wolfgang's last political
thriller In the Line of Fire. And Close does an admirable job of
playing the Vice President who is torn between her belief in President
Marshall and the pressures placed on her by the other Cabinet members.
Air Force One is a film that I had high expectations for. Air
Force One delivers right up to those expectations. The movie starts
fast has a small lull of a plot set up and then is a non stop action thrill
ride. I felt myself glued to the seat during the screening. I couldn't
wait to see what happened next. One of the more interesting factors of
the movie is that it does not rely on special effects as many of the larger
summer film's do. This movie is story and acting with a little bit of special
effects thrown in. It is a relief to see an action film that is not so
totally reliant on special effects and instead relies on these other aspects
to succeed.
The crowd at this screening was as into it as I was. There were shouts
any time the good guys took out the bad guys and they seemed to be hanging
on the edge of their seats too. Any political thriller directed by Wolfgang
Petersen will definitely get my attention in the future after this film
and In the Line of Fire. I enjoyed Air Force One and I think
you will too.
Grade: A
Parents Guide: Air Force One carries an R rating mainly on the basis
of language and violence. Yes, there are some quite brutal killings that
take place aboard the plane. And at times the language can get rather raw
but the language is not that bad for the type of movie that we are dealing
with. Sexual innuendo and nudity are non-existent in this film so there
is nothing to worry about in that regard. The importance of family is one
of the underlying themes of this movie and is a great message to deliver.
Overall I seem to have seen some PG-13 movies that carried many more troubling
occurrences then this film did.