Air Force One: Executive Pedigree
- Review By:
- tpb
- Date:
- November 15, 2008
- Movie:
- Air Force One
- Director:
- Wolfgang Peterson
- Released:
- 1997
- Good Guy:
- James Marshall
- Played By:
- Harrison Ford
- Bad Guy:
- Ivan Korshunov
- Played By:
- Gary Oldman
- MPAA Rating:
- R
- Family Friendly Ages:
- Not for kids
Air Force One owes it all to Executive Decision (1996), which is very nearly the same movie with some modifications in character and circumstance. In this case, it's The President as super-hero. Harrison Ford as President James Marshall musters all his patriotic zeal and Chief Executive physical conditioning for this one. He fights. He shoots. He grimaces. He saves his family. He alerts and directs the ground forces. He works out intricate schemes to thwart the bad guys. He prevents civil unrest in Khazakstan. And he caps it all off at the end with a gritty, growling “Get off my plane!” quip at the villain just before dispatching him to his doom. If this guy is gunning for re-election, he's a shoe-in. Air Force One is hijacked by Eastern European, post-Soviet Union nationalist fanatics with the goal of negotiating the reinstatement of a deposed dictator. Gary Oldman leads the villains with sadistic brutality and a wonderful accent. They have an inside man to help; a career Secret Service agent who is willing to aid a country that hasn't even been around for more than a couple of years. (Who is responsible for vetting these Secret Service guys anyway?) The plane is also filled with military and Secret Service agents (career good guys) whose job it is to think and act strategically under these types of extreme conditions, yet they all seem content to stand placidly by while this handful of terrorists holds them captive in the conference room. It takes the President to turn the whole caper on its its head. It's lonely at 30,000 feet. But oh, the patriotism! All the good guys salute the President at every chance they get. And each time they do, the music swells; Glenn Close's Vice President nearly tears up; and the audience instinctively places hand on heart and shifts slightly in the direction of a flag. Barack Obama should be so lucky as to have this much patriotic fervor directed at him and his family. Don't let your gym membership lapse, Barack. We need a President who can handle himself when called upon to go above and beyond - literally.
