After the success of AIRPLANE! in 1980, it seemed like the idea of a serious airplane drama would be improbable. Yet, as the Western genre proved, if done with the proper touch and right script, a good film can emerge out of the shadows.
In 1996, Joel Silver and editor-turned-director Stuart Baird, who had cut the likes of THE OMEN (1976), SUPERMAN (1978) and LETHAL WEAPON (1987) via his long-term collaboration with Richard Donner, teamed up to produce the PREDATOR writing team of Jim and John Thomas’ script EXECUTIVE DECISION, in which some Middle Eastern terrorists hijacked a plane with the idea of using nerve gas and the plane in a full-scale attack on the United States. Starring Kurt Russell and Halle Berry amongst others, the film restored a bit of faith in this type of genre.
The following year, Harrison Ford teamed up with Wolfgang Petersen for another more taut and global adventure in AIR FORCE ONE, a movie that followed the DIE HARD template (single hero vs a group of terrorists in a singular location.
Ford plays US President James Marshall, a father and happily married man of one who has just ordered a vital attack on Kazahkstan against the regime there. However, on his way back from a crucial event in Moscow, a group of Russian terrorists. led by Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman) and posing as a news crew they have murdered, are given access to Air Force One and subsequently take the plane. The president is taken to the escape pod which is jettisoned, but upon landing, the recovery team sees it is empty.
Marshall remains on the plane and out of view with a view to try and save the passengers. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Vice President, Kathryn Bennett (Glenn Close) is told by Korshunov that unless General Radek (Jorgen Prochnow, DAS BOOT, BEVERLY HILLS COP 2) is released, he will shoot a hostage every half hour….
With quality visual effects courtesy of Richard Edlund as Visual FX Supervisor (DIE HARD, STAR WARS et al) and Ford at the top of the cast list, AIR FORCE ONE is a quality blockbuster which keeps a taut leash on the narrative and although remains very much American in terms of its’ patriotic ideals has mass appeal to fans who like a real sense of escapist entertainment. Jerry Goldsmith adds a touch of elegance with his music score.