Air Force One (1997)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writer (WGA):

Andrew W. Marlowe (written by)

Release Date:

25 July 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Harrison Ford is the President of the United States.

Plot:

Hijackers seize the plane carrying the President of the United States and his family, but he (an ex-soldier) works from hiding to defeat them.

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Moscow | Hostage | General | Terrorism

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 9 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 12	1:30 AM	TNT
Sun. July 12	5:30 PM	TNT

Cast

Harrison Ford	...	President James Marshall
Gary Oldman	...	Ivan Korshunov
Glenn Close	...	Vice President Kathryn Bennett
Wendy Crewson	...	Grace Marshall
Liesel Matthews	...	Alice Marshall
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Chief of Staff Lloyd 'Shep' Shepherd
Xander Berkeley	...	Secret Service Agent Gibbs
William H. Macy	...	Major Caldwell
Dean Stockwell	...	Defense Secretary Walter Dean
Tom Everett	...	National Security Advisor Jack Doherty
Jürgen Prochnow	...	General Ivan Radek
Donna Bullock	...	Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchel
Michael Ray Miller	...	Colonel Axelrod
Carl Weintraub	...	Lt. Colonel Ingraham
Elester Latham	...	AFO Navigator

Also Known As:

AFO
Air Force One (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Alberta) | Philippines:PG-13 | New Zealand:M | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Mexico:B | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #34790)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

When Valera gives his thumbprint for a background check near the beginning of the film, the date of birth that comes up among his info (3/21/58) is actor Gary Oldman's real birthday.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Marshall and Korshunov are fighting, Korshunov presses Marshall's face against a panel of buttons which are obviously fake.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Major Perkins: [after landing in Kazakstan] Quick head count! One, two, three, four, five. Move out!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Man yan (2004)

Soundtrack:

L'Internationale

When Harrison Ford is President, All Hell Breaks Loose

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.