MPAA Rated – R
It’s 1:58 Long
A Review by:
– Stu Gotz
| Air Force One Movie Stats & Links |
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| Starring: | Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Dean Stockwell |
| MPAA Rated: | R |
| Released By: | Columbia Pictures |
| Kiddie Movie: | Lots of violence so you might want to hire a babysitter, although the President’s twelve year old daughter seemed to handle the killings well. |
| Date Movie: | Couple of spots she might grab your hand or jump in your lap. |
| Gratuitous Sex: | Not at all. |
| Gratuitous Violence: | Lots of quality kills. |
| Action: | Yep, and suspense too. |
| Laughs: | Some good one liners, but not rolling on the floor laughter. |
| Memorable Scene: | The end rescue with the passengers still alive sliding….., I won’t ruin it too much. |
| Memorable Quote: | A couple that go something like this: “The President will get his baseball glove back and play catch with his balls.” and “That pod was designed for a reason, General. He has no right to take a chance with his life.” |
| Directed By: | Wolfgang Petersen |
| Produced By: | Armyan Bernstein and Jon Shestack |
I’ve got to say that 1997 has been a slow year for the action blockbuster. Of course there are a few exceptions like “Men In Black” (whose 90 minute or so delivery was short and to the point), “Face/Off” had a few slow, mushy moments, and “Con Air” was hokey but definitely fun! In seeing previews of “Air Force One” I had hoped this would be the defining movie of the summer. Well, I wouldn’t call it that, but it is one to see none the less.
What’s it about? The previews pretty much tell it all. AF1 gets hijacked and the President kicks some serious ass to save the day. If you’re like me you know how far fetched this scenario would be. Not so much the hijacking part, but the President as an ass kicker part I don’t buy. Think about it – I figure Bill couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag, George was an old man, Ronnie would have drooled on the hijackers, Jimmy was a lover not a fighter, Gerry’s trick knee would have given out, and Dick, hmm, well actually Dick would have found a way out because he was one slippery bastard – God bless his soul.
Anyway, I think you can see my point. But hey babe, this is the movies and movies is magic so anything can happen! With that, if you can buy the concept of shitty security on AF1 and the Pres as an ass-kicker, then I bet you’ll enjoy this movie.
President James Marshall prepares to overcome one of the Russian terrorists who have hijacked Air Force One. So what’s the good and bad of it? On the good side all the actors play their characters well. From Glenn Close as the VP Kathryn Bennett to Gary Oldman as the pretty viscous terrorist, Ivan Korshunov, all of the performances were convincing, if you could believe this sort of thing could happen to begin with. So, what else was good? The end rescue scene left an impression in my mind – totally far-fetched but great to watch on the screen none the less. The down sides of this movie? Well, simply put, the believability factor. If you’re a Doubting Thomas, nay-sayer type then don’t even spoil this movie for your friends by going to it and saying “Oh sure… That would never happen.” If I were your friend I’d kick your ass and stick it into the popcorn bucket.
Ahem… Air Force One is a suspenseful, action packed, well acted, and totally out of the realm of possibility movie that I highly recommend, give 4 out of 5 stars and I’m Stu Gotz