Viewed in
2012
Formats
HDTV
Premise
Harrison Ford stars as a U.S. president who finds himself hijacked on his one Air Force One jet.
Liked
Strong directing.
Disliked
First Lady and Daughter, unresolved subplots.
Thoughts
I enjoyed the exciting and suspenseful action airplane-based sequences. This was attributed to the very clear direction by Wolfgang Petersen, quite a different style compared to the shaky-camera style of today.
Another reason to like it was the cast. Ford still had some heat on his fastball, and Gary Oldman was threatening and juicy as the antagonist, even while overacting. In addition, the cast included Glenn Close, William H. Macy, Philip Baker Hall, and two 24 alums, Xander Berkeley and Glenn Morshower (even though I couldn't identify him onscreen).
While the cast was mostly solid, the actresses who played the First Lady and their daughter were completely overmatched. Story-wise, there were plenty of issues, such as Berkeley's unexplained motives and the arbitrary subplot of the press conference. Technology used in and for the film was dated, especially in the form of cell phones and amateur-looking CGI plane crashes. Lastly, Ford's "Get off my plane!" soundbite has got to be one of the lamest movie quotes I've ever heard.
Despite its flaws and archaic moments, Air Force One was still a solid popcorn movie, thanks to good directing and cast performance.
