Air Force One (1997, R)

Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen

Grade: C

If there ever was an action movie that was so strenuous in that it could deliver such absorbing thrills that are so fun to watch and yet so unbelievable at the same time, I think that Air Force One would make for a good nominee.  This is practically Die Hard set on an airplane, only that the stakes are set higher since the hero is the President of the United States and the plane is Air Force One (hence the title).  The villains, as they always have to be, are terrorists, who take several hostages and won’t give in until their demands are meant.  I’ll admit that Harrison Ford makes for a formidable one man army, not in as much memorable fashion that Bruce Willis delivered to make Die Hard so etched in your mind, but he still has the alluring appeal to help make Air Force One a passing action film. 

The plot is rather simple and slightly overused: Russian terrorists take control of Air Force One on its return trip to the United States, and manage to hold everyone captive save the President, and then contact Washington to meet their demands.  It’s up to Ford, as an action star, to take out the bad guys one at a time whatever way he can.  I liked Ford as the President of the United States better than I thought I would, though it’s undeniable that he was aging at that point.  Gary Oldman makes for an equally menacing Russian bad guy. 

As for the director, Wolfgang Petersen, this is a step down the stairs that would lead to further steps down the stairs.  Petersen made his debut with Das Boot, a film that critics hold in very high regard but, as of now, I have yet to see, and he scored nicely with the 1993 action-thriller in the Line of Fire, a film that I have seen and hold in high consideration for an action flick.  Petersen, following Air Force One, seemingly couldn’t keep himself away from senseless, big-budget pictures, namely the 2004 mystical epic Troy (which, plotwise, is a near joke on its source material), and the 2006 action film Poseidon (a movie that’s a complete waste of time).

The sound is audibly impressive, making for an imposing mix of loud and clear adventure music and thrilling sound effects.  The action sequences themselves, as I have said, are fun to watch but enormously unbelievable.  Take it for instance when Ford has a clear shot at the bad guy holding on for dear life at the edge of the plane; instead, Ford drops his gun, jumps out and engages the villain in a final one-on-one fist fight.  Also, don’t be surprised if the plane crashes into the Caspian Sea towards the end.

This is an exhausting action film, but I’m willing to give it a pass in that it was not without some entertainment merits (as long as you can forgive the obnoxiously, improbable moments).  Films like this one are not at all exclusively important to the world of cinema; they’re simply big-budgeted flicks that only partly succeed. 
C