Air Force One
A film review by Hanson Yoo
Copyright 1997 Hanson Yoo
Gosh, it feels like I've seen this movie before – and there's a very good reason. Air Force One is yet another "Die Hard on a…" movie – but to be fair, it turns out better than the others because it sticks closer to the original Die Hard formula than the others. Does this sound familiar? A team of terrorists takes over, one lone unidentified man strikes back at them one by one while his wife is held captive, and someone dies because the hero won't reveal his identity to them. Yes, there are some other wrinkles thrown in for good measure, but it's basically the old same old with a glossy new paint job. Yet it's difficult to say the movie will fail to please because the formula is so robust.
Harrison Ford is the President of the United States and Gary Oldman is the terrorist, and they duke it out on the Presidential plane. That's really all you need to know, since the supporting characters are props for the plot, which is straight from Die Hard. For those who haven't seen Die Hard, rent it. It's a superior film.
The biggest problem with Air Force One is its lack of any real originality – you know what's going to happen because the plot never deviates from its predecessors. Without this element of suspense, the movie just doesn't deliver real thrills. One good thing the movie has going for it is some semblance of restraint – in any other movie of it's ilk, the one-liners would have been flying. When Ford hits the first terrorist with a chair, you can almost hear him say, "Have a seat." But he doesn't. However, the temptation is apparently too great – he eventually tells Gary Oldman to, "Get off my plane," during their final fight on the plane's rear exit with the kind of teeth gritted earnestness that is Harrison Ford's forte. I can forgive them this one transgression, I suppose.
There are also elements that just don't work. Oldman's ultra-nationalistic terrorist philosophy falls flat. Preach on brother, but do it in a different movie. It's given lip service without any substance, with only one line having any real impact (he explains that Americans tolerated the killing of thousands of Iraqis just to, "save a nickel on a gallon of gasoline." Great line). But all in all the political angle is just a coat of varnish – it makes everything shinier, but it's ultimately transparent.
Another problematic element is the first daughter – there's simply no reason for her to be held captive other than to have a child in peril and to mimic the structure of the real First Family. I find the prior distasteful. Ford's character cares enough about his wife to need a daughter in peril as well.
Even the things that should work aren't executed well. The charm of Die Hard was watching Willis scheme and plan. He takes notes; he pieces things together. But Ford simply hides, punches out people, takes their weapons, hides again, and then shoots them. There seemed to be no real intelligence applied to his character.
And finally, the biggest gaffe is the motive of the Secret Service Agent that betrays the President. Why was that of all things left on the cutting room floor? The plot is really hollow without it.
The only saving grace in the movie is Ford's character – he's eminently Presidential, and the way the good guys to a one sacrifice their lives without hesitation to save his illustrate how important the President of the United States really is. It's a refreshing view of the office that has been lost in the movies (compare with the previously released Murder at 1600, Nixon, and Absolute Power), and lost in real life.
I wish I could have enjoyed Air Force One as much as many others did and many other will, but I found it too derivative to be anything more than a trifle.
Grade: C+
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews