Reviews of Air Force One

Awesome action flick!

Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 28 April 2008 01:52 (A review of Air Force One)

"Get off my plane!"

Air Force One is nothing short of being one of the greatest action thrillers I have ever seen; its combination of a plausible plot, interesting characters and plenty of plot twists with stunning action makes for one hell of a great night out at the movies.

Air Force One also holds the position of one of my all time favourite action movies that I watch it frequently and never get sick of. I'm not sure what it is, but the film really engaged my attention and has continued to do this with each new viewing.

The President of the United States, James Marshall (Ford), recently authorised a strike force to kidnap the self-declared President of Kazakhstan; General Radek (Prochnow). Because Radek was threatening use of nuclear weapons against other countries he became a high priority target.

After Radek's capture, U.S. President James Marshall delivers a bold statement at the celebratory dinner before heading to Air Force One for his flight home. During the flight, a group of renegade Russians (lead by Gary Oldman) disguised as a news team seize control of the plane; effectively taking all passengers hostage. Their demands for safe release of hostages: for the Americans to release General Radek. The President, on the other hand, is able to elude capture and must utilise stealth tactics to overthrow the hijackers and stop the release of Radek from coming to fruition.

Harrison Ford is a very good presidential figure; he's head over heels better than George W. Bush as his portrayal shows the man as honourable and filled with courage. Gee, if only that could be true in real life. Gary Oldman is realistic, brutal and convincing as the terrorist leader. He has a menacing, authoritative screen presence and demonstrates stellar acting skills. I was oblivious to the actor actually being English in real life. The rest of the cast manage to establish a great deal of intensity; during both scenes of drama and scenes of action.

Air Force One is an action thriller that is both fast-paced and immensely entertaining. There is a whole lot of blood, a high body count and plenty of action. However, I found the visual effects work to be very poor at times - the final destruction of the plane was absurd and unconvincing! When the plane was airborne the effects were fairly impressive but no-where close to perfection.

Despite the flaws, this film achieved what it set out to do: entertain. Air Force One is a popcorn action film that still contains the clichés and conventions, but it is still a mighty entertaining experience.

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Unbelievable

Posted : 3 years, 1 month ago on 23 November 2006 04:12 (A review of Air Force One)

Harrison Ford may be the President of the United States, but he sure knows how to kick some ass. In order to save his family from master villian Gary Oldman, Ford puts on the most unlikely performance of any president (excluding Teddy Roosevelt).

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