movie review air force one

Air Force One

Harrison Ford is one of the most likable and convincing of movie stars, and he almost pulls off the impossible in “Air Force One.” I don’t mean he saves the day; I mean he almost saves the movie. Here is a good example of how star power can breathe new life into old cliches–and “Air Force One” is rich with cliches.

You are familiar with the movie’s premise because of all the commercials and coming attractions trailers and magazine covers and talk show appearances. You know that Gary Oldman plays the leader of a gang of terrorists who gain control of Air Force One as it’s flying back home from Moscow. You know it’s up to Ford, as President James Marshall , Vietnam combat hero, to battle the terrorists. You know his wife and children are among the hostages–and that he has just vowed that America will never negotiate with terrorists.

So. Since the movie has no macro surprises, does it have any micro ones? Has director Wolfgang Petersen (“ Das Boot ,” “ In The Line Of Fire “) found lots of neat little touches to make the movie work on a minute-by-minute basis, while on the larger scale slogs to its preordained conclusion? Sorta, sometimes. There’s some neat stuff about “Air Force One,” although I don’t know how much of it to believe. (Is it really bulletproof from the inside? Does it really have an escape pod onboard? Is there really a way to parachute out the back hatch? Can you really call Washington from Russia on a cell phone while airborne?) Many of the action scenes take place in the bowels of the jet, down in the galley and luggage areas.

There also is a counterplot set in Washington, where the vice president ( Glenn Close ) learns from the attorney general ( Philip Baker Hall ) that the president may be technically “incapacitated,” and that she should consider taking over. And there are some good action sequences, in which people enter and leave airplanes at an altitude at which the practice is not recommended.

But mostly the movie is stapled together out of ingredients from many, many other films about presidents, terrorists, hijackings, hostages, airplanes, politics and cat-and-mouse chases. It is inevitable, for example, that the terrorists will separate and go poking around on their own, so that they can be picked off one at a time. It is inevitable that there will be Washington press conferences, so that bones of information can be thrown to the seething press. It is inevitable that there will be personality flare-ups among the lesser politicians, and dire comments by their advisers (“The element of surprise is a formidable weapon”).

The movie also resurrects that ancient and dependable standby, the Choosing of the Wires. In countless other movies, the bomb squad hesitates between “Red . . . or black? Red . . . or black”). This is a big-budget movie and presents us with five wires. It’s an emergency, and the president needs to decide which two he should connect. See if you can guess the right two colors. The choices are green, yellow, red, white and blue.

The movie is well-served by the quality of the performances. Close is convincing as the vice president, and Gary Oldman has a couple of effective scenes as the terrorist (“Murder? You took 100,000 lives to save a nickel on the price of a gallon of gas.”). And Harrison Ford is steady and commanding as the president, even while we’re asking ourselves if a middle-age chief executive would really be better at hand-to-hand combat than his Secret Service agents.

Some of the special effects scenes are effective, but others are distracting. In a key scene set near an open doorway on the plane, none of the actors convinced me that they thought they were standing next to a 30,000-foot drop. (For one thing, they never looked down, which I think is more or less the first thing I would do.) A climactic explosion is less than authentic, visually. And scenes involving a Russian political prisoner are confusing.

“Air Force One” is a fairly competent recycling of familiar ingredients, given an additional interest because of Harrison Ford’s personal appeal. At this point in the summer, however, I’ve had enough explosions, showdowns, stunts and special effects. I saw a movie the other day about a woman in Paris who lost her cat, and know what? It was more exciting than this. At least when the cat got up on the roof, it knew enough to look down.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Paul Guilfoyle as Chief Of Staff Lloyd Shepherd
• Liesel Matthews as Alice Marshall
• Harrison Ford Ivan as President Marshall
• Glenn Close as Vice President Bennett
• Dean Stockwell as Defense Secretary Dean
• Xander Berkeley as Agent Gibbs
• Wendy Crewson as Grace Marshall
• Gary Oldman as Korshunov
• William H. Macy as Major Caldwell
• Andrew W. Marlowe

Directed by

• Wolfgang Petersen

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Air Force One

Communist radicals led by Ivan Korshunov hijack Air Force One with US President James Marshall and his family on board. Vice President Kathryn Bennett negotiates from Washington D.C., while ... Read all Communist radicals led by Ivan Korshunov hijack Air Force One with US President James Marshall and his family on board. Vice President Kathryn Bennett negotiates from Washington D.C., while Marshall fights to rescue the hostages on board. Communist radicals led by Ivan Korshunov hijack Air Force One with US President James Marshall and his family on board. Vice President Kathryn Bennett negotiates from Washington D.C., while Marshall fights to rescue the hostages on board.

• Wolfgang Petersen
• Andrew W. Marlowe
• Harrison Ford
• Gary Oldman
• Glenn Close
• 516 User reviews
• 120 Critic reviews
• 62 Metascore
• 7 wins & 13 nominations total

Top cast 99+

• President James Marshall

• Ivan Korshunov

• Vice President Kathryn Bennett

• Grace Marshall

• Alice Marshall

• Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd

• Agent Gibbs

• Major Caldwell

• Defense Secretary Walter Dean

• NSA Advisor Jack Doherty

• General Alexander Radek
• (as Jurgen Prochnow)

• Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell

• AFO Pilot Colonel Axelrod

• AFO Co-Pilot Lt. Col. Ingrahams

• AFO Navigator …

• Andrei Kolchak

• Sergei Lenski

• Igor Nevsky
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

The Life and Times of Harrison Ford

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Did you know

• Trivia Initially, director/co-producer Wolfgang Petersen was denied access to the real-life Air Force One. A telephone call from Harrison Ford to the White House soon changed that.
• Goofs During the refueling scene when AF1 breaks away fuel is seen spraying out of the boom of the KC-10. The fuel ignites and the flame travels up the boom and blows up the KC-10. Onboard the KC-10 there is a Boom Operator who monitors and has full control of the fuel that the tanker is receiving or giving at all times and also flies the boom. The Boom Operator would have raised the boom as soon as AF1 broke away and cut off the fuel supply long before the fuel could ignite.

Liberty 24 Pilot : Blue Star... Air Force One is down!

Control Room [Blue Star] : Liberty 24 have you got the president?

Control Room [Blue Star] : Liberty, do you have the president?

Liberty 24 Pilot : Standby...

Liberty 24 crew member : [President Marshal is grabbed off the line and taken on board, a watching crew member on his ear set] ... Liberty 24 is changing call sign, Liberty 24 is now Air Force One!

• Crazy credits Per Marshall's comment to her, the aide who helps him with the fax machine (portrayed by Messiri Freeman ) is listed in the credits as "Future Postmaster General".
• Alternate versions To attract more viewers the German distributor (Buena Vista International) cut out some violent scenes to receive a "Not under 12" rating. The German video release contains the full version and is rated "Not under 16".
• Connections Edited into Command Performance (2009)
• Soundtracks L'Internationale Lyrics by Eugène Pottier Music by Pierre Degeyter

User reviews 516

• Mar 6, 2005
• How long is Air Force One? Powered by Alexa
• What is 'Air Force One' about?
• Is 'Air Force One' based on a book?
• Why change the call name of the Hercules to Air Force One?
• July 25, 1997 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Không Lực Một
• Mansfield Reformatory - 100 Reformatory Road, Mansfield, Ohio, USA (Russian prison scene)
• Columbia Pictures
• Beacon Communications
• Radiant Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $85,000,000 (estimated)
• $172,956,409
• $37,132,505
• Jul 27, 1997
• $315,156,409

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 4 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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‘air force one’: thr’s 1997 review.

On July 25, 1997, Sony unveiled the Harrison Ford actioner in theaters.

By Duane Byrge

Duane Byrge

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On July 25, 1997, Sony unveiled the Harrison Ford actioner Air Force One in theaters, where it would go on to become a summer hit and collect $315 million globally. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:

Harrison Ford lines up beside John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, rather than Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, as a no-nonsense president who cuts terrorists no slack in Sony’s Air Force One .

As a man-of-action commander-in-chief who follows his principles rather than public-opinion polls, Ford is inspirational and electrifying, bravely taking on a gang of terrorists who have commandeered his plane, Air Force One.

Chart a course of $100 million-plus grosses for this taut, high-flying film from director Wolfgang Petersen, and count my write-in ballot for Ford in the next presidential election. Although its carry-a-big-stick theme may cause limousine liberals to squirm, this pulsating political actioner should prove cathartic for mainstream viewers who yearn for a decisive, gutsy executive branch of government.

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As seems to be tradition in recent president-centered entertainments, Ford stars as a Midwestern-bred chief executive who, like Michael Douglas in The American President , finds that the only drawback to his job is that he can’t keep track of his alma mater’s gridiron conquests in a timely fashion. Undeniably, he’s from jock stock and has nailed down a number of medals for his heroic service in Vietnam. In short, don’t tread on this guy, and especially, don’t mess with his family, namely the first lady (Wendy Crewson) and first daughter (Liesel Matthews).

Andrew W. Marlowe’s scenario is crafty and well-crafted from the post-Cold War front pages, credibly emanating from the chaos in the former Soviet Union. In this narrative extension, terrorists posing as Russian journalists take over Air Force One as it heads back to Washington following the president’s from-the-heart speech to Russian dignitaries promising that the USA will no longer tolerate human-rights violations and will not negotiate with terrorists.

That promise is immediately tested when Air Force One is taken over by terrorists demanding the release of the fascist general in Kazakhstan (Jurgen Prochnow) who has been captured and imprisoned as a result of joint U.S. and Russian cooperation. Although Marlowe’s dialogue contains some expositional clunks, it also sizzles: An honorable mention in the “Make My Day” category of best macho one-liners for Ford’s snarl — “Get off my plane.”

No director can generate more thrust in a contained space than the German-raised Petersen. He packs as much explosive wallop in the enclosed space of a jet plane as he did in the cramped confines of a submarine ( Das Boot ). Petersen’s direction is kinetically charged, using every inch of space and every aesthetic to jet- propel this small-set actioner into big-screen dimension.

While there’s no discounting the thermodynamic power of the technical team, it’s the players who make this story-load fly. Let’s start with a hail to the chief: It’s hard to remember when someone acted so presidential. As the chief executive, Ford is forthright, charismatic, brave and honorable.

Similarly well-cast is Gary Oldman, who layers his role with just the right amount of megalomania and martyr-envy.

Packed and tightly wired with no narrative slack, Petersen and his expert technical team have fused an explosively powerful human drama. Highest praise to cinematographer Michael Ballhaus for the tight framings and sharp slants and editor Richard Francis-Bruce for triggering the white-knuckle cadence. — Duane Byrge, originally published July 18, 1997. 

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Air Force One Reviews

The midair mayhem never lets up in a stunt-filled thriller that's brimming with nasty villains and daring deeds.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 2, 2024

An entertaining thrill ride...

Full Review | May 3, 2023

Air Force One ultimately isn’t so much “Die Hard on a plane” (Fly Hard?) as much as it’s a Top Gun for grown-ups -- military hardware in the service of a red-white-and-blue chest thumper.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 19, 2023

It’s tense and exciting in direction, the scripting is solid so that everything just flows with natural tension-breakers, and the performances are engaging whether as leads or supporting.

Full Review | Mar 16, 2023

Predictable and full of the usual terrorist tactics. It's two hours of tense drama and intense brutality.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Jan 10, 2023

[Wolfgang Petersen] turned this sky-high silliness into a top-flight popcorn movie.

Full Review | Nov 22, 2022

Imagines a fantasy in which the president can, in fact, be an action hero, and even repel the hijacking of the titular presidential plane (25th anniversary)

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 5, 2022

God bless Wolfgang Petersen for mounting such a thrilling, phenomenally stupid-yet-surprisingly deep studio blockbuster at a time where we need way more of that than Spider-Man 7.

Full Review | Jun 25, 2022

Air Force One is one of those films stuck in amber that knows exactly what it is and what it's trying to do -- and then does it very well.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Dec 14, 2020

...a wildly over-the-top premise that's employed to entertaining, sporadically enthralling effect by Petersen...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 20, 2020

Air Force One holds up almost 25 years later and the film remains one of the greatest presidential action thrillers to grace the big screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 27, 2020

A capable thriller bearing Wolfgang Petersen's signature flair for suspense.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Sep 9, 2020

This pulsating political actioner should prove cathartic for mainstream viewers who yearn for a decisive, gutsy executive branch of government.

Full Review | Jul 26, 2019

Everything about it was unreal, except it did a big box office.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Apr 24, 2016

Well executed action thriller by Das Boot German director Petersen, which is rather weak in plot and characterization.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 19, 2013

Full Review | Original Score: A | Sep 7, 2011

[An] unabashedly jingoistic action extravaganza starring Harrison Ford as...'The Ass-Kicking President'...[Blu-ray]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 10, 2009

As the familiar cat-and-mouse plot unfolded, I let myself enjoy the unapologetic masculine thrills.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 23, 2007

It's embarrassing to see [Ford] hanging by a thread ... behind his own 747. No image better fits the fragile state of his [career] at this point... he's losing his grip.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Dec 6, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Mar 19, 2004

Air Force One

Seeing the president of the United States as a kick-butt action hero pretty much sums up the appeal of "Air Force One," a preposterously pulpy but quite entertaining suspense meller. Spiked by some spectacularly staged and genuinely tense action sequences, Wolfgang Petersen's latest politically tinged thriller will soar on Harrison Ford's name to high-flying domestic and international grosses, scoring another summer hit for Sony.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

• Remember Me 15 years ago
• Shutter Island 15 years ago
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Seeing the president of the United States as a kick-butt action hero pretty much sums up the appeal of “Air Force One,” a preposterously pulpy but quite entertaining suspense meller. Spiked by some spectacularly staged and genuinely tense action sequences, Wolfgang Petersen’s latest politically tinged thriller will soar on Harrison Ford’s name to high-flying domestic and international grosses, scoring another summer hit for Sony.

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Despite its cartoon-like delineation of the forces of good and evil, its dependence upon special visual effects for much of its excitement and the piling on of an excess of climaxes, this tale of the hijacking of the world’s most security-laden airplane nonetheless comes off as far more “realistic” than the majority of this summer’s big-budget attractions simply because everything in it is meant to be physically possible in the real world, rather than being rooted in the credibility of the effects themselves. Viewers looking for old-fashioned movie thrills as a change of pace from the glut of alien and digital-oriented features might paradoxically enjoy the feeling of being back on terra firma with this airborne adventure.

Popular on Variety

The search for plausible movie villains in the post-Cold War era this time leads to Kazakhstan, where a prologue shows a Yank-Russian commando raid snaring fascistic leader Gen. Radek (“Das Boot” star Jurgen Prochnow in a silent cameo). At a subsequent celebratory dinner in Moscow, U.S. President James Marshall (Ford) soberly announces that, in the future, his country will never give in to, or negotiate with, terrorists, putting such evildoers on notice that their days are numbered.

But no sooner has Air Force One taken off for the trip home than it is taken over by a bunch of Radek faithful led by the fanatical Ivan (Gary Oldman), who blames the U.S. for the destruction of his country and is determined that Mother Russia be restored to its former glory. Having gotten on board posing as journalists with the unexplained help of a member of the president’s security staff, the gang is able to commandeer the plane’s artillery and mow down quite a few passengers before securing control of the plane.

Ivan’s plan to take the president hostage is thwarted when the latter seems to escape in a space capsule-like emergency pod from the bottom of the fuselage (one of the film’s inventions, apparently). The pilot’s urgent attempt to land the 747 at a German airbase — only to be shot and replaced at the controls by one of the terrorists, who desperately tries to lift the giant plane off the tarmac after it has set down — makes for a terrific action set piece that can genuinely be called nerve-wracking.

Once cruising altitude has been regained, contact is made with Washington, and Ivan announces his intentions: He will execute a hostage from among the many government staff on board every half-hour until Radek is released from prison. This results in a good deal of intercutting between the plane and the capital, where Vice President Bennett (Glenn Close), who has no idea where the president might be, must try to make monumental decisions while being pulled in different directions by the Haig-like secretary of defense (Dean Stockwell), the joint chiefs and others among the power elite.

President Marshall, however — Vietnam vet and Medal of Honor winner that he is — has not jumped ship, but has become a guerrilla fighter on board his own aircraft. Amusingly playing peekaboo with the thugs in the hold, the president succeeds in drawing one of them into a fight and, presto, emerges from it as a full-fledged action hero after he kills him. For quite a while, Marshall manages to keep his presence down below a secret from his adversaries, even as he manages to establish phone contact with the outside to order F-15s to fire missiles at his own plane, to kill another terrorist and to dump a great deal of fuel in an effort to effect a quick resolution.

Second boffo action sequence involves dozens of passengers parachuting out of the plane’s belly during an attempted refueling, which results in a stunning fiery explosion and the sight of the U.S. president barely hanging on to the jet as it flies at 15,000 feet. At long last, however, Ivan gets his intended prey in his grips; despite Marshall’s tough words, he must eventually accede to his captor’s demand to release Radek, setting in motion an international incident that parallels the final battle between the two enemies in the air.

Unfortunately, “Air Force One” shares with many of its other summer-release companions the sin of excess endings; after delivering its natural climax, the filmmakers insist upon adding a few more, including a final one involving the renegade Secret Service agent that is downright silly.

The artificiality of the material and the hokiness of many individual moments notwithstanding, Petersen, the master of cramped quarters in “Das Boot,” puts it all across with relative conviction and great vigor. All the key scenes, whether they involve massive logistics or one-on-one personal confrontations, are shot and edited to pulse-quickening effect, which casts into shadow the numerous possible objections one can easily raise to the film: that it is a wildly jingoistic American imperialist exercise, a more covert “Rambo”-like fantasy projection for Vietnam-era men, or that first-time screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe’s admittedly clever scenario could have sorely used some leavening wit and humor.

The film succeeds even despite what can only be called a monotone, physically unexciting performance from Ford. His relatively withdrawn, reluctant personality adds little dimension to the drama, and yet he somehow fills the bill both as a president and a man who can take difficult matters into his own hands and bend them to his will. There is definite star power at work here, along with a talent for making less seem like a lot more.

Oldman, in his second malevolent lead of the summer, after “The Fifth Element,” registers strongly as a veteran of the Afghan campaign pushed to desperate lengths to newly ennoble his country. Close spends most of her time speaking urgently over the phone, and other members of the large supporting cast deliver well-delineated cut-outs.

Film’s many outstanding technical achievements do not overshadow the dramatic tension of the situations themselves. Huge visual effects team supervised by Richard Edlund deserves major kudos for the bounty of startling in-flight incidents. Production designer William Sandell oversaw the re-creation of Air Force One, the interior of which provides much ongoing fascination, and such incidental sets as the crowded Moscow banquet room and Radek’s circles-of-hell prison are marvelous. Michael Ballhaus’ highly mobile lensing and Richard Francis-Bruce’s adroit editing contribute strongly to keeping the film aloft. Jerry Goldsmith’s score seems overstrenuous at times in trying to stir extra excitement.

• Production: A Sony Pictures Entertainment release from Columbia Pictures of a Beacon Pictures and Columbia Pictures presentation of a Radiant production. Produced by Wolfgang Petersen, Gail Katz, Armyan Bernstein, Jon Shestack. Executive producers, Thomas A. Bliss, Marc Abraham, David Lester. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Screenplay, Andrew W. Marlowe.
• Crew: Camera (Technicolor, widescreen), Michael Ballhaus; editor, Richard Francis-Bruce; music, Jerry Goldsmith; additional music, Joel McNeely; production design, William Sandell; supervising art director, Nancy Patton; art direction, Carl Aldana, Carl Stensel; set design, Peter J. Kelly, Karl J. Martin, Martha Johnson, Harry E. Otto, Lynn Christopher; set decoration, Ernie Bishop; costume design, Erica Edell Phillips; sound (Dolby digital/SDDS), Keith A. Wester; supervising sound editors, Wylie Stateman, Peter Michael Sullivan; visual effects supervised by Richard Edlund; visual effects produced by Kimberly K. Nelson; visual effects supervisor, Brad Kuehn; visual effects, Boss Films Studios; digital visual effects, Cinesite; stunt coordinator, Doug Coleman; associate producers, Mary Montiforte, Peter Kohn; assistant director, Kohn; second unit director/camera, David Dunlap; casting, Janet Hirshenson, Jane Jenkins. Reviewed at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Beverly Hills, July 14, 1997. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 124 MIN.
• With: President James Marshall - Harrison Ford Ivan Korshunov - Gary Oldman Vice President Kathryn Bennett - Glenn Close Grace Marshall - Wendy Crewson Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd - Paul Guilfoyle Maj. Caldwell - William H. Macy Alice Marshall - Liesel Matthews Defense Secretary Walter Dean - Dean Stockwell Agent Gibbs - Xander Berkeley Gen. Northwood - Bill Smitrovich Andrei Kolchak - Elaya Baskin Igor Nevsky - David Vadim NSA Adviser Jack Doherty - Tom Everett White House Aide Thomas Lee - Spencer Garrett U.S. Attorney Gen. Ward - Philip Baker Hall Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell - Donna Bullock Agent Johnson - David Gianopolous F-15 Leader Col. Carlton - Don R. McManus Agent Walters - Glenn Morshower Gen. Alexander Radek - Jurgen Prochnow

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Air Force One

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Harrison Ford never saw battle — he was a conscientious objector. And we all know Bill Clinton’s service record. But in the eruptively exciting Air Force One — the real deal in an action-thriller deluxe — the fictional president played by Ford puts teeth in the title of commander in chief. Give this president a bullwhip and a fedora and he’s Indiana Jones. Ford is in peak fighting form as James Marshall, a former soldier with combat stripes and a short fuse when it comes to terrorists. Push him too far and he’ll kick your ass. Gary Oldman, oozing menace as a Russian dissident named Korshunov, really pushes. Posing as a Moscow journalist to gain access to “Air Force One,” Korshunov and his team hijack the presidential jet in midflight. The ultimatum? Release their leader, General Radek, from prison or they’ll start killing the hostages on board, including Cabinet members, first lady Grace Marshall (Wendy Crewson) and first daughter Alice (Liesel Matthews), age 12.

Whew, does that piss off the prez! Instead of bailing out in the 747’s escape pod, he hides in the bowels of the jet to play hero. Korshunoy mistakenly thinks that the president has made a cowardly exit “like a woman.” This Russki is a serious sexist, which makes it hard when he negotiates by radio with the new person in charge. She is Vice President Bennett, played by Glenn Close, who excels in the role with her sharp intuition and quiet strength. Her male colleagues in Washington are only slightly less overt in their misogyny. Nice touch. Korshunov warns the Veep not to let the guys see that she is “sweating through that silk blouse.”

That wickedly hissable line is typical of Andrew Marlowe’s canny, original screenplay. Of course, it’s not really that new. The recycled elements are as current as “Die Hard” and as classic as the 1930s cliffhangers that inspired Ford’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” No matter. Director Wolfgang Petersen puts such a fresh spin on the familiar that it all works like gangbusters. Petersen knows his way around claustrophobic tension (“Das Boot”) and presidents in peril (“In the Line of Fire”). The director juggles the events in the air and on the ground with a meticulous attention to detail. You don’t stay glued to the screen because a hack director has strung together a few workable formulas. “Air Force One” is gripping, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat entertainment because you are in the hands of a master craftsman.

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In defiance of action rules, “Air Force One” opens with a speech as President Marshall addresses an assembly in Russia. To the surprise and annoyance of his aides, he uses his own strong language to declare war on terrorists (“Your day is over”). Security at the airport is tight, but on the plane, the president is relaxed. He watches a tape of a football game he missed and pleads that no one tell him who won. He helps Alice with homework, shares a hug with Grace. No Bill and Hillary squabbling or hints of marital discord. The family stuff is low-key and surprisingly genuine.

Boring? Not a bit. Petersen is setting a trap. The president’s arrogance in speaking out will cost him. Soon he’ll have to eat his words and play ball with the bad guys to save his family. While establishing the emotional bond of the Marshalls, Petersen does something else equally crucial: He lays out the geography of the plane. We see the space where the president works, where he meets with his advisers, where he loosens up with his family. We see how security operates, where the Secret Service agents are located and how the chief agent (ably played by Xander Berkeley) monitors the activities on the jet and limits access to the president. Superbly shot by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (“GoodFellas”), these loaded scenes develop character with elegant precision and set up a solid framework for the fireworks to follow.

What’s the big whoop about that? Look at the spatial incoherence in most films today. The action is so in-your-face that you barely know what’s happening and to whom. Petersen puts you in the picture. As the president tiptoes around, you know what’s behind each door he passes. This grabber of a movie reminds us what a delicious kick it is to be scared senseless by experts.

Petersen escalates the suspense with diabolical skill but never at the expense of humor. Besides the traces of Indiana Jones and Jack Ryan in Ford’s performance, you’ll also detect a bit of the raffish Han Solo. Snooping around the baggage compartment, the president uncovers a cell phone. Reaching the White House, he’s hassled by a suspicious operator (“ Sure you’re the president”), only to watch the phone’s battery die when she finally gives him access. Ford’s slow burn is priceless. What a relief to see this underrated actor ( Witness , Working Girl , Presumed Innocent , The Fugitive ) back in gear after Sabrina and The Devil’s Own , two rare flops in the Ford-canon. His wit is dry — acerbic but never campy.

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Heftier issues are also subtly worked into the mix. “My father is a great man,” Alice pipes up to Korshunov, who is ready to kill her if he must. The Russian admires the girl’s courage but begs to differ, noting that murder is murder, even if the one giving orders wears a suit and uses a phone instead of a weapon. Oldman’s deft underplaying (no Fifth Element hamming here) adds unexpected humanity to a role that could have slipped into caricature.

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Still, it’s the breathtaking set pieces that keep pulses pounding, notably a covert parachute escape organized by the president and a midair rescue mission that literally leaves the cast dangling and defines the word cliffhanger. The sight of Ford’s president using his fists, his feet and even a handy stool to clobber his enemies is impressive, considering that he does it all in a suit.

Don’t lump the superior escapism of Air Force One with the tediously frenzied sequels to Jurassic Park , Batman and Speed , or with any of the other summer bottom feeders. The worst offender is the poisonously cynical “Con Air,” a Jerry Bruck-heimer production that views us as jolt junkies eager to pay for any tainted action meat as long as it’s bloody, accompanied by nonstop noise, and spiced with sadism and twisted sex. Air Force One doesn’t insult the audience. It is crafted by a film-maker who takes pride in the thrills and sly fun he packs into every frame. Welcome to something rare in a summer of crass commercialism: a class act.

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Air Force One Review

12 Sep 1997

124 minutes

Air Force One

The potential is mouthwatering: director Wolfgang Petersen returning to the politically charged thriller genre he made his own with In The Line Of Fire; action icon Harrison Ford in the role he was clearly destined to play - a President of the USA who kicks arse; and a scenario that ups the ante on any Die Hard On A Plane variations by placing the most prominent world leader in dire jeopardy. Happily, Air Force One fulfils all its early promise, delivering a well oiled, no-nonsense, supremely entertaining crowd pleaser.

Following an impassioned speech in which he takes a hardline stance against terrorism, President James Marshall (Ford), together with his wife and their 12-year-old daughter, boards the titular jet to return to the States from Moscow. Midflight, however, the plane is taken hostage by an extremist nationalist Russki faction, led by bearded baddie Kurshonov (Oldman). The group's demands are clear cut and brutal: the release of their imprisoned leader General Radek (Jurgen Prochnow) or they will kill a passenger every half-an-hour.

In the melee, Marshall eludes the hijackers, feigns escape in an emergency pod and begins to wage a one man guerrilla war to gain control of the plane. This clears the decks for some taut-as-piano-wire cat and mousery as the pumped-up Prez - who it turns out is a decorated Vietnam vet - plays hide and seek with the bad guys, knocking them off one by one in a manner that more befits Clint than Clinton. Indeed, in this age of post-Rambo sophistication, there is still something incredibly enjoyable about international incidents being resolved by two men slugging it out.

Forsaking the MTV dynamism and ironic spin of Con Air, Air Force One deals in more traditional forms of action blockbusterdom: the events at least aspire to a semblance of realism, the special effects are used sparsely to powerful ends and the jokey kiss-off lines are kept to a minimum. Moreover, Petersen - an old hand at milking maximum tension fron confined spaces via his submarine masterpiece Das Boot - orchestrates the compelling predicament with consummate mastery, escalating the spectacle from inflight fistcuffs to an amazing aborted landing set-piece and then some: from frame one, his grip does not falter and it feels good to be in such safe hands.

Be it handling difficult dilemmas or squaring up to monstrous evil, no one cuts it better in the action stakes than Ford: infusing all his stock in trade - stoic machismo, moral dignity, dyed in the wool decency - into the have-a-go politician. Air Force One benefits much from a blissful marriage between star persona and character spec. Oldman brings a genuine chill to his callous, intelligent terrorist, compared to his cartoony turn in The Fifth Element. Although Close, as the vice-president on the ground negotiating with him, has little to do except bark orders and chew scenery.

As with most actioners, the killjoys will find faults. The film is hokey on minutiae - the most security conscious aircraft in the world is effortlessly infiltrated and, much like ID4, almost every scene overflows with undiluted Yank jingoism - from a candlelit vigil outside the White House to the brazen nobility of Jerry Goldsmith's music - and the idea that "America is ace!" screams from every pore. Still, when it is served up with such pulpy panache, old-fashioned expertise and a hero so easy to root for, come the end credit scroll, it is virtually impossible not to stand up and salute.

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Air force one.

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

The fate of the nation rests on the courage of one man.

When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossible decision to give in to terrorist demands or sacrifice not only the country's dignity, but the lives of his wife and daughter.

Harrison Ford Gary Oldman Glenn Close Wendy Crewson Liesel Matthews Paul Guilfoyle Xander Berkeley William H. Macy Dean Stockwell Tom Everett Jürgen Prochnow Donna Bullock Michael Ray Miller Carl Weintraub Elester Latham Elya Baskin Levan Uchaneishvili David Vadim Andrew Divoff Ilia Volok Chris Howell Spencer Garrett Bill Smitrovich Philip Baker Hall Albert Owens Willard E. Pugh Michael Monks Alan Woolf Messiri Freeman Show All… Thomas Crawford Fenton Lawless Dan Shor David Gianopoulos Glenn Morshower Richard Doyle Don McManus Duke Miglin Pasha D. Lychnikoff Oleg Taktarov Mario Roberts Keith Woulard J. Mark Donaldson Bruce Holman Brian Libby Diana Bellamy Thom Barry Harry Hutchinson E.E. Bell Mark Thompson Alex Veadov Marciarose Shestack Boris Lee Krutonog Ren Hanami Titus Welliver Timothy Carhart Gwendoline Yeo

Director Director

Wolfgang Petersen

Producers Producers

Armyan Bernstein Jonathan Shestack Gail Katz Wolfgang Petersen Peter Kohn Mary Montiforte David Siegel

Writer Writer

Andrew W. Marlowe

Casting Casting

Janet Hirshenson Jane Jenkins

Editor Editor

Richard Francis-Bruce

Cinematography Cinematography

Michael Ballhaus

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Peter Kohn Scott Robertson

Additional Directing Add. Directing

David M. Dunlap

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

David V. Lester Marc Abraham Thomas A. Bliss

Lighting Lighting

Brennan Price Kenneth J. Holt James R. Tynes

Production Design Production Design

William Sandell

Art Direction Art Direction

Nancy Patton Carl J. Stensel Carlos Aldana

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Ernie Bishop Lynn Christopher

Special Effects Special Effects

Terry D. Frazee

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Kimberly Nelson LoCascio Richard Edlund Peter Collins

Stunts Stunts

Donna Keegan Charlie Brewer Mickey Giacomazzi Marian Green Harry Wowchuk Chris O'Hara Vince Deadrick Jr. Paul E. Short Kathy Jarvis Doug Coleman Michael Lee Baron Rick Avery Keith Woulard Paul Sklar

Composer Composer

Jerry Goldsmith

Sound Sound

Frank Meadows Wylie Stateman Arthur Farkas David Young Gregory Hainer Christopher Assells Keith A. Wester Gary A. Hecker Nerses Gezalyan

Costume Design Costume Design

Erica Edell Phillips

Makeup Makeup

Selina Jayne

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Laura Connolly Gerald Solomon

Radiant Productions Beacon Pictures Columbia Pictures

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

English Russian

Releases by Date

21 jul 1997, 01 sep 1997, 22 oct 1997, 25 jul 1997, 29 aug 1997, 11 sep 1997, 12 sep 1997, 13 sep 1997, 18 sep 1997, 19 sep 1997, 01 oct 1997, 03 oct 1997, 08 oct 1997, 09 oct 1997, 15 oct 1997, 23 oct 1997, 24 oct 1997, 30 oct 1997, 31 oct 1997, 06 nov 1997, 07 nov 1997, 14 nov 1997, 17 nov 1997, 20 nov 1997, 21 nov 1997, 27 nov 1997, 04 dec 1997, 05 dec 1997, 12 dec 1997, 20 dec 1997, 23 feb 2021, 10 feb 1998, 01 mar 1998, 31 mar 1999, 08 apr 1999, 13 jun 2001, 08 aug 2007, 14 aug 2007, 10 dec 2007, 02 jun 2009, 26 apr 2002, releases by country.

• Theatrical M
• Theatrical 16
• Theatrical PG
• Theatrical 15+
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical K-16
• Theatrical TP
• Physical DVD
• Physical Blu-Ray
• Digital Disney+
• Premiere 16 Munich
• Premiere T Venice Film Festival
• Theatrical T

Netherlands

• Physical 16 DVD
• TV 16 SBS 6
• Physical 16 Blu ray

New Zealand

Philippines.

• Theatrical M/12 Apresentado em Century City, California
• Theatrical 18
• Theatrical 16+

South Korea

• Physical 15 VHS release; The release day in March is not known.
• Physical 15 DVD release
• Physical 15 Blu-ray release

Switzerland

• Premiere R Century City, California
• Theatrical R
• Physical R DVD Release
• Physical R Blu-Ray Release

124 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Matt Singer ★★★ 7

How often do you think Obama turns to someone on Air Force One and says "Get off my plane!" like Harrison Ford? Six, seven times a day?

Review by matt lynch ★★★½

It's hard to overstate just how exciting and also how terrifically absurd this is; a total parody of itself. You can cringe a bit at the endless lives expended to support a dubious foreign policy decision (though it's presented as a human rights one, ok, fine) and by extension the legacy of this politician, but whatever who cares get off my plane, this is one of the great exactly-what-it-says-on-the-box movies.

Review by Will Menaker ★★★½ 3

The single most neoconservative movie of the nineties. Renders the vision and philosophy of what would become the George W Bush administration in brilliant Wolfgang Peterson/Michael Balhaus style. Here we have the president commit to using American military power to confront any evil state or group in the world at any time for any reason and shortly thereafter actually becomes John McClane when "neo-communist" terrorists take his plane and family hostage. It goes without saying that President Marshall, by selfishly choosing at every turn to be a hero and remain in a hostage situation to "save his family", by not getting in the escape pod, and routinely placing his own life in the hands of terrorists, greatly harms the United…

Review by Sean Fennessey ★★★½ 3

In this film, CNN interrupts regularly scheduled programming to announce that there are “unconfirmed reports that Air Force One has crashed.” In other words, someone told someone else—erroneously—that the President’s plane crashed and CNN producers thought, “We gotta say this live on the air ASAP without confirming.” This is one of the most unrealistic thrillers of the ‘90s, but for some reason that part bothered me the most.

Review by KYK ★★★½ 1

i used to carry this vhs around in 1st/2nd grade (??) cuz it was my favorite movie lol ?? can’t believe i used to stan a president

Review by Jizzmonkey ★★ 1

I love true stories.

Review by Calum Marsh ★★

Watched this at a cabin with some friends and a friend’s elderly mom, who spent the entire duration of the movie on the far side of the living room in a reclining chair doing a paint-by-numbers colouring book on her iPad, seemingly not paying any attention whatsoever, until the EXACT MOMENT when Harrison Ford is about to tell Gary Oldman “get off my plane,” when she suddenly shot up, slammed down her iPad, and yelled “HERE COMES THE LINE!” Who could deny that level of cultural endurance?

Review by Brendan Michaels ★★★★ 2

This is my friend Judd's favorite movie and for my birthday he bought me this. So today we decided to watch it. I can confirm that James Marshall is a way better president than Donald Trump.

Review by Christian Di Leo ★★★½

The best American propaganda film I have ever seen (with Olympus Has Fallen being a close second). President Harrison Ford tells Russian terrorist Gary Oldman to "GET OFF MY PLANE!" . America, fuck yeah!!!

Review by Will Sloan

Somehow I had never seen this before. As you know, it's a rigorously, even proudly formulaic movie that follows most of the beats of the Die Hard template very closely, except for its surprising refusal to give the John McClane surrogate a character arc. From beginning to end, President Harrison Ford is the greatest man to ever live. The movie opens with him being feted at an official Russian state dinner after he's quashed a neo-Communist dictator in Kazakhstan, but instead of patting himself on the back, he chastises himself (and America) for not consistently living up to its moral obligation for humanitarian intervention. This guy is so principled that even when he's taking a W he can't appreciate it…

Review by Jorge Pinarello ★★★★ 14

Hoy volví a ver Avión Presidencial , pero ahora con mi papá y con mi tía Marta. La última vez que mi papá entró a un cine fue en 1984, para ver “ Camila ”. Después de eso nunca más pisó una sala. No sé si su falta de interés se debe a que la pasó mal viéndola, o a que le pareció tan maravillosa que consideró que no necesitaba ver más nada. Elijo inclinarme por la segunda opción. Desde 1984 hasta ahora, vio muy pocas películas, y todas ellas fueron porque mi mamá o yo lo obligamos. Conocemos muy bien sus gustos: o películas argentinas inspiradas en hechos reales o aquellas que involucran autos, trenes o aviones. Recuerdo que vimos Tango Feroz ,…

Review by Drew Clark ★★★½

Insert literally any of the past ten presidents and this movie becomes infinitely funnier

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July 25, 1997 Air Force One By JANET MASLIN .F.O." monograms on presidential hand towels show how much the little things count in Wolfgang Petersen's fast-paced, red-blooded action movie "Air Force One." Small niceties aboard the presidential plane set the tone for a larger amenity: the brave, tough, decent commander in chief. As played in warmly electable fashion by Harrison Ford, President James Marshall is pure paragon, a statesman of strong backbone who kisses his wife even when no one's looking. When Ford waves to admirers while boarding the president's airplane, he has no trouble looking every inch the star. But the inspiration stops just beyond the man himself, who amounts to the summer's most enjoyable special effect, and beyond voyeurism about how he travels. "Air Force One" otherwise offers what has begun to seem routine excitement: crazed terrorists, midair dogfights, desperate struggles staged beside an airplane's open door. And dialogue bristling with manful military authority: "Let's not waste any more time. Send the Nimitz back in." Honestly, who ever meant to feel this jaded? But this season's blockbusters have unfolded at such fever pitch that a presidential hijacking in one more airplane thriller has an aspect of deja vu. Petersen, known for the efficient and vigorously muscular action of "Das Boot" and "In the Line of Fire," once again directs with galvanizing intensity, but the relentlessness of these thrills carries little in the way of surprise. The season's hottest, looniest, most gripping adventure remains "Face/Off" from the more luridly audacious John Woo. Despite the seals and monograms that make it so specially Presidential, the blunt, high-octane "Air Force One" recalls "Executive Decision," "Con Air" and all the other scary airborne thrillers that no real plane will ever dare show in flight. In an added flourish to make Tom Clancy blush, it has a plot concerning the dread return of Communism to the Russian empire. Andrew W. Marlowe's screenplay begins with a commando raid in Kazakhstan that captures a scheming, dangerous general (played nearly wordlessly by Jurgen Prochnow of "Das Boot"). To free their leader, a group of radical Russians masquerades as a news crew to board and then take over Air Force One. The film's mustache twirler of a villain is played with scary glee by Gary Oldman, who rhapsodizes about Mother Russia while trying to guess where President Marshall is hiding. Cleverly concealed aboard Air Force One during much of the movie, the president even finds ways to contact White House personnel on the ground. One of the film's most likable, incongruous aspects is the hint of everyday detail that leavens this earth-shaking crisis. Turns out the president of the United States can have as much trouble with telephone operators or cell phone batteries as anybody else. Meanwhile, lest "Air Force One" be confused with anything ordinary, Petersen stages some furiously energetic airborne sequences starring the painted 747 that plays the title role. Thanks to the official cooperation of the United States military, this Hollywood valentine to dashing Presidential style also features real F-15's, Blackhawk helicopters, C-130 cargo planes and other huge pieces of hardware, which were maintained by a large corps of military personnel (numbering about 250) on the Sony payroll. Trivia note: The film's huge interior set, which imagines Air Force One right down to those hand towels, was built on the nation's largest sound stage. It once housed the Yellow Brick Road to Oz. "Air Force One" unfolds as such a string of tension-filled physical crises that it isn't much of an actor's film for anyone beyond the superbly durable Ford. Singlehandedly saving the free world from any whiff of presidential mediocrity, he conspires with a ground team that includes Glenn Close. She acts with appealing brusqueness and precision while playing surely the only vice president to quote from the children's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" in the War Room. Also in "Air Force One" are Wendy Crewson as the fond First Lady ("Remember our first campaign?") and Liesel Matthews of "A Little Princess" as the First Daughter of a devoted family man. Dean Stockwell has a brief, amusing turn as the overly ambitious secretary of defense, and Xander Berkeley cuts a chilling figure as a most peculiar Secret Service agent. As photographed with lean efficiency by Michael Ballhaus, "Air Force One" delivers this and other calculating jolts as it hurtles through a velvety sky. Another brief supporting role is played by Cable News Network, which has lately been so visible on screen. CNN's movie stardom may have less to do with commercial tie-ins than with global audience recognition. This is a meat-and-potatoes American thriller that means business all around the world. AIR FORCE ONE Rating: "Air Force One" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes violence, profanity, a medium-high body count and moderate gore. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen; written by Andrew W. Marlowe; director of photography, Michael Ballhaus; edited by Richard Francis-Bruce; music by Jerry Goldsmith; production designer, William Sandell; produced by Petersen, Gail Katz, Armyan Bernstein and Jon Shestack; released by Beacon Pictures and ColumbiaSony Pictures. Running time: 125 minutes. This film is rated R. Cast: Harrison Ford (President James Marshall), Gary Oldman (Ivan Korshunov), Wendy Crewson (Grace Marshall), Jurgen Prochnow (General Radek), Liesel Matthews (Alice Marshall), Dean Stockwell (secretary of defense), Xander Berkeley (Agent Gibbs) and Glenn Close (vice president).

• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

Summary Wolfgang Petersen's gripping thriller about an uncompromising U.S. President (Ford) who has just told the world he will not negotiate with terrorists. When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossible decision to give in to terrorist dem ... Read More

Directed By : Wolfgang Petersen

Written By : Andrew W. Marlowe

Air Force One

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Harrison Ford

President james marshall, gary oldman, ivan korshunov, glenn close, vice president kathryn bennett, wendy crewson, grace marshall, liesel matthews, alice marshall, paul guilfoyle, chief of staff lloyd shepherd, xander berkeley, agent gibbs, william h. macy, major caldwell, dean stockwell, defense secretary walter dean, tom everett, nsa advisor jack doherty, jürgen prochnow, general alexander radek, donna bullock, press secretary melanie mitchell, michael ray miller, afo pilot colonel axelrod, carl weintraub, afo co-pilot lt. col. ingrahams, elester latham, afo navigator, major bridges, elya baskin, andrei kolchak, sergei lenski, david vadim, igor nevsky, andrew divoff, boris bazylev, vladimir krasin, critic reviews.

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Movie Review of ‘Air Force One’ (1997)

Released in the summer of 1997,  Air Force One  arrived towards the end of the  Die Hard  clone era. After  Die Hard  flourished at the box office in 1988, studios began clamouring to replicate the film’s success; leading to the birth of an entire action subgenre. Take, for instance,  Speed  ( Die Hard  on a bus),  Under Siege  ( Die Hard  on a boat), and  Passenger 57  ( Die Hard  on a plane). By 1997, the well had ostensibly run dry, with  Die Hard  clones becoming relegated to direct-to-video releases with fading stars and recycled stories. And then along came  Air Force One , which showed Hollywood another way to make a  Die Hard  spin: make the John McClane archetype the President of the United States as played by Harrison Ford. The result is one of the greatest  Die Hard  clones of its decade. An unabashedly jingoistic, patriotic blockbuster,  Air Force One  benefits from the exceptional directorial touch of Wolfgang Peterson ( In the Line of Fire ) and an ideal cast.

Fresh off the success of a joint American-Russian mission to capture rogue world leader General Radek (Prochnow), United States President James Marshall (Ford) delivers a controversial speech declaring that he will not negotiate with terrorists. On the flight home, Air Force One is summarily hijacked by Russian terrorists posing as reporters. Led by ultra-nationalist Ivan Korshunov (Oldman), the terrorists kill several passengers and take the survivors hostage. In contact with the American Vice President (Close) after President Marshall ostensibly leaves in the plane’s escape pod, Korshunov demands for Radek to be released from prison, and promises to execute a hostage every half an hour until his demands are met. However, Korshunov did not anticipate for the determined President Marshall to secretly remain onboard the plane armed with both the skill and determination to rescue his family and friends.

Even the most energetic and creative action films are likely to foster at least a vague sense of déjà vu due to the nature of the genre – after all, there are only so many ways to blow stuff up and stage shootouts. Thus, it should not be surprising to hear that elements of  Air Force One  are familiar; the script seems to have been assembled using bits and pieces from other films about terrorists, airplanes, hijacking, hostages, politics and cat-and-mouse chases. Thankfully, all of this stuff is perfectly palatable thanks to Wolfgang Peterson’s proficient directorial efforts. Peterson was able to use the film’s plane setting to great effect, creating a cramped, rather claustrophobic disposition affording tension and danger. The shootouts are great, and the action in general is constantly invigorating. Intoxicating bursts of nail-biting tension are present throughout as well, making this a skilful addition to the action genre rather than a dumb compilation of people killing one another. From a technical perspective,  Air Force One  is a winner. From the lavish, intricate production design to the predominantly impressive special effects and Jerry Goldsmith’s thrilling score, the film has been assembled with tremendous skill. The sole technical drawback is that the demise of Air Force One suffers from unbelievably phoney digital effects.

Fortunately,  Air Force One  does not insult the audience. This movie receives way too much unfounded criticism – people constantly use the umbrella denigration “it’s dumb and implausible” without providing sufficient evidence. Perhaps some people are so accustomed to blatantly dumb blockbusters that they cannot recognise a comparatively smart blockbuster when they see it. It’s also surprising how much plausible material is hailed as dumb. Midair gunfire is criticised, but even the real Air Force One has been specifically hardened against gunfire, and thus the film reflects that. The premise seems implausible too, but it was executed believably enough (though the lack of terrorist casualties during their shootout with Secret Service agents is a bit on the absurd side, granted). Heck, a former Secret Service agent has even admitted there’s a one-in-a-million chance that Air Force One could be hijacked. At no point is  Air Force One  detrimentally stupid – it just takes a few liberties. And since the film is so exciting and well-made, who cares if it does take liberties?

In the leading role, Harrison Ford is suitably charismatic. Ford was in his action prime at the time of  Air Force One , and he is probably the only star we could believe as an ass-kicking president. It’s unlikely that any other performer would have been able to pull off the combination of genuine acting talent, movie star charisma, and the badass disposition of the world’s best action stars. The President is not portrayed as a bulletproof hero – rather, Marshall evokes the humanity which characterised  Die Hard ‘s John McClane; he is a man motivated by family and conscience who shows he is not invincible. Marshall is also a President of honour who has a code of ethics… He’s almost too good to be true. Alongside Ford, Gary Oldman brings dimensionality, menace and a believable Russian accent to the role of Ivan Korshunov. As a result, the vicious verbal battles between Oldman and Ford are almost as intense as the action scenes. Also in the cast is Glenn Close who’s effectively steely as the Vice President, and William H. Macy who’s a certifiable hoot as a loyal major with a machine gun.

A highly enjoyable and intense time killer,  Air Force One  does not redefine the action movie, but it is a terrific genre flick which hits all the right notes and has it where it counts. Spectacular action of the refreshing old-school variety is the order of the day here, which is topped off by a strong, likeable hero and a villain who’s easy to hate. In short,  Air Force One  is irresistible escapist entertainment which holds up well to repeat viewings.

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Air Force One (1997)

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• "Air Force One" is a star-studded political thriller movie that revolves around the hijacking of the President's designated plane.
• Harrison Ford delivers a seamless performance as President James Marshall, showcasing his action-hero skills.
• The talented supporting cast includes Gary Oldman as the antagonist, Glenn Close as the Vice President, and William H. Macy as the President's right-hand man.

Air Force One features Harrison Ford assuming the role of the President of the United States during a hijacking of Air Force One, the President's designated plane. The cast of the 1997 political thriller film includes a handful of star-studded names, in addition to Ford's, of course. The actors play the President's family, staff, and enemies in the high-stakes action movie that, for the most part, takes place in the sky.

Wolfgang Petersen directed Air Force One , and Andrew W. Marlowe wrote the script for the Ford-led picture. The actor's presidential character is at the center of it all, but those surrounding him are integral to the story as well. The film revolves around a group of neo-Soviet terrorists who take over Air Force One following a joint operation between the United States and Russia to capture the dictator of their regime in Kazakhstan. Given there are many moving parts in Air Force One , the cast had to be stacked with talented actors.

Harrison Ford As President James Marshall

Harrison Ford stars as President James Marshall, the main protagonist in Air Force One . James is forced to defend himself and his country against a group of terrorists led by Egor Korshunov when they hijack his place. Thanks to the fictional President's military background and Ford's resume, the actor can seamlessly pull off the action hero role.

Since starring in the 1997 political thriller film, Ford has appeared in a plethora of movies. He has reprised his role as Han Solo in the Star Wars sequel films, played Indiana Jones again in the fourth and fifth Indiana Jones movies, and starred in other solo projects such as Extraordinary Measures , Cowboys & Aliens , and Ender's Game . Plus, Ford is set to assume the role of Thaddeus Ross in Marvel's Captain America: Brave New World in 2024.

Related: 10 Greatest Fictional Presidents, According To Ranker

Gary Oldman As Egor Korshunov

Whereas Harrison Ford portrays the protagonist of Air Force One , Gary Oldman plays the antagonist — Egor Korshunov. Egor is the leader of the terrorist group that follows General Radek, the dictator of the neo-Soviet regime in Kazakhstan. The loyalists disguise themselves as journalists to board Air Force One and hijack the plane. After starring as the main villain in the action movie, Oldman has had a long and lustrous film career. The actor has appeared as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film series and James Gordon in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. Plus, Oldman played Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour , which earned him an Oscar.

Glenn Close As Vice President Kathryn Bennett

Of course, one cannot make a film about the President of the United States without including their Vice President, and in Air Force One , that role was played by Glenn Close. Close's Kathryn Bennett is the first female Vice President of the United States, and while Harrison Ford's character is taking care of business in the air, Bennett is holding down the fort on the ground. Like Ford and Gary Oldman, Close has an impressive career, and some of her film credits following Air Force One include The Stepford Wives , Guardians of the Galaxy , Albert Nobbs , The Wife (which won her an Oscar), and Hillbilly Elegy .

William H. Macy As Major Norman Caldwell

William H. Macy plays Norman Caldwell, a major in the United States Air Force and a member of the President's military aide, in Air Force One . He acts as the President's right-hand man throughout the movie as they navigate the terrorist situation in the air. Aside from the 1997 action film, Macy is best known for starring as Frank Gallagher in the Showtime drama series Shameless . The actor has also appeared in movies such as Boogie Nights , Pleasantville , Magnolia , Jurassic Park III , Seabiscuit , Thank You for Smoking , and The Lincoln Lawyer .

Wendy Crewson As First Lady Grace Marshall

Unfortunately for Harrison Ford's James Marshall, his family is onboard the plane when the terrorists hijack it in Air Force One . Wendy Crewson stars as Grace Marshall, the First Lady of the United States in the political thriller. Following the film, the actress has starred in numerous films like The Santa Clause 2 , The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause , Bicentennial Man , What Lies Beneath , The 6th Day , The Covenant , Eight Below , and Room . Related: 7 Best Movies Set on Moving Vehicles

Liesel Matthews As Alice Marshall

James and Grace's daughter Alice was also on the plane when the terrorists took control of it in Air Force One , and the young girl was played by Liesel Matthews. Since the actress was so young when she starred in the 1997 movie, she did not go on to appear on many more projects. Matthews' sole film credit following Air Force One is Blast , which premiered in 2000 before she retired from acting.

Paul Guilfoyle As White House Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd

Paul Guilfoyle stars as Lloyd Shepherd, the President of the United States' Chief of Staff, in Air Force One . Shepherd is one of the many hostages taken on the plane, given his importance to the country and the President. Following Air Force Once , Guilfoyle went on to join the main cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , and he played Captain Jim Brass in the CBS series for 14 years. He also appeared in films such as Spotlight , Pandemic , and Don't Look Up ​​​​.

Xander Berkeley As Secret Service Special Agent Gibbs

Of course, Air Force One had to feature a mole, or else it would have been too easy for the terrorists to hijack the President's airplane, and, unfortunately for Harrison Ford's character, it was the person who was supposed to be protecting him. Xander Berkeley played Secret Service Special Agent Gibbs, who let the hijackers take control of the aircraft in the 1997 film. Following his villainous role, Berkeley starred in Gattaca , Shanghai Noon , Taken , Year One , and Transcendence . The actor also appeared in television shows like 24 , Nikita , The Mentalist , and The Walking Dead . Related: Air Force One Ruined Harrison Ford's Best Jack Ryan Comeback Idea

Air Force One Supporting Cast & Characters

Dean Stockwell as Defense Secretary Walter Dean - Of course, not every character in Air Force One is on the airplane with the hijackers. Dean Stockwell's Defense Secretary Walter Dean is on the ground alongside the Vice President, trying to figure out how to best handle the situation. Stockwell sadly died in 2021 at the age of 85. But before his death, the actor appeared in The Rainmaker , Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker , The Manchurian Candidate , JAG , and Battlestar Galactica .

Jürgen Prochnow As General Ivan Radek - The aforementioned dictator of the neo-Soviet regime in Kazakhstan was General Ivan Radek, played by Jürgen Prochnow. Following Air Force One , Prochnow starred in The Da Vinci Code , 24 , and NCIS: Los Angeles ​​​​.

• Air Force One

"We waste our money so you don't have to."

"We waste our money, so you don't have to."

Movie Review

Air force one.

US Release Date: 07-25-1997

Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen

Starring ▸ ▾

• Harrison Ford ,  as
• President James Marshall
• Gary Oldman ,  as
• Ivan Korshunov
• Glenn Close ,  as
• Vice President Kathryn Bennett
• Tom Everett ,  as
• National Security Advisor Jack Doherty
• Dean Stockwell ,  as
• Defense Secretary Walter Dean
• William H Macy ,  as
• Major Caldwell
• Wendy Crewson ,  as
• Grace Marshall
• Liesel Matthews ,  as
• Alice Marshall
• Paul Guilfoyle ,  as
• Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd
• Xander Berkeley ,  as
• Secret Service Agent Gibbs
• Jurgen Prochnow ,  as
• General Ivan Radek
• Elya Baskin ,  as
• Andrei Kolchak
• Levan Uchaneishvili ,  as
• Sergei Lenski
• David Vadim ,  as
• Igor Nevsky
• Andrew Divoff ,  as
• Boris Bazylev
• Ilia Volok ,  as
• Vladimir Krasin
• Pasha D. Lychnikoff as
• Prison Guard #1

Harrison Ford as the President in Air Force One .

This is Harrison Ford's best movie that is not part of a series or based on some previous source. The action sequences come fast and often, yet what keeps it all together is the tension surrounding these people involved in a terrorist attack aboard Air Force One.

While in Moscow at an official dinner, Harrison Ford as President James Marshall gives a brief speech in which he firmly states that he will not negotiate with terrorists.  With his staff whining about his speech, he returns to the airport to fly home.  The first lady and their daughter were at the ballet and meet President Marshall on Air Force One.

Also taking the flight is a group of Chechen terrorists, pretending to be reporters.  Lead by Gary Oldman, doing political fanatic like it is nobodies  business, the group is deadly set on taking the plane and capturing the President.  He and his band will stop at nothing, and the body count adds up to prove it.

Minutes into the flight, we learn that there is a traitor onboard and the movie starts an exciting ride that just keeps building speed to the final scene.  The Chechens take the plane with secret servicemen losing their lives right and left.  The President, a former Marine helicopter pilot, who flew many missions in Vietnam, must channel is inner soldier and fight for his life as well as his families, the remaining staff and for that matter the freedom of the world from terrorism.  

President Marshall is an amalgam of real U.S. Presidents.  He has one daughter like President Bill Clinton.  He fought in a war like George H Bush, who flew planes and was even shot down in World War II.  His anti-terrorist speech is reminiscent of a speech Ronald Reagan gave in a debate with President Jimmy Carter, "I believe It is high time that the civilized countries of the world made it plane that there is no room world wide for terrorism.  There will be no negotiation with terrorists of any kind..."   What the world needs now is a real President Marshall!

Glenn Close does a great job as the Vice President. Although they never share a scene, Close is one of the few female leads to hold her own in a Harrison Ford film.  She and the secretary of defense have a ongoing power struggle, but when she barks out the line, "Your Commander in Chief has just given you a direct order. Do it!"  You know who is in charge.

Air Force One is a fantasy, with Harrison Ford playing the kind of hero we all dream we could be.  Ford's charm is that he has always been able to play a common person.  Even though he has movie star looks, on screen he never seems out of reach like Brad Pitt or condescending like George Clooney.   He convinces us, even though he is in extraordinary circumstances, that he is just a man trying to do his best, and with that creates a bit of inspiration and pride, something lacking from so many real leaders.

Glenn Close as the Vice President in Air Force One .

I remember watching this movie and thinking how cool it would be to have a president that was this heroic. He kicks butt. Like Die Hard the simplicity of the story line actually makes the film better. There are scenes of gripping suspense.

Action stars over the age of fifty are almost always ridiculous yet Harrison Ford completely pulls this one off, probably because he is playing the President. I agree with Eric that both Gary Oldman and Glenn Close do great work here.

Like all great thrillers there is humor thrown in to break the tension. Especially funny is the scene where Mr. Ford, desperate to get help, tries to call the White House only to be treated like a crank caller.

This movie keeps getting better as it goes along until you are thinking, 'How can he possibly get out of this alive.' The writers as well as Harrison Ford deserve the credit for making this happen in a convincingly realistic manner.

A classic 90's action flick.

Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford in Air Force One .

A simple enough plot, President and first family held hostage on Air Force One, while returning from Russia. Great cast; Harrison Ford, Glenn Close, and Gary Oldman among others, as Patrick and Eric have said.

Some of the action is quite good, and the scene where Gary Oldman holds the gun to Harrison Ford's daughter's head, is particularly tense.

One point that always bugs me in this movie, is the cell phone scene. Harrison Ford finds a cell phone in the baggage compartment and all the way from Russia is able to call the White House. He must shop for phones at the same place Scully and Mulder do.

Photos © Copyright Columbia Tristar (1997)

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Air Force One Reviews

• 62   Metascore
• 2 hr 5 mins
• Drama, Suspense, Action & Adventure
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The President is held hostage on Air Force One by a crew of Russian terrorists. Using his strength and guile, the Commander-in-Chief must spring into action and fight off his attackers.

What if a kamikaze terrorist (Gary Oldman) seized Air Force One -- a military base, communications center and mobile seat of government all crammed into one sleek, bulletproof, nuclear-shock-resistant package -- with President James Marshall (Harrison Ford), his family (Wendy Crewson, Liesel Matthews) and a healthy cross section of his cabinet and political advisers on board? The movie gets off to a bracing start, with a ruthless gang of commandos parachuting onto the roof of a foreign presidential palace and systematically slaughtering everyone who stands between them and the sleeping man (Jurgen Prochnow, DAS BOOT's sympathetic Nazi) they brutally drag out of bed and into a waiting helicopter. The twist: The midnight assassins are our boys, their mission a joint US-Russian initiative, and their victim genocidal dictator General Radek. In the aftermath of the successful raid, Pres. Marshall's new, get-tough on terrorists policy takes on a very personal meaning, as he and his family become bargaining chips in the hands of Radek's fanatical supporters. Wolfgang Petersen clearly wants to distinguish his plane-in-peril thriller from the likes of the vulgar, cartoonish CON AIR and the gleefully shlocky TURBULENCE and succeeds, actively avoiding the rapid-fire editing, wall-to-wall explosions and fetishistic shots of guns and unnaturally muscled flesh that are the adolescent clichés of big-budget action movies. He deliberately drains much of the life from the action sequences; it's hard to remember the last time mayhem was so joyless. Unfortunately, the character-based pyrotechnics aren't quite complex enough to replace the missing fireballs. Idealistic terrorist Oldman is, for him, relatively restrained; Ford fairly oozes tortured righteousness, but spends too much of the picture playing Rambo in a suit, because let's face it: Action audiences aren't going to get behind a guy who bails out at the first sign of trouble, even if that's exactly what he's supposed to do. Trapped uncomfortably between its higher aspirations and the demands of genre, this picture never quite gets its bearings, but it's still a solid ride.

Air Force One (1997)

Directed by wolfgang petersen.

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Description by Wikipedia

Air Force One is a 1997 American political action thriller film directed and co-produced by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, Xander Berkeley, William H. Macy, Dean Stockwell, and Paul Guilfoyle. The film was written by Andrew W. Marlowe. It tells the story of a group of terrorists who hijack Air Force One and the President's attempt to rescue everyone on board by retaking his plane.

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Air Force One Parent Guide

Harrison Ford star as the US President is forced to choose between his family and his office.

Release date July 25, 1997

Run Time: 124 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

Which wire should he cut? It’s the classic Hollywood scene—and the US President (Harrison Ford) must make the decision. The man on the phone tells him to start with the green one, but now his cell phone has died, and he must choose the other wire from the selection of red, white, blue, or yellow. With all the flag waving in this movie, it’s easy for the president (and us) to figure it out.

Besides the violence, that’s the biggest problem with Air Force One: You can figure it out. From the word go, you know who the hero is, and you also know the bad guys will be dismissed in a slow and steady fashion with killings evenly distributed over two hours. To make matters worse, the predictable story’s key plot points have been widely exposed in previews and talk shows, and that’s not accounting for the fact that we have seen this same scenario umpteen times before.

With the theatrical popularity of this movie, I’m sure many older teens will be anxious to rent it. It’s unfortunate, but with a few less bullets and profanities, this film could easily reach a PG-13 classification. However, in it’s current form, parents would be well advised to view it first and decide if the violence is outweighed by the positive message of an honorable politician and the excitement of the impressive airplane sequences.

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Rod Gustafson

The most recent home video release of air force one movie is february 10, 1998. here are some details…, related news about air force one.

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AIR FORCE ONE

What You Need To Know:

(Pa, B, VVV,A,M) Pagan worldview of terrorist attack on the presidential jet with strong biblical patriotic elements; 30 killings by machine gun, man attacks man with knife, man strangles man, man threatens woman with pistol to her head, & man falls out of airplane without parachute; alcohol; & betrayal of the President

More Detail:

AIR FORCE ONE is Harrison Ford’s tour de force as an actor playing a heroic persona. It may represent the pinnacle of his long career in such notable films as INDIANA JONES, STAR WARS, THE FUGITIVE, and now AIR FORCE ONE. Kudos to the 55-year-old who doesn’t act his age.

AIR FORCE ONE starts with a bang as unnamed commandos parachute out of a plane, land on the roof of a building in a foreign city at night and kill the rooftop guards with machine guns. Faces blackened, they burst into the building, kidnap a man sleeping on his four poster bed, assassinate numerous guards, and leave by helicopter from the roof.

In the next scene, the Russian President addresses a crowd of dignitaries in a state dining room, and announces that a joint US-Russian commando operation has apprehended the murderous General Radek of Kazakstan. The dignitaries applaud. The Russian President defers to his friend, United States President James Marshall (Harrison Ford), who rises to make a sober speech, in which he accepts blame for delaying the police action to apprehend Radek and declares that America will never again allow a mass murderer like Radek terrorize a country and kill hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. He pointedly states that peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice, and that the US will no longer fear confronting international tyrants.

In the ensuing motorcade back to his jet, National Security Advisors reprove him for announcing international policy changes without consulting either them, the allies, or the State Department. He tells them he did the right thing and asks his political advisor how the American public is responding to his initiative. The political advisor tells him that the people are ecstatic. This is clearly a popular president.

On the night-lit Moscow Airport tarmac, four scruffy Russians carrying huge bags march up to the special Secret Service finger print scanners and clear security. They board Air Force One and sit in the passenger section, escorted by a lovely American press attaché. As the President enters his private quarters, he meets his wife, who compliments him on the forthrightness of his speech. He kisses her, hugs his daughter and turns on the TV to watch a football game, as he pushes away intrusive aides.

A Secret Service agent enters a room, distributes files to three other agents, pulls out a machine pistol and kills them. Throwing a smoke bomb under a door, he signals the four scruffy Russians to whom he hands machine guns. They go on a killing spree, assassinating all personnel in the front of the jet and threaten, then kill the pilots, who heroically try to make an emergency landing at a German airfield.

Taking control of the jet, the terrorists manage to take off before Air Force One can stop taxiing. They divert the jet toward central Asia, as the lead terrorist, Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman), calls the White House Situation Room to make his demand: free General Radek, or the terrorists will kill one passenger every thirty minutes. U.S. Vice President, Kathryn Bennett (Glenn Close), dialogues with the lead terrorist and tries to stall for time, as the assembled cabinet ministers debate the proper U.S. military response. Vice President Bennett calls the Russian President, who refuses to release Radek unless the President calls him personally. She convenes a press conference and asks the American people to pray for the President, telling them that his jet has been hijacked.

Meanwhile, President Marshall has faked his own escape in the Air Force One escape pod and proceeds to combat the terrorists one by one in the jet’s hold. He finds a cell phone in the jet baggage compartment and calls the White House switchboard, but in a moment of levity, the skeptical operator rebuffs him, until he asks her to trace the call, but it is too late. The terrorists capture him and force him to call the Russian President to free General Radek. In a grim scene at an anonymous Russian prison, guards free murderous General Radek from his dilapidated cell, and he starts to walk away from the prison into a waiting jet. Just then, President Marshall turns the tables. The movie ends with extravagant pyrotechnical explosions, a spectacular rescue, and plane crash.

Many will enjoy the nonstop action and suspense of this thriller. AIR FORCE ONE delivers an engrossing story, with moments of white-knuckle tension and an emotionally satisfying conclusion. With a creative premise, riveting acting by Harrison Ford, good music and dialogue, and excellent cinematography, AIR FORCE ONE has superlative production values. The movie also upholds patriotism, as it depicts the President as a soldier-hero, who must personally combat the determined terrorists who seize him, his wife and daughter on his own jet. AIR FORCE ONE also has a laudable biblical element, as, at the height of the conflict, the Vice President appeals to all American citizens to pray for their President.

However, beware of many killings by machine gun and by strangulation.

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Air force one.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 13 Reviews
• Kids Say 41 Reviews

Parents Say

Based on 13 parent reviews

Parent Reviews

Get off my plane, report this review, has common sense media lost its sense.

This title has:

• Too much violence

Perhaps the producers had something in mind.

Why is it rated r.

• Great messages
• Great role models

Great Movie

• Too much swearing

It's a good war related movie; and also bloody.

There is a reason it is rated r..

• Too much sex

Great for 16+

• Too much drinking/drugs/smoking

Excellent but VERY intense

What to watch next.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Vicious Reviews Don't Stop Dennis Quaid from Picking New Movie as His Career Favorite

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For the longest time, Dennis Quaid , whose film career spans nearly 50 years, has considered one film experience as his favorite. In a recent MovieWeb interview, the star of the upcoming Reagan biopic said that his role as astronaut Gordon Cooper in 1983’s The Right Stuff always took the No. 1 spot in his heart. Until now.

Quaid plays President Ronald Reagan in his new biopic, which is mostly set in the 1980s. He said playing Reagan made him ponder his experience in 1983’s The Right Stuff, which initially gave him a different measure for ranking his movies. “The experience I had making [films] is very big for me, because I’d watch a movie and I remember what I was doing on that day. [It’s] been The Right Stuff for most of my career, because astronauts were big with me when I was a kid.” He added:

“ I wound up playing my hero, Gordon Cooper, and I got a pilot’s license from that movie , and [co-star] Chuck Yeager was on the set every day and we shot at Edwards Air Force Base. But I have to say, that after 40 years, there's a new movie at the top and that's Reagan , just because of the personal impact on me. Like I said, I have a different perspective than a lot of the other people who watch the movies, because it's personal. And this one has got to take the No. 1 spot now.”

From dusty small-town roots, to the glitter of Hollywood and then on to commanding the world stage, Reagan is a cinematic journey of overcoming the odds. Told through the voice of Viktor Petrovich, a former KGB agent whose life becomes inextricably linked with Ronald Reagan's when Reagan first caught the Soviets’ attention as an actor in Hollywood, this film offers a perspective as unique as it is captivating. Dennis Quaid brings to life a story that transcends the boundaries of a traditional biopic, offering a profound exploration of the enduring impact of the power of one man who overcame the odds, sustained by the love of a woman who supported him in his journey.

Reagan Features an All-Star Cast

As the Reagan trailer reveals, Quaid seamlessly morphs into the 40th President of the United States , a dynamic force in history known for generating short-term economic growth and significant Soviet pushback. The film tracks Reagan’s life, from childhood to his time in the Oval Office. Expect many scenes that were shot exclusively at the famous Reagan Ranch just north of Los Angeles, California.

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Directed by Sean McNamara ( Shadrach ) and written by Howard Klausner ( The Secret Handshake ), the film also stars Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan. “It’s something special,” Quaid noted of his costar’s performance. Also featured in the film are: Mena Suvari as Reagan’s ex-wife Jane Wyman, Jon Voight as Viktor Petrovich, Kevin Dillon ( Entourage ) as movie titan Jack Warner and C. Thomas Howell , who played Ponyboy Curtis in The Outsiders .

In addition to The Right Stuff, Quaid’s long list of standout roles include Breaking Away (1979), Great Balls of Fire (1989) , Far From Heaven (2002) , The Rookie (2002), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), and a fine turn in the recent miniseries Lawmen: Bass Reeves. No doubt Reagan will charm audiences as much as it did Quaid while he was filming it. Reagan hit theaters August 30. Watch our full interview with Quaid below:

• Dennis Quaid