AIR FORCE ONE
(Columbia/Beacon Pictures)Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Producers: Wolfgang Petersen, Gail Katz, Armyan Bernstein, Jon Shestack
Executive Producers: Thomas A. Bliss, Marc Abraham, David Lester
Screenwriter: Andrew W. Marlowe
Director of Photography: Michael Ballhaus
Cast: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Wendy Crewson, Paul Guilfoyle, William H. Macy, Liesel Matthews, Dean Stockwell, Xander Berkeley, Glenn Close
Quick Review: We've seen almost all of this before -- in films like EXECUTIVE DECISION and TURBULENCE. Bad guys take over a plane and a good guy takes it back from them. What makes AIR FORCE ONE different -- and better -- is Harrison Ford. And what makes Harrison Ford work is Wolfgang Petersen's ability to maintain a dramatic pace within a confined environment, as he did before in DAS BOOT. This time, the hook is that it's the president of the United States who's the good guy, so the same patriotic button is pushed that worked so well with audiences in INDEPENDENCE DAY. Ford embodies our national sense of pride, and we enjoy watching a larger-than-life presiedent that we can admire. Gary Oldman is over the top as the villain, but that's a familiar role now as well. He simply walks in the footsteps of John Malkovich, Dennis Hopper, Jeremy Irons and others. Since it's all so predictable, it's worth noting that Harrison Ford is worth his high price tag.
