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Air Force One | Year: 1997 Classification: Regisseure - Petersen, Wolfgang Directed: - Wolfgang Petersen Actors/Actresses: - Harrison Ford - Gary Oldman Suspension of Disbelief Never Felt So Good Okay, so maybe not. But if your willing to believe a plane can withstand automatic weapons and a President who single-handedly stems a terrorist threat aboard his infamous Air Force One, the movie "Air Force One" is an exciting and technically flawless example of action-film moviemaking. Not to mention it's smarter than it has any right to be. Even though Harrison Ford is the headliner, the film would have been at a total loss if it were not for german born director/movie-making-maestro Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Troy). His uncanny sense of shape, pace character and restraint is impeccable, bringing even that strong sense of character to the generic action genre with "Air Force One." However, credit is also due to screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe. Even though reused elements from "Die Hard" and "In the line of Fire" show up, Marlowe still keeps a sense of intelligene and faux-realism in his script. The films plot involves is altogether simple: Russian radicals (led by a fanatical, scenary-chewing Gary Oldman) hi-jack Air Force One in mid-air and demand the release of an incarserated former dictator of Kazachstan (Jürgen Prochnow in a brief Cameo), and they will kill hostages in equal intervals until they are sure he is released. But, President James Marshall (Ford in top form) has other ideas. He stays aboard in secret to recue the hostages, which include his wife and daughter. Of course, mandatory fights and gun battles insue, but director Petersen never loses focus or slackens the tension, keeping the action sequences tight, taut and exciting, a feat even more laudable because it all occurs aboard a 747 aircraft. All the while, Ford fist-fights, shoots and kicks his way through the terrorist group, leading to a confrontation between himself and Oldman. Their few scenes together exude anger and excellent interplay, finding the right balance in the film fantasy and realism, making it, despite all odds, magnetic. All in all, they don't make action fare like "Air Force One" this intelligent anymore. We are stuck with the overwrought philosophical musings of the "Matrix" and the sheer dumbness of "The Scorpion King" and the like. Thankfully, Wolfgang Petersen makes a return to movies after four years with the Trojan War Epic "Troy." I'm hoping he still has it. "Get off my plane!" Air Force One, the 1997 summer hit directed by Wolfgang Petersen (The Boat/Das Boot, In The Line of Fire) and starring Harrison Ford as President James Marshall, stretches the term "willing suspension of disbelief" to its limits, yet, incredibly, it works. Co-starring Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, Liesel Matthews, William H. Macy, and Dean Stockwell, Air Force One's premise is simple: Russian ultra-Communist terrorists take over the President's plane on its way back to the U.S. from Moscow. Marshall, who by happenstance is separated from his family and staff during the takeover, must use his military training (he's a former Air Force pilot) and his wits to regain control of Air Force One and rescue the hostages before the terrorists achieve their aims. The terrorists, led by Ivan Korshunov (Oldman), are seeking the immediate release of General Alexander Radek (Jurgen Prochnow), who was snatched from his palace in Kazakhstan by a joint team of Russian and American Special Forces. Radek and his followers believe in the restoration of the old Soviet Union, and until both Russia and the U.S. intervened, had ruled Kazakhstan with as much regard for human life as the Taliban exhibited when they ruled Afghanistan. After a ceremony hosted by the grateful Russian President in which Marshall warns rogue nations and terrorists that "we will no longer be afraid. It's your turn to be afraid," the American delegation heads to one of Moscow's main airports to board the Presidential plane. Little do they know that Korshunov and his team, using falsified press credentials, have passed through both Russian and American security and are aboard. Ironically, they are given a tour of Air Force One by the unsuspecting assistant press secretary, Melanie Mitchell (Donna Bullock). And why not? To the Secret Service agents and the Air Force Security detachment, Korshunov and his people are reporters, harmless and unarmed. So how in the world are these guys going to storm Air Force One, "the most secure aircraft in the world?" Hmmm....and why do Korshunov and Secret Service agent Gibbs (Xander Berkeley) exchange that glance as they pass each other, eh? Petersen and screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe never do explain Gibbs' motivations for his subsequent actions (as the director admits in the audio commentary track), but by the time audiences start asking those "real life" questions about plausibility, the sheer adrenaline rush provided by this action-packed film suppresses the "yeah, right" response to its premise. The Air Force (which willingly participated in the production of this film) says there is no escape pod in Air Force One's list of defensive measures, and viewers know that no sane person, whether terrorist or not, is going to fire automatic weapons inside an airborne plane unless he or she knew the mission was going to fail anyway. Mixed in with the gunfire and explosions that punctuate the film, Petersen and Marlowe endow their characters with depth and believability. Petersen makes viewers care about each person being held hostage, warts and all, so that when one is lost, it feels real. Even Korshunov is played in such way that his motivations feel true and heartfelt, even if his cause is not just. Yet Petersen Buy Air Force One at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Air Force One Search with the Priority Search Engine on Air Force One This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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