AIRFORCE ONE

Reviewed by Robert Thompson 8/10/97

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Harrison Ford plays the President of the U.S.; Gary Oldman is the head bad guy- a very committed communist who wants things to go back the way they were in the good old days of the U.S.S.R before glasnost, freedom, capitalism, and debauchery ruined his workers paradise.

Oldman, with a few other fellows and the help of a corrupted Secret Service agent hijack AIRFORCE ONE with the President and his family on board. Now, this is VERY unlikely to happen in real life. (it might happen with the current guy, but then, they probably wouldn't have to take him hostage. it is my considered opinion that he would possibly be a willing collaborator. {hey, you wanna read my reviews, you gotta put up with my political bias}

(Just by way of a side note: AIRFORCE ONE is not necessarily a particular aircraft- that is the official designation of ANY military aircraft that the President happens to be aboard. If he is not on board, the aircraft that usually is referred to as AIRFORCE ONE goes by it's regular registration (tail) number.)

In the initial takeover of the plane, the President manages to slip away from the Hijacker-hostage takers, and apparently escapes from the plane in an ejection capsule. Of course, it would have been a really short movie if he had actually ejected, so I don't think I'm giving away any big surprise here when I say that he is really still on board.

Most of the rest of the movie deals with Ford's attempt to save all the other hostages, rescue his wife and daughter, and prevent World War Three. Now, I'm not going to pick apart the tactics used by either the good guys or the bad guys- In real life, everyone would have died. or more likely, it never would have started in the first place.- 'nuff said about that.

Glen Close plays the Vice President, on the ground in Washington, D.C. She is fairly believable, although a little too good and honest to be a real politician. I kind of liked her character. Most of the other characters in Washington act like real politicians- dishonest, power hungry and ready to profit by any means. Gary Oldman is once again the consummate villian. Is this excellent actor ever going to play a hero? The girl who played the President's daughter ( I forgot her name) is one to watch. She should have had a much larger part-

Harrison Ford is, as always, a wonderful actor who makes his character come to life in a way that you not only respect, but would probably like to sit down with over beer and pretzels and discuss the meaning of life. As much as I like Harrison Ford, and have enjoyed every movie he has made and liked every character he has played (well, except maybe the bad hot-rodder in AMERICAN GRAFFITTI), I couldn't help thinking that this could have been a more exciting action film with Mel Gibson as the President. It could have been a really "cool" (if a bit cartoonish) movie then, .

As it is, it is a taut thriller- Plenty of action and suspense, with fairly believable characters in all of the parts. It is probably worth Full Admission price, definitely worth matinee prices.