Air Force One: Avion présidentiel

Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, and Glenn Close are the main stars in director Wolfgang Petersen's action thriller 'Air Force One', a film about the scenario of the famous presidential jet being taken over by a group of terrorists. The terrorists, led by Ivan Korshunov (Oldman) want one thing, the release of one of their comrades named General Redek. However, little do they know the President is a very intelligent and lethal man, and the film becomes a cat and mouse game onboard the air liner between the terrorists and the president. The suspense works out well, there are some good moments of surprise and plenty of good action sequences. The film keeps its momentum and pace going, despite some lame moments through out (e.g. the 'parachuting' scene). Harrison Ford is enjoyable in the role of the tough- as- nails president, but it's not particularly anything new for the actor. Gary Oldman is spectacular as the cold blooded terrorist, he is very commanding and daunting in the role. Close also her role well, making the character live, also worth nothing is William H. Macy as a major on board the flight. The script has some nice lines to it, and some strongly written scenes of action, though there are still notable clichés. Petersen's direction is almost furious in style, he tries his hardest to not let the film fall apart, and in some way he succeeds. All in all, 'Air Force One' is worth watching, it's not necessarily one of the top action films of all time, but it has plenty of moments and is definitely entertaining. Oldman is also a very nice treat. 8/10

An Action movie is made to entertain, and should always be taken at face value. With this in mind Air Force One hits the mark, despite some minor flaws it still delivers tension, drama and action in abundance.

The cast is strong and full of believable characters, the story is compelling and the traditional dose of sentiment is added sparingly and to good effect. Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman both put in solid performances and they are well supported by the likes of Glenn Close and Wendy Crewson.

Overall Air Force One is an safe bet for the average movie fan and should entertain most, without ever really excelling.

7/10

Air Force One is a fun action movie with some great acting performances from Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman.

The story is very simple, it follows the usual pattern, where there are the good Russians, the bad Russians and there the peacemaker Americans. This is how many people living in the USA imagine the world. We all wish this was the case, but this is sadly just a dream. As I said the story is simple, the bad Russians want to bring back "Mother Russia", there is one traitor, whose motivations remain unclear throughout the course of the film.

However the acting performances from Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman elevate this movie from being an average movie to a fun action film.

CGI was used more than necessary, which made the movie look a little bit unbelievable sometimes. Also, they sometimes went too far with the action, where it was too much.

Overall, Harrison Ford carries this movie with the help of Gary Oldman and this makes a fun watch.

Marshall is the kind of President referred to a change in the U.S. foreign policy… He took a great risk when he stated that America will no longer tolerate any terrorist government… His policy is soon put in practice when he boards his plane on his way home…

Once is in the sky, 'Air Force One' is hijacked and currently controlled by Russian radicals who ask for the release of their leader or they'll execute a prisoner every half hour…

Harrison Ford is the action hero making his way through the plane taking out few terrorists, managing to free several hostages, trying to get to his wife and daughter who are prisoners on board…

Gary Oldman almost steals the show as the head terrorist Ivan Korshunov who takes over the president's plane…

Beautifully directed by Wolfgang Petersen who controls the action with his usual extreme intelligence, building the challenge with captivating, tense sequences from every compartment of the huge aircraft to the White House contingent in Washington

Very entertaining action, once you get past the "believability" problems, i.e., terrorists getting on the plane at all, the plane having an on-board armory, Secret Service agents' inability to shoot accurately, etc.

Acting is good enough that you care about the characters.

As others have noted, the CGI aerial sequences sometimes have the aircraft moving in unnatural or impossible ways, and this is visually jarring. (After the touch-and-go, Air Force One turns a 180 almost like a helicopter) I gave it a 7 out of 10 - not brilliant, but makes for an entertaining evening.