User reviews

This film is pretty damn bad. As has already been mentioned the film steals the plots of Executive Decision and borrows a bit of the Rock for good measure.

What I did not understand was why would the kidnappers hijack the Vice Presidents plane ?? Surely with all that potential chemical death on board any plane would have done. In fact why use a plane at all just use a bomb in a warehouse with the chemical. Oh well who knows the minds of master criminals in terrible films ?

The plot is stolen from executive decistion. The aerial shots are borrowed from stock footage. This really only leaves the acting to save it - sadly it doesn't. Stereotypical bad guys and Stereotypical good guys (the leader of the special forces team sent in to rescue the Vice President is a gung ho idiot so that the main film hero can take over - oh my god).

Good look finding more work for all involved in this turkey.

I don't remember seeing a movie that used so much elements of other films. The whole plot is nothing else than a mix of "Executive Decision" and "The Rock". And if you watch carefully (show me someone who is able to do so) you will recognize various other scenes who are copied from blockbusters.

Although the story is everything else than new it's still fun to watch this B-picture. Dudikoff and Norton are such terrible actors, you can't stop laughing. And don't forget these cheap action sequences. So if you don't mind a lousy story, cheesy acting and horrible action this is the right thing for you.

Combine the two and what do you get? STRATEGIC COMMAND (originally titled EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE, the title I prefer, which was also the original title of MURDER AT 1600). Michael Dudikoff comes to the rescue when the Vice President (Michael Cavanaugh) is held prisoner en route to D.C. For some reason (probably budget ones), the plane is a commercial airliner instead of Air Force Two. Due to the limited Secret Service (three guys and a girl), Richard Norton and cronies manage to overtake the plane, courtesy of a traitorous Secret Service agent, holding everyone aboard hostage for the old standby demand of wanting a fellow terrorist released from prison. Teaming with an elite strike force, Dudikoff attempts to save the day and his girlfriend (Amanda Wyss), a journalist who's on board to do an exclusive interview with the Vice President. Nick Corri is the head of the team, who (naturally) dislikes Dudikoff immediately but comes to except him. As with EXECUTIVE DECISION, their method of boarding the plane is by way of a specially-designed plane, this time an SR-71. But the operation goes wrong, and half the team gets left behind, leaving only Dudikoff, Corri, and one other soldier to neutralize the situation. Once on board, it's time to sneak around and improvise since most of the equipment was also left on the SR-71. The film is somewhat hampered by a low budget and the "rushed" feel that a lot of direct-to-video movies have, but it comes out well enough, helped along by a great soundtrack that sounds like a merging of the talents of Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams. Brother composers Eric and David Wurst should be given some big-budget movies to work with. STRATEGIC COMMAND is no AIR FORCE ONE or EXECUTIVE DECISION, but it's decent entertainment for a boring night.

Obviously, someone at the writer's den couldn't think of any more ideas so they decided to steal Executive Decision. It's the same story and same EXACT plot. Plane gets hijacked, there's a bomb, a team goes in by via plane hook-up, some made it, gotta disarm bomb, and whee!! All the heroes make it. They even copied the salute in the end when the hero and soldiers saluted. Whoo, boy. Someone ought to smack the writers around for copying.

of all hijack movies this is the best of the worst! only decent thing was SR-71! that is always a cool thing. except the hooking under a jumbojet... and a FBI agent can do anything, f.e. land a jumbo without a door. yeah.

i could write all the funny mistakes down, but it would take all the fun away from watchers. anyway, remember to concentrate on f-16s radars. and also i found funny that same poor pilot was sent for same mission two times. not a good day for him.

good thing with these bad movies is that if you're hit with bullet, you don't actually get hurt that much. but that is just movies, isn't it. good thing was that the world (america) was saved once again. and an aircraft.

This is, without any doubt, the WORST movie involving airplanes in the entire history of movies, and also one of the WORST movies, period. Good thing I was alternating between this movie and "Corrina, Corrina" on TV, I thought the latter was by far more interesting. But the point is: the guys not only directly copy Air Force One and Executive Decision, but also don't know anything about aviation.

I mean how on Earth is there supposed to be this little trap at the belly of the 747, right on spot? How is there supposed to be this elevator that goes straight to the cargo section? Why on Earth is that plane bearing the livery of the inaugural 747 flight from Boeing? They were too cheap to take shots of a plane themselves, so they took footage from Boeing. Why is that "TERRAIN - PULL UP" or "TOO LOW - GEAR" alarm ringing when the aircraft is flying at cruising altitude? One last thing: the realistic ending of the movie would have been the 747 crashing and burning in Santa Monica and having half the population of Los Angeles killed either with the fire or the chemical toxin, because it is impossible to land a plane that easily (and so nicely aligned with the runway)! Overall, this movie is the worst of all, the acting is awful, the plot is awful, it made me think: "How lower can you sink?"

This is a low budget clone of "Executive Decision" (1996) and "Airforce One" (1997). It was also made in 1997 more than likely after seeing the other two films and they thought it would be a good earner to almost directly rip off the two big budget films. It is not the worst film ever made (That would have to be "House of the Dead"), but it is quite weak. Apparently a crack team using stealth tactics don't think of using silenced guns, and gun fire in a pressurized plane does not cause any damage. It was funny seeing "Hal" from "Malcolm in the Middle". He looked quite young in this. If you have nothing better to do, it is still worth a watch, if only to spot the direct copied scenes and script errors. Mind you, it was nice to see the old SR71 Blackbird being used. I always loved this sleek high speed stealth aircraft that led to the B2 Bomber and F117 Nighthawk - used in "Executive Decision".

I am a very tolerant viewer. I enjoy almost every film I see, even if it is not the best film ever made. However, this motion picture directly challenges the tolerance that I have for filmed entertainment. "Strategic Command" is easily THE WORST film I have ever had the misfortune to watch. It is an almost identical clone to the vastly superior "Executive Decision" with elements from "The Rock" thrown in to try and (In a pathetic attempt if I may add.) to distinguish it from the aforementioned films. Although there are some differences in the film (The jet that docks with the 747 in "Strategic Command" is an SR-71 while the jet in "Executive Decision" is an F-117.), these differences are not enough to keep the film from being a mediocre imitation. Special effects are mostly poorly executed, although some of the matte shots did seem convincing. Parts of the film where some of the bad guys and a good guy vomits looked like they put an Alka Seltzer tablet in their mouth and would spit the foam out at the right time to emulate vomit. Some of the footage of the F-16s, both interior and exterior, were taken directly from the film "Iron Eagle" so as to save money on the limited production budget. Acting is another weak point, with people playing their parts too hard. As a result, the characters become unconvincing and lifeless. The only good actor in the film was Paul Winfield. I was shocked to see how low Mr. Winfield sunk, his acting talent could've served in better films than this. The film's only saving grace is the musical score, sounding better than most other low budget and even some high budget films. However, it seems that the composer was trying to emulate and, in some parts of the suite, combine the styles Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner. Most of the suite, although is surprisingly good for a no-name composer, is mostly unoriginal and uninspired. Overall, "Strategic Command" is a mediocre facsimilie of "Executive Decision". This is a film that deserves to stay in a vault and rot away. The video does not deserve to be purchased, even five dollars for this movie is highway robbery! This picture can, at the very best, serve as a rental, but there are better choices at the video store. Besides, this film is nothing but two hours of your life that can be spent watching a better film. After seeing this review, your brain should be giving an excellent "Strategic Command" to steer clear of this stinker! - Reinhart

In 1997, former American NINJA Michael Dudikoff and director Rick Jacobson so thoroughly ripped off the previous year's EXECUTIVE DECISION that it's hard to imagine how they avoided a lawsuit. A decade later, Steven Seagal returned the favor by blatantly remaking Dudikoff's BLACK THUNDER as FLIGHT OF FURY. Whatever the dynamics behind this odd reciprocation between stars, Dudikoff/Jacobson's offering is actually the sincerer form of flattery, for despite its knockoff status, it's a pretty serviceable adventure – a little too light on the action for my taste, but excelling in most other important areas.

The story: When a terrorist unit hijacks an airliner and threatens to detonate a devastating chemical weapon over America unless their demands are met, the designer of the weapon (Dudikoff) joins a Special Forces team to board the plane mid-flight and neutralize the threat.

I never thought I'd see the day when Michael Dudikoff becomes a cooler guy than Kurt Russell, but it happens in this film: Dudikoff and Russell play virtually the same role in their respective films, and the former's infinitely more active and able take on the part is the one way that COMMAND decisively outshines DECISION. Rick Jacobson's lively direction and maximization of resources helps a lot, making for a movie that's smaller-scaled than its original but no less professional-looking and, arguably, more fun. A great cast that includes Amanda Wyss, Paul Winfield, and Jsu Garcia keeps the plot energized and upbeat, thereby creating a tone that's fairly breezy for an action-thriller.

The always-welcome Richard Norton plays the terrorist leader, and in addition to being a fun menace, he helps supplies the movie's action highlights via three hand-to-hand fights with Dudikoff (one of them is even good). Other than that, the adrenaline scenes are limited to a handful of gunfights, including several ill-advised ones on the plane. The film leans disproportionately on the latter aspect of its action-thriller label, and I consider this a bad idea given that it's not nearly as serviceable of a nail-bitter as the movie it's aping. The fun characters help keep viewers involved, but there's nothing here in terms of excitement that you won't find anywhere else.

The movie teeters on a higher rating from me. I have a feeling that fans of Dudikoff will consider this one a favorite, but I could have used a bit more substantial action. Nevertheless, I can't speak too strongly against this one, and thus I'll give it an unenthusiastic recommendation: catch it on TV or lift it from the bargain bin.

Hey, of course it's the same movie as Executive Decision. Michael did it first and Hollywood thought it was such a good movie, they packed it with so called top stars and remade it with bigger special effects. Fantastic movie, great scenes even if some of them were re-used in other movies, but what do you expect from a lower budget film. Not only does Michael put in a solid and believable performance, but all the cast come together well to make this a great action/suspense movie not to be missed. Whether you are a die hard Dudikoff fan or a newbie to his movies, this one is yet another great offering from Dudikoff. Check it out and you won't be disappointed.

Same scenario: plane hijackers, stealth plane hookup, not all the crew makes it into the plane, mini-cameras to see what's going on, and guy trying to disarm bomb. Even the name is the same thing...sounds like a guy with a thesaurus named it!

I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I watched this turkey of a movie. Surely, if Hollywood handed out awards for blatant plagiarism, this load of horse manure would win hands down. Basically a total rip-off of `Executive Decision' with lashings of `Air Force One' and a pinch of `The Rock' slung in for good measure. How the makers of this dross got away without being sued for every penny they had beats me. Most of the other hacks on this page have outlined the finer plagiaristic details so I won't repeat them again here. But this film gives new meaning to the words `low budget'. The producers obviously had so little money that they couldn't even afford a few extras to serve as terrified passengers. And there were so many plot holes you could fly a real 747 straight through them. Like at the end where the Dudikoff character and the chief baddie are fighting it out. Bag of deadly toxin splits open. Baddies die horrible deaths, twitching and vomiting all over the place. Dudikoff has a syringe full of antidote and injects himself, Nicolas Cage-style. Okay I can just about buy that. But the other people on board - all goodies and a matter of metres away in the next cabin - conveniently remain completely unaffected. And just minutes before this, we were supposed to be buying into the line that a few broken bags of this stuff would wipe out the population of LA? I rest my case. Sexy female terrorist though!!!!

This movie is excellent if you want to see a Stealth Fighter take off from different angles, and if you get a kick out of watching F-16's rear. Otherwise, stay away. The script is bad, the acting is bad, the directing is bad, and the improbability level is soaring. Only plus in the margin is to Bok Yun Chon for being beautiful and to Marcus Aurelius (i think...) for being partially funny.

After trying to steal some biological meterial, the bad guys kidnap the Vice President in a Boeing 747. The typical stage set in many 1980s movies. If you like these 1980s movies, pretend this is not from 1997 but mid to late 1980s.

Michael Dudifoff does a nice job, as he did in American Ninja. Action, action, action. Any 1980s action movie lover will love this one too.

The only reason I stayed up late one night to watch this was because Gina Mari was in it. However after seeing the first few minutes of the film I was presently surprised. Micheal Dudikoff always makes a good action hero, and excelled himself this time around. Also Richard Norton was in "over the top" form as the leader of a gang of mercanaries which includes the beautiful Gina Mari. The plot involves Norton's gang taking control of a plane which has one of the Presidents Interns or something like that on board. I'm sure you can work the rest out for yourself, it's basically a copy of Executive Desicion. Anyway if you like action films this one is probably for you, I do and must say I enjoyed it very much. Thanks to all involved!!

Well! I'm sorry to disagree entirely with everyone else here since I enjoyed this film tremendously. So, it's not original - what of it! That doesn't stop me enjoying 90 minutes of pure escapism. Michael Dudikoff is always well worth watching and many of his movies are great fun, indeed. This one is one of his best and I am delighted to have now bought it on VHS so that I can watch it many times, which I plan on doing.

I do feel sorry for everyone else who has seen and not enjoyed this film - perhaps they simply cannot let themselves go and enjoy the film for what it is, not what they think it ought to have been. Maybe I am too simplistic for their tastes - in that case I'm glad I am. There must be somebody else out there somewhere who, like me, has enjoyed this film!