Communist radicals led by Ivan Korshunov hijack Air Force One with US President James Marshall and his family on board. Vice President Kathryn Bennett negotiates from Washington D.C., while ... Read allCommunist radicals led by Ivan Korshunov hijack Air Force One with US President James Marshall and his family on board. Vice President Kathryn Bennett negotiates from Washington D.C., while Marshall fights to rescue the hostages on board.Communist radicals led by Ivan Korshunov hijack Air Force One with US President James Marshall and his family on board. Vice President Kathryn Bennett negotiates from Washington D.C., while Marshall fights to rescue the hostages on board.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 7 wins & 13 nominations total
- General Alexander Radek
- (as Jurgen Prochnow)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
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Featured reviews
Allegedly, Kevin Costner was supposed to be playing the president. Boy am I glad he was too busy making "The Postman" for this movie. Not only did he make a great Postman, but he would have made a horrible president. When you want drama, you call Costner. When you want action, you call Bruce Willis. When you want the perfect blend of drama and action, you call Harrison Ford (think "The Fugitive", for example... don't think "Star Wars").
Ford is great as a diplomat, but equally as good with a gun and in a fight. But the real star of this is Gary Oldman, who plays an evil and soulless terrorist determined to get his old general freed from prison. Oldman plays it like he means it, killing mercilessly while still appearing cold and calculated rather than insane. The writer even had the decency to have Oldman deliver lines condemning the president for bombing villages while being against terror.
Glenn Close and Dean Stockwell made great supporting stars, and even William H. Macy seemed a little less flamboyant than usual in his role as a military man.
This film is especially interesting in the context of our current president, George W. Bush. Bush has also gone on record many times for not negotiating with terrorists and takes a hardline approach similar to Harrison Ford. What would Bush do if terrorists hijacked his plane or kidnapped his family? Even giving me that visual image made this film worth the viewing.
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.
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
The Life and Times of Harrison Ford
The Life and Times of Harrison Ford
Did you know
- TriviaInitially, director/co-producer Wolfgang Petersen was denied access to the real-life Air Force One. A telephone call from Harrison Ford to the White House soon changed that.
- GoofsDuring the refueling scene when AF1 breaks away fuel is seen spraying out of the boom of the KC-10. The fuel ignites and the flame travels up the boom and blows up the KC-10. Onboard the KC-10 there is a Boom Operator who monitors and has full control of the fuel that the tanker is receiving or giving at all times and also flies the boom. The Boom Operator would have raised the boom as soon as AF1 broke away and cut off the fuel supply long before the fuel could ignite.
- Quotes
Liberty 24 Pilot: Blue Star... Air Force One is down!
Control Room [Blue Star]: Liberty 24 have you got the president?
[static]
Control Room [Blue Star]: Liberty, do you have the president?
Liberty 24 Pilot: Standby...
Liberty 24 crew member: [President Marshal is grabbed off the line and taken on board, a watching crew member on his ear set] ... Liberty 24 is changing call sign, Liberty 24 is now Air Force One!
- Crazy creditsPer Marshall's comment to her, the aide who helps him with the fax machine (portrayed by Messiri Freeman) is listed in the credits as "Future Postmaster General".
- Alternate versionsTo attract more viewers the German distributor (Buena Vista International) cut out some violent scenes to receive a "Not under 12" rating. The German video release contains the full version and is rated "Not under 16".
- ConnectionsEdited into 24: Day 2: 10:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. (2003)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Avión presidencial
- Filming locations
- Mansfield Reformatory - 100 Reformatory Road, Mansfield, Ohio, USA(Russian prison scene)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $85,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $172,956,409
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $37,132,505
- Jul 27, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $315,156,409
- Runtime
- 2h 4m(124 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1