Gary Oldman - he must be a bad guy! (Air Force One (DVD))

Member Name: alocin

Product:	Air Force One (DVD)
Date:	08/05/03 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun film, Good acting

Disadvantages: Bit far-fetched

To me Harrison Ford makes a very good president. I have been influenced by him appearing as Jack Ryan in the films of Tom Clancy's books, and that character becomes president so my image of the fictional president is pretty much Harrison Ford. This film confirms my image by him playing James Marshall, an almost sickeningly ideal president. The man is a Medal of Honour winner, he has a perfect family and is just too damm brave to run away. Don't you just hate presidents who do that? The secret service definately seem to!

Air Force One (the call sign of whatever plane the president is traveling on) is taken over by terrorists. You would have thought the security guys would have suspected something when Gary Oldman (chief terrorist guy) got on the plane! Come on he is always the bad guy! They try to take the president alive but security men spirit him away to a neat little pod at the back of the plane so he can escape. Of course Indiana can't retreat only 15 minutes into the film so he hides instead and takes on a Bruce Willis "Die Hard" campaign against the terrorists.

They are holding the people on the plane hostage so that their leader will be released from prison in some tiny made-up country near Russia. Of course the vice president down on the ground can't do this so they rely on the president to save the day. Which he does of course. In one of the more unbelievable scenes the hostages are secretly rescued and they parachute down under the guise of the plane being refueled. But of course the president still refuses to leave. Not while his family are at gunpoint! He has to save them himself to get full hero credit.

Eventually Gary Oldman has an unfortunate accident while having a fistfight by the open cargo door of the plane and falls out. Oh dear. The good guys win! But wait - the security guy who was helping the terrorists - he's still there! Behind you Mr President! He manages to kill off any remaining g
ood guys who might take credit away from Harrison Ford before dying. Indiana then dangles from a cable being towed by another plane and is winched to safety. A happy ending.

This film is not as bad as I might have made it sound! I really like it - it is one of my favourite action films and it is highly entertaining. It might get a bit far-fetched at points (like the whole way through) but part of enjoying a film is supending your disbelief. The acting from the main characters is very good - Gary Oldman makes his terrorist more three-dimensional than many actors would and Harrison Ford manges to add a bit of dignty to his president that is hard to do in the circumstances. A fun film for a dull evening - suitable for everyone except smaller children.

Summary: