Air Force One (1997)
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossible decision to give in to terrorist demands or sacrifice not only the country's dignity, but the lives of his wife and daughter.
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What's even more bizarre is that the story swipes bits of "Airport '75," "Star Wars," "Top Gun" and "Die Hard" as well as a dated anti-Communism sentiment that's straight out of the John Wayne propaganda flick "The Green Berets" and somehow makes it all work.
Back on the plane home, the president is looking forward to relaxing with wife Grace (Wendy Crewson) and their 12-year-old daughter Alice ("The Little Princess" star Liesel Matthews).
So they take the president's wife (Wendy Crewson, "The Santa Clause") and daughter (Liesel Matthews, "The Little Princess") hostage.
The director, Wolfgang Petersen (In the Line of Fire), works with such clean, swift precision that it takes a while to realize that he's cooking up another entry in the Die Hard-on-a-plane genre (Executive Decision, Turbulence, etc.).
What's even more bizarre is that the story swipes bits of "Airport '75," "Star Wars," "Top Gun" and "Die Hard" as well as a dated anti-Communism sentiment that's straight out of the John Wayne propaganda flick "The Green Berets" and somehow makes it all work.
In addition to the patriotism (with lingering Cold War villainy courtesy of Russian ultranationalist radicals) and family-based heroics (who can argue with those?), screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe and director Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, In the Line of Fire) adopt another sure-fire formula: Die Hard...on a plane!
He does a kind of "Die Hard" number, playing cat and mouse with the hijackers, picking them off one by one, never mind that he's got 20 or 30 years on some of the thugs he's beating up barehanded.
Yet another tired "Die Hard" rehash wrapped around a ridiculous premise, "Air Force One" nevertheless stays aloft for the better part of its two-hour running time thanks to the diversionary skills of director Wolfgang Petersen ("In the Line of Fire") and some superb acting from Harrison Ford.
In short, he undergoes every torment endured by Bruce Willis in the entire Die Hard series and then some.
It's a blueprint for power as old as Triumph of the Will, and you can be sure its success won't go unnoticed.
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Though since achieving moderate success in the U.S. with such films as In the Line of Fire and Air Force One, he has never quite earned the same praise accorded to Das Boot.
It also gave the director a chance to come to Hollywood to show off his ability to shoot action films, where he made "In the Line of Fire"/"Air Force One"/ "Perfect Storm."
When it comes to action, Das Boot is at the top of the class, and it's no wonder that, following its initial release, Wolfgang Petersen became a sought-after director (his later credits include Enemy Mine, Shattered, In the Line of Fire, and 1997's Air Force One).
Has director Wolfgang Petersen (" Das Boot ," " In The Line Of Fire ") found lots of neat little touches to make the movie work on a minute-by-minute basis, while on the larger scale slogs to its preordained conclusion?
He once made a great movie about real men in a real war, "Das Boot," but now he's making straw movies about straw men in a straw war.
Part of why I expected a smart thriller is because the director is Wolfgang Petersen, director of Das Boot, a claustrophobic look at life aboard a WWI German U-boat, and of In the Line of Fire, an exciting cat-and-mouse thriller.
The director, Wolfgang Petersen (In the Line of Fire), works with such clean, swift precision that it takes a while to realize that he's cooking up another entry in the Die Hard-on-a-plane genre (Executive Decision, Turbulence, etc.).
Has director Wolfgang Petersen (" Das Boot ," " In The Line Of Fire ") found lots of neat little touches to make the movie work on a minute-by-minute basis, while on the larger scale slogs to its preordained conclusion?
As in his last macho confabulation, "In the Line of Fire," so much of the cleverness is in the details.
It is closer to Con Air than it is to In the Line of Fire.
In fact, Ford and director Wolfgang Petersen ("In the Line of Fire") manage to weave some movie magic with one of the most ludicrous plots in recent cinematic history.
In addition to the patriotism (with lingering Cold War villainy courtesy of Russian ultranationalist radicals) and family-based heroics (who can argue with those?), screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe and director Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, In the Line of Fire) adopt another sure-fire formula: Die Hard...on a plane!
Getting the most out of that script is the gift of Petersen and his team, including both a world-class cinematographer (Michael Ballhaus) and a crack editor (Richard Francis-Bruce, responsible for "Seven," "The Rock," "Dead Calm" and "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome").
Getting the most out of that script is the gift of Petersen and his team, including both a world-class cinematographer (Michael Ballhaus) and a crack editor (Richard Francis-Bruce, responsible for "Seven," "The Rock," "Dead Calm" and "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome").