Air Force One

Man! The 90s were just a brilliant time weren't they? There are just a crap load of movies out there that are beyond ridiculous concepts but somehow or another, they work phenomenally.

I had seen clips of Air Force One here and there but I had never actually seen all of it until today. I guess its the Fourth of July weekend so they're playing all their patriotic movies on TNT and this one rightfully goes up there.

Air Force One stars Harrison Ford as James Marshall, the President of the United States. Marshall is right in the middle of a situation with Russia that led to a high value target being imprisoned.

Unfortunately, there is a group of Russian terrorists loyal to the Russian general captured, led by Ivan Korshunov (played by Gary Oldman) who are able to gain access to Air Force One, the Presidential airplane. With the help of an insider on board the plane, they are able to gain access to weapons and take the plane over. In the initial attack, the terrorists are able to take control of the plane, take the majority of the cabinet hostage, as well as the President's wife and daughter (played by Wendy Crewson and Liesel Matthews).

Korshunov calls the Vice President (played by Glenn Close) and demands the release of the the Russian general or he will kill a hostage every hour aboard Air Force One. What both the terrorists and the Vice President don't know is that James Marshall was able to hide from the initial attack. Being a Medal of Honor winner and fighting in Vietnam, The President of The United States must thwart the plan of the terrorists and save his wife and daughter.

And if you're thinking to yourself, "Hmmm where have I heard this plot before? It sounds so familiar." You'd be right, this is the exact plot to Die Hard but instead of Nokatomi Tower, its Air Force One, and instead of John McClane, its Harrison Ford as the President of the United States.

I mean its not the first Die Hard rip off and it wouldn't be the last. The movie came out 9 years after Die Hard so I guess the plot is ripe for the taking. It just fun watching this movie for the first time in a long time and realizing its the same exact movie as Die Hard.

But enough about Die Hard, how does Air Force One stand as its own movie?

The truth is, its great. I mean you can tell that this movie is a movie from the 90s and a bi-product of movies that came out during the 80s. Is it likely for a group of terrorists to take over Air Force One, absolutely not. But it makes the movie fun as hell.

Talking about performances, this was definitely a time in Harrison Ford's career where he felt like he needed to growl everything. And this is the movie that you can definitely pair with a drinking game every time he growls something about his wife or his family.

Obviously, I love Harrsion Ford. There's not much else to say, he plays the part perfectly and I believe that he's the President of the United States, but at the same time, could kick your ass.

And then there's Gary Oldman.

God Bless this man. Its awesome that one of the most intimidating Russian bad guys from the 90s was not Russia at all, but a British, classically trained actor like Gary Oldman.

Oldman does it all in this movie. He's loud and just down right bananas when he's taking over the plane but at the same time can turn it around and be intimidating just by looking at your.

Those are the main stars of the movie. You've got Glenn Close who does a pretty good job and the wife and daughter who are your typical family member hostages.

The main attraction is Ford versus Oldman and its great. Watching this movie, I actually regret a lot more things about the movie Paranoia because these two are just amazing counterparts to each other.

Now how is the story and how is the movie as a whole. Well its classic 90s cheese. This movie knows how over the top it is and it doesn't really hide it. And the fact that it takes place on Air Force One and its involving the President, you know there's going to be tons of people jumping to take a bullet for the President. If you've seen the movie, you know how exactly ridiculous it gets, especially in the end.

Its just a down right ridiculous film and its definitely a pre-9/11 film. But that's not a bad thing.

The truth is, I'm probably going to recommend anything with Harrison Ford in it, especially paired with Gary Oldman. If you don't enjoy the action genre, if you can't sit through something that is really utterly ridiculous, you may not like Air Force One. But this movie is just one of many movies that came out starring Ford that in a way are seen as classics. This, The Fugitive, in a way the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan movies like Patriot Games.

This one is a little bit more action packed and is very reminiscent of Die Hard but its just a classic set up and a classic idea.

Overall, its pretty obvious that I loved this movie. Its a pretty classic 90's action film and its worth checking out if you haven't already.

But what do you think of Air Force One? Comment and Discuss below! You can also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 and give me your thoughts there as well as get updates on future movie news and reviews on this blog. Also send me your requests for future movies to review, I will make them priority.

I'll leave you with this. Harrison Ford is great because while he's a great actor, he's actually quite introverted if you see anything with him not in a character. But at the same time, from what I've seen, he seems like a pretty genuine guy. I don't know, maybe I just hope that's the case. Here's a video of him responding to a David Blaine magic trick. Enjoy!