Review of Air Force One (1997) by Marcel D — 19 May 2009

"Get off my plane!".

What happened here? What happened to Wolfgang Petersen? After making his true masterpiece with 'Das Boot' back in '81, he managed to do another hit with 'In the Line of Fire' in '93. I must admit that I haven't seen so many of his earlier work, when he worked in Germany, but I do believe that he must be more lucky than talented. With this I mean that his masterpieces have had so talented casts that they've made a bigger impact on the films success than Mr Petersen himself. I can't really forgive him for making 'Poseidon' and this crappy thriller/action waste of time.

In '96 'Independence Day' featured a young, former fighter pilot turned US president with Bill Pullman. The movie was a big hit so of course there was no choice but to bring a superpresident back on the big screen. The film gave the studio shitload of money. Thank God they didn't make a sequel. Guess they knew they were lucky too....

The story is so... Having trouble finding a proper, more intellectual word. The only word I can get from the depths of my brain is so simple. So accurate. Crap. Fighting terrorists, single handed in the most protected airplane in the world. With William H. Macy on board. Please! Anti-terrorism is a key word of today but do they have to make bad and not credible movies about it?

'Air Force One' has a lot of these so called A-list stars. Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close etc but they all seem so wrongly cast. They aren't at all convincing in their roles. Such a waste... And if there is something I hate is an actor who acts with terrible dialect. Why can't they cast an actor that actually has the origins they intended the character to have?

I see no point why people should see this film. It is not the worst film made but it is so far fetched that it only makes it not good. At all. If a film advertises itself as an action thriller, you'd think that at least the action would be good. Wrong again. Avoid.