Review of Executive Decision (1996) by Stuart K — 16 Apr 2013

The directorial debut of English film editor Stuart Baird, who would later go on to direct U.S. Marshals (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), with a screenplay by Jim and John Thomas (Predator (1987) and Predator 2 (1990)), this is a very suspenseful action thriller, which is similar to what Passenger 57 (1992) did, but this has some truly suspenseful moment in it with a good cast.

When Oceanic Airlines Flight 343 is flying from Athens to Washington D.C., it is hijacked by Nagi Hassan (David Suchet), the lieutenant to recently arrested terrorist El Sayed Jaffa (Andreas Katsulas), Hassan demands the release of Jaffa, or everyone on the plane dies.

Lieutenant Colonel Austin Travis (Steven Seagal) gets together a team consisting of Intelligence officer Dr. David Grant (Kurt Russell), Dennis Cahill (Oliver Platt), Cappy Matheny (Joe Morton), Louie Jung (B.

D. Wong) and Carlos Lopez (John Leguizamo), and they plan to use an experimental aircraft to get on board the plane and save everyone. However, it's only partially successful, leaving the men on their own with no contact with the ground.

It's a very good thriller with a very good cast and some moments of truly gripping moments, it's a pity Baird hasn't done any more films as a director, as he really got a taste for good action cinema with this film.