Review of One Eight Seven (1997) by Hoops2448 — 25 Sep 2011

While entirely unbelievable and full to the brim of plot holes, Air Force One still flies high thanks to its ability to create tension so high people with pacemakers probably shouldn't watch it.

The first 30 minutes of the film are the most thrilling with a engrossing opening to the extremely manic hijacking everything is done to build tension and the film doesn't miss a beat with it seamlessly cutting from the plane, to the ground and to the White House. The characters are introduced quickly to avoid losing momentum but writer Andrew Marlowe gives enough for viewers to relate and empathise with them. The film understandably lags after the initial action but this is beneficial as it allows for Gary Oldman to do what he does best, be menacing. The casting of the film is one of the main draws with Harrison Ford providing his usual gritty performance and Oldman rivaling Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber but it would be nice to see other fine actors such as William H Macy, Paul Guilfoyle and Xander Berkeley given more to do. The main flaw of Air Force One is that its ending, which should be the climax of all the tension comes too early with the real ending being not nearly as tense. In summary if you like the idea of Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman playing cat and mouse in an enclosed space 40,000 feet in the air than this film is for you. Lovingly put together by Wolfgang Petersen, a real crowd pleaser.