Executive Decision
3/4
Starring: Kurt Russell, John Leguizamo, Halle Berry, David Suchet, Oliver Platt, Len Cariou, J.T. Walsh
Rated R for Violence
Between March of 1996 and July 1997, there were three big budget action movies set on airplanes: "Executive Decision," which features soldiers attempting to gain entry to a hijacked passenger jet, "Air Force One," which features a hijacked Air Force One, and "Turbulence," which features a passenger jet hijacked by a serial killer. Of the two that I've seen (haven't seen "Turbulence" although it's reportedly awful and was a major flop for MGM), "Air Force One" is the best, but "Executive Decision" is still good fun.
A terrorist (Andreas Katsoulas) has been captured, but the deadly nerve agent he had in his possession is missing. Now, it has found its way onto Oceanic Flight 343, which is flying from Athens to Washington DC. Now it's up to a team of soldiers led by Lt. Colonel Austin Travis (Segal) to use a special plane to climb aboard Oceanic 343, defuse the bomb and retake the plane. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and the remaining four soldiers along with intelligence analyst Dr. David Grant (Russell), who knows all about the lead terrorist, and the plane's engineer, Dennis Cahill (Platt) to complete the mission before the US shoots down the plane to avoid the bomb taking out the entire eastern seaboard.
Comparisons to "Air Force One" are impossible not to talk about since they share so many strong similarities (although to be fair, this came out first). The first 20 minutes are almost carbon copies, and both of them feature a similar hostage situation and a rough landing (although they occur in dramatically different circumstances). Apologies to Stuart Baird, a film editor making his film debut, but Wolfgang Peterson did it a lot bigger and badder. Look to the opening action sequence and the mid-air action.
That's not to say that "Executive Decision" isn't fun. It is. It's got some great action, real tension, and a great performance by Kurt Russell. And while there are a few things that you'll find in both movies, there are many more that you'll only find here.
The script is a little on the thin side, and some of the dialogue is clunky. Also, there are some obvious lapses in intelligence on the part of the main villain (too many close calls makes them appear like writer's constructs). Still, this movie is a lot of fun.
Although he by no means "saves" the movie (the film's other qualities are too strong to necessitate a "saving" performance), Kurt Russell gives a terrific performance. Like in "Backdraft," Russell can be much more than a cool-headed hero. A lot of action films have the hero be an everyman who's obviously out of his element. With Russell in the role, we really believe it. David Suchet is effective as the lead villain, but frankly, he's better than the script deserves. Had he been given better dialogue, he might have been as menacing as Gary Oldman in "Air Force One." Halle Berry is good as the token female flight attendant who helps David. Everyone else does their jobs well.
Stuart Baird makes "Executive Decision" into a decent film debut. It's not perfect, and the direction could have used some tightening up, but all in all, it's a solid film. His later two films, "U.S. Marshals" and "Star Trek: Nemesis" (which featured Tom Hardy as the villain, and is where he first came to my attention), proved him to be a capable filmmaker. This is where I will make an aside to Hollywood: if you're going to make just a decent yarn, hire Baird instead of wannabes like Len Wiseman or Marcus Nispel.
The bottom line is that if you have to choose, pick "Air Force One." The ideal though would be to watch both.
Starring: Kurt Russell, John Leguizamo, Halle Berry, David Suchet, Oliver Platt, Len Cariou, J.T. Walsh
Rated R for Violence
Between March of 1996 and July 1997, there were three big budget action movies set on airplanes: "Executive Decision," which features soldiers attempting to gain entry to a hijacked passenger jet, "Air Force One," which features a hijacked Air Force One, and "Turbulence," which features a passenger jet hijacked by a serial killer. Of the two that I've seen (haven't seen "Turbulence" although it's reportedly awful and was a major flop for MGM), "Air Force One" is the best, but "Executive Decision" is still good fun.
A terrorist (Andreas Katsoulas) has been captured, but the deadly nerve agent he had in his possession is missing. Now, it has found its way onto Oceanic Flight 343, which is flying from Athens to Washington DC. Now it's up to a team of soldiers led by Lt. Colonel Austin Travis (Segal) to use a special plane to climb aboard Oceanic 343, defuse the bomb and retake the plane. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and the remaining four soldiers along with intelligence analyst Dr. David Grant (Russell), who knows all about the lead terrorist, and the plane's engineer, Dennis Cahill (Platt) to complete the mission before the US shoots down the plane to avoid the bomb taking out the entire eastern seaboard.
Comparisons to "Air Force One" are impossible not to talk about since they share so many strong similarities (although to be fair, this came out first). The first 20 minutes are almost carbon copies, and both of them feature a similar hostage situation and a rough landing (although they occur in dramatically different circumstances). Apologies to Stuart Baird, a film editor making his film debut, but Wolfgang Peterson did it a lot bigger and badder. Look to the opening action sequence and the mid-air action.
That's not to say that "Executive Decision" isn't fun. It is. It's got some great action, real tension, and a great performance by Kurt Russell. And while there are a few things that you'll find in both movies, there are many more that you'll only find here.
The script is a little on the thin side, and some of the dialogue is clunky. Also, there are some obvious lapses in intelligence on the part of the main villain (too many close calls makes them appear like writer's constructs). Still, this movie is a lot of fun.
Although he by no means "saves" the movie (the film's other qualities are too strong to necessitate a "saving" performance), Kurt Russell gives a terrific performance. Like in "Backdraft," Russell can be much more than a cool-headed hero. A lot of action films have the hero be an everyman who's obviously out of his element. With Russell in the role, we really believe it. David Suchet is effective as the lead villain, but frankly, he's better than the script deserves. Had he been given better dialogue, he might have been as menacing as Gary Oldman in "Air Force One." Halle Berry is good as the token female flight attendant who helps David. Everyone else does their jobs well.
Stuart Baird makes "Executive Decision" into a decent film debut. It's not perfect, and the direction could have used some tightening up, but all in all, it's a solid film. His later two films, "U.S. Marshals" and "Star Trek: Nemesis" (which featured Tom Hardy as the villain, and is where he first came to my attention), proved him to be a capable filmmaker. This is where I will make an aside to Hollywood: if you're going to make just a decent yarn, hire Baird instead of wannabes like Len Wiseman or Marcus Nispel.
The bottom line is that if you have to choose, pick "Air Force One." The ideal though would be to watch both.
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