Air Force One [Blu-ray] [US Import]

This is a review of the 2007 All Region Blu-ray from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. This cheap and cheerful product comes with several extras, and the overall quality of the picture and sound is excellent. This is great value.And that is even before the film begins! So, add in 124 minutes of slickly directed, thrill-heavy, heart-in-mouth, all action drama, and you have an out and out winner. Oh, and for good measure, there is Harrison Ford and Glenn Close, as the principled US President and his steadfast Veep ~ I’d vote for them!The film is set largely on the Boeing 747-200B that is currently Air Force One. President Marshall and his entourage are returning from a trip to Russia, when their plane is hijacked by dissident ultra-Nationalist Russian terrorists. This makes the plot pretty ironic, in 2023, as of course: there is zero chance for the foreseeable future of the US and Russia co-operating about anything; and sadly, the current Russian government is made up of ultra-Nationalists. Indeed, some of the views being expressed by the film’s terrorist leader, Egor Korshunov, could have been spoken by members of the present Russian government. It was actually quite chilling ~ I wonder if the wonderful Gary Oldman, who plays Korshunov, has shuddered at the irony.When the film was made, back in 1997, Boris Yeltsin was still President. Indeed, the Russian President portrayed, is not unlike him ~ steady, unexciting, squarely built and willing to look westwards. And the film was meant only as entertainment, although clearly, the screenwriter had done his homework about Russia. That was Andrew W. Marlowe, not a prolific film screenwriter, but responsible for many of the scripts for the popular TV series, ‘Castle’.No doubt however, the director also had a large part to play. He was the late, great, German director, Wolfgang Petersen. Petersen has some stunningly good offerings amongst his films, particularly the original German language film of ‘Das Boot’(1981), and the fantastic George Clooney disaster drama ‘The Perfect Storm’(2000). He also specialises in putting the US President in jeopardy, with ‘In the Line of Fire’(1993) amongst his works. Petersen was a highly talented director, superb at choreographing edge-of-the-seat action for maximum impact, but also adding some clever little moments of calm and quiet, to add impetus to the next moments of mayhem.Ford, Close and Oldman are all at the top of their game here. Gary Oldman can always be relied upon for 100% commitment to his role, and he is as good at ‘virtuous’ as he is at ‘evil’. Here, he is totally chilling, as a man who believes that any act, any sacrifice, any cruelty, is justified in the service of his cause. He is particularly sensational, because he does not employ histrionics to make the point. The leads are backed by excellent performances from the supporting cast: William H. Macy as the President’s military aide; Dean Stockwell as the wheeler-dealer Defence Secretary; Xander Berkeley as the President’s senior Secret Service Agent, stand out.Superbly plotted, tightly directed, whole-heartedly delivered, this is an exceedingly good film. I’d give 6 Stars, if I could.

replaced dvd as dvd was a older disc needed to turn over half way. blue ray is one sided and better sound and picture one of harrison Fords best

Exciting, gripping at times shocking, brilliant performance from Gary Oldman who is so intimidating and absolutely ruthless' a brilliant piece of acting. I can say the same for Harrison Ford, one of his best ever roles. One of the best Action movies of all time in my opinion.

Excellent quality great film

This is massive escapism for two action packed hours and one of the big box office smash hits of the 1990's.Two big stars, Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford, strutting their stuff and without them this might have been just another CGI-laden action fest that would pass as forgettable.Ford does what he is good at playing the man under pressure, a Bruce Willis clone but unsmiling with that unmistakable furrowed brow that he employs in many of his outings --- Roger Moore did it with his eye-brow but Ford uses more muscle to convey his character. You either hate the type-casting or you get on board and enjoy the improbable plot and the clever story line.Ford is the U.S. President who has his Air Force One Boeing sky jacked by Oldman's terrorist group. Escaping detection he begins to take out the terrorists while his staff are being executed elsewhere on the plane. If nothing else I have discovered, over the years, that the Boeing has more room in it than Buckingham Palace but I have learned to live with that.Oldman comes over as committed and sincere and I had bucket loads of sympathy for the character that he played. Like Trump this President on board the plane won't let go either and the finish of the film is spectacular and worth the admission price alone. Shades of one of the early 'Airport' films as I remember.Support actors are always useful in this kind of action spree but will never be allowed to overshadow the main players. Glen Close, Dean Stockwell, William H Macy, Xander Berkeley, Paul Guilfoyle and Jurgen Prochnow (a tiny part) are really only cardboard cutouts but it's that kind of film ---- the Ford / Oldman circus carry everything before them.English subtitles with the film, picture quality is sparkling like many of director Wolfgang Petersen's films.

As an action movie, Air Force One is ok but nothing special. They do fairly well with the gunplay given the rather limited confines of the setting... a jumbo jet. Ford and Oldman put in decent performances as usual, and if that's all you're after then give it a watch. Just don't take things too seriously, or look to deeply.Why? Because this film is really let down by a number of things. For starters, there's the completely unrealistic idea of a US president that dedicates his country to fighting injustice worldwide, under any circumstances, even when it's not in the direct interest of the US to do so. Yeah right... this is supposed to be a thriller, not high fantasy! Also the idea that a foreign power... namely Russia... would be willing to allow itself to descend into civil war in exchange for the lives of an American president and his family. Yeah... sure.Then there's the idea that a guy who flew medivacs in Vietnam and has spent the years since as a politician, is somehow exactly what is needed to fight a plane full of terrorists. Because medivac pilots are highly trained in infantry combat techniques, right? And of course, most non-Americans will likely balk at the vomit-inducing scenes of blind "patriotism" which occur whenever possible throughout.If you can ignore the above then you might get some fun out of this film, but if not you may want to look for something a little more "believable".

Really enjoyable movie, Gary Oldman, as expected, plays a brilliant baddie