fbpx
Wikipedia

Air Force One (film)

Air Force One is a 1997 American political action thriller film directed and co-produced by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, Xander Berkeley, William H. Macy, Dean Stockwell, and Paul Guilfoyle. The film was written by Andrew W. Marlowe. It tells the story of a group of terrorists who hijack Air Force One and the President's attempt to rescue everyone on board by retaking his plane.

Air Force One
North American theatrical release poster
Directed byWolfgang Petersen
Written byAndrew W. Marlowe
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMichael Ballhaus
Edited byRichard Francis-Bruce
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • July 21, 1997 (1997-07-21) (Century City)
  • July 25, 1997 (1997-07-25) (United States)
Running time
124 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$85 million[1]
Box office$315.2 million[1]

The film was a box office success and received mostly positive critical reviews. It became the fifth highest-grossing film of 1997.

Plot

A joint operation between American and Russian Special Forces captures General Radek, the dictator of a rogue neo-Soviet regime in Kazakhstan that retained its nuclear weapons, threatening war. Three weeks after the mission, U.S. President James Marshall attends a diplomatic dinner in Moscow, Russia, during which he praises the operation and insists the U.S. will "no longer negotiate with terrorists". Marshall and his entourage, including his wife Grace and daughter Alice, and several of his cabinet and advisers, prepare to return home on Air Force One. In addition, members of the press have been invited aboard, including six Radek loyalists disguised as journalists, led by Egor Korshunov.

After takeoff, Secret Service agent Gibbs, a mole, enables Korshunov and his men to obtain weapons and storm the plane, killing many of the other security and military personnel before taking the rest hostage, including Grace and Alice. Marshall is raced to an escape pod in the cargo hold while pursued by Korshunov's men, but they are too late to stop the pod from ejecting. Korshunov breaches the cockpit and slays the crew, narrowly preventing the plane from making an emergency landing at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. A squadron of F-15s escort Air Force One as Korshunov has it piloted towards a Radek-loyal airbase in Kazakhstan.

Unknown to all, Marshall, a veteran of the Vietnam War and a Medal of Honor recipient, had hidden himself in the cargo hold instead of using the pod, and stealthily observes the loyalists. He covertly kills some of Korshunov's men and uses a satellite phone to communicate with Vice President Kathryn Bennett, letting his staff know he is still alive and aboard the plane. Korshunov, assuming that it is merely a Secret Service agent that is in the cargo hold, contacts Bennett and demands Radek's release, threatening to kill a hostage every half-hour. Marshall and military advisors devise a plan to trick Korshunov to take Air Force One to a lower altitude for a mid-air refueling, buying time for the hostages to parachute safely off the plane. As a KC-10 tanker docks with Air Force One, Marshall helps to capture another loyalist and escorts the hostages to the cargo hold, where the majority parachute to safety. Korshunov discovers the deception and forces Air Force One to break the connection with the tanker, causing the fuel to ignite and destroying the tanker; the consequent shockwave disrupts the escape process, and Korshunov is able to stop Marshall, Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd, Major Caldwell and Gibbs from escaping. Some hostages and the captured loyalist fall out of the plane without parachutes to their deaths.

With the president and his family under his control, Korshunov violently berates Marshall for killing his men, and forces him to contact Russian President Petrov and arrange for Radek's release. Bennett is urged by Defense Secretary Walter Dean to declare the president incapable under the 25th Amendment, thus overriding Radek's release, but she refuses. While Korushunov and his men celebrate the news of Radek's release, Marshall breaks his bonds and kills Korshunov and his remaining henchmen. Marshall then rescinds his order to release Radek, who is subsequently shot dead when he attempts to escape.

Marshall and Caldwell direct the plane back to friendly airspace, accompanied by the F-15s, only to be quickly tailed by a second batch of Radek loyalists in MiG-29s. Marshall is saved by one F-15 pilot who sacrifices himself to intercept a missile; the resultant explosion damages the plane's tail, and they start to lose altitude. A standby USAF Rescue HC-130 with the callsign Liberty 24 is called to help, sending parajumpers on tether lines to rescue the survivors. Marshall insists that his family and the injured Shepherd be transferred first. When there is time for only one more transfer, Gibbs reveals himself as the traitor, killing Caldwell and the last parajumper. Marshall and Gibbs fight for control of the transfer line; Marshall grabs and detaches it at the last moment. As the HC-130 airmen reel Marshall to safety, the now-inoperable Air Force One crashes into the Caspian Sea, killing Gibbs. With Marshall and his family safe, Liberty 24 is given the callsign Air Force One as they fly back to safety.

Cast

Production

A large part of the crew took a tour of the real Air Force One before filming. They based some of the film's scenes on the touring experience when the terrorists disguised as journalists survey the plane's layout and begin to take their seats. The character of Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell was based largely on their real-life tour guide, and the crew felt uncomfortable having to film the character's execution by the terrorists.[2] For the exterior scenes, the producers rented a Boeing 747-146 aircraft, N703CK from Kalitta Air and repainted it to replicate the Air Force One livery.[3][4][5]

Air Force One is shown as being equipped with a one-person escape pod for emergency use by the President of the United States. It was also done this way in at least three other films, Escape from New York, Bermuda Tentacles and Big Game. The actual Air Force One does not have an escape pod.[6][7]

Paul Attanasio was brought in as a script doctor to work on the film prior to shooting.[8] Scenes explaining Agent Gibbs' motivation for being the mole were cut from the final script. According to director Wolfgang Petersen, Gibbs was a former CIA agent who lost a lot after the end of the Cold War and thus became angry with the American government and wanted revenge. He knew the terrorists from his CIA days and so they included him in their operation. The scene was considered too long to tell and so it was cut from the film. The director also felt that it was unnecessary to have in the film so it was removed as it was irrelevant to the plot. Petersen also said that in the original draft, Gibbs revealed himself as the mole early and joined the terrorists in hijacking the plane. The director felt it was more suspenseful to keep the audience guessing in the final cut and specifically pointed to the scene in which Marshall gives Gibbs a gun before escorting the hostages from the conference room to the parachutes in the cargo hold.[2]

Gary Oldman did not stay in character between the scenes. The director later said he called the filming experience "Air Force Fun" because of how comic and genial Oldman would be off-screen. He also said that Oldman would suddenly return to the menacing film persona like a shot.[2] Oldman used his acting fee for the film to help finance his directorial debut, Nil by Mouth.

Kevin Costner was offered the role of James Marshall but turned it down as he had other commitments, and the script was given to Harrison Ford who accepted it.[9]

General Radek's palace, seen in the film's opening, was portrayed by two locations in Cleveland, Ohio: the exterior was Severance Hall, and the interior was the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. The Russian prison where Radek was incarcerated was the Ohio State Reformatory, previously seen in The Shawshank Redemption and also used for Godsmack's music video for Awake in 2000. Ramstein Air Base, Germany was portrayed by Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Ohio. The diplomatic dinner scene was shot at the Ebell of Los Angeles while a second unit captured scenes in Red Square in Moscow. Scenes featuring Sheremetyevo International Airport, the departure airport of Air Force One in the film, were shot at Los Angeles International Airport.

F-15C Eagle aircraft from the 33rd Operations Group, 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida were used in the film.[10]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Air Force One has a "Certified Fresh" 79% rating, based on 62 reviews, with an average score of 7.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This late-period Harrison Ford actioner is full of palpable, if not entirely seamless, thrills."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[13]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film 3.5/4 stars, describing it as "superior escapism", and concluding, "Air Force One doesn't insult the audience. It is crafted by a film-maker who takes pride in the thrills and sly fun he packs into every frame. Welcome to something rare in a summer of crass commercialism: a class act."[14] Todd McCarthy of Variety described the film as "a preposterously pulpy but quite entertaining suspense meller [melodrama]" that is "spiked by some spectacularly staged and genuinely tense action sequences". He lauded the film's antagonist: "[Gary] Oldman, in his second malevolent lead of the summer, after The Fifth Element, registers strongly as a veteran of the Afghan campaign pushed to desperate lengths to newly ennoble his country."[15]

In a mixed review, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and found it flawed and cliché-ridden yet "well-served by the quality of the performances ... Air Force One is a fairly competent recycling of familiar ingredients, given an additional interest because of Harrison Ford's personal appeal."[16] Adam Mars-Jones of The Independent was more critical, calling it "so preposterous that it begins to seem like a science-fiction artifact ... the product of a parallel-universe 1990s which somehow by-passed the decades since the 1950s."[17]

President Bill Clinton saw the film twice while in office and gave it good reviews. He noted that certain elements of the film's version of Air Force One, such as the escape pod and the rear parachute ramp, did not reflect features of the actual Air Force One (though since many Air Force One features are highly classified and "need-to-know", these features cannot be completely ruled out).[18] In the audio commentary, Wolfgang Petersen mused that although the real plane did not have those features at the time of the filming, they would probably be added by future governments.[citation needed]

During his campaign for the Presidency of the United States in the 2016 presidential election, businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he admired Ford for his role in Air Force One because he "stood up for America". Ford responded by reasoning that "it was just a film" and doubted Trump's presidential bid would be successful.[19][20][21]

A Wall Street Journal poll in 2016 named Harrison Ford's James Marshall as the greatest fictional president.[22]

Box office

One of the most popular action films of the 1990s, Air Force One earned $37.1 million during its opening weekend and ranked number one at the box office, beating Men in Black.[23] At the time, the film had the fourth-highest opening weekend of that year, behind the latter film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Batman & Robin.[24] It scored the highest opening weekend for an R-rated film, surpassing Interview with the Vampire.[25] The film would hold this record for three years until it was surpassed by Scary Movie in 2000.[26] Additionally, the film achieved the highest opening weekend for a Harrison Ford film, surpassing the former record held by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.[27] For a decade, it would go on to hold this record until 2008 when it was taken by Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.[28] Air Force One went on to make $172,650,002 (54.9%) domestically and $142,200,000 (45.1%) in other countries.[29]

Accolades

Award Category Subject Result
Academy Awards[30] Best Sound Doug Hemphill Nominated
Rick Kline Nominated
Paul Massey Nominated
Keith A. Wester Nominated
Best Film Editing Richard Francis-Bruce Nominated
ACE Eddie Best Edited Feature Film Nominated
ASCAP Award Top Box Office Films Joel McNeely Won
Bambi Award Direction Wolfgang Petersen Won
Actor Harrison Ford Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Actor – Action/Adventure Nominated
Favorite Supporting Actor – Action/Adventure Gary Oldman Nominated
Favorite Supporting Actress – Action/Adventure Glenn Close Won
Bogey Award Won
Broadcast Music, Inc. BMI Film Music Award Jerry Goldsmith Won
Japan Academy Prize Outstanding Foreign Language Film Joel McNeely Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Fight Harrison Ford Nominated
Gary Oldman Nominated
Best Villain Nominated
Satellite Award Best Editing Richard Francis-Bruce Nominated

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

Home media

Air Force One was released on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD on February 10, 1998,[32][33] and on Blu-ray on June 2, 2009.[34] A 4K UHD Blu-ray followed on November 6, 2018.[35]

The US LaserDisc release of the film is notorious among LaserDisc collectors as being extremely prone to "Laser rot", a form of optical disc degradation, due to repeat production issues at the Sony DADC facility where the discs were produced.[36][37]

Score

Air Force One: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedJuly 29, 1997
GenreFilm score
Length34:37
LabelVarèse Sarabande
Jerry Goldsmith chronology
Fierce Creatures
(1997)
Air Force One: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(1997)
L.A. Confidential
(1997)

Randy Newman was initially hired to write the film score; however, Petersen considered his composition to be almost a parody and commissioned Jerry Goldsmith to write and record a more somber and patriotic score in just twelve days, with assistance from Joel McNeely.[38][39] After the experience, Goldsmith vowed to never again take on such a last-minute task.[40]

The music label Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack album featuring Goldsmith's music. McNeely receives a credit on the back cover for "Additional Music in the Motion Picture", but none of his work is on the CD, although his cues include the material heard when Air Force One is under attack.[40][original research?] On September 27, 2019, a 2-CD release featuring the full score was released.[41]

The first track of the soundtrack, "The Parachutes", was used by Donald Trump during his campaign for president of the United States in 2016. The track was played in the background at the New York Hilton Midtown[42] prior to Trump's victory speech, following Hillary Clinton's concession.[43] The track was used repeatedly at campaign events with the Trump plane as background, leading the film's producer to ask him to stop using it.[44]

Novelization

A novelization of the film was published in June 1997 by author Max Allan Collins. Although the book has the same central plot and outcomes as the film, its main storyline has additional scenes and lines not in the film. The book develops characters more than the film. Marshall is described as possessing a smile that is described in the novel as "the most valuable weapon in his public relations arsenal" (p. 11). He promotes an interventionist line on foreign policy and a strong stance against terrorism (met with political opposition from opposition Speaker of the House, Franklin Danforth, in the novel). He is described as a first-term President, up for re-election later on in the year that the film is set in. Marshall's home state is Iowa. A two-term former governor of Iowa in the novel, he first campaigns in the film for the US House.

He graduated from University of Iowa in the early 1970s in the novel and may also have attended the University of Notre Dame. His senior Staff and Cabinet include Vice President Kathryn Bennett (former congresswoman and trial attorney from New Jersey), Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd (an old friend from U of I), National Security Advisor Jack Doherty, Secretary of Defense Walter Dean, Deputy NSA Director Thomas Lee, Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Northwood, Air Force General Greeley (under whom Marshall served in Vietnam). His Party is Republican in the novel.

Marshall is described in the novel as "a moderate-Republican version of Bill Clinton, minus the womanizing reputation, and without a hint of personal or professional scandal" (p. 99–100). Korushunov's family is expanded upon, and it is revealed that Korushunov is not his real name. Unlike the movie, Gibbs's identity as the traitor is not revealed until the end of the book. It also hints at his motivation: "What he did remember, as he sipped his coffee, was that he knew these men, had worked with these men, and it was a damn shame they had to die so that he could be wealthy." Korushunov later tells Marshall he "paid" him off. It also presents a slightly alternative ending: in the novel, Air Force One crashes in the Russian countryside, but in the film, it crashes into the Caspian Sea.[45]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Air Force One (1997)". Box Office Mojo. from the original on July 14, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Wolfgang Petersen audio commentary
  3. ^ Larson, George C. (September 1997). "The Making of Air Force One". Air & Space. Smithsonian Institution. from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  4. ^ Larson, Gary (November 1, 1997). "The Making of Air Force One". AVWeb. Aviation Publishing Group. from the original on December 18, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  5. ^ Maslin, Janet (July 25, 1997). "Just a Little Turbulence, Mr. President". The New York Times. from the original on August 10, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  6. ^ McAllister, J.F.O. (July 28, 1997). "Cinema: On the Real Thing, No Pods and No Parachutes". Time.
  7. ^ Russell Berman (January 31, 2015). "Air Force One-Point-Three – After a quarter-century of service, the aging presidential airplanes are being replaced by a pair of state-of-the-art Boeing 747-8s". The Atlantic. from the original on November 11, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  8. ^ "Paul Attanasio Bio". iMDB.
  9. ^ "The Selling of the President". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  10. ^ "Local crew called on to defend 'Air Force One' (film)". Northwest Florida Daily News. July 13, 1997. p. 1B.
  11. ^ "Air Force One". Rotten Tomatoes. from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  12. ^ "Air Force One reviews". Metacritic. from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  13. ^ . Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  14. ^ Travers, Peter. "Air Force One 2017-10-17 at the Wayback Machine". Rolling Stone. July 25, 1997. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  15. ^ McCarthy, Todd (July 27, 1997). "Air Force One". Variety. from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 25, 1997). . Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  17. ^ Mars-Jones, Adam (September 11, 1997). "Get me out of here – Air Force One – Review – The Independent". London. from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  18. ^ . Garyoldman.twistedlogic.nl. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  19. ^ McAfee, Melonyce (December 11, 2015). "Harrison Ford has a fan in Trump". CNN. from the original on January 19, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  20. ^ Dawn, Randee (December 11, 2015). "Harrison Ford reminds Donald Trump that 'Air Force One' was only a movie". Today. from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  21. ^ Healy, Patrick (December 2, 2015). "Voters, Worried About Terrorism, Look for Leaders at Home on Silver Screen". The New York Times. from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  22. ^ "44 Fake Presidents From Worst to Best". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  23. ^ "Air Force One' flies to top of list".
  24. ^ "Presidential bravery triumphs at box office". The Reporter. July 28, 1997. p. 13. from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  25. ^ "'Air Force One' tops box office". The Commercial Appeal. July 28, 1997. p. 15. from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  26. ^ "'Scary Movie' Makes a Gross Statement". Los Angeles Times.
  27. ^ "Hjack thriller at top". Iowa City Press-Citizen. July 29, 1997. p. 18. from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  28. ^ Rich, Joshua (May 28, 2008). "'Indiana Jones 4' digs up big box office". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  29. ^ "G.I. Jane' Proves Its Mettle in Second Week at Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. September 2, 1997. from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  30. ^ "The 70th Academy Awards (1998) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. from the original on October 1, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  31. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills Nominees" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  32. ^ "Air Force One DVD Release Date February 10, 1998". DVDs Release Dates. from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  33. ^ "LaserDisc Database - Air Force One: Special Edition [71886]". www.lddb.com. from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  34. ^ Air Force One Blu-ray, from the original on November 24, 2018, retrieved November 23, 2018
  35. ^ Air Force One 4K Blu-ray, from the original on November 24, 2018, retrieved November 23, 2018
  36. ^ "Disc Rot: What Happens When Discs Die". Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet. from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  37. ^ "LaserDisc Database - Laser Rot - Explanation". www.lddb.com. from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  38. ^ Broxton, Jonathan. . Movie Music U.K. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  39. ^ . Soundtrack Express. Archived from the original on August 11, 2002. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  40. ^ a b Clemmensen, Christian (July 28, 1997). "Air Force One". Filmtracks.com. Filmtracks Publications. from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  41. ^ "Air Force One: The Deluxe Edition (CD)".
  42. ^ Sullivan, Sean (November 2, 2016). "Trump to spend election night at Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan". The Washington Post. from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  43. ^ Mullin, Gemma (November 9, 2016). "Victorious Donald Trump walks out to Air Force One movie soundtrack as he's elected US president". Daily Mirror. MGN. from the original on January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  44. ^ Cassidy, Kevin (July 25, 2016). "Donald Trump Asked to Stop Using 'Air Force One' Music for Campaign (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  45. ^ "Air Force One review". Goodreads. from the original on November 1, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.

Further reading

  • . Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  • Davis, Richard. "Air Force One as Political Communication". Radiescent. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  • Film Scouts (1999). . Film Scouts. Archived from the original on January 6, 2000.

External links

force, film, force, 1997, american, political, action, thriller, film, directed, produced, wolfgang, petersen, starring, harrison, ford, gary, oldman, glenn, close, wendy, crewson, xander, berkeley, william, macy, dean, stockwell, paul, guilfoyle, film, writte. Air Force One is a 1997 American political action thriller film directed and co produced by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Harrison Ford Gary Oldman Glenn Close Wendy Crewson Xander Berkeley William H Macy Dean Stockwell and Paul Guilfoyle The film was written by Andrew W Marlowe It tells the story of a group of terrorists who hijack Air Force One and the President s attempt to rescue everyone on board by retaking his plane Air Force OneNorth American theatrical release posterDirected byWolfgang PetersenWritten byAndrew W MarloweProduced byGail Katz Jonathan Shestack Wolfgang Petersen Armyan BernsteinStarringHarrison Ford Gary Oldman Wendy Crewson Paul Guilfoyle William H Macy Liesel Matthews Dean StockwellCinematographyMichael BallhausEdited byRichard Francis BruceMusic byJerry GoldsmithProductioncompaniesColumbia Pictures Beacon Pictures Radiant ProductionsDistributed bySony Pictures Releasing North America Buena Vista International International Release datesJuly 21 1997 1997 07 21 Century City July 25 1997 1997 07 25 United States Running time124 minutes 1 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 85 million 1 Box office 315 2 million 1 The film was a box office success and received mostly positive critical reviews It became the fifth highest grossing film of 1997 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 4 1 Critical response 4 2 Box office 4 3 Accolades 5 Home media 6 Score 7 Novelization 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksPlotA joint operation between American and Russian Special Forces captures General Radek the dictator of a rogue neo Soviet regime in Kazakhstan that retained its nuclear weapons threatening war Three weeks after the mission U S President James Marshall attends a diplomatic dinner in Moscow Russia during which he praises the operation and insists the U S will no longer negotiate with terrorists Marshall and his entourage including his wife Grace and daughter Alice and several of his cabinet and advisers prepare to return home on Air Force One In addition members of the press have been invited aboard including six Radek loyalists disguised as journalists led by Egor Korshunov After takeoff Secret Service agent Gibbs a mole enables Korshunov and his men to obtain weapons and storm the plane killing many of the other security and military personnel before taking the rest hostage including Grace and Alice Marshall is raced to an escape pod in the cargo hold while pursued by Korshunov s men but they are too late to stop the pod from ejecting Korshunov breaches the cockpit and slays the crew narrowly preventing the plane from making an emergency landing at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany A squadron of F 15s escort Air Force One as Korshunov has it piloted towards a Radek loyal airbase in Kazakhstan Unknown to all Marshall a veteran of the Vietnam War and a Medal of Honor recipient had hidden himself in the cargo hold instead of using the pod and stealthily observes the loyalists He covertly kills some of Korshunov s men and uses a satellite phone to communicate with Vice President Kathryn Bennett letting his staff know he is still alive and aboard the plane Korshunov assuming that it is merely a Secret Service agent that is in the cargo hold contacts Bennett and demands Radek s release threatening to kill a hostage every half hour Marshall and military advisors devise a plan to trick Korshunov to take Air Force One to a lower altitude for a mid air refueling buying time for the hostages to parachute safely off the plane As a KC 10 tanker docks with Air Force One Marshall helps to capture another loyalist and escorts the hostages to the cargo hold where the majority parachute to safety Korshunov discovers the deception and forces Air Force One to break the connection with the tanker causing the fuel to ignite and destroying the tanker the consequent shockwave disrupts the escape process and Korshunov is able to stop Marshall Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd Major Caldwell and Gibbs from escaping Some hostages and the captured loyalist fall out of the plane without parachutes to their deaths With the president and his family under his control Korshunov violently berates Marshall for killing his men and forces him to contact Russian President Petrov and arrange for Radek s release Bennett is urged by Defense Secretary Walter Dean to declare the president incapable under the 25th Amendment thus overriding Radek s release but she refuses While Korushunov and his men celebrate the news of Radek s release Marshall breaks his bonds and kills Korshunov and his remaining henchmen Marshall then rescinds his order to release Radek who is subsequently shot dead when he attempts to escape Marshall and Caldwell direct the plane back to friendly airspace accompanied by the F 15s only to be quickly tailed by a second batch of Radek loyalists in MiG 29s Marshall is saved by one F 15 pilot who sacrifices himself to intercept a missile the resultant explosion damages the plane s tail and they start to lose altitude A standby USAF Rescue HC 130 with the callsign Liberty 24 is called to help sending parajumpers on tether lines to rescue the survivors Marshall insists that his family and the injured Shepherd be transferred first When there is time for only one more transfer Gibbs reveals himself as the traitor killing Caldwell and the last parajumper Marshall and Gibbs fight for control of the transfer line Marshall grabs and detaches it at the last moment As the HC 130 airmen reel Marshall to safety the now inoperable Air Force One crashes into the Caspian Sea killing Gibbs With Marshall and his family safe Liberty 24 is given the callsign Air Force One as they fly back to safety CastHarrison Ford as President James Marshall the popular President of the United States and a family man who loves his wife Grace and daughter Alice Marshall is also a decorated helicopter rescue pilot Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient who speaks reasonably fluent Russian Feigning escape during Air Force One s hijacking he attempts to retake his aircraft and rescue everyone Gary Oldman as Egor Korshunov a ruthless Radek loyalist and terrorist ringleader who leads the hijacking of Air Force One Korshunov believes that the collapse of the Soviet Union has ruined his country The character is erroneously named Ivan Korshunov in the end credits Glenn Close as Vice President Kathryn Bennett the first female Vice President of the United States who commands the situation in the White House Situation Room Wendy Crewson as First Lady Grace Marshall Liesel Matthews as Alice Marshall the President s daughter Paul Guilfoyle as White House Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd William H Macy as Major Norman Caldwell USAF military aide to the President Dean Stockwell as Defense Secretary Walter Dean Elya Baskin as Andrei Kolchak Korshunov s best friend trusted lieutenant and pilot Levan Uchaneishvili as Sergei Lenski Korshunov s henchman and communications expert David Vadim as Igor Nevsky Korshunov s henchman Andrew Divoff as Boris Bazylev Korshunov s henchman Ilia Volok as Vladimir Krasin Korshunov s henchman and close friend with whom he served in the Soviet Afghan War Xander Berkeley as Secret Service Special Agent Gibbs the head of the Presidential Protective Division and the hijackers mole The hijackers never reveal that Gibbs is their inside man Alan Woolf as Russian President Stolicha Petrov Tom Everett as National Security Advisor Jack Doherty Korshunov executes Doherty the first hostage to die Jurgen Prochnow as General Ivan Radek the dictator of a rogue terrorist regime in Kazakhstan which has taken possession of stolen former Soviet nuclear weapons threatening to start a new Cold War Radek s regime is responsible for the killing of 200 000 people Captured by a joint Russian American military team Radek is imprisoned in Russia awaiting trial for his crimes against humanity The terrorists who take over Air Force One demand his release threatening to kill a hostage every half hour The character is erroneously named Alexander Radek by the end credits Donna Bullock as Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell Michael Ray Miller as Colonel Axelrod USAF pilot of Air Force One Carl Weintraub as Lieutenant Colonel Ingraham USAF co pilot of Air Force One Spencer Garrett as White House aide Thomas Lee Bill Smitrovich as General William Northwood the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Glenn Morshower as U S Secret Service Agent Walters David Gianopoulos as U S Secret Service Agent Johnson Dan Shor as Notre Dame aide Philip Baker Hall as Attorney General Andrew Ward Richard Doyle as Colonel Bob Jackson USAF Air Force One Backup Pilot Willard Pugh as White House Communications officer Diana Bellamy as White House switchboard operator Pananides Don McManus as Lt Colonel Jack Carlton F 15 Halo Flight Leader J A Preston as Major General Samuel Greely Having been President Marshall s commanding officer during the Vietnam War he is the first to anticipate that Marshall is battling the hijackers Michael Monks as Assistant White House Press SecretaryProductionA large part of the crew took a tour of the real Air Force One before filming They based some of the film s scenes on the touring experience when the terrorists disguised as journalists survey the plane s layout and begin to take their seats The character of Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell was based largely on their real life tour guide and the crew felt uncomfortable having to film the character s execution by the terrorists 2 For the exterior scenes the producers rented a Boeing 747 146 aircraft N703CK from Kalitta Air and repainted it to replicate the Air Force One livery 3 4 5 Air Force One is shown as being equipped with a one person escape pod for emergency use by the President of the United States It was also done this way in at least three other films Escape from New York Bermuda Tentacles and Big Game The actual Air Force One does not have an escape pod 6 7 Paul Attanasio was brought in as a script doctor to work on the film prior to shooting 8 Scenes explaining Agent Gibbs motivation for being the mole were cut from the final script According to director Wolfgang Petersen Gibbs was a former CIA agent who lost a lot after the end of the Cold War and thus became angry with the American government and wanted revenge He knew the terrorists from his CIA days and so they included him in their operation The scene was considered too long to tell and so it was cut from the film The director also felt that it was unnecessary to have in the film so it was removed as it was irrelevant to the plot Petersen also said that in the original draft Gibbs revealed himself as the mole early and joined the terrorists in hijacking the plane The director felt it was more suspenseful to keep the audience guessing in the final cut and specifically pointed to the scene in which Marshall gives Gibbs a gun before escorting the hostages from the conference room to the parachutes in the cargo hold 2 Gary Oldman did not stay in character between the scenes The director later said he called the filming experience Air Force Fun because of how comic and genial Oldman would be off screen He also said that Oldman would suddenly return to the menacing film persona like a shot 2 Oldman used his acting fee for the film to help finance his directorial debut Nil by Mouth Kevin Costner was offered the role of James Marshall but turned it down as he had other commitments and the script was given to Harrison Ford who accepted it 9 General Radek s palace seen in the film s opening was portrayed by two locations in Cleveland Ohio the exterior was Severance Hall and the interior was the Cuyahoga County Courthouse The Russian prison where Radek was incarcerated was the Ohio State Reformatory previously seen in The Shawshank Redemption and also used for Godsmack s music video for Awake in 2000 Ramstein Air Base Germany was portrayed by Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base Ohio The diplomatic dinner scene was shot at the Ebell of Los Angeles while a second unit captured scenes in Red Square in Moscow Scenes featuring Sheremetyevo International Airport the departure airport of Air Force One in the film were shot at Los Angeles International Airport F 15C Eagle aircraft from the 33rd Operations Group 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB Florida were used in the film 10 ReceptionCritical response On Rotten Tomatoes Air Force One has a Certified Fresh 79 rating based on 62 reviews with an average score of 7 10 10 The site s critical consensus reads This late period Harrison Ford actioner is full of palpable if not entirely seamless thrills 11 On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 25 critics indicating generally favorable reviews 12 Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of A on an A to F scale 13 Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film 3 5 4 stars describing it as superior escapism and concluding Air Force One doesn t insult the audience It is crafted by a film maker who takes pride in the thrills and sly fun he packs into every frame Welcome to something rare in a summer of crass commercialism a class act 14 Todd McCarthy of Variety described the film as a preposterously pulpy but quite entertaining suspense meller melodrama that is spiked by some spectacularly staged and genuinely tense action sequences He lauded the film s antagonist Gary Oldman in his second malevolent lead of the summer after The Fifth Element registers strongly as a veteran of the Afghan campaign pushed to desperate lengths to newly ennoble his country 15 In a mixed review Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film 2 5 stars out of 4 and found it flawed and cliche ridden yet well served by the quality of the performances Air Force One is a fairly competent recycling of familiar ingredients given an additional interest because of Harrison Ford s personal appeal 16 Adam Mars Jones of The Independent was more critical calling it so preposterous that it begins to seem like a science fiction artifact the product of a parallel universe 1990s which somehow by passed the decades since the 1950s 17 President Bill Clinton saw the film twice while in office and gave it good reviews He noted that certain elements of the film s version of Air Force One such as the escape pod and the rear parachute ramp did not reflect features of the actual Air Force One though since many Air Force One features are highly classified and need to know these features cannot be completely ruled out 18 In the audio commentary Wolfgang Petersen mused that although the real plane did not have those features at the time of the filming they would probably be added by future governments citation needed During his campaign for the Presidency of the United States in the 2016 presidential election businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he admired Ford for his role in Air Force One because he stood up for America Ford responded by reasoning that it was just a film and doubted Trump s presidential bid would be successful 19 20 21 A Wall Street Journal poll in 2016 named Harrison Ford s James Marshall as the greatest fictional president 22 Box office One of the most popular action films of the 1990s Air Force One earned 37 1 million during its opening weekend and ranked number one at the box office beating Men in Black 23 At the time the film had the fourth highest opening weekend of that year behind the latter film The Lost World Jurassic Park and Batman amp Robin 24 It scored the highest opening weekend for an R rated film surpassing Interview with the Vampire 25 The film would hold this record for three years until it was surpassed by Scary Movie in 2000 26 Additionally the film achieved the highest opening weekend for a Harrison Ford film surpassing the former record held by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 27 For a decade it would go on to hold this record until 2008 when it was taken by Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 28 Air Force One went on to make 172 650 002 54 9 domestically and 142 200 000 45 1 in other countries 29 Accolades Award Category Subject ResultAcademy Awards 30 Best Sound Doug Hemphill NominatedRick Kline NominatedPaul Massey NominatedKeith A Wester NominatedBest Film Editing Richard Francis Bruce NominatedACE Eddie Best Edited Feature Film NominatedASCAP Award Top Box Office Films Joel McNeely WonBambi Award Direction Wolfgang Petersen WonActor Harrison Ford WonBlockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Actor Action Adventure NominatedFavorite Supporting Actor Action Adventure Gary Oldman NominatedFavorite Supporting Actress Action Adventure Glenn Close WonBogey Award WonBroadcast Music Inc BMI Film Music Award Jerry Goldsmith WonJapan Academy Prize Outstanding Foreign Language Film Joel McNeely NominatedMTV Movie Awards Best Fight Harrison Ford NominatedGary Oldman NominatedBest Villain NominatedSatellite Award Best Editing Richard Francis Bruce NominatedThe film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists 2001 AFI s 100 Years 100 Thrills Nominated 31 Home mediaAir Force One was released on VHS LaserDisc and DVD on February 10 1998 32 33 and on Blu ray on June 2 2009 34 A 4K UHD Blu ray followed on November 6 2018 35 The US LaserDisc release of the film is notorious among LaserDisc collectors as being extremely prone to Laser rot a form of optical disc degradation due to repeat production issues at the Sony DADC facility where the discs were produced 36 37 ScoreAir Force One Original Motion Picture SoundtrackSoundtrack album by Jerry GoldsmithReleasedJuly 29 1997GenreFilm scoreLength34 37LabelVarese SarabandeJerry Goldsmith chronologyFierce Creatures 1997 Air Force One Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 1997 L A Confidential 1997 Randy Newman was initially hired to write the film score however Petersen considered his composition to be almost a parody and commissioned Jerry Goldsmith to write and record a more somber and patriotic score in just twelve days with assistance from Joel McNeely 38 39 After the experience Goldsmith vowed to never again take on such a last minute task 40 The music label Varese Sarabande released a soundtrack album featuring Goldsmith s music McNeely receives a credit on the back cover for Additional Music in the Motion Picture but none of his work is on the CD although his cues include the material heard when Air Force One is under attack 40 original research On September 27 2019 a 2 CD release featuring the full score was released 41 The first track of the soundtrack The Parachutes was used by Donald Trump during his campaign for president of the United States in 2016 The track was played in the background at the New York Hilton Midtown 42 prior to Trump s victory speech following Hillary Clinton s concession 43 The track was used repeatedly at campaign events with the Trump plane as background leading the film s producer to ask him to stop using it 44 NovelizationA novelization of the film was published in June 1997 by author Max Allan Collins Although the book has the same central plot and outcomes as the film its main storyline has additional scenes and lines not in the film The book develops characters more than the film Marshall is described as possessing a smile that is described in the novel as the most valuable weapon in his public relations arsenal p 11 He promotes an interventionist line on foreign policy and a strong stance against terrorism met with political opposition from opposition Speaker of the House Franklin Danforth in the novel He is described as a first term President up for re election later on in the year that the film is set in Marshall s home state is Iowa A two term former governor of Iowa in the novel he first campaigns in the film for the US House He graduated from University of Iowa in the early 1970s in the novel and may also have attended the University of Notre Dame His senior Staff and Cabinet include Vice President Kathryn Bennett former congresswoman and trial attorney from New Jersey Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd an old friend from U of I National Security Advisor Jack Doherty Secretary of Defense Walter Dean Deputy NSA Director Thomas Lee Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Northwood Air Force General Greeley under whom Marshall served in Vietnam His Party is Republican in the novel Marshall is described in the novel as a moderate Republican version of Bill Clinton minus the womanizing reputation and without a hint of personal or professional scandal p 99 100 Korushunov s family is expanded upon and it is revealed that Korushunov is not his real name Unlike the movie Gibbs s identity as the traitor is not revealed until the end of the book It also hints at his motivation What he did remember as he sipped his coffee was that he knew these men had worked with these men and it was a damn shame they had to die so that he could be wealthy Korushunov later tells Marshall he paid him off It also presents a slightly alternative ending in the novel Air Force One crashes in the Russian countryside but in the film it crashes into the Caspian Sea 45 References a b c Air Force One 1997 Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on July 14 2019 Retrieved January 1 2021 a b c Wolfgang Petersen audio commentary Larson George C September 1997 The Making of Air Force One Air amp Space Smithsonian Institution Archived from the original on December 8 2015 Retrieved November 29 2015 Larson Gary November 1 1997 The Making of Air Force One AVWeb Aviation Publishing Group Archived from the original on December 18 2009 Retrieved January 11 2010 Maslin Janet July 25 1997 Just a Little Turbulence Mr President The New York Times Archived from the original on August 10 2010 Retrieved January 16 2010 McAllister J F O July 28 1997 Cinema On the Real Thing No Pods and No Parachutes Time Russell Berman January 31 2015 Air Force One Point Three After a quarter century of service the aging presidential airplanes are being replaced by a pair of state of the art Boeing 747 8s The Atlantic Archived from the original on November 11 2016 Retrieved November 12 2016 Paul Attanasio Bio iMDB The Selling of the President Los Angeles Times Retrieved January 6 2022 Local crew called on to defend Air Force One film Northwest Florida Daily News July 13 1997 p 1B Air Force One Rotten Tomatoes Archived from the original on February 9 2021 Retrieved November 22 2022 Air Force One reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on October 24 2017 Retrieved October 16 2017 Cinemascore Archived from the original on December 20 2018 Retrieved August 30 2019 Travers Peter Air Force One Archived 2017 10 17 at the Wayback Machine Rolling Stone July 25 1997 Retrieved May 12 2012 McCarthy Todd July 27 1997 Air Force One Variety Archived from the original on September 1 2012 Retrieved August 30 2019 Ebert Roger July 25 1997 Air Force One Review Chicago Sun Times Archived from the original on October 17 2015 Retrieved May 12 2012 Mars Jones Adam September 11 1997 Get me out of here Air Force One Review The Independent London Archived from the original on November 4 2012 Retrieved October 5 2010 The Dark Side of Gary Oldman Air Force One 1997 Garyoldman twistedlogic nl Archived from the original on February 23 2012 Retrieved September 28 2016 McAfee Melonyce December 11 2015 Harrison Ford has a fan in Trump CNN Archived from the original on January 19 2016 Retrieved June 7 2017 Dawn Randee December 11 2015 Harrison Ford reminds Donald Trump that Air Force One was only a movie Today Archived from the original on December 14 2015 Retrieved June 7 2017 Healy Patrick December 2 2015 Voters Worried About Terrorism Look for Leaders at Home on Silver Screen The New York Times Archived from the original on August 9 2017 Retrieved August 23 2017 44 Fake Presidents From Worst to Best The Wall Street Journal Retrieved July 24 2016 Air Force One flies to top of list Presidential bravery triumphs at box office The Reporter July 28 1997 p 13 Archived from the original on September 2 2022 Retrieved September 2 2022 via Newspapers com Air Force One tops box office The Commercial Appeal July 28 1997 p 15 Archived from the original on September 3 2022 Retrieved September 3 2022 via Newspapers com Scary Movie Makes a Gross Statement Los Angeles Times Hjack thriller at top Iowa City Press Citizen July 29 1997 p 18 Archived from the original on September 7 2022 Retrieved September 7 2022 via Newspapers com Rich Joshua May 28 2008 Indiana Jones 4 digs up big box office Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on May 28 2022 Retrieved May 31 2022 G I Jane Proves Its Mettle in Second Week at Box Office Los Angeles Times Associated Press September 2 1997 Archived from the original on August 7 2020 Retrieved December 27 2010 The 70th Academy Awards 1998 Nominees and Winners oscars org Archived from the original on October 1 2014 Retrieved November 19 2011 AFI s 100 Years 100 Thrills Nominees PDF Archived PDF from the original on July 6 2011 Retrieved August 20 2016 Air Force One DVD Release Date February 10 1998 DVDs Release Dates Archived from the original on November 24 2018 Retrieved November 23 2018 LaserDisc Database Air Force One Special Edition 71886 www lddb com Archived from the original on July 20 2020 Retrieved July 20 2020 Air Force One Blu ray archived from the original on November 24 2018 retrieved November 23 2018 Air Force One 4K Blu ray archived from the original on November 24 2018 retrieved November 23 2018 Disc Rot What Happens When Discs Die Tedium The Dull Side of the Internet Archived from the original on August 2 2020 Retrieved July 20 2020 LaserDisc Database Laser Rot Explanation www lddb com Archived from the original on June 30 2020 Retrieved July 20 2020 Broxton Jonathan Air Force One rejected score review Movie Music U K Archived from the original on December 6 2008 Retrieved August 21 2009 Air Force One rejected score Soundtrack Express Archived from the original on August 11 2002 Retrieved August 21 2009 a b Clemmensen Christian July 28 1997 Air Force One Filmtracks com Filmtracks Publications Archived from the original on March 19 2018 Retrieved August 21 2009 Air Force One The Deluxe Edition CD Sullivan Sean November 2 2016 Trump to spend election night at Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan The Washington Post Archived from the original on April 8 2017 Retrieved June 19 2017 Mullin Gemma November 9 2016 Victorious Donald Trump walks out to Air Force One movie soundtrack as he s elected US president Daily Mirror MGN Archived from the original on January 5 2017 Retrieved January 20 2017 Cassidy Kevin July 25 2016 Donald Trump Asked to Stop Using Air Force One Music for Campaign Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on July 26 2018 Retrieved July 26 2018 Air Force One review Goodreads Archived from the original on November 1 2015 Retrieved November 18 2015 Further reading Air Force One Movie Gallery Archived from the original on December 8 2008 Retrieved September 28 2011 Davis Richard Air Force One as Political Communication Radiescent Retrieved October 5 2010 Film Scouts 1999 Air Force One About The Production Film Scouts Archived from the original on January 6 2000 External links Wikiquote has quotations related to Air Force One Film portalAir Force One at the American Film Institute Catalog Air Force One at IMDb Air Force One at the TCM Movie Database Air Force One at AllMovie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Air Force One film amp oldid 1131346560, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.