Adrenaline Inducing? Oh Yeah, Action-Packed? Most Definitely, Far-Fetched? You Betcha'
Added 2/4/2010
It still never ceases to amaze me how this high-spirited action-packed gem escaped me for all these years. My earliest recollection of this film is when I was still in grammar school catching the trailer's most infamous and notorious Harrison Ford moment when he quotes, "Get off my plane"!. (Priceless) Now, after all of these years have passed I can at least say that this film did not disappoint as the solid acting and fast paced action held my attention throughout the film in it's entirety. Upon viewing this film in the Blu-Ray format it made me regret not seeing it in theaters in a sense. On a more positive note, this blu-ray disc truly utilizes it's full potential of technology; moreover, it's patriotic epic score composed by the one and only Jerry GoldSmith which is also accompanied by a great sounding lossless audio track will really satisfy the home theater buffs. On an even more positive note, I feel this Blu-Ray disc was not far off or short for that in matter in delivering a true realistic theater experience because it was quite superb on many levels. I will elaborate more on these technical specs later but for now I will give a very brief summary here.
President Marshall, played by a more youthful looking and middle-aged (Harrison Ford) is held hostage along with his family and staff members on Air Force One after American Special Forces capture general Rodek who is the leader of Kazakhstan. President Marshall leaves a gorgeous and enormous looking Moscow dinner hall after delivering a very brief subdued and yet powerful speech concerning terrorism and foreign policy. Upon boarding the plane we are introduced with Ivan Korshunov who is played by the versatile and ever so impressive (Gary Oldman) While Air Force One is in flight, the audience discovers a mole in the secret service that is able to board Ivan and his other supportive terrorists companions. The secret service wastes no time in starting the bloodshed as he fires two bullets into two cabinet member's heads while they were discussing and briefing on important foreign policy matters. Soon the trails of a smoke grenade released by the secret service man signal Ivan and his ultra radical friends to unleash hell on the president and everyone else on the plane; and, that is exactly what they do because they are incredibly vengeful, bitter and quite keen on releasing General Radek.
Since we are dealing with Blu-Ray technology I always feel it is appropriate and mandatory to analyze and review the technical specs because that is what we are paying top exorbitant dollar for right? If we weren't receiving an upgrade we might as well be buying VHS right?
Well I am astounded to announce that, Blu-Ray fans won't be disappointed in this department either because the picture and sound looks and feels incredibly sharp, precise and most importantly very consistent. Despite the film's age, this disc completely revives and revamps it to a more recent looking film even with the sparse and light 90's grain subtlety prevalent throughout. Fortunately, this minor set back hardly retracts or dilutes any of the overall quality of this pristine transfer. More importantly, flesh tones are smooth and detailed throughout; hair and fabric emit some fine detail particularly in the darker interior shots of the control panel sequences. The blue colored control panel scenes are quite remarkable in the sense that it really enhances facial hair and flesh tone depth to a more elevated level of clarity in any parts of the film. Personally, no other scene compares to this high level of detail in my opinion. This attribute is more specifically shown when Gary Oldman is losing his patience when he frustratingly articulates his demands to the vice president with impunity and anger. Apart from the control panel scenes, the rest of the film does not fail to deliver in expressing some vibrantly smooth scenes in the conference rooms, bag storage area as well as the smaller private rooms (Bathroom, lounge rooms). The majority of the film takes place in the interior of the plane during the night with some interwoven scenes of the white house conference rooms so you will have to keep this in mind in order to regulate any misguided expectations. (In terms of settings, not an entire amount of variety here)
The Sound is excellent, as the flawless lossless 5.1 audio will give all your speakers quite a bit of attention; the dialogue is crisp, articulate, clean and very pleasing. I was able to make out every spoken word without any complications. You will truly appreciate the opening-firing scene at the headquarters in Kazakhstan when general Rodek is captured. Moreover, AK-47's, Mp5 and Mp5k's fire and pierce with unbelievable force and dominance, but that's not even the bread and butter here folks. The automatic sub-machine guns truly immerse you in its breath taking firepower during the first plane shootout when the terrorists kill the majority of the President's staff on board. Listen carefully to the bullets ricocheting off metal stairs or penetrating through bathroom doors. I fully appreciated the gunfire sounds in the bag storage area where President Marshall hides; it is quite impressive and mesmerizing actually. One will also quickly observe how much attention is given to the sub-woofer and rear channel speakers during the exterior night shots of the plane in fight; engines will roar loudly and thoroughly producing a strong vibration in any floor of your house. As a result, this creates a very strong acoustical sound range leading the front channel speakers and gradually dissolving to the rear. The introduction of the F-16 fighter jets following Air Force One leaves no speaker unscathed; the incessant accelerating engine power might cause one to grip on to their seats. (Well, at lease for me it did) These types of aerial vehicular sounds are nicely calculated in between scenes of dialogue and dominate the last half-hour of the film. Even though I have never seen this film on standard dvd I feel it is appropriate and safe to say that this is a serious upgrade for home theater fans. Although I wouldn't say this is an outstanding Blu-Ray film, I will say it is a solid one because it delights and pleases wherever possible. In that regard, it is worth the purchase.
In regards to the acting, Harrison Ford Fans or in my case die-hard Gary Oldman fans will be impressed here. A multi-talented and quite younger Gary Oldman emits a more vengeful and retrained type of villain here as opposed to some of the former impulsive, unbalanced psychotic characters he plays. His anger is explosive and expected when provoked and his calmness is professional when in control; he practically has zero empathy for anyone on board as he kills relentlessly with his crew. Harrison Ford, on the other hand, plays a very likeable president; his assertiveness and confidence in times of panic and danger will definitely satisfy his plausibility as an authority figure as well as a favorable president. Besides the main actors, Glenn Close ( The Vice president) along with William H. Macy and Wendy Crewson (the first lady) are serviceable to say the very least.
In conclusion, Air Force One will definitely please most fans of far-fetched action packed high explosive films while simultaneously satisfying the technical crowd who thoroughly enjoy seeing their films being treated in a careful and respectful manner.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Air Force One
Added 1/6/2010
The President of the United States, James Marshall, takes a tough anti-terrorist stance and then becomes a hostage himself when Air Force One is taken over by terrorists from Kazakhstan, led by Ivan Korshunov, who demand the release of their fascistic leader General Radek. The President seems to escape from the plane in an emergency capsule yet is actually hiding on board. He silently kills a member of the terrorist group before establishing contact with F-15's to engage the hijacked plane. As passengers escape by parachute, Marshall is captured by Ivan and forced to release General Radek, setting in motion an international incident. This movie thrills you constantly. Tightly constructed and with precious little humor.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Silly thriller
Added 11/25/2009
Typical Hollywood thriller ... The plot is ridiculously predictable and some action scenes just don't make any sense. Yawwwnnn
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Fairly typical techno-thriller one of Ford's better late efforts
Added 10/26/2009
I'll be honest: I didn't expect a whole lot out of this save-the-president film; I'm not an enormous Harrison Ford fan, and the plot seemed really hackneyed. Why'd I watch it, then? I guess I was in the mood for this kind of techno-thriller, in which the President's plane is hijacked by terrorists, and our middle-aged President (Ford) who was formerly a Vietnam combat pilot gets to play hero and almost single-handedly take out the Russian bad guys headed up by nasty psycho Gary Oldman and prevent them from returning evil commie Jurgen Prochnow back to power in Kazakhstan. Complications include the President's wife and daughter being on board, and disagreements between principal cabinet members (chiefly Glenn Close as the VP and Dean Stockwell as the Secretary of Defense) on how best to handle the situation on the ground; the latter element never builds up to anything convincingly suspenseful.
Like a great many of these kinds of films, AIR FORCE ONE started out pretty well and went downhill both in believability and interest in the second half, but it never fell apart completely despite one really annoying plot hole that apparently the producers, screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe and/or director Wolfgang Petersen thought we'd be too stupid to think about: namely that there's a spy on board in the form of a Secret Service agent, we know about him and the people on the ground know about him, but very little if any effort is made to clue the President in about him - and he basically gets ignored by both the terrorists and everyone else until the very end. And his motives are never mentioned at all - he just turns rogue because, uh, he thought it would be fun, perhaps? Not good enough, sorry.
Still, this was more lively and intelligent than it could have been; Ford is OK and the rest of the cast is game enough, if not quite enthusiastic except for the always manic Oldman - who is playing basically the same role he's played a dozen times now. Worth a watch if you like these sorts of things; better than DIE HARD 2 or 4, EXECUTIVE DECISION, or the UNDER SIEGE films, I'd say, to name some movies with comparable plots from the era. Petersen is never IMO less than a competent director, and he keeps things moving along OK. The ra-ra patriotic Jerry Goldsmith score got old and pretty overbearing after a half hour.
A time waster, then, but a reasonably enjoyable one. The standard DVD doesn't have too much in the way of extras, nothing really of substance besides the director's commentary, which I haven't listened to.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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great action movie
Added 9/12/2009
Great transfer onto BD. Harrison Ford great job and how can you go wrong with gary oldman as the bad guy.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Adrenaline Inducing? Oh Yeah, Action-Packed? Most Definitely, Far-Fetched? You Betcha'
Added 2/4/2010
It still never ceases to amaze me how this high-spirited action-packed gem escaped me for all these years. My earliest recollection of this film is when I was still in grammar school catching the trailer's most infamous and notorious Harrison Ford moment when he quotes, "Get off my plane"!. (Priceless) Now, after all of these years have passed I can at least say that this film did not disappoint as the solid acting and fast paced action held my attention throughout the film in it's entirety. Upon viewing this film in the Blu-Ray format it made me regret not seeing it in theaters in a sense. On a more positive note, this blu-ray disc truly utilizes it's full potential of technology; moreover, it's patriotic epic score composed by the one and only Jerry GoldSmith which is also accompanied by a great sounding lossless audio track will really satisfy the home theater buffs. On an even more positive note, I feel this Blu-Ray disc was not far off or short for that in matter in delivering a true realistic theater experience because it was quite superb on many levels. I will elaborate more on these technical specs later but for now I will give a very brief summary here.
President Marshall, played by a more youthful looking and middle-aged (Harrison Ford) is held hostage along with his family and staff members on Air Force One after American Special Forces capture general Rodek who is the leader of Kazakhstan. President Marshall leaves a gorgeous and enormous looking Moscow dinner hall after delivering a very brief subdued and yet powerful speech concerning terrorism and foreign policy. Upon boarding the plane we are introduced with Ivan Korshunov who is played by the versatile and ever so impressive (Gary Oldman) While Air Force One is in flight, the audience discovers a mole in the secret service that is able to board Ivan and his other supportive terrorists companions. The secret service wastes no time in starting the bloodshed as he fires two bullets into two cabinet member's heads while they were discussing and briefing on important foreign policy matters. Soon the trails of a smoke grenade released by the secret service man signal Ivan and his ultra radical friends to unleash hell on the president and everyone else on the plane; and, that is exactly what they do because they are incredibly vengeful, bitter and quite keen on releasing General Radek.
Since we are dealing with Blu-Ray technology I always feel it is appropriate and mandatory to analyze and review the technical specs because that is what we are paying top exorbitant dollar for right? If we weren't receiving an upgrade we might as well be buying VHS right?
Well I am astounded to announce that, Blu-Ray fans won't be disappointed in this department either because the picture and sound looks and feels incredibly sharp, precise and most importantly very consistent. Despite the film's age, this disc completely revives and revamps it to a more recent looking film even with the sparse and light 90's grain subtlety prevalent throughout. Fortunately, this minor set back hardly retracts or dilutes any of the overall quality of this pristine transfer. More importantly, flesh tones are smooth and detailed throughout; hair and fabric emit some fine detail particularly in the darker interior shots of the control panel sequences. The blue colored control panel scenes are quite remarkable in the sense that it really enhances facial hair and flesh tone depth to a more elevated level of clarity in any parts of the film. Personally, no other scene compares to this high level of detail in my opinion. This attribute is more specifically shown when Gary Oldman is losing his patience when he frustratingly articulates his demands to the vice president with impunity and anger. Apart from the control panel scenes, the rest of the film does not fail to deliver in expressing some vibrantly smooth scenes in the conference rooms, bag storage area as well as the smaller private rooms (Bathroom, lounge rooms). The majority of the film takes place in the interior of the plane during the night with some interwoven scenes of the white house conference rooms so you will have to keep this in mind in order to regulate any misguided expectations. (In terms of settings, not an entire amount of variety here)
The Sound is excellent, as the flawless lossless 5.1 audio will give all your speakers quite a bit of attention; the dialogue is crisp, articulate, clean and very pleasing. I was able to make out every spoken word without any complications. You will truly appreciate the opening-firing scene at the headquarters in Kazakhstan when general Rodek is captured. Moreover, AK-47's, Mp5 and Mp5k's fire and pierce with unbelievable force and dominance, but that's not even the bread and butter here folks. The automatic sub-machine guns truly immerse you in its breath taking firepower during the first plane shootout when the terrorists kill the majority of the President's staff on board. Listen carefully to the bullets ricocheting off metal stairs or penetrating through bathroom doors. I fully appreciated the gunfire sounds in the bag storage area where President Marshall hides; it is quite impressive and mesmerizing actually. One will also quickly observe how much attention is given to the sub-woofer and rear channel speakers during the exterior night shots of the plane in fight; engines will roar loudly and thoroughly producing a strong vibration in any floor of your house. As a result, this creates a very strong acoustical sound range leading the front channel speakers and gradually dissolving to the rear. The introduction of the F-16 fighter jets following Air Force One leaves no speaker unscathed; the incessant accelerating engine power might cause one to grip on to their seats. (Well, at lease for me it did) These types of aerial vehicular sounds are nicely calculated in between scenes of dialogue and dominate the last half-hour of the film. Even though I have never seen this film on standard dvd I feel it is appropriate and safe to say that this is a serious upgrade for home theater fans. Although I wouldn't say this is an outstanding Blu-Ray film, I will say it is a solid one because it delights and pleases wherever possible. In that regard, it is worth the purchase.
In regards to the acting, Harrison Ford Fans or in my case die-hard Gary Oldman fans will be impressed here. A multi-talented and quite younger Gary Oldman emits a more vengeful and retrained type of villain here as opposed to some of the former impulsive, unbalanced psychotic characters he plays. His anger is explosive and expected when provoked and his calmness is professional when in control; he practically has zero empathy for anyone on board as he kills relentlessly with his crew. Harrison Ford, on the other hand, plays a very likeable president; his assertiveness and confidence in times of panic and danger will definitely satisfy his plausibility as an authority figure as well as a favorable president. Besides the main actors, Glenn Close ( The Vice president) along with William H. Macy and Wendy Crewson (the first lady) are serviceable to say the very least.
In conclusion, Air Force One will definitely please most fans of far-fetched action packed high explosive films while simultaneously satisfying the technical crowd who thoroughly enjoy seeing their films being treated in a careful and respectful manner.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Air Force One
Added 1/6/2010
The President of the United States, James Marshall, takes a tough anti-terrorist stance and then becomes a hostage himself when Air Force One is taken over by terrorists from Kazakhstan, led by Ivan Korshunov, who demand the release of their fascistic leader General Radek. The President seems to escape from the plane in an emergency capsule yet is actually hiding on board. He silently kills a member of the terrorist group before establishing contact with F-15's to engage the hijacked plane. As passengers escape by parachute, Marshall is captured by Ivan and forced to release General Radek, setting in motion an international incident. This movie thrills you constantly. Tightly constructed and with precious little humor.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Silly thriller
Added 11/25/2009
Typical Hollywood thriller ... The plot is ridiculously predictable and some action scenes just don't make any sense. Yawwwnnn
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
