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Air Force One-has aged a LOT

post #1 of 70
3/22/08 at 11:45pm
Thread Starter 
Caught some of this today. I remember liking it when it came out, and it was one of the last VHS movies I bought. Whoa, does it play different now. Tonally, it still has a funky Tom Clancy/24 kind of energy to it, and it is often enjoyable as an action film, but the politics are so much more pointed today.

The president-as-action-star is played totally in earnest and without a hint of irony. Gary Oldman occasionally tries to explain his motives for being a terrorist but no one listens, and he is dismissed throughout as a monster and pure evil. The score is the most insane bombast ever, and I think I saw it recently on a Brett Favre retrospective, which indicates the worshipful America! tone to it. Put it all together and the movie somehow plays, almost intentionally, it seems, as a hilarious parody of jingoism, sort of like a Starship Troopers that never really shows it's hand. The Harrison Ford president character could be played by an bald eagle wrapped in an American flag firing a gun with an apple pie and a baseball tattooed on his beak. The only way it could be better would be if the villains were Islamo-fascists instead of Russians, then it woudl be perfect.
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post #2 of 70
3/23/08 at 12:05am
"AUUUUUUUOOOOHGGHHHH..."
-Xander Berkeley in the crashing plane
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post #3 of 70
3/23/08 at 12:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Gayest View Post
Caught some of this today. I remember liking it when it came out, and it was one of the last VHS movies I bought. Whoa, does it play different now. Tonally, it still has a funky Tom Clancy/24 kind of energy to it, and it is often enjoyable as an action film, but the politics are so much more pointed today.

The president-as-action-star is played totally in earnest and without a hint of irony. Gary Oldman occasionally tries to explain his motives for being a terrorist but no one listens, and he is dismissed throughout as a monster and pure evil. The score is the most insane bombast ever, and I think I saw it recently on a Brett Favre retrospective, which indicates the worshipful America! tone to it. Put it all together and the movie somehow plays, almost intentionally, it seems, as a hilarious parody of jingoism, sort of like a Starship Troopers that never really shows it's hand. The Harrison Ford president character could be played by an bald eagle wrapped in an American flag firing a gun with an apple pie and a baseball tattooed on his beak. The only way it could be better would be if the villains were Islamo-fascists instead of Russians, then it woudl be perfect.
Its a decent, if yet another forgettable DIE HARD knock-off.....beyond its gimmick of the American President becoming the one-many army badass, what else is there that ISN'T uninspired?

I enjoyed it, mind you, but like SUDDEN DEATH....just not enough there for me to enjoy.

Besides....why did the traitor betray? Money? Covert Ideologue?

In a way, AIR FORCE ONE is like 24 in so many ways.....

"Why did that happen?"
"Just to move the story along."

AIR FORCE ONE (1997) - **1/2
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post #4 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:12am
I thought you'd mention the ghastly CGI during the final plane crash. I thought that was awful even in the theatre in '97.

I actually had a "birthday bash" and took some friends to watch this with me that day. I was bored out of my skull by it, and so was everybody else, probably. It remains the last birthday party I've ever had in my life. Fuck you, AIR FORCE ONE.
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post #5 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul McCartney View Post
I thought you'd mention the ghastly CGI during the final plane crash. I thought that was awful even in the theatre in '97.

I actually had a "birthday bash" and took some friends to watch this with me that day. I was bored out of my skull by it, and so was everybody else, probably. It remains the last birthday party I've ever had in my life. Fuck you, AIR FORCE ONE.
Damn, I forgot about that sequence....and I thought the "Underwater LA" sequence from ESCAPE FROM LA was rough.

Hey mate, can I borrow your "Fuck you, AIR FORCE ONE" as a sig of mine?

That's awesome.
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post #6 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:19am
I never really cared for this one too much. It just didn't click. If I remember correctly, Kevin Costner was supposed to play the President originally.

I guess I'd watch it again for the fun factor, but this is one movie that will never be a favorite action movie of mine.
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post #7 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron Maiden View Post
I never really cared for this one too much. It just didn't click. If I remember correctly, Kevin Costner was supposed to play the President originally.

I guess I'd watch it again for the fun factor, but this is one movie that will never be a favorite action movie of mine.
He was. Costner sure has a graveyard of would-be roles and projects he turned down. Another I remember strongly was the Michael Douglas role in TRAFFIC.

Then again, without John Travolta's graveyard, Richard Gere wouldn't have a career.
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post #8 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:24am
I believe Harrison Ford also turned down Michael Douglas' role in Traffic.
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post #9 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron Maiden View Post
I believe Harrison Ford also turned down Michael Douglas' role in Traffic.
Yet he did FIREWALL.

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post #10 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:35am
I agree with The Gayest. Watching this in theatres was uncomfortable, because it was all predicated on the indignity of the fact... that they attacked his plane. His sacred, magic plane. He and (the only thing that sticks with anyone years later is that one line concerning the plane) Michael from Lost and his "Waaaalt" have similar problems and catchphrases.

The only positive thing I can say is I got this strange combination of uncomfortableness and ennui when Ford let his secretary die, or whoever. And Xander was good, as always, but I can barely remember. Who was the wife? I don't think Oldman got to ham it up at all, either. A letdown, a letdown, a letdown.
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post #11 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:37pm
You people are nuts. This movie is a treasure.
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post #12 of 70
3/23/08 at 1:56pm
The title of this thread suffers from odd hyphen placement.
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post #13 of 70
3/23/08 at 2:52pm
Wow, 12 posts and not a single "GET OFF MY PLANE" reference.

For shame.
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post #14 of 70
3/23/08 at 3:08pm
Didn't Felt Pelt already mention it? Or is there another line about the plane that's famous?
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post #15 of 70
3/23/08 at 3:14pm
Ah, that's right. Totally read over that. Whoops.
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post #16 of 70
3/23/08 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raspberry Leper View Post
The title of this thread suffers from odd hyphen placement.
You have to admit, Air Force One-Has did age a lot.
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post #17 of 70
3/23/08 at 3:32pm
Thread Starter 
All you naysayers can go fuck yourselves in Hell. My hyphen placement was sweet. And yes, Xander is real fun in this, and no, he is given no motivation for betrayal beyond craven cowardice.
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post #18 of 70
3/23/08 at 6:25pm
This thread should be retitled: "Executive Decision-still pretty good"
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post #19 of 70
3/23/08 at 6:41pm
The blue screen work in this makes my head hurt. Especially when everyone is parachuting to safety. A waste of Oldman too, even though he got to do another accent.

It's been a long time since I've seen In the Line of Fire(I remember liking it), and I know people have a soft spot for Enemy Mine, but I really think Das Boot was a fluke. Wolfgang Petersen films tend to suck.
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post #20 of 70
3/23/08 at 9:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus-7 View Post
The blue screen work in this makes my head hurt. Especially when everyone is parachuting to safety. A waste of Oldman too, even though he got to do another accent.

It's been a long time since I've seen In the Line of Fire(I remember liking it), and I know people have a soft spot for Enemy Mine, but I really think Das Boot was a fluke. Wolfgang Petersen films tend to suck.
In the Line of Fire is greatness. It's one of my favorite thrillers of the 90's.
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post #21 of 70
3/23/08 at 9:51pm
What I remember most from that movie was that in the middle of everything there is this pissing contest between the Veep and the Secretary of Defense even though it's completely clear that the Veep would be second in line.
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post #22 of 70
3/23/08 at 10:52pm
I thought the terrorist they were trying to free was Tim Allen.
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post #23 of 70
3/23/08 at 11:02pm
I thought this might have been an expose as to how our executive mode of transport needed some sprucing up.

I'm glad the terrorist weren't of Arab decent. I get nostalgic for the times when stereotypical terrorists were some sort of vague germanic/russian hybrid.
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post #24 of 70
3/23/08 at 11:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clarence Boddicker View Post
I thought the terrorist they were trying to free was Tim Allen.
It's the Russian general from Austin Powers.
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post #25 of 70
3/24/08 at 12:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
What I remember most from that movie was that in the middle of everything there is this pissing contest between the Veep and the Secretary of Defense even though it's completely clear that the Veep would be second in line.
Its called a contrived BULLSHIT subplot, to create false drama to escalate the story...or as I call it, every other season of "24."

And yeah, VP is Acting President, once the Cabinet decides by majority vote that the President is incapacitated or unable to do his/her job.

Which then makes Glenn Close refusing to sign that petition utterly silly and unlogical. Better question would be,

What Would Cheney Do?*

*="George, you were like a son to me...but we must move on, for I love freedom too much."
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post #26 of 70
3/24/08 at 12:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
In the Line of Fire is greatness. It's one of my favorite thrillers of the 90's.
Wolfgang Peterson has made MORE than one good movie....its just his other works either don't matter, or are TROY or POSEIDON...............dogshit.

DAS BOOT was great, and IN THE LINE OF FIRE was a great early 1990s thriller.
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post #27 of 70
3/24/08 at 12:39am
Jurgen Prochnow is a beautiful shining star in the galaxy of hollywood
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post #28 of 70
3/24/08 at 12:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kent View Post
Wow, 27 posts and not a single DIVOFF reference.

For shame.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravi View Post
It's the Russian general from Austin Powers.
No, he was the pilot.

Oh, and I'd totally land my plane on Melanie Mitchell's landing strip.
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post #29 of 70
3/24/08 at 1:01am
This movie became dead to me when I first learned that there was no escape pod on the real Air Force One. That is a fabrication far too large to ignore.
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post #30 of 70
3/24/08 at 9:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew S. View Post
This movie became dead to me when I first learned that there was no escape pod on the real Air Force One. That is a fabrication far too large to ignore.
Great. Thanks for fucking up my love party for "Escape from New York", buddy.

I mean....it's Donald FUCKING Pleasance. If Donald FUCKING Pleasance wants an escape pod on Airforce One, you put an escape pod on there and smile sweetly.

So...there is *too* an escape pod on Airforce One. Drew...you are hereby absolved.

Donald FUCKING Pleasance. You heard it here.
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post #31 of 70
3/24/08 at 10:05pm
That's different. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK took place in the future (1997), whereas AIR FORCE ONE took place in the present (1997).
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post #32 of 70
3/24/08 at 10:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott View Post
That's different. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK took place in the future (1997), whereas AIR FORCE ONE took place in the present (1997).
That's awesome... and proof that AIRFORCE ONE is awesome as well. I'm with Molt on this one.
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post #33 of 70
3/25/08 at 12:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott View Post
That's different. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK took place in the future (1997), whereas AIR FORCE ONE took place in the present (1997).
That's fuckin brilliance right there!
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post #34 of 70
3/26/08 at 11:13am
Gary Oldman's death is hilarious in this.....Spoiler
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post #35 of 70
3/26/08 at 2:33pm
This movie taught me why we could never have Glen Close as president.
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post #36 of 70
3/26/08 at 2:36pm
Yeah but she's a helluva lawyer and did her best to clean up Farmington....what do you mean those weren't real?!
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post #37 of 70
3/26/08 at 3:43pm
This is ok but I'll take Executive Decision over this any day. Al Tar be praised
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post #38 of 70
3/26/08 at 3:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
Yeah but she's a helluva lawyer and did her best to clean up Farmington....what do you mean those weren't real?!
Yes, but she loses my vote for her continued attempts to kill those puppies.
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post #39 of 70
3/26/08 at 3:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION! View Post
This is ok but I'll take Executive Decision over this any day. Al Tar be praised
That needs its on thread. I watched it a while back. And I recognized so many faces. BD Wong? Dyson from Terminator? Platt? And Steven Seagal lives for longer than I thought. He at least gets one action scene in the movie.
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post #40 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:13pm
I still say the hijack scene is legitimately great. But this movie just doesn't when to end. Oldman is killed and then there's still 20 minutes of movie!
And it hasn't aged that much. It was considered jingoistic escapist fare in 1997.

More love for Xander's death whine and his Dick-Jones-Falling-From-The-OCP-Building arms.
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post #41 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:23pm
I remember a time when summer movies were filled with big stars doing a bunch of absurd shit. They'd battle mercenaries on Alcatraz, they'd exchange faces with one another, and, yes, they'd defend the honor of the President's airplane.

It was a better time.
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post #42 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hans Gruber's EYE CONDITION! View Post
This is ok but I'll take Executive Decision over this any day. Al Tar be praised
I'm not much of a fan of DECISION either, but yeah I prefer it to AIR FORCE ONE.

If only because Seagal gets whacked early on.......yeah, that escalated the stakes when the bad mofo of UNDER SIEGE goes down for the count.
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post #43 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti View Post
I remember a time when summer movies were filled with big stars doing a bunch of absurd shit. They'd battle mercenaries on Alcatraz, they'd exchange faces with one another, and, yes, they'd defend the honor of the President's airplane.

It was a better time.
In this decade of the Bourne movies....I beg to differ.

Then again, I just can't ever accept the idea* of Nic Cage as an action star.

*=Which is weird since I quite liked FACE/OFF.
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post #44 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:34pm
While I agree with Moltisanti IN GENERAL, much has to be said for the special effects quality level being highly erratic with most of those films. Much can be forgiven regarding absurd plots, bad accents, overacting, etc...if the movie at least looks 'cool'. Bad effects do NOT look cool unless they are purposely bad (like in the 'Evil Dead' films) or are the best that could be done with the technology at the time (I'm looking at you, 'Firefox'). I remember laughing at the effects in the movie theater during 'Air Force One' along with the rest of the audience, especially during the final splashdown.
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post #45 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:38pm
It was like one of those styrofoam glider planes you get at the dollar store falling into the pond.
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post #46 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
While I agree with Moltisanti IN GENERAL, much has to be said for the special effects quality level being highly erratic with most of those films. Much can be forgiven regarding absurd plots, bad accents, overacting, etc...if the movie at least looks 'cool'. Bad effects do NOT look cool unless they are purposely bad (like in the 'Evil Dead' films) or are the best that could be done with the technology at the time (I'm looking at you, 'Firefox'). I remember laughing at the effects in the movie theater during 'Air Force One' along with the rest of the audience, especially during the final splashdown.
I thought the FX in the first EVIL DEAD was "bad" because they didn't have much cash to work with. I mean, you can't blame them in that situation.

But AIR FORCE ONE or FIREFOX? Major budgeted studio projects? One a serious summer blockbuster, and the other with FX done by Dykstra?

They screwed the pooch.
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post #47 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:50pm
My point is that they COULD have done better with the special effects in 'Air Force One'. The technology available at the time it was made could have generated for more convincing effects shots than what was delivered. 'Firefox' utilized what was, probably, the best that current technology allowed. I can excuse 'Firefox' because of that.
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post #48 of 70
3/26/08 at 4:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
My point is that they COULD have done better with the special effects in 'Air Force One'. The technology available at the time it was made could have generated for more convincing effects shots than what was delivered. 'Firefox' utilized what was, probably, the best that current technology allowed. I can excuse 'Firefox' because of that.
In that case, I think you're absolutely right then.
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post #49 of 70
3/26/08 at 5:14pm
I'll agree that the plane splash looked bad even back in '97.

But what I was musing (or rambling) about earlier is that we used to get a lot of summer movies that looked like they'd be fun based on just the plot and the star. Now it's just the same crop of super hero movies, animated CGI flicks, or films based on children's books that we get year after dull year.

Take SPEED for instance. All you knew about that movie going in was that it was about the guy from BILL AND TED being on a bus that blow up if it went under 50 MPH. That's all we needed to know to get us in the theater. AIR FORCE ONE was the same way. Harrison Ford is the President and his plane is taken over. Sold!

Sure, I want to see IRON MAN like tomorrow but even though I'm not an expert on the character I feel like there's less mystery surrounding the film. Same goes for THE DARK KNIGHT or the new HULK film. I'm interested in all of those but I don't feel like I'm gonna see something that's gonna be all that different from all the other comic book movies we've had over the last 8 summers.
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post #50 of 70
3/26/08 at 5:19pm
Were there as many big pictures coming out in the summer ten years ago as there are now?

Because it seems like they have to show their hand to get the average moron to go to see their thing over another thing. I mean, you have Hulk, Iron Man, Hellboy, etc. There are many choices all competing for the same audience.

If the average theater goer can't get it from a two minute trailer, they probably won't bother going to see it. Stupid, I know, but still, I feel there's some truth there. It's not like it's the only game or one of few in town anymore.
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