Air Force One - Thoughts

I’m not quite sure why I missed out on watching this movie sooner. It was quite popular at the time of release, was quite well received by the general public, and certainly is my kinda movie. So all that said I’m puzzled. Anyways, it’s one of the movies I picked up when I went to the video store recently. I was looking forward to seeing it as it promised to be a good action flick, and also featured a DTS soundtrack. What’s the big deal about DTS you might ask? Well, most commercially released DVD’s almost always have a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, but DTS 5.1 is less common. DTS in comparison to Dolby is usually of a higher bitrate, and thus should theoretically mean better quality (though usually not discernable). Lastly, and this is something most who have watched DTS soundtracks will be able to verify, the overall volume levels are significantly higher than Dolby.


It’s no surprise that the movie was quite good; the plot was impressive, the acting was excellent, and the action well planned and showcased. While the story was pretty straight forward and didn’t leave much to ponder, it was pretty good in all. Almost the entire 2 hours were gripping, with very few slow moments. The plot twists were realistic and not farfetched. Special effects were good for most part, though there were a few obviously dated effects (the scene where the plane crashed into the sea).

Harrison Ford as always put in an exceptional performance, satisfying all needs, including that of the president of the United States, and that of the loving father. His role was such that it would be hard not to like him. A man focused on doing the right thing, placing ideals in front of personal benefit, a loving family man, with a warm fun personality, and the honor & courage of a soldier. Gary Oldman as the leader of the terrorist group came across convincingly as a terrorist extremist. Glen Close was the perfect fit for the power role of Vice President. William H Macy was also worth mentioning.

Video quality was good, but didn’t have the vibrance of more recent films. Considering the movie was made in 1997, perhaps that’s excusable. Acceptable overall, but nothing over the top. The base colors were warm tones of red and brown. Certain scenes had considerable shadows, but nothing to complain about. Video was presented in 16:9 widescreen, and was a better fit to widescreen home TV sets that most theatrical presentations (minimal widescreen letterboxing was present). Sound was quite good and it fit the requirements of the movie well. While the use of 3 dimensional space was limited, when required it was used well. The scene where the F-15 fighter jets were flying around Air Force One was captured in surround very well. The DVD I was watching was a standard region 1 US DVD.

My Recommendation: Kick Ass (I would assume that replay value is pretty good)