DC Film - Air Force One

Air Force One is typical of many of the movies set in DC, especially in the nineties.

Good guys include the United States government and military. They are led, of course, by the courageous president played by Harrison Ford. Bad guys include anti-capitalist foreigners with funny accents who like to beat up on women.

The movie begins with paratroopers sneaking into a palace, killing a bunch of people, and capturing the bad guy. We know they captured a bad guy because the paratroopers were accompanied by heroic American music.

Cut to a morally outraged Harrison Ford who declares their long wait to capture said bad guy was unacceptable. From then on, America would act immediately when confronted with "atrocity and terror." Of course, the advisor who declares that allies will be upset with the United States new cowboy strategy is a weenie.

They spend a bit of time showing what a great guy Harrison Ford is. He humbly jokes with the crew. He calls everyone by their first name. He can't wait to watch the game (so manly).

Meanwhile, some "Russian nationalists" who want their general freed from prison have posed as a news crew and are on Air Force One with the heroic president, his lovely wife, precocious child, and loyal staff - except for one traitor who is working with the bad guys.

The infiltrators take over the plane, kill people, act really creepy with the president's daughter, scare the crap out of the presidents wife, make nasty comments to the female vice president (played by Glenn Close). Ford, in contrast to the women-abusing bad guys, refuses to leave the plane in his escape pod (seriously) and stays on to heroically save the girls.

Predictably, he is able to one by one take out the hijackers (although somewhere along the way the five hijackers seem to have multiplied). Ford's morality and manliness (exemplified by his refusal to negotiate with terrorists) are legendary.

A few crazy mid air accidents, a group of (Indian?) bad guys in fighter jets (Chris says outsourcing), and a daring military mid air rescue by our military boys follows. After which the idyllic nuclear family (and therefore all that is good and pure) is saved.

Not sure why I didn't see this move when it came out. It got great reviews, except from Roger Ebert, who I should pay more attention to I think.

The scenes of Washington amounted only to the usual Whitehouse and monument shots to give the impression of the city.