Executive Decision (1996)

Despite Steven Seagal's imposing presence in this enjoyable thriller, Kurt Russell turns out to be the real star as an American intelligence expert who finds himself leading a strike force against Islamic terrorists who have seized in-flight control of a 747 jetliner with 400 passengers. It's not all that different from Air Force One, but the formula story perks right along with considerable suspense as Russell's cohorts (Oliver Platt, Joe Morton) try to defuse a chemical bomb that could wipe out (you guessed it) the entire Eastern seaboard. John Leguizamo plays one of the U.S. commandos attempting to stop the violent hijackers, and Halle Berry costars as a flight attendant who risks her life to assist Russell's rescue team. As action movies go, Executive Decision marked an impressive directorial debut for veteran film editor Stuart Baird. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

No Seagal ,No Problem

This is a very ironic movie, it came out only 5 years before the 9/11 attacks. its plot is very similar in a way to what happened on that day, or what could have been done to prevent the incident. Sure enough the movie is fiction, most of what is seen would work up to a certain point. Either way the movie is a great effort at demonstrating what could be done in a time of crisis.

A commercial airline is taken over by Islamic extremist; the main terrorist is Nagi Hassan, at first it seem that his demands is that the U.S. must release a man named Jaffa or they will suffer the consequences. But an analyst named Dr. Grant (Kurt Russell) believes different, his belief is that Hassan doesn't really want Jaffa's release; instead Grant believes the plane is carrying DZ-5 (an extremely dangerous explosive) and that he will detonate the plane killing millions of Americans.

Grant, Colonel Travis (Steven Seagal) and a group of trained soldiers are planning now to take control of the plane with a special stealth plane that can attach to its commercial airliner. At first when I heard there plan it didn't feel realistic, but they do it just right, making it quite believable.


For Seagal fans like me, let me tell you that this is not a Seagal movie. This is a Kurt Russell movie. Seagal is in the movie for tops 20 minutes. It seems that Seagal had some issues with the producers and his role was minimized. Funny though you can tell in some instances that Seagal doesn't want to be in it; he does give a good supporting role but we have seen better. Anyhow the movie is fantastic, a bit dated in some areas, but overall good. The major problem I have is with the DVD, it's horrible, the picture quality is crappy; Warner needs to re-release this remastered

MY PERSONAL RATING: 4 OUT OF 5

July 24, 2008

Chopped up

This is a cut version, there is about 15 minutes of footage cut out of this movie. January 14, 2008

Interesting Action movie without the leading action star

This was a good movie and Kurt Russell did a great job in his role. I was disappointed that Steven Seagal was killed about 20 minutes into the movie, but if he hadn't, the movie would have been over in another 20 minutes as he would have retaken the plane in no time, all the bad guys were weak in comparison.

This was the most realistic depliction of trying to board an in-flight hijacked plane I have ever seen, it's not something and just sky-diving onto a plane. The truth is you would probably kill everyone on board trying.

The terrorist were just a bit too sophisticated for real life though. Come on, who creates a bomb that is too difficult to disarm on a plane where you are very unlikely to find a bomb squad around.

Good movie, great to watch once, but not worth the space in the library. November 20, 2007

Too bad picture quality suffers

I have seen this movie many times on tv and never tire of it. So recently I decided to add the dvd to my collection. I was VERY disappointed in the picture quality. Not at all sharp, even on my PC screen. This DVD release is 10 yrs old so hopefully it will be re released in some sort of special edition with the quality the way it should be. August 11, 2007

Can anybody ever come up with a good screenplay?

Although there are a few good scenes to keep you interested, much of the screenplay is hard to believe and a lot of the dialogue is typical Hollywood hype. Halle Berry is actually one of the best acted roles in this otherwise overblown terrorist saga; the terrorists are more believable than the stars.

The roles of Oliver Platt, John Lequizamo and Joe Morton are poorly written, with the honors of stupid lines being attributed to Lequizamo. I'm not sure what possesses people to like his over the top portrayals. He always plays his roles as if he is the most important one in the film. Didn't he ever hear of subtlety?

Oliver Platt, another throw-away part given absurd lines, the same for poor Joe Morton, an actor who deserves more than he is usually given. He plays solid supporting parts, but here his part is ridiculous.

As for the planting of the bomb on Morton and the various efforts to defuse it, all ridiculous. Can't they ever think of something that makes sense. It's like watching an episode of "24".

Kurt Russell, a good actor whose movies are never "A" efforts. So much sweat and strain over so little.

The film is basically a Jerry Bruckheimer epic, have you ever seen ConAir?
Similar in their ethos and forgettable in their presentation. As I said, Halle Berry actually was convincing in her role and the terrorists would be the only reason to see the film. It is typical Hollywood all the way. February 19, 2007

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