Air Force One 4K review by Bobby Blakey
Throughout his career Harrison Ford proved numerous times he was a man of action with the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises as well as his takes on Jack Ryan and so much more. In 1997 he took on the role of the President of the United States for the action film Air Force one alongside Gary Oldman from In The Line Of Fire and The Perfect Storm director Wolfgang Peterson. Now the film is finally getting the 4K treatment in an all-new steelbook edition.
Air Force One follows the President of the USA who goes to Moscow and gives a stirring speech outlining the USA's new "Zero-tolerance" policy with respect to terrorism. On the flight home, terrorists take over Air Force One (the President's official plane) and take the passengers (including his wife and daughter) hostage. The terrorists plan to execute one hostage every half-hour unless/until their demands are met. However, the President is a former Medal of Honor winner, so the terrorists may be in for a surprise.
I love this movie and upon revisiting it realize it is just as good as ever. One of the things that have always made Ford such a great action star is his everyman quality and the sloppiness of his fist fights. You can buy into everything he does and relate way more than the muscle heroes of the 80s. This is yet another movie that allowed him to showcase those same qualities complete with some fun one liners.
This is essentially Die Hard on a plane, but with Ford being way more believable as the president. On the other side is Oldman who always shines as
a villain, especially when he is able to fully cut lose. They waste not time getting to the action and keeps you invested until that last moment and iconic “Get off of my plane!” line.
The film looks great in the 4K format, but some of the effects in the last act are affected by it and not in a good way. They look a bit more fake, but this is more on how they did it at the time and the imperfections shining through in hi-def. Make no mistake it didn’t lose me because of it at all. It is still a great flick on all levels.
The only bonus features here are the commentary and trailer, but the beautiful packaging along with the great film is worth enough to pick this one up for your collection. Grab your copy of Air Force One available now on limited edition 4K Steelbook from Sony Home Entertainment.