A terrific slam-bang action thriller, EXECUTIVE DECISION stars Kurt Russell as analyst David Grant, who finds himself suddenly thrown into the front lines.
Radical Islamic terrorists have skyjacked a full 747 on its way to Washington DC, loaded it with enough nerve gas to wipe out some serious population centers and are on their way to the East Coast.
Grant advises and accompanies a commando unit, led by Colonel Travis (Steven Seagal, as deadpan serious as usual). Their only play is to attempt a midair transfer into the 747 via a new Stealth-like jet designed by Cahill (very good Oliver Platt).
Luckily for us, the unit is filled with characters and solid actors, including John Leguizamo, unleashing plenty of one-liners, Joe Morton (Terminator 2: Judgement Day) and BD Wong (Jurassic Park).
The terrorists are led by a very dangerous man, well played by David Suchet (Poirot). The flight crew includes Halle Berry as a flight attendant with guts and the passenger list includes a smarmy Senator, perfectly played by JT Walsh.
The action scenes are first-rate, with plenty of suspense as our heroes find themselves aboard the plane but limited in resources and time in diffusing the bomb before they reach USA airspace.
Russell is terrific, going from tuxedo-ed Intelligence geek to action hero in just a couple hours, come on, he's Kurt Russell!
Jerry Goldsmith delivers one of his countless great action music scores and Director Stuart Baird (editor of Casino Royale and Skyfall) keeps things moving fast and furious, far above the Earth.
Writers Jim and John Thomas also wrote "Predator" and they bring the same sense of momentum and fun to the flight.
Look, any movie that has the good sense to kill Steven Seagal in the first reel earns a lot of admiration out of the gate!
The next year, Harrison Ford would have a big hit with the similar 'Air Force One" and both films hold up just fine.
Make the EXECUTIVE DECISION to check this one out again, it holds up really well twenty one years after it's release! Just keep your seat-belts fastened during the flight, it's a hell of a ride and gets a solid B.
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