Executive Decision (1996)
Director: Stuart Baird
Starring: Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, Halle Berry
Synopsis:
An intelligence analyst joins a Special Forces team to board a plane hijacked by terrorists.
Impressions:
It's Die Hard on a plane! I know that's a trite bit of reductionism, but it catches the spirit of it pretty well. I will say, this is probably my favorite Steven Seagal movie. (If you don't know why, watch it and you'll figure it out.) I will say that I liked seeing Kurt Russell avert his more common action roles to play the rather nerdy Dr. Grant (not that Dr. Grant, JP fans). I'm usually not much of a fan of Halle Berry, but she's quite good here as the flight attendant Jean. Some people decry the casting of David Suchet as Nagi Hassan, but I really liked him in the role. The team dynamic with the SF operators is good and it's a suitably tense film. If my opening line appeals to you, then you'll probably like this movie. I wouldn't rate it quite as highly as Air Force One, but for a Die Hard on a plane scenario, this one certainly is worth a watch.
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