Air Force One - The Movie (1997)

Air Force One is a 1997 action/thriller film starring Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman and featuring Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, and William H. Macy. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by Andrew W. Marlowe. Click here for behind-the-scenes information!

Three weeks after an operation in which United States and Russian special forces captured the tyrannical leader of Kazakhstan General Ivan Radek, U.S. President James Marshall announces in a speech in Moscow that America will undertake a new offensive against terrorism. His visit complete, the President heads home to Washington, D.C. aboard Air Force One.

Secret Service agent Gibbs kills three fellow agents once the plane is airborne and opens the on-board weapons locker. Soviet neo-nationalists, led by Ivan Korshunov, had boarded the plane posing as a news crew who had been cleared to fly on Air Force One, the same news crew that was later found dead. They seize the weapons and search the plane for Marshall, killing many passengers. The President is evacuated to an escape pod by numerous Secret Service agents, all of whom are gunned down. The terrorists assume he had escaped in the deployed capsule, but Marshall actually remained onboard in hiding. The remaining passengers (White House Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd, military advisor Major Caldwell, National Security Advisor Jack Doherty, Marshall's wife and daughter, and others) are held hostage while the cockpit crew locks the door and prepares to land at Ramstein Air Base. The terrorists break in and kill the non-compliant pilots, taking control of the plane and aborting the landing at Ramstein.

In Washington, Vice President Kathryn Bennett arrives at the White House, taking command of the situation with Secretary of Defense Walter Dean and other officials. They soon learn that Marshall was not on board the escape pod and could either be dead, held hostage, or hiding somewhere aboard Air Force One. The terrorists call Bennett and demand the release of General Radek, threatening to execute a hostage every half-hour until their demands are met. After she calls back to report that Russian President Petrov will not release Radek (since he has no assurances that Marshall is still alive), National Security Advisor Doherty is executed.

Marshall kills a terrorist who was searching the baggage deck where he was hiding and finds a satellite phone in the luggage. While Marshall is attempting to call the White House, a second terrorist finds and detains him. The call goes through to the Situation Room and Marshall slips the phone into his pocket, hiding it from his captor. Marshall explains to his captor that the airplane's countermeasures would sharply turn the plane in the event of a inbound missile, communicating his plan to overcome the terrorist to the listeners in the White House. The plan works; then Marshall attempts a fuel dump to force the plane to land. Korshunov assumes that a rogue agent is still alive on the lower deck and executes Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchell in an effort to flush Marshall. While two of the terrorists attempt to restore the fuel controls, Marshall slips by and subdues another terrorist, gaining access to the conference room where the hostages are being held. Major Caldwell proposes a ruse whereby an aerial refueling tanker could force Air Force One to an altitude that permits parachuting from the rear of the plane. This is put into action and most of the hostages escape with parachutes, but the tanker explodes when the terrorists discover the evacuation and shear their connection with the tanker. All the hostages parachute safely except Caldwell, Shepherd and Gibbs, who insisted on staying on board with the President and his family, and all are captured by the terrorists.

Korshunov threatens Marshall's daughter, convincing him to call President Petrov and secure Radek's release. In Washington, Dean persuades the Cabinet to sign a letter declaring Marshall incapacitated in accordance with the Constitution's 25th Amendment, but Bennett refuses to sign it. As Radek is being released, Marshall and the hostages free themselves and kill the remaining terrorists, but Korshunov captures the First Lady and shoots at the President. Shepherd saves him by blocking the bullets with his body while Korshunov flees to the parachute ramp. In a vicious fight, Marshall manages to eject Korshunov from the aircraft by deploying his parachute while a static line is wound around his neck, killing him. Marshall calls Petrov and halts Radek's release just in time (Radek is fatally shot as he tries to flee).

Kazakh MiG-29 fighter jets loyal to Radek soon reach Air Force One and inflict serious damage to its engines. US F-15 fighters intercept and fend off the hostile aircraft, shooting down several. Although one of the US fighter pilots flies into the path of a missile to save Air Force One, the plane is too heavily damaged to land. Air Force Pararescue hastily arranges an air-to-air zip-line rescue from a MC-130, but before the evacuation can be completed the damaged plane begins a rapid descent with Marshall, his family, Caldwell, Shepherd, and Gibbs still aboard. Marshall insists on evacuating his family and the wounded Shepherd before himself. Once it is Marshall's turn to leave, though, Gibbs, actually a mole by the neo-nationalists, drops all pretense and kills Caldwell and the parajumper, attempting to be the last one off and leave the president to die. Marshall fights with Gibbs and escapes on the zip-line, leaving Gibbs aboard the doomed plane as it crashes into the Caspian Sea. The MC-130 announces that it is changing call signs from Liberty 24 to Air Force One, indicating the president is aboard, and the film ends with it flying safely away with the First Family aboard and a fighter jet escort.