When going to the movies you have to suspend disbelief, you realize it is a movie and not real life. That being said AFO is utterly implausible, even for a movie. If and when you get over your disbelief the movie is enjoyable. American and Russian forces capture a rogue General of a country formerly part of the Soviet Union. The US President James Marshall, Harrison Ford, goes to Russia to celebrate the capture. On the return trip forces loyal to Radek, the captured General played by Jurgen Prochnow, gain control of AFO and demand his release. Of course Pres. Marshall being a war hero, tough guy, and man of his word, refuses to negotiate with the terrorists. The leader of the bad guys on the plane Ivan Korshunov, Gary Oldman, won't stand for this and takes action to see Radek's release. During this time Marshall, the swash-buckling President, is roaming the plane and kicking ass on the terrorists. It is very hard to accept a President who is honest, unfailing, and tough, in addition to being part NFL linebacker and a great shot. Wow what a guy, no wonder he got elected. Unfortunately his VP is not so good. Glen Close did a poor job as the VP. Gary Oldman on the other hand was wonderful as Ivan the bad Russian. Ford basically trotted out parts of past characters as the mood called for, not good not bad but definitely nothing new. Director Wolfgang Petersen did a good job with the action scenes, they were fast, chaotic, and exciting. Petersen also directed Das Boot, in which Jurgen Prochnow was the sub captain. AFO is predictable and has about 5 endings. Ha-Ha! just when you think it is over something else comes up, very predictable. Let's pause for a question; in the final scene why didn't they give them parachutes? Would that have been too easy, and thusly stolen some of the tense action? It would have made more sense to me, but what do I know? OK that was 3 questions. This movie is the latest in a long line of Die Hard knock offs, where you have the lone hero up against lots of bad dudes under extreme circumstances, usually in a confined space. While AFO may be better than most of the others, it's still a cookie cutter movie which brings nothing new to the table.
