This week on Born to Watch, it's time for our Air Force One Movie Review, the movie review podcast where we don't take the movies or ourselves too seriously. Whitey, G-Man, and Will the Worky climb aboard one of the most patriotic action films ever made, as Harrison Ford swaps his whip and fedora for the Oval Office and proves that sometimes the President really can save the day.
Released in 1997 and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, Air Force One became one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, delivering a simple but irresistible premise. Terrorists hijack the President's plane, take his family hostage and quickly discover they've picked a fight with a Commander-in-Chief who just happens to be a Medal of Honour recipient.
The boys dive into whether this 90s action favourite still holds up almost three decades later, or whether nostalgia is doing most of the heavy lifting.
Harrison Ford once again proves why he remains one of Hollywood's greatest accidental heroes. Whether he's Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Dr Richard Kimble or President James Marshall, Ford has a knack for making ordinary people believe they can survive extraordinary situations. The team discusses why his grounded style works so well and why he's able to elevate even the most over-the-top action movies.
Of course, no discussion of Air Force One would be complete without Gary Oldman. His performance as terrorist Ivan Korshunov is as intense as ever, even if the boys question whether one of cinema's greatest actors deserved a stronger script. Along the way, they celebrate Oldman's incredible career, from Leon and True Romance through to The Dark Knight, Darkest Hour and beyond.
As always, the movie quickly becomes secondary to the ridiculous questions that only Born to Watch can ask.
- Just how many parachutes does Air Force One actually carry?
- Why is everyone smiling after jumping out of a plane somewhere over Kazakhstan?
- Does a 1997 satellite phone really keep working at 20,000 feet?
- Why is there an endless supply of drinks hidden in the cargo hold?
- And how exactly does one MiG fighter somehow survive an entire squadron attack just so the movie can have one more action sequence?
The crew also takes aim at some wonderfully cheesy taglines, debates whether this is one of cinema's greatest presidential action thrillers, and wonders if Australians will ever truly understand America's obsession with the presidency.
Elsewhere, G-Man delivers another outstanding Ordinary People segment, covering Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close and a cast full of "that guy" character actors you've seen in dozens of movies. There's also a look back at the massive year that was 1997, including Titanic, Men in Black, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Good Will Hunting.
Hit, Sleeper or Dud returns with another trio of recommendations, including Wesley Snipes' underrated Murder at 1600, the Spanish original that inspired Vanilla Sky, and one of the greatest movie titles ever discovered in the Dud category.
As always, expect plenty of laughs, terrible impressions, completely unnecessary tangents, and more than a few moments where the logic of Hollywood action films is left hanging out the side of the aircraft.
So buckle up, secure your tray table, prepare for decompression, and remember one thing...
Get off my podcast!
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