Executive Decision
Terrorists seize control of a 747 bound for Washington, D.C., demanding the release of their imprisoned leader. Intelligence expert David Grant suspects a deeper motive and reluctantly becomes part of a specialized assault unit tasked with intercepting the plane and its hijackers.
Director(s)
Stuart Baird
Steve Perry
Kerry Lyn McKissick
Denis L. Stewart
Jeanne Byrd
Craig A. Pinckes
Lisa C. Satriano
Craig Hosking
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Cast & Crew
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Reviews
Wuchak
**_Suspense at 33,000 feet with Kurt Russell_** An intelligence analyst (Russell) inadvertently joins a special forces operation to save a Boeing 747-200 hijacked by terrorists before it is used to attack DC. Steven Seagal plays the mission commander, Halle Berry a flight attendant and Oliver Platt an aeronautics engineers, amongst other notables. “Executive Decision” (1996) is an airliner-in-trouble flick from the angle of “Under Siege” (1992) directed by the editor of “Die Hard 2” (1990). I bring up the latter because this one’s very similar except that it takes place in the air rather than an airport. I didn’t expect to like it because it’s basically “Die Hard” on a plane and I didn’t think a worthwhile movie could be made with such a cramped setting, but work it does. Sure, a lot of the runtime involves rescuers strategizing in the bowels of the airbus using hi-tech equipment, like hidden cameras, but the creators respect the intelligence of the viewer and there are several innovative bits along with great suspense. It was obviously prescient of 9/11, filmed six years prior to that infamous attack. The movie runs 2 hours, 13 minutes, and was shot in SoCal at Norton Air Force Base, San Bernardino, but also Chino Airport, Mojave Desert (crash scene), Sierra Madre (Chechen Mafia House). The wedding kidnapping sequence was shot in San Juan, Puerto Rico. GRADE: B
