Air Force One [Includes Digital Copy] [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray] [1997]

Grabbed this for $10 on Black Friday. This 4K transfer is excellent particularly with the Dolby Atmos treatment they gave it. I've only owned this on DVD and I can't say when the last time it was when I watched that DVD. It's probably been 15+ years, and have only watched when it was on cable TV. First, the video transfer is good as I believe it's a true 4K scan off the original source. I wouldn't say anything is eye popping since it's so old, and there's an occasional grainy scene since the original was 35mm but is fine. Now to the audio: this is one of my top 4K movies in my collection for surround sound. There's a lot of side channel activity moving around. You get plenty from the gun fire and shell casings. I also noticed a lot of sounds coming from all sorts of things from within the plane, and I don't recall all of this from my DVD and old system. There's also some decent overheads with the tanker explosion and the fighter jets. The F15's sound particular good moving across the sound stage. Again, one of my top movies to show off to friends & family.

Ahh, the 1990s. When every other action film was a "Die Hard in a" scenario. Under Siege is, "Die Hard, on a Battleship!" Sudden Death is, "Die Hard at a Hockey Game!" Speed is, "Die Hard on a bus!" Enter, Air Force One: "Die Hard, on a plane!" The nice surprise is that it actually works VERY well. Harrison Ford nails the POTUS in trouble and becomes a one man army to liberate his plane from some Russian baddies, who have hijacked it in midair. Gary Oldman chews the scenery as the head bad guy, and Glenn Close plays the VP on the ground, trying to get the big guy, his family, and administration, out of trouble. The action sequences are a blast, there are some true nail biting moments of tension, and you will be saying, "Get off my plane" for weeks to come after it is over. Wolfgang Peterson (In the Line Of Fire, Troy, The Perfect Storm) puts another feather in his cap with "Air Force One."

The President of the United States of America, James Marshall, takes a tough anti-terrorist stance and then becomes a hostage himself when Air Force One is taken over by terrorists from Kazakhstan, led by Ivan Korshunov, who demand the release of their fascistic leader General Radek. The President seems to escape from the plane in an emergency capsule yet is actually hiding on board. He silently kills a member of the terrorist group before establishing contact with F-15's to engage the hijacked plane. As passengers escape by parachute, Marshall is captured by Ivan and forced to release General Radek, setting in motion an international incident.

Watching this UHD copy of Air Force One is beyond what it was when it came out on Blu-Ray. For the first time it's available in Dolby Atmos and it is amazing. The ceiling speakers get a great workout and mix that Sony gave this movie is outstanding. I'm not just talking about special effects like plane noises but also subtle sounds like intercom coming from the ceiling during speaking scenes makes this movie even more amazing than it already was. Picture quality is excellent. Only visible issue with the 4K copy is that you can really tell special effects of 1997 are really dated.

Say what you want about Sony the company, but their back catalogue department is THE BEST in the biz as far as remasters and restorations go, and this has benefited their back catalogue UHD releases greatly. Air Force One is definitely one of the more fun Die Hard Clones we saw so many of in the 90's, largely due to Harrison Ford's turn as the President we wish we had and Gary Oldman in one of his great 90's villain roles. The UHD looks truly filmic, with just the right touch of HDR, and the Dolby Atmos remix will rock your home sound system.

This is a phenomenal 4K transfer and the best the film has ever looked for home media release. Would be a 5 star transfer, but knocked down 1 star for the translation error that still persists from the previous blu-ray release and is also present on the digital format. There is a scene which Russian is spoken, and burned in subtitles are shown in English. There is a translation error in which “They’re landing” is shown twice, when it’s supposed to be “If we land we’re finished" instead when shown the second time.

What seemed as a great premise just degenerates downward, and rather quickly. Ford is the right choice at the President, and Gary Oldman is always a great actor, but the situation becomes tedious and silly, and the grand finale of this mess is such an embarrassment of a ridiculous situation, and awful special effects, it is beyond laughable. If you want a movie to talk back to the screen to, this is the one. Basically stupid and disappointing considering the talents involved.

The president battles Russian terrorists in this film, right after giving a speech saying he won't negotiate with terrorists, at all. Gary Oldman hijacks AFO taking everyone including the wife and child in an attempt to force the president to follow his demands. Harrison Ford isn't the first movie pres. that I'd root for in these conditions, Bill Pullman in Independence Day comes to mind. Gary Oldman does a very good job as the main villian, as usual, plus Glenn Close does a very good job as the VP, the whole cast does a nice job actually, and Jerry Goldsmith does a thunderous musical score. You want a good action flick with convincing charecters, vote for Harrison Ford!