Air Force One
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Release Date: July 25, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
6
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Harrison Ford as the President of the United States is such a perfect piece of casting that it's at once a fantasy and a joke: The joke is how perfect the fantasy is. [25 Jul 1997, p. 48]
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
At once vigorous and old-fashioned, a piece of expertly crafted entertainment that gets the job done with skill and panache. [25 July 1997]
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Dares to present a flat-out heroic president, without the safety net of irony. It succeeds. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Ford makes such a dynamic president in Air Force One, you may find yourself favorably weighing his odds in Iowa and New Hampshire. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Director Wolfgang Petersen puts such a fresh spin on the familiar that it all works like gangbusters. Read full review
80
EmpireIan Freer
Fulfils all its early promise, delivering a well oiled, no-nonsense, supremely entertaining crowd pleaser. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
A meat-and-potatoes American thriller that means business all around the world. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Viewers looking for old-fashioned movie thrills as a change of pace from the glut of alien and digital-oriented features might paradoxically enjoy the feeling of being back on terra firma with this airborne adventure. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Takes its absurd premise and keeps itself narrowly focused, pushing its heroic cast through obstacle after obstacle. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Think of this as "Die Hard" in a suit, with an election coming up. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Viscerally juicy....The movie is effectively cast. [25 July 1997, p.D2]
70
TimeRichard Schickel
Good--sometimes witty—suspense. [28 Jul 1997, p. 69]
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Peterson's film is a huge, loud beast of a film, filled with gunfire, explosions, and not a few tears. It's all grounded, however, in Ford's gritted-teeth performance as President Marshall. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Petersen ratchets the tension up to a level where the viewer is likely to forget the imbecilic plot contrivances that have gotten the situation to this point, and just enjoy the action and adventure. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A fairly competent recycling of familiar ingredients, given an additional interest because of Harrison Ford's personal appeal. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
The first 20 minutes of Wolfgang Petersen’s new action adventure, Air Force One, are so thrillingly choreographed (and so very, very loud), it’s all the more disappointing that the balance of the movie tends to move less like a Stealth bomber and more like a jalopy — jerking fitfully from plot hole to plot hole, only occasionally finding momentum. Read full review
60
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
A pretty good thriller for the first forty minutes or so. [25 Aug 1997, p. 24]
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Christopher Harris
The film's biggest flaw -- aside from the lapses of credibility, which are almost obligatory in escapist summer movies -- is that it flies on and on until its power to hold us simply peters out. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Trapped uncomfortably between its higher aspirations and the demands of genre, this picture never quite gets its bearings, but it's still a solid ride. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The movie wastes a good opportunity to look at important questions, such as who's responsible for American policy when the president is busy killing terrorists. Read full review
40
NewsweekHoward Fineman
An over-the-top thriller, too loosely tethered to reality to be a lesson about anything other than the limits of popcorn consumption. Read full review
30
The New YorkerTerrence Rafferty
The picture's attempt to satisfy the aggressive fantasies of a graying white-male audience is weirdly fascinating. It's something you don't see every day: a geriatric comic book. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Wolfgang Petersen and writer Andrew Marlowe, apparently afraid to really make fun of any American icons, challenge us to take the story straight no matter what, but the only thing this ponderous movie has going for it is its unintentional humor. Read full review
10
SlateSarah Kerr
There's not a single thing about Air Force One to recommend, except perhaps the controlled performance of Glenn Close, who does remarkably well as the recipient of several phone calls from the sky. Read full review
0
SalonCharles Taylor
If you've ever sat in a jet waiting on the runway, feeling it lumbering along in place and then bucking and shaking when it's cleared for take-off, you know what it's like to sit through Air Force One. Read full review
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