Executive Decision (1996)

Director:

Stuart Baird

Writers (WGA):

Jim Thomas (written by) &
John Thomas (written by)

Release Date:

15 March 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Fasten your seat belts

Plot:

When terrorists seize control of an airliner, an intelligence analyst accompanies a commando unit for a midair boarding operation.

Plot Keywords:

Washington D.C. | Airplane Hijack | Dead Stewardess | Dead Women In Uniform | High Heels

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	Dr. Phil. David Grant
Steven Seagal	...	Lt. Colonel Austin Travis
Halle Berry	...	Jean, Flight Attendant
John Leguizamo	...	Captain Rat
Oliver Platt	...	Dennis Cahill
Joe Morton	...	Sergeant 'Cappy' Matheny
B.D. Wong	...	Sergeant Louie
Len Cariou	...	Secretary of Defense Charles White
Whip Hubley	...	Sergeant Baker
Andreas Katsulas	...	El Sayed Jaffa
Mary Ellen Trainor	...	Allison, Flight Attendant
Marla Maples	...	Nancy, Flight Attendant (as Marla Maples Trump)
J.T. Walsh	...	Senator Mavros
Ingo Neuhaus	...	Doc
William James Jones	...	Catman

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34433) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Chino Airport, Chino, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

At the end of the movie, David Grant (Kurt Russell) asks Jean (Halle Berry) if she likes hockey, and Jean replies, "Hockey? No, I only like baseball." At the time, Halle Berry was married to then-Atlanta Braves outfielder David Justice.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The lower level galley is an optional feature for DC-10 and TriStar aircraft and would not be found on a Boeing 747.

Quotes:

Dennis Cahill: The Pentagon is gonna shoot us down.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (2006) (V)

Escapism with a touch of reality

I saw this in 1996 and thought it was extremely entertaining--an action movie with emphasis on suspense over shoot-em-up thrillers and explosions. Seeing it again, after the events in the past 4 years, is a different experience. Some of the fictional dialog has actually been quoted by fanatics in the news. I had the same reaction with Black Sunday with Robert Shaw. A movie meant as pure escapism is now more like "what if." Executive Decision does ask you to suspend disbelief several times, especially near the end. I would rank it up with Air Force One, which came out a year later and delivers the same type of "suspense over explosions" entertainment. And this film deserves extra kudos for making the ones that save the world a bit on the "misfit" side (Oliver Platt, John Leguizamo, Joe Morton, BD Wong, and yes, even Kurt Russell). Another nice slimy role for late character actor JT Walsh. And David Suchet makes a scary villain. Like the best villains (Alan Rickman from Die Hard comes to mind), he can be charming and terrifying at the same time.