40
An over-the-top thriller, too loosely tethered to reality to be a lesson about anything other than the limits of popcorn consumption.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
The New York Times by Elvis Mitchell
A meat-and-potatoes American thriller that means business all around the world.
63
ReelViews by James 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.
100
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth 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]
60
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.
100
Entertainment Weekly by Owen 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]
88
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
Director Wolfgang Petersen puts such a fresh spin on the familiar that it all works like gangbusters.
60
The New Republic by Stanley Kauffmann
A pretty good thriller for the first forty minutes or so. [25 Aug 1997, p. 24]