Old Movie Review: Air Force One (1997)

I’ve toyed with the idea of doing movie "reviews" - for older movies instead of newly released ones, so here goes!

After last night's group meeting Jobina went down to our old movie vault and came back with Air Force One (Harrison Ford, Glenn Close). “I just didn’t feel like a romantic movie tonight,” she explained. I silently gave thanks.

Honestly the premise of Air Force One doesn’t seem like it should (on paper) keep my attention. After all it’s simply that the president of the USA is hijacked on his own big plane. Somehow though with a mix of action, patriotism, bravery, and the excellent acting of Harrison Ford, the movie actually ends up being quite good. I had planned to go to bed early but couldn’t bring myself to leave the living room. I rate it 4.4 ninja stars out of 5.

The movie is about a principled, strong president who in the words of his daughter is “a great man.” As I watched I thought about this idea; the ideal of an incorruptible, inspiring leader. Do we have any such great men today? Honestly, I don’t think so. We have (pardon the pun) a few good men in leadership, but that is it. So what makes a great man? I think he is one who (like Ford’s character) is a man of the correct ideals who sticks to them, never wavering. Unfortunately us regular, real people all waver. As I put myself into the position of a man who could save thousands of lives or save his families I found myself wavering. But the best men, the great men, do not waver and that is why they are so rare. In the Bible there were a few; Daniel comes to mind. David was good, but David compromised. Daniel didn’t. Daniel was truly what I would consider a great man.

People will follow a man of passion and ideals and in this we must be careful. The movie reminded me that following a great man unquestioningly is tantamount to idolatry. We put our trust in the leader instead of God. We long to find The Great Commander in Chief to put our faith in. For Christ followers, there can be only one - Christ himself. I am glad for the good men and the ultra rare great man and I want to be inspired and challenged to be like them. But only in Christ will I find The Great Commander who is worthy of my full loyalty, submission, and honor. Anyway, these are just some of my random thoughts after watching this great older flick!

Update: Harrison Ford chosen in poll as best movie President!