Executive Decision (1996)
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A specialized team must infiltrate a hijacked airliner mid-flight to neutralize a ticking bomb before it detonates in U.S. airspace.
The story
In May 1995, a Special Forces raid to recover a stolen Soviet nerve agent fails. Three months later, Oceanic Airlines Flight 343 is hijacked by terrorists demanding the release of their leader, El Sayed Jaffa. Dr. David Grant, the intelligence consultant behind the failed raid, is tasked with planning a rescue. Suspecting the hijackers' true motives, Grant authorizes a high-risk mid-air insertion of a special operations team onto the plane using an experimental aircraft. Grant and a DARPA engineer join the mission to locate and neutralize a bomb while navigating the volatile situation on board.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Following a failed raid for a Soviet nerve agent, terrorists hijack Oceanic Airlines Flight 343 demanding the release of El Sayed Jaffa. Dr. David Grant, who suspects the hijackers are using the plane to detonate the agent in U.S. airspace, coordinates a mid-air insertion of a special operations team. The team, including Grant and engineer Dennis Cahill, boards the plane via an experimental 'Remora' aircraft. During the docking, Lieutenant Colonel Austin Travis sacrifices himself to prevent decompression. The team searches for the bomb, eventually finding it and discovering a remote-controlled trigger. They realize one passenger is a sleeper agent. After the Pentagon orders the plane to be shot down, the team signals the fighters to wait. Grant confronts the sleeper agent, Demou, for the detonator while a firefight breaks out. Demou arms the bomb before dying, and the plane suffers explosive decompression. Cappy and Cahill manage to disarm the bomb just in time. After the hijackers are killed, Grant takes the controls and performs a crash landing at Frederick Field, successfully evacuating the passengers.
- First release year
- 1996
- Runtime (minutes)
- 133
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English; Arabic
- Directors
- Stuart Baird
- Writers
- Jim Thomas · writer; John Thomas · writer
- Cast and characters
- Kurt Russell; Halle Berry; John Leguizamo; Oliver Platt; Joe Morton; David Suchet; Steven Seagal · Austin Travis; B.D. Wong
- Genres
- action; thriller; disaster
- Themes
- terrorism; sacrifice; espionage
- Tone and mood
- tense; action-packed
- Setting
- 1995, various locations including Trieste, Italy; Athens; London; and the United States (Washington, D.C., Maryland).
- Premise and plot tags
- hijacking; special operations; techno-thriller
- Content notes
- terrorism
- Reception
- The film received mixed to positive reviews, praised for its action and excitement despite some logical flaws. It holds a 63% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and a 62/100 on Metacritic, with an A- CinemaScore.
- Awards and nominations
- Blockbuster Entertainment Award · Favorite Actress – Adventure/Drama · 1997 · win; Razzie Award · Worst Supporting Actor · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was Stuart Baird's directorial debut.; The F-14s in the film were from the VF-84 Jolly Rogers squadron, marking their last Hollywood appearance.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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