Momento crítico

A fun, tense, and exciting action/thriller with an excellent ensemble cast, headed by Kurt Russell and including Halle Berry, David Suchet, and John Leguizamo.

Even Steven Seagal does a creditable job, mainly because this isn't a "Steven Seagal movie." His supporting role permits him to do what he does best (which isn't acting). He doesn't have to pretend to be witty, there's none of that awful smirking he does in a vain attempt to show emotion, the camera doesn't caress his body, and there's not one speech about how gol-dang *good* his character is. He even manages to enunciate his lines clearly!

The plot might have seemed a little far-fetched when the movie was released, but not anymore.

I'm not even much of an action film fan, but this one is really a lot of fun.

This is a great 90s action movie. It has the exciting moments, the interesting plot and the mixture of characters that the period's action movies all tried to have. But at the same time, it downplays the one-man heroism that is often a big part of them (looking at you, McClaine!). The movie refers to this with the character played by Segal.

The most important part of this movie is the team. Early on people tries to break with the team, but mostly everyone is on the same page throughout the movie. At the end of the movie, one character kind-of goes against his team, but the focus is also on trusting one's teammates, something that the other guys does during this moment.

If you want a quintessential 90s action flick, this is a good pick!

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.

Most of this movie is simply one extremely long suspense scene as a team of Americans try to board a passenger jet, disarm a bomb and capture terrorists. After a 10-15 minute opening to set the story up, the rest of it (two hours) is the constant suspense of whether the mission will succeed and what happens along the way. With that much tension for so, the movie would have been more effective had it been cut 15-20 minutes.

However, it was never boring. It was far-fetched, however, but many action movies are just that, and this story wasn't stupid, by any means. I expected such with Kurt Russell and Steven Segal in it, but those two were much more subdued than usual.

Oliver Platt, Halle Barry, John Leguizamo and Joe Morton rounded out a very diverse and solid cast. This is one of those films that really grabs you the first time you see it, but after that, loses its appeal since the suspense is over. Definitely recommended for those who like to sit on the edge of their seat and be entertained.

I am usually very picky about films and rarely watch action movies that don't have a nostalgic value but somehow I tuned into this one and I couldn't take my eyes off it. We're dealing with a flight hi-jacking and the situation has been seen before, but the way this story is told surprised me in a positive way.

It's trying to be realistic, and succeeds! Credits to the screenwriters for writing a story that everyone thinks they've seen before and still keeping the intensity throughout the film. Good acting from Kurt Russel, Oliver Blatt and especially John Leguizamp. This is an action-movie well worth watching. My rating: 7/10