Loyal Opposition

Action television film starring Joan Van Ark and Rick Springfield

From 1979 to 1992, the great Joan Van Ark played the role of Valene Clements Ewing Gibson Waleska in the American hit series KNOTS LANDING. After the series ended, the actress, born in 1943, was still so popular that she was able to play leading roles in several television films. This film aired on The Family Channel on March 8, 1998 and shows her in the role of the first female Vice President of the USA.

A terrorist terrifies Washington. Since the President (Lloyd Bochner) relies on negotiations, he is quickly kidnapped by the crazy general (Nick Mancuso). Now everything is in the hands of the first female vice president (Joan Van Ark) in American history. Only the smart Elizabeth Lane can bring this confusing situation to a happy end...

Joan Van Ark, who has been steeled by marathon runs, shines here as the female Harrison Ford and borrows heavily from the Wolfgang Petersen classic "Air Force One". A star role for the tough blonde who had to go through so much suffering as Valene Ewing. Just think of the great storyline about her stolen twins in the 1984/85 season!

Other roles include pop star Rick Springfield (singer of the 1980s smash hit "Celebrate Youth") as a senator and L. A. LAW star Corbin Bernsen as a Secret Service agent.

Definitely worth seeing!

I was happy to find a movie that wasn't full of vulgarities, political correctness and indecencies. Trouble is, it was an awful movie in every other respect. Poorly written, acted, directed and everything else.

US Vice-President finds herself trapped in the White House, while her husband has to locate a bomb on a plane that has been planted by the US Chief General, who is taken hostage the president in the crisis control room below the White House. This all as a consequence of the danger posed by an aggressive Arab terrorist enemy. Mrs. Vice-President saves the day by fighting her way out of the White House and into the control room and stopping the fighter jets from nuking the Arab enemy just seconds before the supposed hit. At the same time, her son and husband manage to throw the bomb from the plane, again seconds from disaster.

This all sounds as if this were some kind of satire movie, but in fact it is meant to be a serious story. OK, big mistake, but maybe the way they present it is something worth watching. Eh… no. How in God's name were the makers of this movie able to hire such an extensive cast and fancy locations, while not even being able to afford a steady camera or a professional director? Everything in this movie looks fake, with at its pinnacle the heroin Mrs. Vice-President with her plastic face.

The 'DIE HARD in the White House' sub-genre of films has recently seen a resurgence in popularity with the double whammy of OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN and WHITE HOUSE DOWN, but LOYAL OPPOSITION: TERROR IN THE WHITE HOUSE got there first some 17 years ago. Unfortunately it's a particularly poor, family-friendly production that plays out just like a television movie, even though it isn't.

The story involves the usual clichéd terrorist attack, with the twist that said attack forces the hand of an elite general to take the president hostage in order to further his own ends and prevent what he sees as global annihilation. Only one person can end the siege, and that's the vice president Joan Van Ark.

Much of this film is ridiculous thanks to the poor choice of protagonist. Van Ark couldn't get much more fake-looking if she tried, and watching her tottering around the corridors of the White House in her high heels and wielding a sub-machine gun is, well, silly. Sadly, for fans of the DIE HARD sub-genre of films, there's little in the way of actual action here, and what action there is is tame indeed.

LOYAL OPPOSITION: TERROR IN THE WHITE HOUSE rounds out its cast with plenty of familiar faces from TV, including Corbin Bernsen (THE DENTIST), Lloyd Bochner, and the ever-typecast Nick Mancuso (UNDER SIEGE 2), the latter chewing the scenery with relish as the villain of the piece. But the film is overlong and underwhelming, and the low budget means it often fails to feel believable. It's not one to waste your time on.

I started to watch this when getting in late from work. I thought the story had merit and hoped it would develop better, however the alarm bells started ringing immediately. The Vice President who talked to herself whilst writing an important speech for the president. The rogue solders who could not shoot the unarmed Vice President at near point blank range. The lead lady showed no emotion even though her son's, who is bonding on a plane with her estranged husband, life is in danger. Then everything she picked up was analysed for some sort of use against the enemy soldiers, she stopped for a few seconds so you, the viewer, could see her thought process as though we were watching Playschool. How could she climb down an elevator shaft with her dress shoes, but wait these shoes are actually very sensible brogues. Also she stormed the most secure bunker in the White House with only a smoke grenade. Really?