Executive Decision (1996)

When terrorists seize control of an airliner, an intelligence analyst accompanies a commando unit for a midair boarding operation.

Director:

Stuart Baird

Writers:

Jim Thomas, John Thomas

Stars:

Kurt Russell, Halle Berry, Steven Seagal

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kurt Russell	...	David Grant
Steven Seagal	...	Lt. Col. Austin Travis
Halle Berry	...	Jean
John Leguizamo	...	Capt. Carlos 'Rat' Lopez
Oliver Platt	...	Dennis Cahill
Joe Morton	...	Sgt. Campbell 'Cappy' Matheny
David Suchet	...	Nagi Hassan
BD Wong	...	Sgt. Louie Jung (as B. D. Wong)
Len Cariou	...	Secretary of Defense Charles White
Whip Hubley	...	Sgt. Michael Baker
Andreas Katsulas	...	El-Sayed Jaffa
Mary Ellen Trainor	...	Allison
Marla Maples	...	Nancy (as Marla Maples Trump)
J.T. Walsh	...	Senator Jason Mavros
Ingo Neuhaus	...	Doc

Storyline

Terrorists take over a 747 bound from Athens to Washington D.C., supposedly to effect the release of their leader. Intelligence expert David Grant suspects another reason and convinces the military that the 'plane should not be allowed to enter U.S. airspace. An assault mission is devised, using a specially equipped 'plane designed for mid-air crew transfers, and Grant finds himself aboard the 747 with a team of military anti-terrorists who have to defuse a bomb and overpower the terrorists.

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Plot Keywords:

panic | survival | stealth plane | mission | disaster film | 

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Taglines:

Five miles above the earth, an elite team of six men must make an air to air transfer, in order to save 400 lives on board a 747... and 40 million below.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and brief language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oliver Platt, Halle Berry and Michael Milhoan would later appear in Bulworth (1998).

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Goofs

When Dr.Grant lands at Fredrick Airport the first time in the Cessna, all the other planes are parked in the parking area where they should be. But, when he lands the 747, all the planes have been lined up along the runway in "No Parking" areas. The 747 would not have hit those planes if the planes had been in the parking areas.

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Quotes

David Grant: Can you hook up a probe so that I can see into the main cabin on this monitor?
Baker: No, we can't transmit between the probe and the monitor.
David Grant: Would a video camera work?
Baker: Yeah.
David Grant: You got one?
Baker: No.

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Alternate Versions

The Warner Bros. U.S. Blu-ray July 2011 release contains a notice that material has been altered from its original incarnation.

• Shots showing the suicide bomber as he enters the restaurant holding the Qur'an have been removed.
• During the scene when Halle Berry is covering for Kurt Russell in the elevator, when Nagi Hassan says "Just be patient it will all be over very soon.", he is no longer shown placing his hand on the Qur'an that was in his jacket pocket. Also, seconds later, the shot of him slightly opening the Qur'an and rifling his fingers through it is gone.
• The entire shot of Nagi Hassan on his knees praying followed by the shot of the two pilots in the cockpit is gone. It cuts from B.D. Wong's character saying "He's blocked by the seats, there's passengers all around him." to the exterior shot of the F-14s arriving. And again, moments later, the scene is edited differently to hide the fact that Nagi is still on his knees in prayer before answering the phone call from the cockpit alerting him of the F14s arrival.

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Connections

References Die Hard 2 (1990)

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Soundtracks

It's Nice to Go Trav'ling
Written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen (as James Van Heusen)
Performed by Frank Sinatra
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under Licence from CEMA Special Markets

User Reviews

Does most things right

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!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

15 March 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Executive Action

Filming Locations:

Alverno High School - 200 North Michillinda Avenue, Sierra Madre, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,069,780, 17 March 1996

Gross USA:

$56,569,216

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$121,969,216

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1