Nov 10, 2026 · 1h 53m
Air Force One made the president an action hero
‘Air Force One’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey
The discussion uses a durable 1990s thriller to examine why original, star-driven action vehicles have largely vanished.
- 1Harrison Ford’s restrained James Marshall turns presidential authority into a physical, personal action-hero fantasy.
- 2Gary Oldman’s flamboyant villain supplies the movie’s necessary theatricality, making its implausible premise feel distinctive.
- 3The film’s tightly staged practical action still works, even as its technology, politics, CGI, and supporting roles have aged poorly.
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The hosts celebrate the climactic confrontation that produces the film’s defining “Get off my plane” moment.
The brief
Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey revisit Air Force One as the ultimate Die Hard variation: a president fights back after terrorists seize his plane.
The hosts argue that Harrison Ford’s restrained, traumatized-veteran performance makes James Marshall convincing as both commander in chief and action hero.
Gary Oldman’s extravagant Ivan Korshunov gives the film its theatrical spark, while Glenn Close and a deep character-actor ensemble strengthen the hijacking story.
Wolfgang Petersen’s claustrophobic cabin action, gunplay, sound, and practical-looking set pieces remain effective despite dated technology and increasingly visible CGI.
The episode’s larger argument is that Hollywood no longer builds original action vehicles around movie stars the way it did during Ford’s peak.
Books & mentions
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