[5]
Kurt Russell headlines this derivative action thriller about an intelligence officer who joins a commando team on a mission to board a hijacked airliner before it delivers a deadly payload. The cast is Executive Decision‘s greatest asset. Russell carries the piece, backed up by a solid supporting cast. John Leguizamo is memorable as one of the commando team members and Oliver Platt plays a nervous scientist brought along to help neutralize a bomb. Halle Berry reportedly picked up a cool million dollar paycheck for playing one of the airline flight attendants. Notable character actors like J.T. Walsh (Breakdown), B.D. Wong (Jurassic Park), and Joe Morton (Terminator 2) also appear in the film. B-grade action star Steven Seagal rears his constipated face, but thankfully his role is limited to just the first act. (Everyone in the cast and crew reportedly hated working with such an extraordinary asshole.)
The script by Jim Thomas and John Thomas (Predator) is essentially Die Hard on an airplane, but with less action and less interesting characters. We don’t know enough about any of the characters to care much about them, and while the last fifteen minutes are pretty action-packed, there’s almost no action before that point. Accomplished film editor Stuart Baird (Superman, Lethal Weapon) makes his directorial debut. He does a good job creating tension and suspense throughout the second act, but otherwise fails to distinguish Executive Decision from other ’90s actioners.
With Len Cariou, Mary Ellen Trainor, Marla Maples Trump, and a remarkably unremarkable Jerry Goldsmith score.