"Executive Decision" has non-stop thrills. It has conflict on top of conflict. It is a lot of fun with a great performance by Kurt Russell. The Steven Seagal cameo was bold and original for him, not trying to steal the show.
Its only bad point is its direction. Stuart Baird is a fine editor (Lethal Weapon, Demolition Man) but he should have stuck with it and not tried to direct. So many filmmakers are moving into the director's chair after years in Hollywood and they are failing miserably. Cinematographer Mikael Salomon (The Abyss, Backdraft) did Hard Rain, special effects supervisor John Bruno (True Lies, Titanic) did Virus and actor Bob Sagat (Full House, America's Funniest Home Videos) did Dirty Work. I think one of the only successful transitions in recent memory is cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld (Misery) who directed Get Shorty and Men in Black. Baird had no originality in his use of the camera. His camera movements were boring, shaking and poorly framed. He did try to get anything out of his villain that would make the audience hate them or root for the good guys.
Jim and John Thomas' script was full of poor dialogue but the action and suspense was first-rate. They haven't thrown out a good action script since the first Predator so it was nice to see them back in the swing of things.
Oliver Platt was very funny as the nervous aero-engineer. Joe Morton was good. Legwizaumo was poor as usual but who cares. All in all, Executive Decision is great entertainment.
Its only bad point is its direction. Stuart Baird is a fine editor (Lethal Weapon, Demolition Man) but he should have stuck with it and not tried to direct. So many filmmakers are moving into the director's chair after years in Hollywood and they are failing miserably. Cinematographer Mikael Salomon (The Abyss, Backdraft) did Hard Rain, special effects supervisor John Bruno (True Lies, Titanic) did Virus and actor Bob Sagat (Full House, America's Funniest Home Videos) did Dirty Work. I think one of the only successful transitions in recent memory is cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld (Misery) who directed Get Shorty and Men in Black. Baird had no originality in his use of the camera. His camera movements were boring, shaking and poorly framed. He did try to get anything out of his villain that would make the audience hate them or root for the good guys.
Jim and John Thomas' script was full of poor dialogue but the action and suspense was first-rate. They haven't thrown out a good action script since the first Predator so it was nice to see them back in the swing of things.
Oliver Platt was very funny as the nervous aero-engineer. Joe Morton was good. Legwizaumo was poor as usual but who cares. All in all, Executive Decision is great entertainment.