Executive Decision
Encyclopedia
Executive Decision is a 1996 action film
, directed by Stuart Baird
and starring Kurt Russell
, Halle Berry
and Steven Seagal
. The original music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith
. The film was released in the United States
on March 15, 1996.
have hijacked
a Boeing 747
en route from Athens
to Washington, D.C.
, demanding in exchange for the hostage
s the release of terrorist El Sayed Jaffa, who had been recently captured and taken into United States
custody.
It is discovered that the terrorists are actually planning an attack on Washington, D.C., placing a bomb
on the airplane that will release a large amount of nerve gas
on detonation.
A plan is devised to place a small team of United States Army
Special Forces into the plane mid-flight to retake control and disable the bomb. If they are not successful, the decision to shoot down the aircraft before it reaches United States airspace
is made, trading the lives of the approximately 400 innocent passengers to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people on the ground. This decision is an "executive decision", meaning that it must be specifically approved by the President of the United States
.
Austin Travis (Steven Seagal
) leads an unsuccessful raid on a Chechen mafia
safehouse by a United States Army
Special Forces team to recover a stolen Soviet nerve agent, DZ-5.
David Grant (Kurt Russell
), Ph.D
, a United States Naval Academy
graduate and now a consultant for Army intelligence
, is informed that the world's most feared terrorist
, El Sayed Jaffa (Andreas Katsulas
), has been taken into custody. Shortly after, Oceanic Airlines
Flight 343, a Boeing 747-200, leaves Athens
bound for Washington Dulles International Airport
. It is hijacked
by Jaffa's deputy director, Nagi Hassan (David Suchet
), and a number of Jaffa's men.
Dr. Grant is summoned to the Pentagon
to join a team led by Colonel Travis which is being readied to intercept the hijacked plane. They listen to Nagi Hassan's demand for the release of Jaffa. Grant, however, does not believe Hassan wants Jaffa released. He believes that Hassan actually arranged for Jaffa's capture, that the hijacked plane is carrying a bomb loaded with DZ-5, and that Hassan wants to detonate the bomb over U.S. airspace.
A plan is worked out that will involve a mid-air transfer of a commando team onto the hijacked airliner using an experimental "Remora" aircraft. The plan is approved, and Colonel Travis assembles his team of SF soldiers at Andrews Air Force Base. They board with Dr. Grant and engineer Dennis Cahill (Oliver Platt
).
The boarding is only partially successful. When Sergeant
"Cappy" Matheny (Joe Morton
) is seriously injured, Grant, who was supposed to stay put, boards to help lift him into the plane. The 747 pulls up, though, putting too much stress on the boarding sleeve. Unable to board the plane, Colonel Travis sacrifices himself when he closes the 747's hatch, just as the sleeve breaks and he is thrown from the F-117. The soldiers who survived insertion make it to the 747's lower deck, but with half their equipment and no communication. It is assumed the soldiers did not make it aboard.
With limited options, the commandos begin to search for the supposed DZ-5 bomb. Grant manages to make contact with a stewardess, Jean (Halle Berry
), despite Hassan's suspicions, and asks her for assistance in finding the bomb's remote detonator.
Officials decide to release Jaffa in order to resolve the situation. Meanwhile, Cappy and Cahill locate and start to dismantle the bomb. They discover that bomb's arming device is barometrically activated. They seemingly disarm the bomb, but it is revealed that there is another trigger.
Jaffa calls Hassan from a private jet, telling him he is free, but Hassan will not be swayed from his plan. Grant realizes that only Hassan knows about the bomb, but none of his men do—which means there is a sleeper on board—one passenger among 400.
Senator Jason Mavros (J.T. Walsh) is called away from his seat to have a word with the president only to realize he's to be sacrificed as a warning that Hassan is serious. Hassan points a gun to the head of Senator Mavros as he tries in vain to get the president to listen but is shot in the head.
Jean spots a man with an electronic device and informs Grant. Meanwhile, the soldiers manage to use the plane's taillights and Morse code
signal to the US Navy fighter jets that they are on board and not to shoot them down.
Grant and Jean enter the passenger cabin and take the suspected individual by surprise, but what Jean thought was an electronic device was merely a case of diamonds. Grant spots the real sleeper: Jean-Paul Demou, the man who built the bomb. Hassan attempts to fire at Grant, but is shot from behind by the on-board air marshal. The soldiers kill the lights, make entry and storm the cabin where a firefight ensues. Stray bullets strike and break passenger windows wide open, causing explosive decompression
sucking out three passengers and Demou out of the plane. The remaining terrorists are killed during the exchange, the bomb is finally disarmed, and the plane is able to regain its stability. In a last act of desperation, a seriously wounded Hassan kills both pilots, hoping the bomb will detonate if the plane crashes. Hassan is killed by a wounded Captain Rat.
Grant is then forced to assume control of the plane and attempt to land the 747 at Dulles International Airport despite his limited piloting experience. He attempts to land at Dulles but is flying too high by the time he reaches the runway and misses the approach
forcing him to pull the plane back up to circle around and try again. As the plane begins to climb, Grant visually recognizes the area surrounding Frederick Field
which is where he normally practices flying. Deciding to try and land the 747 there, with Jean's assistance, Grant makes a sloppy but safe landing but is unable to stop before reaching the end of the airport's relatively short runway. The plane is slowed to a stop by ramming into a sand berm at the runway's overrun area where emergency workers are able to safely evacuate the remaining passengers.
, the studio put the project in turnaround
and sold to Warner Bros.
in exchange for the rights and screenplay to Forrest Gump
. Executive Decision was considered a hot project while Forrest Gump was going through multiple problems with the script and casting.
. One alteration to the screenplay was the removal of the President of the United States
(he is said to be out of the country and does not appear on screen); his part in the story was taken by the Secretary of Defense played by Len Cariou
.
The film's plot device of a stealth fighter linking to a civilian airliner had its roots in a F-117 field test, conducted by the famous Skunk Works
. In the test, a "red-eye" transcontinental flight was picked at random by Skunk Work engineers. An F-117 "Have Blue" fighter then flew just below and behind the selected airliner. Engineers watched radar screens for the airliner's reaction. If the airliner deviated from its flight path, the engineers would assume that its anti-collision radar system had detected the stealth fighter. According to the story, the unknowing airliner stayed on its preset flight path. After nearly an hour the invisible fighter plane veered off and returned to its test site.
is a fictional airline often used in action movies and TV series involving ill-fated airplanes. Some scenes from this film were used in other films and TV series.
The external shots of the Oceanic Airlines 747 depicts the 747-200 version of the aircraft, yet all the cockpit scenes in the movie feature the much more modern glass cockpit of the newer 747-400 which has a longer upper deck than the -200 model as well. The same discrepancy occurs in the movie Turbulence - a common incongruity in motion pictures which involve scenes in the cockpit.
Incidentally, the particular 747-121 aircraft featured in this film was actually involved in a real-life terrorist incident. On August 11, 1982, while operating under the registry N754PA for its original owner Pan Am and nicknamed "Clipper Ocean Rover," it was assigned to fly from Narita International Airport
in Tokyo
, Japan
to Honolulu International Airport
in Honolulu, Hawaii
as Flight 830
. About 140 miles from Hawaii, a bomb under a seat cushion exploded killing 16-year-old Japanese student Toru Ozawa and injuring 15 others (including the boy's parents). The plane managed to make a safe landing in Honolulu and was eventually placed back into service with Pan Am. The plane was later sold and passed through several owners before being used in the film.
Kurt Russell is shown in an opening scene piloting a Beechcraft Bonanza
. Kurt Russell was actually flying the airplane and it is seen making an approach into Chino, California. The scene is spliced into a ramp scene from Van Nuys airport. The ground scenes were filmed in Van Nuys, with Van Nuys standing in for Maryland.
The scene involving the F-14 interception was the last film appearance of Squadron VF-84
before being disestablished.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
, directed by Stuart Baird
Stuart Baird
Stuart Baird is an English film editor, producer, and director who is mainly associated with action films. He has edited over twenty major motion pictures.-Life and career:...
and starring Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
, Halle Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
and Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
. The original music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
. The film was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on March 15, 1996.
Synopsis
TerroristsTerrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
have hijacked
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
a Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
en route from Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, demanding in exchange for the hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
s the release of terrorist El Sayed Jaffa, who had been recently captured and taken into United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
custody.
It is discovered that the terrorists are actually planning an attack on Washington, D.C., placing a bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
on the airplane that will release a large amount of nerve gas
Nerve agent
Nerve agents are a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to organs...
on detonation.
A plan is devised to place a small team of United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Special Forces into the plane mid-flight to retake control and disable the bomb. If they are not successful, the decision to shoot down the aircraft before it reaches United States airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
is made, trading the lives of the approximately 400 innocent passengers to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people on the ground. This decision is an "executive decision", meaning that it must be specifically approved by the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
Plot
Lieutenant ColonelLieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
Austin Travis (Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
) leads an unsuccessful raid on a Chechen mafia
Chechen mafia
The Chechen mafia is one of the largest organized crime groups operating in the former Soviet Union next to established Russian mafia gangs, which originally consisted of criminals of Chechen ethnicity who later also tried to recruit former Russian special military forces, police and army officers...
safehouse by a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Special Forces team to recover a stolen Soviet nerve agent, DZ-5.
David Grant (Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
), Ph.D
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
, a United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
graduate and now a consultant for Army intelligence
United States Army Intelligence and Security Command
The United States Army Intelligence and Security Command is a direct reporting unit that conducts intelligence, security, and information operations for U.S. Army commanders and national decision makers. INSCOM is both an organization within the United States Army and the National Security Agency,...
, is informed that the world's most feared terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, El Sayed Jaffa (Andreas Katsulas
Andreas Katsulas
Andrew "Andreas" Katsulas was a Greek-American actor known for his roles as Ambassador G'Kar in the science fiction television series Babylon 5, as the one-armed villain Sykes in the film The Fugitive , and as the Romulan Commander Tomalak on Star Trek: The Next Generation...
), has been taken into custody. Shortly after, Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines and less frequently Oceanic Airways are fictional airlines used in several films and television programs.The most famous use of this brand is in the TV show Lost, where Oceanic Airlines is featured branded with a highly-stylized logo depicting an Aboriginal dot painting that...
Flight 343, a Boeing 747-200, leaves Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
bound for Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
. It is hijacked
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
by Jaffa's deputy director, Nagi Hassan (David Suchet
David Suchet
David Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
), and a number of Jaffa's men.
Dr. Grant is summoned to the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
to join a team led by Colonel Travis which is being readied to intercept the hijacked plane. They listen to Nagi Hassan's demand for the release of Jaffa. Grant, however, does not believe Hassan wants Jaffa released. He believes that Hassan actually arranged for Jaffa's capture, that the hijacked plane is carrying a bomb loaded with DZ-5, and that Hassan wants to detonate the bomb over U.S. airspace.
A plan is worked out that will involve a mid-air transfer of a commando team onto the hijacked airliner using an experimental "Remora" aircraft. The plan is approved, and Colonel Travis assembles his team of SF soldiers at Andrews Air Force Base. They board with Dr. Grant and engineer Dennis Cahill (Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt
Oliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
).
The boarding is only partially successful. When Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
"Cappy" Matheny (Joe Morton
Joe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
) is seriously injured, Grant, who was supposed to stay put, boards to help lift him into the plane. The 747 pulls up, though, putting too much stress on the boarding sleeve. Unable to board the plane, Colonel Travis sacrifices himself when he closes the 747's hatch, just as the sleeve breaks and he is thrown from the F-117. The soldiers who survived insertion make it to the 747's lower deck, but with half their equipment and no communication. It is assumed the soldiers did not make it aboard.
With limited options, the commandos begin to search for the supposed DZ-5 bomb. Grant manages to make contact with a stewardess, Jean (Halle Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
), despite Hassan's suspicions, and asks her for assistance in finding the bomb's remote detonator.
Officials decide to release Jaffa in order to resolve the situation. Meanwhile, Cappy and Cahill locate and start to dismantle the bomb. They discover that bomb's arming device is barometrically activated. They seemingly disarm the bomb, but it is revealed that there is another trigger.
Jaffa calls Hassan from a private jet, telling him he is free, but Hassan will not be swayed from his plan. Grant realizes that only Hassan knows about the bomb, but none of his men do—which means there is a sleeper on board—one passenger among 400.
Senator Jason Mavros (J.T. Walsh) is called away from his seat to have a word with the president only to realize he's to be sacrificed as a warning that Hassan is serious. Hassan points a gun to the head of Senator Mavros as he tries in vain to get the president to listen but is shot in the head.
Jean spots a man with an electronic device and informs Grant. Meanwhile, the soldiers manage to use the plane's taillights and Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
signal to the US Navy fighter jets that they are on board and not to shoot them down.
Grant and Jean enter the passenger cabin and take the suspected individual by surprise, but what Jean thought was an electronic device was merely a case of diamonds. Grant spots the real sleeper: Jean-Paul Demou, the man who built the bomb. Hassan attempts to fire at Grant, but is shot from behind by the on-board air marshal. The soldiers kill the lights, make entry and storm the cabin where a firefight ensues. Stray bullets strike and break passenger windows wide open, causing explosive decompression
Explosive decompression
Uncontrolled decompression refers to an unplanned drop in the pressure of a sealed system, such as an aircraft cabin and typically results from human error, material fatigue, engineering failure or impact causing a pressure vessel to vent into its lower-pressure surroundings or fail to pressurize...
sucking out three passengers and Demou out of the plane. The remaining terrorists are killed during the exchange, the bomb is finally disarmed, and the plane is able to regain its stability. In a last act of desperation, a seriously wounded Hassan kills both pilots, hoping the bomb will detonate if the plane crashes. Hassan is killed by a wounded Captain Rat.
Grant is then forced to assume control of the plane and attempt to land the 747 at Dulles International Airport despite his limited piloting experience. He attempts to land at Dulles but is flying too high by the time he reaches the runway and misses the approach
Missed approach
Missed approach is an instrument flight rules procedure which is a standard component segment of an instrument approach. Generally, if the pilot flying or the pilot in command determines by the time the aircraft is at the decision height or missed approach point , that the runway or its...
forcing him to pull the plane back up to circle around and try again. As the plane begins to climb, Grant visually recognizes the area surrounding Frederick Field
Frederick Municipal Airport (Maryland)
Frederick Municipal Airport is a public airport located in the city of Frederick, in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. This airport is publicly owned by City of Frederick....
which is where he normally practices flying. Deciding to try and land the 747 there, with Jean's assistance, Grant makes a sloppy but safe landing but is unable to stop before reaching the end of the airport's relatively short runway. The plane is slowed to a stop by ramming into a sand berm at the runway's overrun area where emergency workers are able to safely evacuate the remaining passengers.
Cast
- Kurt RussellKurt RussellKurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
as Dr. David Grant - Steven SeagalSteven SeagalSteven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
as Lt. Col. Austin Travis - John LeguizamoJohn LeguizamoJonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
as Cpt. Carlos "Rat" Lopez - David SuchetDavid SuchetDavid Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
as Nagi Hassan - Halle BerryHalle BerryHalle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
as Jean - Oliver PlattOliver PlattOliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
as Dennis Cahill - Joe MortonJoe MortonJoseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
as Sgt. Campbell "Cappy" Matheny - B. D. Wong as Sgt. Louie Jung
- Whip HubleyWhip HubleyWhip Hubley is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Mischa in the 1987 film Russkies, and Hollywood in the 1986 film Top Gun. He later played Brian Hawkins in the Showtime miniseries More Tales of the City and its follow-up Further Tales of the City...
as Sgt. Michael Baker - Marla MaplesMarla MaplesMarla Maples is an American actress, television personality, and socialite, best known for her marriage to businessman celebrity Donald Trump.- Personal life :...
as Flight Attendant Nancy - J. T. WalshJ. T. WalshJames Thomas Patrick "J. T." Walsh was an American character actor. He appeared in many well-known films, including Nixon, Hoffa, A Few Good Men, Backdraft, Miracle on 34th Street, Breakdown, and Good Morning, Vietnam.Walsh was known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs"...
as Senator Mavros - Charles HallahanCharles HallahanCharles John Hallahan was an American film, television and stage actor best known for his performances in Going in Style, The Thing, and Dante's Peak.-Life and career:...
as General Sarlow - Richard RiehleRichard Riehle-Life and career:Riehle was born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, the son of Mary Margaret , a nurse, and Herbert John Riehle , an assistant postmaster. He attended the University of Notre Dame....
as Air Marshal George Edwards - Andreas KatsulasAndreas KatsulasAndrew "Andreas" Katsulas was a Greek-American actor known for his roles as Ambassador G'Kar in the science fiction television series Babylon 5, as the one-armed villain Sykes in the film The Fugitive , and as the Romulan Commander Tomalak on Star Trek: The Next Generation...
as El Sayed Jaffa - Ahmed AhmedAhmed Ahmed-Early life:Ahmed Ahmed was born in Helwan, Egypt. His family came to the United States when he was one month old and he grew up in Riverside, California.-Career:...
as Terrorist #4 - Jay TavareJay TavareJay Tavare is an American actor. Tavare is perhaps best known as Vega in 1994 film Street Fighter. Tavare has played a number of roles in movies, including a Seminole in Adaptation, an Apache in The Missing, a Cherokee in Cold Mountain, and a Cheyenne in Into the West.His mother was White Mountain...
as Nabill - Ray BakerRay Baker (actor)Ray Baker is an American theater, television and film actor. He is a long time character actor with over 100 credits on television and film alone. Baker is credited either as Ray or Raymond.-Selected filmography:...
as 747 Captain
Studio
Originally developed at ParamountParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, the studio put the project in turnaround
Turnaround (film)
A turnaround or turnaround deal is an arrangement in the film industry, whereby the rights to a project one studio has developed are sold to another studio in exchange for the cost of development plus interest....
and sold to Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
in exchange for the rights and screenplay to Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
. Executive Decision was considered a hot project while Forrest Gump was going through multiple problems with the script and casting.
Screenplay
The film received full cooperation from The PentagonThe Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
. One alteration to the screenplay was the removal of the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
(he is said to be out of the country and does not appear on screen); his part in the story was taken by the Secretary of Defense played by Len Cariou
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
.
The film's plot device of a stealth fighter linking to a civilian airliner had its roots in a F-117 field test, conducted by the famous Skunk Works
Skunk works
Skunk Works is an official alias for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs , formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. Skunk Works is responsible for a number of famous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-117 Nighthawk, and the F-22 Raptor...
. In the test, a "red-eye" transcontinental flight was picked at random by Skunk Work engineers. An F-117 "Have Blue" fighter then flew just below and behind the selected airliner. Engineers watched radar screens for the airliner's reaction. If the airliner deviated from its flight path, the engineers would assume that its anti-collision radar system had detected the stealth fighter. According to the story, the unknowing airliner stayed on its preset flight path. After nearly an hour the invisible fighter plane veered off and returned to its test site.
Casting
Steven Seagal had a fairly minor role in the film, and his character was killed early on, despite being one of the more well-known of the actors to appear in the film, and a major action star at the time. Furthermore, Seagal is not cited in the opening credits, but Seagal's image was used heavily in advertising for the movie due to his enormous popularity to movie goers.Aircraft props
Oceanic AirlinesOceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines and less frequently Oceanic Airways are fictional airlines used in several films and television programs.The most famous use of this brand is in the TV show Lost, where Oceanic Airlines is featured branded with a highly-stylized logo depicting an Aboriginal dot painting that...
is a fictional airline often used in action movies and TV series involving ill-fated airplanes. Some scenes from this film were used in other films and TV series.
The external shots of the Oceanic Airlines 747 depicts the 747-200 version of the aircraft, yet all the cockpit scenes in the movie feature the much more modern glass cockpit of the newer 747-400 which has a longer upper deck than the -200 model as well. The same discrepancy occurs in the movie Turbulence - a common incongruity in motion pictures which involve scenes in the cockpit.
Incidentally, the particular 747-121 aircraft featured in this film was actually involved in a real-life terrorist incident. On August 11, 1982, while operating under the registry N754PA for its original owner Pan Am and nicknamed "Clipper Ocean Rover," it was assigned to fly from Narita International Airport
Narita International Airport
is an international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is located east of Tokyo Station and east-southeast of Narita Station in the city of Narita, and the adjacent town of Shibayama....
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to Honolulu International Airport
Honolulu International Airport
Honolulu International Airport is the principal aviation gateway of the City & County of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii and is identified as one of the busiest airports in the United States, with traffic now exceeding 21 million passengers a year and rising.It is located in the Honolulu...
in Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
as Flight 830
Pan Am Flight 830
Pan Am Flight 830 was a Boeing 747-121, named "Clipper Ocean Rover", flying from Narita International Airport in Tokyo to Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii on August 11, 1982....
. About 140 miles from Hawaii, a bomb under a seat cushion exploded killing 16-year-old Japanese student Toru Ozawa and injuring 15 others (including the boy's parents). The plane managed to make a safe landing in Honolulu and was eventually placed back into service with Pan Am. The plane was later sold and passed through several owners before being used in the film.
Kurt Russell is shown in an opening scene piloting a Beechcraft Bonanza
Beechcraft Bonanza
The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by The Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. , it is still being produced by Hawker Beechcraft, and has been in continuous production longer than any other airplane in history...
. Kurt Russell was actually flying the airplane and it is seen making an approach into Chino, California. The scene is spliced into a ramp scene from Van Nuys airport. The ground scenes were filmed in Van Nuys, with Van Nuys standing in for Maryland.
The scene involving the F-14 interception was the last film appearance of Squadron VF-84
VF-84
VF-84, Fighter Squadron 84 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy active from 1955 to 1995. The squadron was nicknamed the Jolly Rogers and was based at NAS Oceana.-Related squadrons:Five distinct U.S...
before being disestablished.
Controversy
According to John Leguizamo, who played Cpt. Carlos "Rat" Lopez in the movie, Steven Seagal had punched the air out of him during film rehearsals. "He taekwondoe'd my ass against a brick wall..."Marketing
This film is also known under the name Critical Decision, for the Dutch/Belgian market; Ultime Decision, for France; Décision au sommet, for French Canadian; the German title was Einsame Entscheidung and Final Decision in South Korea, Krytyczna decyzja in Poland and Boeing 747 v ohrožení (Boeing 747 in Danger) in Czech Republic.Box office
- United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Gross Takings: US$United States dollarThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
56,569,216 - International Takings: $65.4 million
- Gross Worldwide Takings: $121,969,216