The Rock Vs. Air Force One (Ep. 0031)

Absurd premises are the bread and butter of so many great action films. Air Force One and The Rock are no exception. Both films replicate the containerized action formula made famous by Die Hard. Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage make an unforgettable duo while Harrison Ford kicks tail Commander-In-Chief style. Get off the plane with the Movie Wars crew and save San Francisco as they compare two action classics. Click here to become an executive producer on Movie Wars by supporting us on Patreon! A measly $7 gets you access to Kyle’s new 20-minute film retrospectives which are deep dives into the films we cover(and Patron Requests), interviews with legendary filmmakers, Host Q and A, and bonus content.

Film Summaries

The Rock

FBI chemical warfare expert Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) is sent on an urgent mission with a former British spy, John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), to stop Gen. Francis X. Hummel (Ed Harris) from launching chemical weapons on Alcatraz Island into San Francisco. Gen. Hummel demands $100 million in war reparations to be paid to the families of slain servicemen who died on covert operations. After their SEAL team is wiped out, Stanley and John deal with the soldiers on their own.

• Rating:
• R
• Genre:
• Action
• Original Language:
• English
• Director:
• Michael Bay
• Producer:
• Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer
• Writer:
• Douglas S. Cook, David Weisberg, Mark Rosner
• Release Date (Theaters):
• Jun 7, 1996 Wide
• Release Date (Streaming):
• Mar 13, 2001
• Box Office (Gross USA):
• $134.1M
• Runtime:
• 2h 16m

Air Force One

After making a speech in Moscow vowing to never negotiate with terrorists, President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) boards Air Force One with his family (Wendy Crewson, Liesel Matthews) and advisers. When a group of terrorists led by Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman) hijacks the flight, the President's principles are put to the test. Feigning escape, ex-solider Marshall stows away in the aircraft and must race against time to rescue his family and everyone else on board.

• Rating:
• R
• Genre:
• Mystery & Thriller, Action
• Original Language:
• English
• Director:
• Wolfgang Petersen
• Producer:
• Jonathan Shestack, Gail Katz
• Writer:
• Andrew W. Marlowe
• Release Date (Theaters):
• Jul 25, 1997 Original
• Release Date (Streaming):
• Dec 26, 2000
• Box Office (Gross USA):
• $172.7M
• Runtime:
• 2h 4m

(Info courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/air_force_one and https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1072011-rock)