Executive Decision Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Terrorists take over a 747 bound from Athens to Washington D.C., supposedly to effect the release of their leader. Intelligence expert David Grant suspects another reason and convinces the military that the 'plane should not be allowed to enter U.S. airspace. An assault mission is devised, using a specially equipped 'plane designed for mid-air crew transfers, and Grant finds himself aboard the 747 with a team of military anti-terrorists who have to defuse a bomb and overpower the terrorists.
24 wasn't the first popular entertainment to exploit terrorism for thrills, though it may have been
the most opportunistic. Executive Decision, the 1996 directorial debute of ace editor, Stuart Baird
(most recently, Salt and Green Lantern), is like a time
capsule of what Americans in the Nineties
feared from a terrorist attack -- most of it wrong, as things turned out. That's probably why the
film can still be enjoyed as entertainment. The threats played out so differently in real life that,
even in the few places where it overlaps, Executive Decision still feels like popcorn
escapism.
Executive Decision is often described as an action film, but it's really more of a thriller. The
first
clue is the hero, a Jack Ryan-style analyst named Dr. David Grant (Kurt Russell), who works for
a Washington think tank. Grant is the leading expert on a terrorist group headed by El Sayed
Jaffa (Andreas Katsulas, who's played everything from a one-armed man to a Romulan) and his
second-in-command, Nagi Hassan (David Suchet, proving once again that classically trained
British actors make the best villains).
In the film's opening, a U.S. Special Forces team headed by Lt. Colonel Travis (Steven Seagal)
attacks a Chechen safe house attempting to recover stolen Soviet nerve gas that Grant believes
Jaffa's group wants to buy. When the mission is unsuccessful, fingerpointing ensues. Meanwhile,
the U.S. military manages to kidnap Jaffa and hold him at a secret facility. But the triumph is
short-lived. Nagi Hassan and a small group of followers hijack a 747 flight from Athens to
Washington, D.C. and threaten to kill everyone aboard unless Jaffa is freed immediately. With
the President out of the country, immediate authority falls on Secretary of Defense Charles White
(Len Cariou), who's inclined to give in.
Called to a meeting on an emergency basis (and still wearing a tuxedo), Dr. Grant tells everyone
they're being played. The Jaffa exchange is a ruse to cover Nagi Hassan's real plan. He has the
stolen nerve gas and plans to use the hijacked plane to disburse it over Washington. Now
Secretary White has two equally unappealing choices: set Jaffa free and take the risk that Grant
may be right, or shoot down the 747 over the Atlantic, killing the 400 passengers aboard and
burning up all evidence of the nerve gas.
Colonel Travis has a third option: use experimental technology to transfer his team from a stealth
plane to the 747 in mid-air. The technology was developed by an engineer named Cahill (Oliver
Platt), who would have to accompany them. And Travis wants Dr. Grant there too, as the world's
leading expert on Nagi Hassan.
As is so often the case, things don't go as planned, and the team that ends up on the 747 is
missing both key personnel and essential equipment. They have to improvise and enlist help from
the flight crew, including a terrified flight attendant named Jean (pronounced "Jan") (Halle
Berry). Meanwhile, Secretary White and his advisors anxiously watch the plane approach the
point at which they'll have no choice but to shoot it down.
Except for action set pieces at the beginning, middle (roughly) and end, Executive Decision is
mostly about people talking and working under tense circumstances and often in cramped spaces.
In pacing and style, the film it most resembles is The Hunt for Red October, although specific
plot elements were borrowed by the following year's Air Force One (e.g., the high-ranking
dignitary, here J.T. Walsh's Senator Mavros, who tries to negotiate with the hostage-takers and
fails spectacularly). The film achieves much of its effect from the precision editing of close shots
of people huddled together exchanging words, speaking into microphones, reacting to what
they're hearing or seeing, and gesturing for fear of being heard by the enemy. (Director Baird
served as one of the film's three credited editors.) Studios rarely make this kind of film anymore,
which is a shame.
Baird and his editing team have the advantage of strong performances delivered by a fine ensemble. In addition to those already mentioned, the cast
includes John Leguizamo, B.D. Wong, Joe Morton and Whip Hubley, all playing members of the Special Forces group with different areas of expertise.
All of them manage to convey the sense of camaraderie that develops among people who have faced danger together, while at the same time
remaining identifiable individuals. The latter quality is especially important once they have to scatter around the huge 747, each one doing something
different.
As noted on the back of the case, and discussed extensively on the Blu-ray.com forum, this
version of Executive Decision contains alterations from the version shown theatrically and
released on DVD. A forum member has listed the changes here. The intent seems to
have been to
minimize appearances of Nagi Hassan's Koran in the film (though some appearances remain).
While I can understand concern over such an issue by an international entertainment
conglomerate, it strikes me as misplaced, especially with so many copies of the theatrical version
already in circulation, and I sympathize with the reaction of those who have declared that they
will not buy the Blu-ray on principle due to the changes. (I hope that anyone who cites this
review's stance on the issue will include the preceding sentence.)
Nevertheless, while watching the disc for purposes of this review, I tried to forget what I knew
about the alterations in order to see whether the changes were obvious or intrusive, or interrupted
the flow of a film whose pacing I recalled as being tense and carefully controlled. I was pleased
to reach the film's slam-bang conclusion without any sense of something being "off". This is not
intended to justify the changes, but simply to note that they have not radically altered the viewing
experience. Since another Blu-ray release is unlikely in the foreseeable future, this is also a
relevant consideration for anyone weighing the pros and cons of purchasing this version.
The 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray image is beautifully sharp and detailed, except for scenes
where haze, smoke or other interference is intended to obscure one's vision. Black levels are
excellent, as can be seen by Dr. Grant's tuxedo (a running joke, since he doesn't have time to
change). Colors are varied and distinct but not overly saturated, which is consistent with the
film's palette; so much of the story occurs in dim light that strong colors wouldn't show anyway.
No DNR or other filtering appears to have been applied, and I saw no compression-related
artifacts. There is a tiny amount of video noise that appears in some of the larger aerial shots; this
is probably attributable to visual effects work and is hardly noticeable unless you're looking for
it.
By the time Executive Decision was made, sound designers had become quite comfortable with
discrete multi-channel formats, and the film's soundtrack, reproduced here in DTS lossless, is a
fine example. Flyovers and fly-bys, gunfire, the omnipresent sounds of air travel (in several
different environments) and a number of dramatic mid-air events, including a sudden
decompression, make full use of the surround environment to put you into the experience. Bass
extension is impressive, dialogue is clear, even when whispered, and the late Jerry Goldsmith's
score -- simple, efficient and memorable -- is beautifully rendered. It's an effective track, well
presented.
I expected to be uncomfortable revisiting Executive Decision after all these years, but I ended up
being surprised at how little the film disturbed me. Reality turned out to be so very different from
what movies imagined. Charismatic terrorist leaders never sacrificed themselves, low-tech turned
out to be more lethal than anything Nagi Hassan accomplished, and most Americans would be
thrilled to have an intelligence service that was never more than one step behind the world's
most dangerous terrorists. Despite its origin in contemporary fears, Executive Decision remains a
thoroughly escapist piece of popular entertainment, and when the credits roll to Frank Sinatra
singing "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling", it's like the filmmakers have turned to wink at you, and you
shake off the whole experience. For technical quality, the Blu-ray is highly recommended. It's up
to the individual purchaser whether or not the trims are a dealbreaker.
Blu-ray bundles with Executive Decision (1 bundle)
Warner Home Entertainment will expand its Blu-ray release schedule for Executive Decision this November. Director Stuart Baird's 1996 thriller stars Kurt Russell (Big Trouble in Little China) as a Washington intelligence expert who assists an anti-terrorism unit ...
