Originality, Reality Are Not on Board in ‘Air Force One’

In “Air Force One,” Harrison Ford plays the president of the United States, who is forced to battle Russian terrorists after they hijack his jet and threaten his wife and daughter. Rated R.

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After frowning at the unending mayhem in “Air Force One,” some teens finally had fun by imagining President Clinton in Harrison Ford’s role as a macho chief executive who acts as though he could bounce Steven Seagal from wall to wall.

Ford’s prez can kick, flip and punch like a jeep going downhill. He’s a great shot, too, and never seems to get tuckered, despite the fact that he’s over 50.

Billy Hinders thought of Clinton, known for his soft waistline and love of fast food, and started to twitter. “He’d get squashed in a minute,” said the 13-year-old from Brea. “One smack [to the belly], and he’d just go ‘Whoof!’ ”

Billy’s friend Jess Brown, 14, also of Brea, handed him some money for the popcorn he’d bought earlier, then added 2 cents more.

Clinton “might be able to shoot, but I can’t see him smashing a guy,” Jess said. “He’s got [Secret Service] guys to do the hitting for him.”

Once the Clinton-bashing ebbed, the boys offered this assessment of “Air Force One”: Many of the action scenes weren’t bad, but they began to blur after a while. In short, the guys got bored pretty early--not a good sign for an action film.

Besides, few of the stunts were new. They pointed to a scene in which Ford is hanging from the plane’s cargo hatch, ready to take a long dive sans parachute. Also, most of the shootouts weren’t fresh: just a lot of noise and sparks and then somebody falls down.

“Seen it all before,” Billy said.

The movie’s violence isn’t as excessive as that of other action films, although a pair of executions committed by the maniacal top terrorist (played by Gary Oldman) will disturb younger kids. The intensity of the airborne scenes, in which Air Force One nearly crashes and later is attacked by Russian MIGs, could also be unsettling.

But the latter passages impressed Billy, Jess and April Kennon, 16, from La Habra. April thought the near-crash was especially realistic and the shootout (American fighter jets show up to defend Air Force One) also was “way exciting.”

April did, however, think the movie was pretty mindless overall.

“It didn’t make sense that they [the terrorists] could get on board,” she said. “It just looked too easy, like how could they really do that? . . . And how could he [the president] be such a great fighter? That was really dumb.”

The absurdity of a kick-butt president didn’t bother Martin Flores, 15, of Yorba Linda. In fact, he thought it was silly that anybody might expect an action film to be believable. All you want, he said, is good stunts and plenty of fighting.

“It was pretty good,” he said, meaning that he wasn’t bored. But Martin did feel the movie was too long; he also didn’t like the setting.

“They never went from the airplane [and] that got old [because] there’s not much you can do in an airplane,” he decided.

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Parent Perspective: Janet Viramontes of Brea wasn’t impressed with “Air Force One,” but the notion of a heroic president appealed to her. She took her son, Freddy, and two of his friends to the movie. She felt Ford did a fine job.

“I know it’s all fantasy, but I think it’s not so bad [for myson] to see a president who’s strong and gets your respect,” said Viramontes, 39.

An adult who didn’t take his children thought otherwise.

“I suppose it’s harmless, but I believe young kids should have more realism to look at,” said Jonathan Khin of Brea. “I’d like my kids to see what the president really is, not someone like Harrison Ford.”