If you like fake Hollywood cookie-cutter movies, this is the film to beat. Despite being overtly explicit with its support of racial profiling and portraying Muslim Arabs as terrorists and big hunky white guys as heroes, the plot line is overly-predictable and the characters shallow and annoying. The acting isn't bad, nothing too amateurish though. Certainly written in the post 9-11 heyday, continuing the Hollywood stance of marginalizing targeted branded minorities of the sorts done in Air Force One and True Lies. Also, the camera shakes throughout the movie, simulating the plane flying through air - gets annoying.
21 Reviews
Truly Awful
NIXFLIX-DOT-COM25 September 2003
AIR MARSHAL is one of those movies that not only insults your intelligence, but it dares you to care. Not only does the screenplay play on 9/11, even having a character use the line "Let's roll", but I have not seen this much plot contrivances in a long, long time. Truly an awful movie, only saved (if you can call it that) by its audacity to be exploitative, stupid, and at the same time, convoluted up to a point where you just have to shake your head in dismay.
And would someone please tell B-movie filmmakers to stop using cheap-looking CGI models? If they can't afford actual props, shouldn't they steer their screenplays AWAY from films that requires them?
There are bad movies and then there are bad movies. AIR MARSHAL is just...bad.
2 out of 10
(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this film)
And would someone please tell B-movie filmmakers to stop using cheap-looking CGI models? If they can't afford actual props, shouldn't they steer their screenplays AWAY from films that requires them?
There are bad movies and then there are bad movies. AIR MARSHAL is just...bad.
2 out of 10
(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this film)
Executive Decision RIPOFF
KHayes66623 August 2005
Warning: Spoilers
You would think if they were going to ripoff a movie, they should at least do it right. But after 9/11, maybe this type of movie wasn't the best idea.
The story is retired special forces ace Brett Prescott is now a US Air Marshall and catches a flight home to see his pregnant wife. On the way the plane is hijacked by Muslim terrorists.....if you've seen Exectuve Decision you know the drill. He eliminates the terrorists one by one and saves the day.
What astounded me was the number of ripoffs. Same US senator on board, same kamikaze Muslim, same special forces at the beginning of the movie. Plus the special effects were about as special as a glass of water. Either way the writers of this movie have all the creativity of a xerox machine. It has some flashes of hilarity and action (a spinebuster) but its overall a ripoff.
The highlight of the movie is when Luke gets freaked out when he realizes Brett is still alive and the guy tells him "SIT DOWN!" in a really high pitched voice.
3 out of 10
The story is retired special forces ace Brett Prescott is now a US Air Marshall and catches a flight home to see his pregnant wife. On the way the plane is hijacked by Muslim terrorists.....if you've seen Exectuve Decision you know the drill. He eliminates the terrorists one by one and saves the day.
What astounded me was the number of ripoffs. Same US senator on board, same kamikaze Muslim, same special forces at the beginning of the movie. Plus the special effects were about as special as a glass of water. Either way the writers of this movie have all the creativity of a xerox machine. It has some flashes of hilarity and action (a spinebuster) but its overall a ripoff.
The highlight of the movie is when Luke gets freaked out when he realizes Brett is still alive and the guy tells him "SIT DOWN!" in a really high pitched voice.
3 out of 10
I can't believe I watched the WHOLE Thing!!
wayno2528 December 2003
My first clue should have been when I saw the opening scene graphics....LYBIA!? Just where is that? You have so-called "special forces" teams that don't secure their terrorist captives, who run into a terrorist stronghold with no idea of how to get back out and who leave when the job's half done! I, as a former US Navy SEAL, am outraged. Whatever happened to the concept of "technical assistance" (and, for that matter, continuity). This movie gives new meaning to the term "disaster film". Where did scarface, the Mexican computer genius, come from. After 2 years his face still hadn't healed? I particularly liked the scene where the flight crew are engaging in banter in some country in "Eastern Europe"...right, one where the buildings have Greek lettering on them. And the plane, boss...the plane! According to electronic map, the transponder (which was turned off, I believe) showed that they were crossing Italy at a speed approaching 3500 mph. And while we're on that subject, it would have been nice to have a shot of a REAL plane in flight and REAL scenery instead of 57 minutes of MS Flight Simulator 2003 graphics. I hope Bill Gates got his money up front and didn't have to wait for box office receipts. I really think that the Director and Producer of this monumental tribute to video trash should be heavily fined and sent to bed without supper. Try as I might, I can find no connection between the opening scenes and the rest of the movie. Does the Writer or Director have ANY idea of the Chain of Command that flows downward from the President? Do they honestly think that a pre-pubescent, squeaky-voiced "suit" can order a military strike on a civilian target in a sovereign nation? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Please, stop them before they make another movie.
Takes the Cake
jpc101219 August 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Air Marshal is one of the most pathetic and disgraceful pieces of work ever done since the dawn of civilization. I can not imagine any of the people involved being able to go home and look at themselves in the mirror and believe that they earned an honest days work. Lets start from the beginning, some of the worst possible acting that has ever occurred on the face of the planet. The corny lines, where "BRETT PRESCOTT" tried to be funny, are absolutely the biggest farce in the world. Um, next would be the plot. Completely terrible, difficult to follow considering there is not logical sequence, and it down right sucks. Lybia, I believe is spelled Libya, but hey, Who's counting? These special forces are rebels without a clue. The hand signals that BRETT uses really show how great of a leader he is. Then they raid the building, and have a stare down for a while. Then they finally decide to shoot, and they don't hold back one bit. They pepper the place pretty good leaving nothing behind. Then when exiting the building, instead of leaving out the front door, they decide to bomb through a stone wall, in genius. Last of all, they fail the mission by letting the hostage kill himself. Great job guys!!! Finally this takes us to the plane. Was it me, or did the constant touching of the little boy by everyone, kinda make you cringe. Anyways, I'm not sure how many times that I counted PRESCOTT getting his ass beat, getting his gun taken away, getting passengers shot and killed, and basically screwing up. Speaking of people getting killed, did anyone notice as soon as someone got the slightest flesh wound, they would instantly die ex... the pilot, the terrorist with the hatchet that barely nicked his back. These terrorists were real smart cookies. They had numerous times to kill PRESCOTT, but no they don't. Instead they kill the biggest threat, the guy with the phone and of course the Buddhist. Wow good choices. The intel guys in DC really kept their composure well. I feel so much safer since 9/11 when dingleberries like that make decisions that affect our national security. Then that brings us to the HIspanic partners in all of this. Um...WHO THE HELL WERE THEY??????? Oh well, no explanation. Then the Senator, who by the way was apparently butt buddies with the president, decided to make the ultimate sacrifice and said "Lets Roll." Galliant effort, as one flesh wound completely halted their lackluster efforts. Great job guys. Way to take one for your country. Finally, the kid who decided to stroll up to the cockpit, which was okay by the way, helped land the plane. Hmmm. when the movie ended wasn't their still one terrorist still on the plane that was unaccounted for??? Ahh who cares anyway, PRESCOTT did his country proud. One of the worst movies in history, but funny enough, I've enjoyed making fun of it so much, I guess you could consider it entertaining after all. Thanks for reading this.
I haven't seen anything worse than this
bart-30115 March 2008
Okay now, I've read all the other commentaries here on IMDb, and I can conclude that all positive reviews come from people in the US (who appear to think that ANY movie concerning killing Arab-types can't be a bad movie) and/or women that squirm by the sight of this joke of a lead, this Prescott-figure.
People, this movie sucks. I hope they stored it in a safe place, because of you'd leave this movie uncovered in an open field, it would create a black hole. Honestly.
The acting... WHAT acting? The special effects... Did they use MS-PAINT to make that "plane"? - The inaccuracy where it comes to armed forces, procedures, flying an airplane... The crew on this movie could not even portray someone blinking, even if they tried hard.
Too bad you can't vote for NO stars whatsoever.
People, this movie sucks. I hope they stored it in a safe place, because of you'd leave this movie uncovered in an open field, it would create a black hole. Honestly.
The acting... WHAT acting? The special effects... Did they use MS-PAINT to make that "plane"? - The inaccuracy where it comes to armed forces, procedures, flying an airplane... The crew on this movie could not even portray someone blinking, even if they tried hard.
Too bad you can't vote for NO stars whatsoever.
It ain't Air Force One, it's more like Airplane.
uneonmaid23 June 2003
Pretty lame excuse for a thriller. This is one of those films where you spot fake accents, spot continuity gaffes and watch bad acting and corny lines. Working like Bruckheimer with no money, Air Marshal struggles to do too much with too little. The real question is, why do low-budget filmmakers try to make huge action pictures that they can't possibly afford the effects and actors for? Why not make a talking heads movie with ideas and art involved? I guess that would be asking too much.
This will never open in theaters, so go to a video store and dig around in a few years, you'll find it there.
This will never open in theaters, so go to a video store and dig around in a few years, you'll find it there.
The Worst
louis_vanden_broecke9 September 2010
Others have already pointed to the stereotypes in connection with 9/11. I will focus on tech details of the aircraft. An American crew that operates a simulated (Russian) Tupolev 134 with a Bulgarian registration! They even had an elevator in the plane to make the audience believe this was a 747. The designer of the cockpit must have been either delirious or suffer from another major psychiatric disorder. That also goes for the special effects people. The airplane movements were totally unrealistic and probably the result of a doped flight simulator sequence. The film was aired by a commercial TV-station. It was enough to switch off after 10 minutes. It couldn't be more incredible.
"Sit down, you idiot!"
The_Phantom_Projectionist17 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I first noticed Dean Cochran for his role in A DANGEROUS PLACE, and after seeing that he can perform a pretty good fight scene, I thought it'd be cool to see him headline a movie. I need to learn to specify my wishes, because even though AIR MARSHAL does indeed turn Dean into a leading man, the vehicle itself is pretty darn dreadful. With poor action scenes and a seriously flawed screenplay, this is definitely one of the worst offerings from the Nu Image / Millennium catalogue.
The story: When a trans-European flight is hijacked by extremists, an undercover air marshal (Cochran) must find a way to save the passengers before the plane is shot down by the military.
This movie was released in 2003, but might as well have been released 20 years earlier given its mindset. Hollywood never tires of vilifying Arab characters, but AIR MARSHAL is so irredeemably embarrassing in its heavy-handed Islamophobia that one would almost think it's an ironic statement against it. The whole movie actually feels like a farce on traditional action: moments of idiotic heroism (e.g. the captain's roller coaster flying) flow smoothly into the most harebrained coincidences (e.g. the friendly stowaway), while women fawn over hero Dean for no real reason and a child (Luke Leavitt) is *almost* sucked out of a sprung window (SPOILER) an hour before he helps land the plane, putting his video game experience to good use.
Eli Danker leads the hijackers, and even though his character is a walking cliché, he's a rare example of competent acting in the film. There's also good old Tim Thomerson playing a hostaged senator, but he's mainly = there to pad the cast and doesn't do anything cool. Dean Cochran looks like he's enjoying himself but is stuck playing a completely unremarkable character. It's a relief when he can stop talking and fight, but the four cramped brawls likewise lack any shred of uniqueness (no shortage of slow motion, though). A narrow body jet is an awkward place to stage an action flick to begin with, but the characters don't care at all about wantonly firing guns – even purposely shooting the window that the aforementioned boy gets to see the outside of.
I'd see another Dean Cochran action vehicle, if such a thing ever came about, but only if it were helmed by a completely different set of filmmakers. I haven't gotten into the ridiculously transparent special effects, but only because they're the least of this one's problems. It's worth skipping.
The story: When a trans-European flight is hijacked by extremists, an undercover air marshal (Cochran) must find a way to save the passengers before the plane is shot down by the military.
This movie was released in 2003, but might as well have been released 20 years earlier given its mindset. Hollywood never tires of vilifying Arab characters, but AIR MARSHAL is so irredeemably embarrassing in its heavy-handed Islamophobia that one would almost think it's an ironic statement against it. The whole movie actually feels like a farce on traditional action: moments of idiotic heroism (e.g. the captain's roller coaster flying) flow smoothly into the most harebrained coincidences (e.g. the friendly stowaway), while women fawn over hero Dean for no real reason and a child (Luke Leavitt) is *almost* sucked out of a sprung window (SPOILER) an hour before he helps land the plane, putting his video game experience to good use.
Eli Danker leads the hijackers, and even though his character is a walking cliché, he's a rare example of competent acting in the film. There's also good old Tim Thomerson playing a hostaged senator, but he's mainly = there to pad the cast and doesn't do anything cool. Dean Cochran looks like he's enjoying himself but is stuck playing a completely unremarkable character. It's a relief when he can stop talking and fight, but the four cramped brawls likewise lack any shred of uniqueness (no shortage of slow motion, though). A narrow body jet is an awkward place to stage an action flick to begin with, but the characters don't care at all about wantonly firing guns – even purposely shooting the window that the aforementioned boy gets to see the outside of.
I'd see another Dean Cochran action vehicle, if such a thing ever came about, but only if it were helmed by a completely different set of filmmakers. I haven't gotten into the ridiculously transparent special effects, but only because they're the least of this one's problems. It's worth skipping.
Some good ideas, but generally poorly handled
dergeier1173 March 2007
Really, the five stars are due to the efforts of the choreographer and screenwriter alone, due to some nice-looking fight work (the fistfight in the hold with one fire axe wielding terrorist is a very nice piece of action) and some clever ideas in the script. The concept of a power struggle among the terrorists, right down to the fact that there is only five guns for six hijackers, is a definite step in the right direction, and should have been fleshed out more. It was a plot thread that caught my interest immediately. The rest of the film is poorly handled. Cinematography is poor, almost ruining the good choreography I praised earlier.The special effects team didn't even try. Additionally, a character who shares my first name is shot and killed helping the titular character escape, a sacrifice that goes completely unnoticed and unappreciated by him. That kinda bothered me.
All in all, I can think of worse uses of 90 minutes.
All in all, I can think of worse uses of 90 minutes.
good television movie/thriller
info-454026 April 2005
I really don't know how somebody can break off this movie like the Simeon did, there are worse movies.
This is an action movie, has enough suspense, action and tension in it. Oke maybe the actors are not all that quality, but they played there roles well especially the terrorists. That's why I think this is a good movie, not for the theater, but it's sure more then good enough for a television movie.
So if you love some action and tension in an airplane, this is a movie you would like. It's not great, but surely more then average and good enough to pass some TV hours.
This is an action movie, has enough suspense, action and tension in it. Oke maybe the actors are not all that quality, but they played there roles well especially the terrorists. That's why I think this is a good movie, not for the theater, but it's sure more then good enough for a television movie.
So if you love some action and tension in an airplane, this is a movie you would like. It's not great, but surely more then average and good enough to pass some TV hours.
Going down fast...
noothergod2 October 2004
There is not one category in which I can rate this movie positively... but I'll try anyway.
Plot: Nope. Other posters have beaten this one to death.
Military accuracy: My ROTC friend kept screaming that the Special Forces guys were using the wrong guns. He also tells me that the Navy doesn't use F-16s. I'll take his word on all that. I was annoyed at the clumsy way in which the alleged elite troops crouch-walked towards the hostile gunmen near the airport. Also, the fact that a White House fund raiser was authorized to make decisions involving missile strikes on civilians rather bothered me.
Physical accuracy: This just totally lost me. The plane didn't depressurize, nor did oxygen masks deploy, when the window blew out (a good half hour after it was shot, mind you). The CGI plane kept pitching and yawing at angles that can't happen. The shooters would frequently aim at other things (like the floor), yet their targets would fall back, shot in places only a magic bullet could reach. The list goes on.
Acting: Ha. The generic terrorists, who spoke perfectly articulated English, were so boring in their desires that I often wondered why they were even bothering. The "scared passengers" were more annoyed than anything, which made their presence annoying to the viewers. And Mr. Shirtless Dean Cain Wannabe was just sad.
Fight sequences: Competent stage acting, better than some films I've seen, but in no way what you'd call "good."
Plane realities: All wrong. I like how the pilot was from the school of flying that teaches top speed landings, without wing flaps, and while pointing the nose down. The internal layout of the plane did not come close to matching the external CGI shell. The hurricane-sized storm they fly through takes all of a minute and a half to get through. The speed at which they are tracked on the map (using a transponder that was shut off) is ludicrously fast. And I'm sorry, but the ability to land a prop lane in an IMac flight simulator should not convey any skill to pilot a commercial jet.
Sequels: Okay, so this is the one area that I can say something good. There is no sequel to Air Marshal. However, there are other films in the American Heroes series to which Air Marshal belongs.
Plot: Nope. Other posters have beaten this one to death.
Military accuracy: My ROTC friend kept screaming that the Special Forces guys were using the wrong guns. He also tells me that the Navy doesn't use F-16s. I'll take his word on all that. I was annoyed at the clumsy way in which the alleged elite troops crouch-walked towards the hostile gunmen near the airport. Also, the fact that a White House fund raiser was authorized to make decisions involving missile strikes on civilians rather bothered me.
Physical accuracy: This just totally lost me. The plane didn't depressurize, nor did oxygen masks deploy, when the window blew out (a good half hour after it was shot, mind you). The CGI plane kept pitching and yawing at angles that can't happen. The shooters would frequently aim at other things (like the floor), yet their targets would fall back, shot in places only a magic bullet could reach. The list goes on.
Acting: Ha. The generic terrorists, who spoke perfectly articulated English, were so boring in their desires that I often wondered why they were even bothering. The "scared passengers" were more annoyed than anything, which made their presence annoying to the viewers. And Mr. Shirtless Dean Cain Wannabe was just sad.
Fight sequences: Competent stage acting, better than some films I've seen, but in no way what you'd call "good."
Plane realities: All wrong. I like how the pilot was from the school of flying that teaches top speed landings, without wing flaps, and while pointing the nose down. The internal layout of the plane did not come close to matching the external CGI shell. The hurricane-sized storm they fly through takes all of a minute and a half to get through. The speed at which they are tracked on the map (using a transponder that was shut off) is ludicrously fast. And I'm sorry, but the ability to land a prop lane in an IMac flight simulator should not convey any skill to pilot a commercial jet.
Sequels: Okay, so this is the one area that I can say something good. There is no sequel to Air Marshal. However, there are other films in the American Heroes series to which Air Marshal belongs.
Dean Cochran was awesome!
dbrinkle20 February 2003
Dean Cochran was awesome! "Say hello to Tinkerbell for me" was one of the best action movie one liners to date. The movie was highly entertaining and the special FX were pretty good. I'm not sure how I felt about the Senator using the "Let's roll" line, I am sure it was meant out of respect but it felt kind of weak. Again, Dean Cochran was great, we may have a new action star on our hands because he not only handles the fight sequences well but he is one of the few action guys who can actually act!
Another great cheesy air disaster movie. keep them coming
Ispybeeper9 October 2020
This film falls into the genre of cheesy air disaster movies. There is a huge following of folk who go out of there way to source and watch movies like this. This is actually one of the better ones. Nobody expects them to be credible. This one had it all with enough twists and turns to keep you well entertained
Phew! (Possible Minor Spoiler)
The_Patient25 January 2004
Warning: Spoilers
It's great to see that using a flight simulator PC game enables a small kid to control a high-tech, partially crippled jet airliner in real life. Imagine how much more secure I'll feel next time I fly!
Also: if any airliner shook that much for the entire flight, I'd be thinking about NEVER flying on one of those planes again. Or did the cameraperson have some sort of nervous twitch? =)
Also: if any airliner shook that much for the entire flight, I'd be thinking about NEVER flying on one of those planes again. Or did the cameraperson have some sort of nervous twitch? =)
An airplane is taken over at 30,000 feet and only one man can stop the terrorists
Pgoodson4 August 2003
This is an excellent film for what was probably a limited budget. All of the actors were very good. It was nice to see Tim Thomerson as the senator and I really think that the lead actor has something special. It's a serious subject and the director pulled it off. I recommend it.
Where are the advisors?
Air America7 August 2004
Echoing the more caustic remarks of the other reviewers, but on a single point; the first scene in the film is a title to give us the setting: "Lybia." Wrong! (It could be worse. Later they could have spelled Europe, "Eupore.")
Going to the next scene, we see a Lt. Col. in front of a map showing locations and on which to map progress: "Libya." So glaring accuracy errors pointed out by other posters aside, even the most uninitiated in military matters or warfare will see that a major faux pas is committed in the first five minutes of the film. Oh well, I got the used DVD for $3, so I don't have a lot invested. I am just hoping as I view it now, that I can overlook the errors of the other posters and get $3 in value from it.
Going to the next scene, we see a Lt. Col. in front of a map showing locations and on which to map progress: "Libya." So glaring accuracy errors pointed out by other posters aside, even the most uninitiated in military matters or warfare will see that a major faux pas is committed in the first five minutes of the film. Oh well, I got the used DVD for $3, so I don't have a lot invested. I am just hoping as I view it now, that I can overlook the errors of the other posters and get $3 in value from it.
Fun Action Flick.
p_bo11 July 2005
A fun action film about terrorist high-jacking of a flight. Dean Cochran portrays Brett Prescott... The Air Marshal. With innocent lives at stake, Brett knows what he has to do.
I found a copy of Air Marshal at the video store. I was worried it wouldn't be worth my time or money but I was wrong! I actually ended up buying the DVD. The plot and acting was very good, and the action was non stop.
The casting was superb, and so was the directing. Special effects were pretty good as well. With great acting from up and comer Dean Cochran. I would love to see more of him in future films.
I found a copy of Air Marshal at the video store. I was worried it wouldn't be worth my time or money but I was wrong! I actually ended up buying the DVD. The plot and acting was very good, and the action was non stop.
The casting was superb, and so was the directing. Special effects were pretty good as well. With great acting from up and comer Dean Cochran. I would love to see more of him in future films.
Dean Cochran is hot!
vannisand10 June 2005
I just got through watching Air Marshal, I rented it after I saw him in Targets of Opportunity. He is hot. The movie was OK, I didn't like the special effects but Dean was great. I don't really understand the people who put down movies the way that they do. They obviously didn't have that big of a budget for this movie and they probably still made a lot of money. I looked it up and Air Marshal played in many different markets and is still on the shelf at my local Blockbuster, the girl behind the counter told me that they rented it a lot and sold a bunch of copies. People are so critical these days of people's hard work and they just enjoy sitting around with nothing to do trying to criticize people who are out there doing it. I'd give the whole movie Air Marshal about 6.5 stars but I'm giving it a 10 because I think a lot of people marked it way too low just to be funny or mean.
Watch out for the jiggly camera!
Wizard-811 November 2010
I briefly looked at the other user comments for this movie before posting my own. Yes, this is too close to EXECUTIVE DECISION for its own good. Yes, there are laughable bits like how they misspell a certain country's name in the first few minutes. And there are other things, like how the terrorist's activities are a bit too uncomfortably close to what has happened in real life. Plus there's the fact that much of the movie is shot with a jiggly camera to simulate turbulence I guess, but is VERY distracting. The movie is full of flaws, yes. But at the same time, I can't say I was BORED with this movie. The bad parts of the movie are often entertaining in their own right. And there are some action sequences (like hand-to-hand combat) that aren't that badly done. This movie is probably too flawed to actively seek out, but if you come across it on a slow day, it just may make 90 or so minutes pass by.
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