A mid-budget thriller with a fair thriller plot, I’m not sure what this one’s doing on the Rare Cult Cinema dvd. It could be the presence of William Shatner as the lead.
The President is in Canada for a meeting about oil and energy independence, but a notorious South American terrorist has other ideas. Shatner is Jerry O’Connor, a senior Secret Service operative brought in to run the protection detail when his superior has a heart attack on Air Force One. O’Connor is a lot more cautious than the President, but even his vigilance isn’t enough to prevent the very public snatching of the leader of the free world.
The means of holding the President is a bit ludicrous- he’s locked inside a booby trapped armoured truck which is parked up on a plaza in plain view whilst the terrorist negotiates the ransom from a hotel room and his accomplice is in the crowd with her finger on the trigger. Action is minimal, and tension isn’t as high as it could be, but it proceeds smoothly to the final showdown. This isn’t a top tier thriller, but it is competent and diverting. And Shatner manages something more than the mannered, faltering delivery you’re used to from him.
This film is actually surprisingly good. I was expecting a wooden and uninspiring crap-fest; yet was somewhat disappointed by William Shatner’s suprisingly competent delivery. There’s films that are so bad they’re good, and I really expected this to be one of them. I actually ended up enjoying it for it’s own sake. Perhaps you should keep ordering these terrible films – every once in a while there’s a gem.