Product Details

• Actors: Kurt Russell, Halle Berry, Steven Seagal, John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt
• Directors: Stuart Baird
• Writers: Jim Thomas, John Thomas
• Producers: Jim Thomas, Joel Silver, John Thomas, Karyn Fields, Spencer Franklin
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: June 1, 1999
• Run Time: 133 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790741539
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #684,404 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Despite Steven Seagal's imposing presence in this enjoyable thriller, Kurt Russell turns out to be the real star as an American intelligence expert who finds himself leading a strike force against Islamic terrorists who have seized in-flight control of a 747 jetliner with 400 passengers. It's not all that different from Air Force One, but the formula story perks right along with considerable suspense as Russell's cohorts (Oliver Platt, Joe Morton) try to defuse a chemical bomb that could wipe out (you guessed it) the entire Eastern seaboard. John Leguizamo plays one of the U.S. commandos attempting to stop the violent hijackers, and Halle Berry costars as a flight attendant who risks her life to assist Russell's rescue team. As action movies go, Executive Decision marked an impressive directorial debut for veteran film editor Stuart Baird. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

This tight, suspenseful film almost redeems producer Joel Silver for his last misfire, "Fair Game." This time he's chosen a good storyteller as the director-Stuart Baird, who edited his "Die Hard" and "Lethal Weapon" films. Although the plot, about terrorists aboard a passenger plane, is formulaic, the pace is swift and the shoot-outs carefully choreographed. Kurt Russell and a snazzy group of second-stringers (Oliver Platt, John Leguizamo) carry off a whispery surveillance routine that would make the crew at "Mission: Impossible" proud. Dispensing with showy Stallone toughness for Harrison Ford-like charm under extreme stress, Russell brings heroic panache to the genre. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kurt Russell at his action-hero best, November 30, 2004

By 

John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Executive Decision (DVD)

Okay, it's Die-Hard-on-an-airplane the way _Speed_ is Die-Hard-on-a-bus, _Under Siege_ is Die-Hard-on-a-battleship, and _The Rock_ is Die-Hard-at-Alcatraz. But it's a fine action flick and it beats the heck out of _Air Force One_.

I like Kurt Russell; to my mind he's never gotten the credit he deserves as an actor. And if (like me) you're not a big Steven Seagal fan, you'll be gratified to learn (about half an hour into the film) that he's _not_ the hero of the story.

This film probably couldn't have been made today. In the post-9/11 world, every moviemaker is carefully shying away from the 'Arab terrorist' stereotype; the screen adaptation of Tom Clancy's _The Sum of All Fears_ substituted neo-Nazis, and even the Gubernator took the safe route (using Columbian drug lords in _Collateral Damage_). But in fact, this script does a pretty good job of making clear that the head terrorist (David Suchet) is a loon who doesn't represent even the views of his collaborators, let alone those of the larger Arab/Muslim world.

Anyway, if you like a good action-suspense yarn, you'll like this one. Sure, parts of it are implausible, but less so than in lots of other good action films. And Russell makes an excellent hero.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Censored US Blu Ray version of the movie BEWARE., August 15, 2011

By 

eringo "eringo" (metairie,la) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Executive Decision [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

This is an excellent action movie that is right now a Best Buy exclusive for now. I had seen this movie in theaters when first released and owned the dvd version of this movie also. There is one problem with the US release of this movie. On the rating marker on the back of the disc case it says some scenes were altered from the original version. What happen is they cut and shorten certain scenes in the movie to be after 911 freindly. You can do a search online to read on the various forums on what was taken out. This is a movie that was shown in theaters back in 1996 why would Warner Bros release a chopped up version of the movie onto blu ray is very disapointing. What I read was they took the censored overseas cut of the film and just released that version onto blu ray in the US. The original dvd and vhs release of the movie is the only uncut version of this film in the US. The good news is if you don't mind the minor edits the upgrade to blu ray is well worth it over the standard dvd. The picture quality is clean and sharp and looks like the movie was filmed recently for an older movie of the 90's. The sound and audio is also a big plus for the upgrade. The soundtrack to the movie was done by Jerry Goldsmith and sounds excellent on a good surround sound system. Wish movie studios would leave these older films alone the way they are instead of years later after the movie was released in theaters and dvd to censor the movie which is the reason why I knocked off 2 stars. Hope this helps with making an Executive Decision whether to purchase this movie or hold out and see if Warner Bros decides to release an uncut version of this film. Just wanted everyone to be informed for there are not many reviews out there on the US blu ray version of the movie yet.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great way to spend a little more than two hours., November 24, 2001

By 

Calle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Executive Decision (DVD)

Terrorists hijack a jumbo jet with over 400 passengers. Terrorist expert Dr David Grant (Kurt Russell) believes that the terrorists have nerve gas bombs on board and therefore, they can't let the plane enter US airspace, since the nerve gas could probably destroy the entire Washington DC. And they don't want to shoot them down, since that would lead to a big scandal. Instead, they send up a special military unit, led by Lieutenant Colonel Travis (Steven Seagal), to get on board the jumbo jet and take control over it. This turns out to be even more difficult than they had thought.

This is an action thriller that unfortunately doesn't seem as unrealistic now as it would've done some months ago, and some people would maybe prefer not to watch it because of the recent attacks. On the other hand, it could be interesting to watch because of that. Either way, it's a very good and well made movie. It's not so different from Air Force One and if you liked that one, you'll probably like this one and vice versa.
Steven Seagal's role is actually quite small, he's out of the movie after approximately half an hour, or even less, and you don't miss him. Kurt Russel, Oliver Platt, Halle berry and the other actors are good.

If you like quality action movies, here is one that will keep you at the edge of your seat for a little more than two hours. I really liked it!