Executive Decision [1996] Review

Budget: $55,000,000

Box office: $122,969,216

Tagline: Fasten your seat belts [Spoiler: Seagal didn’t even make it onto the plane!]

The opening 90’s digital titles and continually ‘enhanced’ map looked very budget-draining. It was a joy to see Seagal, in both the opening and throughout, happily running and strutting confidently around in wide shots with no assistance. Seagal is fit and moody and talks relatively normal, with more whispering than mumbling. (To Seagal) “Colonel, I know you wrote the book on assaulting hijacked aircraft… it’s your call.” Lots of fancy vector computer graphics. The plane looks more cardboard than cutout Seagal [NB: It is a real, modified, Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk], with more military plane cutouts joining the party.

Seagal is also a firm leader in this, with his word being final, “why do I need to go… I’m just an engineer?” “Move your fat ass!” The ‘very precise science’ is just waiting for the light to turn green. Seagal didn’t make it onto the plane so that’s his cameo [NB: Seagal was nominated for ‘Worst Supporting Actor’.]

According to John Leguizamo, Seagal didn’t want to film his death scene because he had never died in a film before, so he locked himself in a trailer and refused to come out.

Some IMDb Trivia: At the end of the movie, the final end title reads “Critical Decision”, not “Executive Decision”, Steven Seagal isn’t named in the opening credits (rumour has it that Kurt Russell refused to work with Steven Seagal for this reason, hence Seagal’s early death scene as he was dropped from production, and so is not listed in the opening credits) and the film was originally developed at Paramount Pictures but the studio put the project in turnaround and sold it to Warner Bros. in exchange for the rights and screenplay to Forrest Gump (1994). Executive Decision was considered a hot project, while Forrest Gump was going through multiple problems with the script and casting. In addition, some Warner executives were afraid that the success of Rain Man (1988) would preempt Gump, due to the perceived similarities of the projects’ subject material (both involved lead characters with mental disabilities). Seagal also carries the same knife he used in Under Siege.

Age Rating: In Singapore, it’s rated R21 (on Netflix), banned in Malaysia and a U in the Czech Republic and India.

Conclusion: [Redacted] rates it at 6.5/10. I say 7/10, adjusting for the lack of Seagal.