Executive Decision

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Executive Decision

R

1996

2h 12m

Action

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

63%

Tomatometer

43 Reviews

53%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

When terrorists hijack a plane traveling from Greece to Washington, D.C., U.S. Army specialist David Grant (Kurt Russell) and Lt. Colonel Austin Travis (Steven Seagal) join forces to bring the plane to safety. While terrorists on board the plane claim they hijacked the plane to force the U.S. government to release their leader, who was captured by military forces, David and Austin discover that the plane is carrying a bomb full of nerve gas to be released on Washington, D.C.

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Critics Consensus

Executive Decision adheres entertainingly to classic action thriller formula, proving a genre outing doesn't need to win points for originality to be solidly effective.

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Desson Thomson

Washington Post

05/20/2003

Satisfying junk food.

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Richard Harrington

Washington Post

01/01/2000

Deliciously turbulent.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

01/01/2000

3/4

A movie for people who are sophisticated enough to know how shameless the film is, but fun-loving enough to enjoy its excesses and manic zeal.

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Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Mar 17

3.5/5

There are well-established systems for action-thrillers like this to enjoy a smooth coast down the runway. But they mean absolutely nothing without a well-rated professional like Kurt Russell in complete control of every last instrument on the panel.

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Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

05/22/2024

Tipped as a starry hot property upon its release in 1996, this aviation thriller unfortunately proves to be weighed down by some serious excess baggage.

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Mal Vincent

The Virginian-Pilot

03/10/2022

2.5/4

For moviegoers, the nerve gas might be no more irritating than the film's preposterous plotting.

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Landon J

@Minxsykitty 4d

Segal perishing!!! Epic. Points for moments of genuine tension, no points for being able to take this seriously overall. Among probably the most implausible action hits. Overall pretty forgettable. Kinda like the cross between a chicken wing and "Air Force One"

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The C

@HearthMovies Jan 17

This is Kurt Russel's B-movie to end all B-movies. It is in no way a terrible movie but it just drags on long past it's welcome. The protagonists are all relatively likeable and the action scenes are pretty good but I find the plot to be quite overdone and stale. The acting is okay with some of the performances falling a little short. My primary issue is that the movie constantly puts you into the falling action put then does a 180 with another generic reveal to bleed out the runtime. Near the conclusion I was hoping the plane would blow up so I didn't have to watch the movie anymore.

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Emilie D

@RT16275978 Sep 8

This man couldn't make a bad movie. I loved Executive Decision, like most movies, unless they are "True stories", are written scripts to excite the movie goer. So, forgo the intellectual remarks about the stories. Since Kirt was a child he has always brought great skill to the screen, in keeping the audiences happy. Wish there were more like him out there!

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thiago s

@Thiagostone 03/22/2025

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, a história é ruim, o filme se passa o tempo todo no avião, que as cenas são mais ou menos, e o elenco é bom, mas ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, e o filme poderia ter cenas melhores.

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Shane O

@Shanes_DVD_Shack 09/02/2024

Classic 90s popcorn film , action packed good story memorable moments . One that can be watched over and over

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Munkhchimeg T

@RT64187897 07/25/2024

Cinematografie is great. The dark colour matched with the main idea. Cool 😎

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Stuart Baird

Director

Kurt Russell

Dr. Phil. David Grant

Halle Berry

Jean

John Leguizamo

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Lt. Col. Austin Travis

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Synopsis

When terrorists hijack a plane traveling from Greece to Washington, D.C., U.S. Army specialist David Grant (Kurt Russell) and Lt. Colonel Austin Travis (Steven Seagal) join forces to bring the plane to safety. While terrorists on board the plane claim they hijacked the plane to force the U.S. government to release their leader, who was captured by military forces, David and Austin discover that the plane is carrying a bomb full of nerve gas to be released on Washington, D.C.

Director: Stuart Baird
Producer: Joel Silver, Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Karyn Fields
Screenwriter: Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Production Co: Warner Bros., Silver Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $55.7M
Runtime: 2h 12m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo