This is one kick-ass movie.

Never mind that there’s almost no character development, or that a couple of scenes stretch credulity to the breaking point (fistfights in the open cargo bay of an airborne 747 – yeah, right). This film works because it’s exactly what it sets out to be – an expertly crafted action thriller – and doesn’t aim for anything else. In the hands of director Wolfgang Petersen, Air Force One grabs you with the opening scene and doesn’t let up until the final frame.

Aside from shrewd direction, the movie benefits from near-perfect casting. As James Marshall, Harrison Ford is the man we all wish we could have elected President of the United States. The Medal of Honor he earned in Vietnam makes him acceptable to conservatives, and he won the support of liberals by choosing a female vice president (Glenn Close). Moreover, he dares to do to a Kazakhstan tyrant what many Americans believe Clinton should do to Saddam Hussein.

But Marshall paints himself into a corner when he announces, during a speech in Moscow, that the United States will never negotiate with terrorists. Wouldn’t you know it, immediately afterward his plane is hijacked by Russian radicals who demand the release of their imprisoned hero, the fascist General Radek. Marshall can’t acquiesce, so his only alternative, it seems, is to watch these fanatics systematically shoot his family and Cabinet members.

Ah, but the terrorists, led by the zealot Ivan Korshunov (a dangerously intense Gary Oldman), didn’t count on the dogged resourcefulness of this president. The two clever men engage in a cat-and-mouse game in the claustrophobic belly of the airplane (reminiscent of Petersen’s 1981 submarine drama Das Boot). Oldman is a convincing Russian, and Ford does his best acting without saying anything at all.

Back at the White House, Close is equally impressive as a V.P. who’s both intuitive and strong. When Korshunov tries to bait her with sexist comments, she pretends not to hear, and when the Secretary of Defense (Dean Stockwell) tries to pull an Al Haig-like takeover, she resists. Though she has little to do but sit in a conference room and give orders, Close gets maximum mileage out of every line.