Starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close and Dean Stockwell Directed by Wolfgang Petersen Rated R, with strong violence and profanity Running time 128 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 8 out of 10

(July 25, 1997) -- It's time for a moratorium: No more movies about hijacking airplanes. Even when the film is as good as Air Force One, it's still deja vu all over again.

Air Force One offers experienced, first-rate performances by its stars, Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman, and taut, polished action directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the experienced creator of In the Line of Fire.

The major knock is simply that we've seen it before. The past year alone has brought Con Air, Turbulence and Executive Decision. Well, to be honest, we haven't seen it ALL before. Lots of movies have detailed the adventures of people protecting the President of the United States. This time, the commander-in-chief takes matters into his own hands. As played by Ford, President James Marshall takes on the airplane hijackers, mano a mano. Consider it Die Hard -- the Executive Branch.

In Air Force One, Marshall is a robust, relatively young president and a much-decorated former soldier. He's also a devout family man, a college football fan and a statesman for peace. Plus, he looks and acts like Harrison Ford. What's not to like? Well, if you're a pro-Communist terrorist, you won't like Marshall's active support of democracy in the new Russia. Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman), for example, is a ruthless supporter of an imprisoned Red despot, and hates Marshall.

Ivan and fellow terrorists take charge of Air Force One and threaten to kill the president, his wife, his young daughter and his staff unless the despot is released from prison and restored to power. Through a series of circumstances, the President emerges from a hiding place in the underbelly of the plane and eventually has to fight his own battle with the impassioned thugs. Struggling to help from the ground are the vice president (Glenn Close, elevated from her Mars Attack First Lady status), the secretary of defense (a hammy, over-the-top Dean Stockwell) and other White House insiders.

Director Petersen seems most comfortable when he's generating riveting action in the claustrophobic confines of Air Force One. (Remember, this is the guy who tightened the tension brilliantly in the Nazi U-Boat thriller Das Boot.)

Petersen seems less confident with the more conventional ground-level dramatic scenes. Many of the scenes between Close and Stockwell in the White House war room, for example, are overwrought and whiny. It's in those moments you'll realize that Air Force One is too long (it's more than two hours).

But just when you're tempted to look at your watch, the focus shifts back to the endangered presidential plane -- and to well-staged action. Ford and Oldman are substantial adversaries. Both men bring charisma and strength to their roles, and Petersen strikes a proper balance between character development and cleverly choreographed action.

Air Force One is the latest in an overly long list of hijack films. But it's also the smartest and most appealing to date. Let's hope Hollywood stops this overworked trend on this high note.