Factual error: The plastic explosive used on the cockpit door was C-4. When shot (as shown), C-4 does not explode; it requires the use of a detonator.
Air Force One (1997)
Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford, Glenn Close
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Suggested correction: You can see him applying a detonator prior to him shooting it.
If he applied a blasting cap (detonator) he should have used it then. Just putting a detonator into C-4 doesn't all the sudden make it vulnerable to being shot, he would have to actually hit the blasting cap's wire, which is about 5mm thick and relatively short (and it would have to be one that's sensitive to gunfire). Not a very probable shot, even less so when he doesn't even look when he shoots.
Plot hole: At the start when the guys are infiltrating that building they parachute down to the roof. They are dressed in black so they can't be seen, but their parachutes are white. (00:02:50)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the President is being escorted to the escape pod, there is an extra shot where the President is hiding on his own around the corner from a terrorist, who is sneaking around in the background looking for him. In both the preceding and following shots, the President is being physically escorted by two Secret Service men who are pulling him along and forcefully holding his head down. This shot is wrongly inserted into this portion of the scene and needs to be later in the film, when the President is trying to escape. (00:23:40)
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Suggested correction: This mistake does not occur in the film.
It is a fragment of the scene when the man is checking downstairs when the whole plane is to be re-checked.
Trivia: One of the secretaries tells the president she can send a fax to the White House, and he replies something like: "If this works, I'll make you Postmaster General". In the closing credits, she's credited as "Future Postmaster General".
Trivia: A little aside - when the terrorists first strike, in amongst the confusion you can hear someone shout "get the football!" The "football" is the name used for the case which contains the nuclear launch codes, but this is never explained. It's not a major thing, but interesting to note that they included it as a little detail. Good to know a childhood spent reading Tom Clancy books wasn't wasted...
Trivia: The exterior of the Russian prison is really the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. It has been chosen for several movies because of its gothic, eerie appearance, most notably "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994).
President James Marshall: Peace is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.
President James Marshall: I trusted you with my life!
Agent Gibbs: So will the next president!
President James Marshall: Did you hear my speech?
Grace Marshall: Yeah.
President James Marshall: Yeah?
Grace Marshall: You're gonna get yourself re-elected.
President James Marshall: That's what I keep telling them.
Question: What happened to the terrorist Harrison Ford apprehended? Did he parachute with everyone else?
Chosen answer: He fell out the back without a parachute when the door blew open. We see him both tumble off the ramp, and another shot of him falling from below.
Question: When Gary Oldman is on AF1, talking to the vice president for the first time, he says something similar to "How's your blou.." What is he saying? I don't have the DVD, so I don't have subtitles.
Answer: Earlier in the same scene, Oldman says to the VP, "I'm sure you can't wait for him (the President) to get back to making the decisions so you can stop sweating through that silk blouse of yours." As he makes his demands known, he asks her "How's your blouse?" in reference to her perspiration.
Question: Can someone who knows a bit about airplanes and such tell me if it's really possible to rescue people from a plane the way they do it in the end of the movie. To me it seems nearly impossible, is it?
Answer: Mid-air transfers between planes have been done - insane stuntmen have crossed between planes simply by walking from wing to wing in the past. While it takes considerable skill and more guts than your average slaughterhouse, this sort of thing is possible, yes.
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