Executive Decision Details

Producer Joel Silver is no mug at the action game, being one of the chaps behind the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard series, and, though no match for his best work, this competent thriller is entertaining enough. Director Stuart Baird makes good use of the set pieces, diverting attention from the once far-fetched but now rather chilling plot in which David Suchet's gang of Arab terrorists is headed towards the US in a hijacked jumbo jet with enough stolen Russian nerve gas to kill millions of Americans. Steven Seagal and the deceptively urbane Kurt Russell share top billing as part of an elite team that sets out in a stealth bomber (Hollywood's favourite prop of the 1990s) to try to defuse the situation.

"...Its action and excitement quotient is top-notch....A slick piece of goods with a dark sense of humor, a highly entertaining arsenal of gadgets and a fair share of unexpected developments..."