ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996               TAG: 9603190022
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT 

`EXECUTIVE' DELIVERS GOODS

Breaking with the trend of recent years, "Executive Decision" is more a suspense film than an action film. It's not about things blowing up; it's about preventing things from blowing up.

That's a refreshing change, and the film still manages to deliver the goods. It's easy for audiences to buy into the elaborately concocted premise and then to enjoy its extended resolution.

A batch of lethal Russian nerve gas falls into the hands of Muslim terrorists led by Nagi Hassan (David Suchet). They spirit it aboard a transatlantic 747 bound for Washington's Dulles airport, hijack the airliner and demand the release of a comrade, making no mention of the gas.

But David Grant (Kurt Russell), a wily Defense Department think-tank guy, knows that Hassan has turned the plane into "a poor man's nuclear bomb" that could wipe out the East Coast. Lt. Col. Travis (beady-eyed Steven Seagal, whose presence is mercifully brief) proposes that his team sneak aboard the 747 while it's in flight, and invites Grant along for the ride.

The other key personnel are commandos Rat (John Leguizamo) and Cappy (Joe Morton); Cahill (Oliver Platt), an engineer who invented the in-flight transfer procedure; and Jean (Halle Berry), a gutsy stewardess.

Once they've got their high-altitude story rolling, producer-writers Jim and John Thomas spin it out at a carefully crafted pace, building tension through related lines of simultaneous action. Considerable credit goes to production designer Terence Marsh, whose clever sets make the interior of a 747 as complex and surprising as a funhouse. Editor-turned-director Stuart Baird maintains a steady pace, mixing hardware - extreme close-ups of bomb mechanisms, Navy fighter jets in flight, etc. - with enough character work to keep the formula interesting.

Credit the cast with uniformly good performances, too. They manage to make the inherently unbelievable stuff seem real and exciting for more than two hours.

In the end, "Executive Decision" is a perfect example of the big-budget escapism that Hollywood has always done so well; not deep, simply well-polished and fun.

Executive Decision

***

A Warner Bros. release playing at the Salem Valley 8 and Valley View 6. 132 min. Rated R for violence, strong language.

LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Kurt Russell (left) and Whip Hubley star in the 
          action-thriller "Executive Decision." color.