All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S12E06.Get.Off.My.Plane.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-Kitsune_track3_[eng]

30 years after
his screen debut in Hollywood,

Harrison Ford is a
bona fide global superstar.

Get down!

Typically,
for the actor

who cherished choice
from day one,

by the mid 90s, he was
extending his range

with varied results.

There was a bit of
a lull in his career.

You think that's funny?

But then one day--

I had this crazy idea,

the President as an action hero.

This
is the story behind

one of the 1990s biggest
box office triumphs.

I came here tonight
to be congratulated.

And a role

that nearly slipped out
of Harrison Ford's hands.

Harrison Ford playing the
president of the United States?

It would be
politically impossible.

I'm on the phone
with Kevin Costner.

They gave it to somebody else.

Along with
acting misfortunes.

He broke my fucking rib.

Jumbo
jet-sized personalities.

Here comes Harrison, taxis
right up by Air Force One.

And
the intriguing story

of how those four words...

Get off my plane.

...almost became
the producer's undoing.

I said, "Harrison, this
is gonna break the bank.

It's not gonna work."

So how
did "Air Force One"

even get off the ground?

Is the president secure?

I'm so nervous.

And I looked at her, I
said, "You're Glenn Close."

And
who were the people

who stopped Harrison Ford's
34th movie from blowing up?

I always had this theory

that you never really
succeed in this town,

you just fail at higher levels.

You can't afford to lose big.

Ran out of time.

After a
long run of hit movies,

Harrison Ford's 1995
rom-com, "Sabrina,"

wasn't enjoyed by critics
or the box office.

Which didn't quite
have the audience

I think people had hoped for.

And despite
the Brad Pitt effect.

- He did it.
- I didn't.

"The Devil's Own"
did well at the box office,

but again, failed to
hit a critical nerve.

And sooner or later,
someone gets a bullet.

It seemed
making everyone happy

might be history for Harrison.

Change was in the air
and it sounded like...

Yippee-ki-yay.

Well, well, well.

You know, during the 90s

there was this subgenre
in Hollywood

that was "'Die Hard' on a..."

You know, so you have "Die
Hard" in a building, right?

That's "Die Hard."

Welcome to the party, pal.

And then you have
"Die Hard" on a boat.

I'm just a cook.

-"Die Hard" on a...
- A bus.

How big?

50 feet, at least.

It
seemed every actor

in Hollywood was dying
hard on something.

But long before Harrison's--

"Die Hard" on a plane.

A young Andrew
Marlowe saw a film

that would change his life.

I was a kid of the
"Star Wars" generation.

Harrison Ford has
always been for me

the thinking man's action hero.

Little knowing
his path was going to cross

with the handsome swashbuckler
on the screen one day,

Andrew's next step
would be college.

I came out of USC film school,

my thesis script won
the Nicholl Fellowship

through the academy and
got me a lot of exposure.

But my script was a
small coming-of-age.

So I was up for all these
small coming-of-age movies

and I had always
loved action movies

and smart action movies.

And so I wanted to
reinvent myself.

Andrew
set his sights high,

35,000 feet high at the highest
public office in the land.

This is the time where
Bill Clinton was running

for re-election
against Bob Dole.

And I was looking at
the presidential race

and I had this crazy idea
of casting the president

as an action hero.

How do you isolate
somebody like that

so it's just about them?

I'm like, well, if you're
on the president's plane

and it's flying at 35,000 feet,

there really is no help until
the plane gets on the ground.

So what does that
experience look like?

Probably terrifying.

So could Andrew pick the
Secret Service's brains

for information on this
purely theoretical idea?

At the time, there was
not a lot out on the plane,

where I called the
Presidential Flight Office.

White House Switchboard,
how may I direct your call?

And ask, "Do you have any way

to get the president
off the plane?"

And then they're like...

Trace the call.

"...Anything we say about
the plane is classified

so we can't tell you
anything about it."

Trace the goddamn call.

And then there was a pause

and the person on the other
end of the phone said,

"But it makes sense
that we would have a way

to get the president off the
plane if something happened."

And of course, you know,
the great old movie

"Escape From New York"
starts with the president

on Air Force One.

He gets into an escape pod.

That pod was designed
for a reason, General.

So I thought, okay, at least
I have cinematic precedent

to put an escape
pod on the plane.

Andrew needed
someone to look at his idea

other than the FBI.

I think there's probably
a file on me in D.C.

The writer
expected a script

to cause a Hollywood
bidding war.

You know, in a town
where it feels like

overnight successes
happen all the time.

And I have to say, I had
been working for a while

and struggling for a while.

Until Andrew's producer
friend Jon Shestack

introduced him to...

Beacon Pictures.

...Armyan Bernstein,

a fellow movie
writer and producer,

20 years Andrew's senior.

Film represents
the last best chance

for men and women

to sit together and
dream the same dream.

And both men's dreams
were about to be realized

with the unlikely appearance
of another rising star.

Kevin Costner came
to my house one day.

He had a movie that
he wanted to get made

and he had a script
that he loved

and everyone in town
had turned him down.

I said, "Well, maybe
there's a reason. Maybe...

What is it called?"

He said, "It's called
'Dances with Wolves.'"

"Well, let me read it."

And he said, "Okay."

And what he meant was, okay,
you can read it right now.

He was having a
waffle in my kitchen

and I was like having to
read it in front of him.

And I went like, "Well,
this better be good."

I read it.

It was the best
screenplay I'd ever read.

Everyone said no.

And the Oscar goes to...

"Dances with Wolves."

"Dances with Wolves."

Kevin Costner,

for "Dances with Wolves."

The film would
go on to win seven Oscars

proving Armyan's instincts
for a good story.

But he needed to get that
skill set to another level.

And I realized that
as much success as I had

in the business, that I
didn't have the clout

to actually green light movies.

And so I decided I wanted
to have my own company.

But Beacon
needed friends in... sports?

First year I had
a great hockey team.

But
what does ice hockey

have to do with Armyan?

Beacon Pictures merged

with a company called
Ascent Entertainment Group.

It was run by a guy
named Charlie Lyons.

Ascent
provided pay-per-view

and video distribution services
and was looking to expand.

The timing was perfect

because Armyan's biggest
movie by far was waiting

just outside his office.

The first time I went out
to pitch "Air Force One--"

Andrew's
producer friend, Jon Shestack,

literally opened the door.

He was there when
I went in to pitch.

In walks Jon Shestack.

Armyan was on the
phone with Kevin Costner.

"There's a writer here and
he's got a really good pitch."

I went like, "I'm on the
phone with Kevin Costner."

He went like,
"He's gonna leave."

Costner is like,
"Hey, what's going on?"

I said, "I don't know."

I said, "What is this about?"

"Wait, what's
the story about?"

About the president
and his plane being hijacked

and the president is
a kick-ass president

and he fights back.

And I went like, "I don't know.

The president is a
kick-ass president.

It's not my experience
of presidents."

♪ Oh, Danny Boy ♪

Is that gonna work?

Costner Said,
"That sounds great."

"A kick-ass president?"

He said, "I'd like to be
a kick-ass president."

I got Kevin on the phone
committing to a project

before we've even accepted it.

I have Kevin Costner's
enthusiasm to thank.

And Kevin said, "Well, just
say yes because I'll do it."

"Okay. Just say yes."

They basically
bought it in the room.

At the time, this was
the biggest independent
film ever made

because Beacon was
their own studio.

They were doing it a little
bit like an independent movie

where they had a distribution
deal internationally,

a distribution
deal domestically.

And they were taking that
money to make the film.

We have a deal with Sony.

With a budget of $85 million.

Sony would co-finance
under 50/50 split

receiving domestic
rights to distribution

and Beacon would take
international rights.

It was a blockbuster
budget for us.

Independents, you gotta
protect your downside.

We had Kevin and I
thought, okay, well I got,

I got no downside in this one.

With a
big name and a script,

Andrew thought he was
hitting a home run,

but the star player was
already going to bat

for another team.

And he said, "Oh, I can't
do this for about a year,

a year and a half."

I said, "Well, what if
I just try to set it up

with another actor?"

And he was like, "Well, who?"

For me, I was always writing
in my head for Harrison.

What if I could get
Harrison Ford to do it?

Kevin Costner
can't play the role

of a presint hijacked
on "Air Force One"

due to a filming commitment
on "The Postman."

I'm talking to Kevin.

"What if I could get
Harrison Ford to do it?"

There's a long pause
and he went, like,

"If you can get
Harrison Ford, do it.

What am I gonna do, say no?"

But
Harrison's agent might,

and she was Ford's force field.

The way to get to Harrison
was through Patricia McQueeney,

who was his manager.

But would
the force be with Armyan

when it came to his new script?

After all, McQueeney
was the queen

and Armyan was more of a pawn.

So she reads it, and she
calls me back and she goes,

"I really like this."

So she sent it over to him.

Now, all Armyan
and Andrew's hopes and dreams

of the big time were in
the hands of Harrison Ford.

Every great movie
begins with no.

It's always no. And
anything but yes is no.

"Well, let me think about it."
No. "Maybe." No.

"Let me get back to you
on that." No. "You know..."

No.
Anything but yes is no.

And then
suddenly Armyan's phone rang.

It was Harrison.

He was quick to respond.

He went like, "Yeah, I
love it. Let's go do it."

Would it
really be that simple?

Like most things in Hollywood,
it's not as easy as that.

I think he was slated to do
"Six Days Seven Nights."

Well, then,
what's the bad news?

He's exploring
different roles again. Meaning--

The bad news is we may
be here for a long time.

Harrison's
career was in a bit of a lull

after "The Fugitive."

He had been on the sidelines
due to injury and fatigue.

But he thought this
project would be perfect

to jump-start the next
phase of his career.

Costner said, "If you go to
Harrison Ford, I'll bow out.

If not, I want you
to wait for me."

They said, "Okay look,
let me see

if I can get Harrison.
If not, I'll wait for you."

Despite
Harrison's adventures

in light entertainment,

it was clear the scene was set
for his return to thrillers.

And I think that he saw an
opportunity in this character

to reconnect with the
audience in a particular way.

And the
particular way was, well--

Armyan desperately needed
some Harrison action.

So he called "Six Days
Seven Nights" producer

and friend Joe Roth.

"Could we get you
to move your movie

if we gave you the international
rights to 'Air Force One?'"

And he was like, "What
about the whole world?"

I said, "I can't do that 'cause
we have a deal with Sony."

Sony wasn't happy but
Joe was happy enough

and they moved the movie.

And
while international
distribution rights

went to Joe Roth,

Armyan got Harrison Ford.

Well, now it's public.

I was just so thrilled
when he came on board.

This actor
could move movies.

Now who would direct his return
to a more traditional role?

All the directors we went to,

they really felt that we
needed a lot of money,

a lot more than we had.
I got a little discouraged

and went like,
wow, the top guys,

which I think Harrison would've
liked, we can't afford them.

"Air Force
One" could lose altitude

if Harrison didn't
like his director.

But after multiple inquiries,
one name would surface.

I knew there was a director
named Wolfgang Petersen.

Who directed the
World War II submarine epic,

"Das Boot."

Could Wolfgang be convinced
to captain the ship?

You look at a bunch of people
trapped in a tube underwater

and "Air Force One,"
a bunch of people,

desperate people trapped
in a tube in the air.

You want to get a director who
can direct actors in a tube.

Because you're
shooting on a tube.

A whole movie on a tube.

He was the natural
guy to make that movie.

And Wolfgang had come off
of "In The Line Of Fire."

I wanna be assigned
to the president.

Great experience dealing
with the iconography

of the president
in Washington D.C.

He felt like just
a slam dunk choice.

Now the
delicate subject of pay

would have to be addressed

before Wolfgang's
final boarding call.

And I said, "How much
money would you need

to do 'Air Force One'?

'Cause it's like a submarine,
only it's a plane."

You know, we went back
and forth, you know,

and he had like a bit of
a thick German accent

and he went like, "How
much money do you have?

How much?"

And I said, "Wolfgang
I'm gonna be honest with you,

we have this much money."

And he was like, "Let's go.

What are you talking about?

This is like--
Let's start tomorrow."

In the past,

Harrison had difficult
relationships with directors.

Phillip Noyce, our director,

Harrison might have
called him lurch.

Ridley, a lot of
angry exchanges.

But Wolfgang
had something extra.

Wolfgang, he came
up as an actor.

So his relationship to all the
actors was really very easy.

He's there for you in a way--

This is a very,
very unique talent

that all the great
directors have.

But because
Harrison was going to be a--

Kick-ass president
and he fights back.

He'd need
a kick-ass bad guy.

It's so nice to finally
meet you in person.

You get Gary Oldman because--

He can
do mythological.

He can do historical.

Lee Harvey Oswald.

Terrorist was a treat

Oldman had never tasted before.

Getting Gary Oldman is like

getting one of the
greatest actors ever.

You think I'm a monster?

Gary is so fantastic
at channeling,

you know, what I
call bad guy energy.

You are a monster.

- In this movie, he's charming.
- Hello.

- Funny.
- Thanks for the water.

- Scary.
- Then you must know that.

- Crazy.
- Now!

He plays a lot of
colors really well.

But if
Gary could be evil,

his Secret Service
co-conspirator would
need to be evil,

treacherous and patient.

And I'd met with Wolfgang.

And Wolfgang and I hit
it off right off the bat.

From all accounts,
gotten the part.

They gave it to somebody else.

Like really, it's not happening?

They went with somebody else?
Hmm.

- He can't do that.
- He must have no choice.

While the casting
of First Lady Wendy Crewson

and screen daughter, Liesel
Matthews, was straightforward,

Chief of Staff, Paul
Guilfoyle's audition

with Wolfgang was as confusing
as Xander Berkeley's.

He said, "Oh no."

You know, he had a German
accent. I won't do his accent.

But he said, "No, I
know you can act.

You know, there's no problem
with that, I know you can act.

I just wanted to see
if you're a good guy."

- What's he doing?
- That's not the speech.

Wolfgang thought
Paul was such a good guy he--

Offered me two parts

and I said, "Wolfgang, the
movie is about being on a plane,

isn't it, I mean,

I'd rather play the part,
the guy who's on the plane."

The other role?

I'm the Secretary of Defense.

Dean Stockwell
played it actually.

- The buck stops here.
- And very well.

But the
all-important VP?

That vacancy was still unfilled.

When I wrote the script,

it was important to me to try

and move the cultural
conversation forward.

So when we were looking at the
vice presidential character,

I always wanted that
character to be a woman.

Harrison agreed

and said as much on a phone
call from a birthday party

he was attending with
some very big celebrities.

He was with Bill Clinton.

And Bill Clinton
was saying,

"I love this movie, you know.
Who are we casting

as the vice president?"
I said, "I don't know."

He said, "Would you cast
a woman?" I said, "Yeah."

And he said, "Would you cast,
I don't know, Glenn Close?"

He's not asking.

And I knew I was being
set up at that moment.

I knew that Harrison and Bill

and Glenn Close were
literally together.

Do it.

I said, "I love Glenn Close"

"Well, she's very happy that
you would just cast her

in the part, you know."

And so it was like
we had our cast.

Everything
was going beautifully

until Harrison told Armyan
about his little hobby.

I don't suppose
you know how to fly.

Harrison decided
that he wanted

to actually learn how to fly.

Little planes never jets.

While
acting alongside

a typical neurotic
William Macy,

the real Harrison had not
only bought a light aircraft,

he was learning to fly it.

He said,
"What do you mean?

You don't think I'm
a capable pilot?"

I said, "No, no, you're
a beginning pilot"

How do I get it off autopilot?

"I'm nervous, aren't you?"

It's like riding a bike.

"I don't want you
to learn how to fly."

He said, "I have to
learn how to fly.

I fly the plane and the
thing I got to know."

I said, "Couldn't you just learn
a little?" And he goes, "No."

I'm gonna have to

maneuver this thing.

I think what happened is
that Harrison actually bought

the insurance himself.

Armyan was
having to watch every penny.

And when it came to the most
expensive prop in the movie,

Bill Sandell had to do likewise.

I'm pretty well scrutinized

in the art department,
budget-wise.

You're spending
millions of their money.

When you're an independently
financed film company,

you can't afford to lose big.

It would be like how are we
going to dig out of that hole?

Invariably the studios
like, why do you need this?

And you have to explain
to them why you need it.

There was no CGI-ing
in their way out of this one

and no prop department had one
of these on their back lot.

Can't get anything
off the shelf.

And you could rent them.

What does it take to get
what we are hoping for?

And it costs a million
or two to rent the plane.

Um--

Harrison Ford,
Glenn Close and a 747.

How far could Armyan stretch
his $85 million budget...

Air Force One is
severely crippled.

...when VFX
demands we're still very much

a moving target.

It's not cost
effective to crash

a real 747 into the ocean.

"Air Force One"
had everything.

- President.
- Y know who I am.

Chief of Staff.

I'm afraid it might be me.

Right away, that gives
you a sense of relief.

National
Security advisor.

First
Lady, villain, producer,

writer, director, VP.

But they didn't have--

The president's
plane, Air Force One.

You can't get
anything off the shelf.

But Bill
Sandell's art department
would have a...

Big heavy 747.

...size
job on its hands.

The movie would need CGI
planes, model planes,

a real plane and the
inside of a plane.

That's a lot of plane to throw

at an already
buckling budget, but--

There are no blueprints
for Air Force One.

Nobody really knows what Air
Force One looks like inside.

But I did find this
documentary on Air Force One

that was on VHS.

And there's this one moment
where they do a push in

on a cutout of the plane.

So I was like pushing pause,

just trying to get
to the right moment.

Like I finally got it

and I did this little sketch

so I could lay out
some of the action.

But would a low res

VHS freeze frame give
up enough detail?

I talked to technical
advisors, ex-Secret
Service people,

ex-press people that
had been on the plane.

But it's not much help.

It's a pretty
secretive airplane.

A lot of planes
features are classified.

Bill realized
this would have to be

an inside job.

You think someone on
the plane helped them?

What if somebody did and
they're still on the plane?

Another
Bill came to the rescue

courtesy of his high
flying friend, Harrison.

Bill Clinton,
Harrison knew him

and Bill Clinton was
like, "I love this movie."

And he said,
"Whatever you need."

If you'd like, I think we
have time for a quick tour.

So sure enough,
Saturday morning,

myself, the first
assistant, Wolfgang,

and Michael Ballhaus,
the cinematographer,

heading for Jackson, Wyoming.

We land our corporate jet

right there and
there's Air Force One.

Here comes Harrison
in his own plane.

In any other universe, a
big gunship would've come out

and shot that plane
right out of the air.

But no, he's right
up by Air Force One.

Only he could get
away with that.

But I guess Harrison
had arranged something
with his buddy,

the president of
the United States.

What of the
alleged escape capabilities?

The only thing we wanted
to know. Was there a pod?

And they said no.
And we went...

"Wrong answer."

Wolfgang says,
"What's back there?"

"We can't take you back there."

Wolfgang goes, "There's
a pod back there, Bill."

I said, "I think so, Wolfgang."

We found the escape pod.

Why wouldn't they have a pod?

Harrison's
friend was not forthcoming

on the alleged
escape capabilities.

The question is,
does it fit one person?

Where's my family?

Get in the pod, sir. Get in.

Why wouldn't it be
like three people?

Where is my husband?

Sorry, honey.

He has fled.

I'm serving the
people, you know.

Artistic
license would be applied

to Air Force One's interior.

But the outside.

That took a lot of
looking to find a 747.

Finally found one in Ohio.

It was actually owned by Connie
Kalitta, the race car driver.

But once we found a plane
that was a whole other...

...whole other issue.

This rental
would need a repaint.

But dry summer days
were long gone.

We flew that plane all
across the United States

trying to find the right
weather so we could paint it.

But we can't do it,
we can't get it done.

Fly it back across the country.

Finally we found
someplace in Texas.

Oh, I was so happy to
see that plane land.

And the cost of painting
the president's ride?

Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching.

$300,000 officially.

It costs a lot to
paint an airplane.

I found out the hard way.

We could run the
whole country from here

or even a war if we had to.

And we added some things.

For instance, there aren't
guns stored readily available.

There's no way to get
weapons aboard Air Force One.

It's impossible.

Which is pivotal to the plot.

How would they get the
weapons on board the plane?

And those are all
accommodations for script.

Bending authenticity

could only be taken so far.

Harrison tried on a
presidential fashion,

not seen since Teddy Roosevelt.

Harrison wanted
to wear a mustache.

I said, "Harrison,
don't. Please don't."

And he said, "No,
I gotta have this."

And I told Wolfgang.

Who
was clean shaven.

He went like, "What? No."

And Harrison opened the door

and Wolfgang said, "Get
rid of your mustache.

You look like an
idiot. Stop it."

And Harrison went, "All right."

"All right"? Really?

Filming
for "Air Force One"

kicked off in September, 1996

with Xander Berkeley
still out of the picture.

They gave it to somebody else.

That
somebody else is this man

doing Xander's part.

Welcome to Air Force One.

One of the things you learn

as an actor is to depersonalize

when they go with somebody else.

But the
Xander impostor

didn't get to be Secret
Service Agent Gibbs.

He was just Secret
agent generic.

They shot one
night with that guy

and they kept his scene in.

I haven't seen him in a
while, but a good guy.

This plane carries the
president of the United States,

- although we--
- I understand.

So it looked like he
was the guy in charge.

And then when they
got on the plane,

I was the guy in charge.

They should all
take their seats.

Right away.

Aerial scenes
shot with real planes

allowed still rudimentary
CGI to take a back seat.

But the weather would
have different ideas.

It had to be shot
early in the morning

before the sun came out.

So we had to be in position
with these aircraft

ready to shoot 15
minutes, that was it.

At this point we
have to be realistic.

It's going to take more time.

It ended up taking
us seven flights

that ended up being six and
a half days of every morning,

every evening shooting
this thing to get it done.

The time we have, messy.

While all
was clear in the air

official clearance confusion
commenced on the ground

during scene shot
at LA's airport.

That was kind of a
situation when we kept landing

our Air Force One at LAX

because everybody didn't know

and everybody
didn't get the memo.

Air Force One landing
runway zero-nine.

I repeat runway zero-nine.

Here we come with our painted
747 Air Force One landing.

Air Force One, acknowledge.

We are scrambling our fighters.

Emergency equipment
will be standing by.

Absolute pandemonium.

Returning
to LAX every day

in the Air Force One
replica had authorities

outside the fence wondering

why real planes were
doing unreal things.

"No one's alerted.

How is Air Force One landing?"

And we had gun ships.

You know, that fly
with the Air Force Ones.

"Something's going
wrong in the tower--"

"No, no, no, it's fine.

It's a movie, don't
worry about it."

With
its own film office

to handle movie projects,

legal hurdles were
non-existent at LAX.

For interiors, Air
Force One packed up

and moved across town
to Sony Picture Studios.

It was like "The
Wizard of Oz" set.

So it was the biggest
soundstage in Hollywood.

Huge, huge.

747s are about 230 feet.

And so we built 200 feet of it.

But Bill forgot
the old "measure twice cut once"

building fundamental
on one detail,

which former carpenter
Harrison spotted

before it became an
expensive problem.

One day I was in my golf
cart driving through Sony

and I was getting
rammed behind me

by somebody in a golf
cart and it's Harrison.

He said, "Can you get the
footprints of the plane

and bring it over
to my trailer?"

I said, "Sure."
He'd seen a problem

where he's supposed to hide
down below.

'Cause he said, "I think you
need to widen that hatch."

And he's right.

But now
the challenge was making

the onscreen effect of
plane movement real.

When they're
flying this plane,

they're doing this, you know.

And Wolfgang wanted
that actual movement.

So it's not like the
old "Star Trek" days

when everybody leans left.

Holding orbit, sir.

Lean right.

Stay on top of it, Mr. Sulu.

You really want people's

things to slide off
the table and move.

And did that table
move, resulting in a scene

Xander Berkeley
will never forget?

Literally like--

All that would happen is
we'd get knocked off our feet.

Because we were
all like holy shit.

And movie making is dangerous.

I've almost been killed
at least a dozen times.

But there
was the possibility

that the actors
might die of boredom.

And if you die in that plane,

does it end there?

It's very claustrophobic.

And it wasn't like where
every day you get to go out

to a new location

and it's kind of a new vibe.

- Trapped in a tube.
- Was in a tube.

Shooting on a tube.

It was up
to Director Wolfgang

to calm the cabin
during turbulence.

He knows how to just
put people at ease.

You know, he is got this
wonderful folksy German accent.

Now I get these
calls late at night

and he'd be like, "Andrew,
I've been thinking."

And now remember to say,
"Good morning, Uncle Wolfie.

He said, "You know, this scene,
it might require

almost no acting at all."

"In this particular sequence,

you are all very
small in the frame

so it will not require such
very good acting."

"Und we must get it before lunch
or there will be no lunch!"

And he turns and walks away.

You have to buy
us some more time.

And then he would say,

"Saturday work is
looming."

Knowing that it wasn't a set

that provided the
kind of stimulus

that some locations and sets do,

he created the ambiance

and the atmosphere of
camaraderie, good humor.

Spencer Garrett
would quickly find himself

in on the action.

I did a bunch of TV

and a couple of little indie
films that nobody's ever seen.

Just thrilling
for a young actor.

We don't need more
dramatics, we need options.

There's a lot of scenes with
Glenn and Dean Stockwell

and all of a sudden you
see my little head pop up

in between them.

And I was just trying to find
the lens wherever I could.

By God, I was gonna
find that lens.

And they better be damn
good and they better work.

And I did.

I thought if this
is my only invitation

to the big boy grownups' table.

Yeah, I was just,

I was just finding that lens.

Didn't they teach
you that at Yale?

And then it was
time for Close's closeup.

Sweating through that
silk blouse of yours.

And Wolfgang says,

"This is the scene
where you're gonna cry

and we're gonna be
right super tight on you."

And she said, "Which eye?"

"Which eye do you want
me to cry out of?"

And I thought, goddamn.

Left for
Glenn, right for us.

That's, I mean that's,

that's iconic.

But in this scene,

Harrison Ford was also tearing
up... Andrew Marlowe's script.

I had a, kind of a little
mini monologue for him

when he was going up against
Gary Oldman's character.

You've been very
busy downstairs.

And he said "Great monologue.

Really great monologue,
kid, I'm not gonna do it."

No.

"Wait, what do you
mean you're not gonna do it?"

No.

"I can do it in a look and
it's gonna be more powerful."

And he did.

That fight between
Gary Oldman and Harrison.

They were really banging
each other around.

They're both professionals

and they knew how to do it.

You whack me in the ear, okay?

I was like hovering
around the corner

of the set watching this.

Harrison was
playing the kick-ass president

like a pro

and even at the age of 54

seemed to possess
remarkable energy.

He's humble, he's very
smart, he's thoughtful,

incredibly professional.

He had the best
marijuana in the world.

I'll never forget him
coming out of his trailer

and just the waft
of chronic.

Going, "Wow, that's strong."

Equally hazy was
why Xander's screen character

would betray his chief.

Andrew Marlowe, I asked him
every day that I came to work.

"So why is Agent
Gibbs doing this?"

So I had a mini
monologue for him

where the character
really explained

what his motivation was.

I trusted you with my life.

We're about a week
away from shooting it.

And Wolfgang came
to me and said,

"We're trying to get the
president off the plane.

We can't stop the movie to
explain why this guy did it."

And he and Wolfgang
would keep putting me off.

"We haven't decided yet."

"Is it for the money?"

"We aren't sure yet."

"Is he a deep mole of
the Communist Party?"

"We'll keep our options open."

We ended up dropping that

so we didn't get
the explanation.

It was you?

I had to remain a blank slate

feeling a bit of a fraud,

not knowing what
my motivation was.

I've been approached on
the street back then.

They go, "What the hell
did you do that for, man?"

"I don't know.

Sorry, they never told me."

Xander
can laugh now,

but he was about
to get the smile

or rather the grimace wiped
off his treacherous face.

I went down like a sack of
potatoes 'cause I got his,

I think it was his left hook.

As the birds and stars
are circling he goes,

"Ah, are you okay?"

I had to recover before we
could complete the sequence.

Movies that you see me in before
"Air Force One" and after.

This way it looks all right,

but this way...

Just a little bit of a...

Now "Air
Force One" had to create

another nose dive,

a crunching VFX budget
and time constraints

in the post-production phase.

Boss Film Studios would
be given the VFX job

for "Air Force One."

We had a good
relationship with Wolfgang.

Founded by a veteran

who worked on two
Ford blockbusters.

She's got it where
it counts, kid.

And...

We had a certain budget.

I think they could
do it for that.

With CGI
still in its infancy

and a restricted budget,

Boss recycled a scale model

from the previous movie.

We had an Air Force One model
that had a 21-foot wingspan.

It could pitch 45
degrees either way.

Used in
the movie "Turbulence"

released only months earlier.

I think it's a Ford.

Richard's model
for that film would be perfect

but not quite perfect.

It has the wrong jets,

it doesn't have the
Rolls-Royce jets.

A little problem here.

Nobody busted us for that.

We're clear.

But one
classic effects trick

would do a lot of heavy lifting
when Harrison had to fly.

It was the most
green screen set

that ever was done.

That was a complicated stunt.

Conditions were perfect

for a practical joke on the
biggest star in Hollywood.

It was at the end of the day,

had Harrison up in a harness,
somebody had an idea like,

let's just leave
him hanging up there

and just say goodnight as
if we forgot about him.

And we all walk off.

Except for a few of us who were
just hiding in the shadows

and we're waiting
for Harrison to go,

"Hey, what's happening?" Right?

Or, "What are you doing?"

All you hear after like
five minutes, he goes,

"I can outwait you,

I got all day, all night."

Then I was like,

Damn, we couldn't, we--

There was no practical joke.

He was just like, "Nah,
it's not gonna happen."

But the
biggest challenge

for the VFX team was no joke.

Air Force One
hitting the water.

Richard couldn't go practical
for a very simple reason.

It's not cost effective

to crash a real
747 into the ocean.

No take twos on that one.

"Air Force
One" needed groundbreaking

or water-breaking
visual effects.

It's all downhill
from there, right?

To make
the digital plane

match the genuine article.

Wolfgang is a pretty
straightforward guy

and he knows what he wants

and we were able
to give it to him.

Except for the last shot.

Visual effects at the end
of the film I think are

a bit of a controversy.

It looked a bit cartoonish.

No!

The technology for water
was just not there, you know?

Adding
to the challenge,

the DP would insist
on morning light.

Which made the shot
infinitely more difficult.

You know darkness
is your friend.

Light makes it much
more difficult.

I think everybody wanted a
second shot at that.

We didn't have that ability
yet at Boss for that shot.

We ran out of time, basically.

The "Air Force
One" visual effects didn't seem

that bad until another
water-based blockbuster

that was being made at
the same time

showed what was really possible.

Armyan was also worried
about his company's future,

which seemed hung on
four famous words written

as a placeholder.

I had a line that I thought,

this is just a kind
of a throwaway line.

I need something in there.

I didn't want there to be
the line, "Get off my plane."

I was afraid of it

because I felt that the
audience would think

that it was sort of jokey.

But I should think
of something better.

Remember
Armyan was a writer too.

Would he have any ideas?

Stop bothering me.

I get...

You're hurting my feelings.

Get behind it.
Let's get to work.

We get this plane
on the ground.

We get these people off.

- Get the door.
- Get me ops.

Get them off my tail.

No, that's not better.

And I couldn't think
of anything better.

I'm certain it's
not gonna work.

By now as
a veteran of cinema,

Harrison disagreed.

And Harrison said, "No,
no, no, they'll like it."

I'm like, "I don't think so."

"Why don't we just test it?"

I said, "Well,
we're gonna test it.

But, Harrison, this is
gonna break the bank.

I am certain it's
not gonna work."

Do it.

A re-shoot
would break the bank.

So Richard's edit team
would work furiously

on the final mix
to make deadline.

And the music
was being recorded

on the scoring stage next door.

We had to wait

till they'd finished
recording it.

We got a job to do

whatever the cost.

And then it came
across and we edit it.

We could finally
finish the film.

I've never actually
worked on a film

when it's-- You have
to stop mixing

because you don't
have the score.

So that's how tight
it got at the end.

It won't end there.

It was
full steam ahead

towards the release
in July of 1997.

But remember that film with
the amazing water effects?

It was on a similar
collision course.

"Titanic" landed on our date.

Iceberg right ahead.

This is bad, right?

Bad politics.

And they said, "Who
can call the other studio?"

We need to strategize, move
some things out politically.

The two studios
knew they had quite something

to show the world.

A world they'd have to share.

Let's have Harrison
call.

What's the goddamn number?

All right, listen.
Listen carefully.

So he did.

He moved "Titanic"?

Yeah and they moved "Titanic."

And James Cameron?

That was pretty cool.

Unlike Titanic,

Beacon and partners,
Ascent, weren't out

of the ice fields yet.

Their investment in "Air
Force One" couldn't sink.

Come on, come on.

Ascent Entertainment
had purchased Beacon.

They also ran the
Colorado Avalanche.

Whose star player,

Joe Sakic, needed
a top up in pay.

$15 million upfront
signing bonus.

And whether or not "Air
Force One" performed was key

to whether they kept
their great hockey player

or whether he went to New York.

We couldn't afford
to match the salary.

The only way the
Rangers could get their hands

on Sakic was if "Air
Force One" crashed.

Don't go to see the movie

'cause if he went
to see the movie,

we could afford to
keep our best player.

And so they took out ads,
"Don't go see 'Air Force One.'"

"Don't go see 'Air Force One.'"

With
"Titanic" delayed

to accommodate Air
Force One's release

and industry sabotage to force
the sale of a hockey star...

And so they took out ads,

"Don't go see 'Air Force One.'"

...and Beacon
Pictures' future on the line...

You can't afford
to actually lose big.

Harrison Ford's
presidential adventure

had a lot riding on it.

Also, just coming
off of "Sabrina."

There was a bit of
a lull in his career.

Feeling his
reputation hanging by a thread

at the preview,
Armyan sat with Harrison

and his parents waiting
for the reaction

to the one thing that
was troubling him.

But here comes the line

and I'm sitting there and I'm
like slinking down in my seat

and all of a sudden
Harrison says...

Get off my plane.

The theater leaps to
their feet in a preview.

They're cheering.

Yeah. Yeah.

They're hugging each other.

And Harrison starts to
toss his popcorn on me.

It's really great.

Everyone loves it.

Get off my plane.

Who talks like that?

"Air
Force One" was released

on July 25th, 1997.

Harrison's friend Bill loved it,

but would the American public?

All Armyan could do
was wait for the call.

Jeff Blake, who's
the head of marketing

and distribution for
all of Sony says,

"Look, I think it could do

'Fugitive' numbers, maybe."

I said, "What's that?"

He said like, "21,
23 million maybe."

I said, "Really?
Wow, are you kidding?"

He was like, "I don't
want to get you excited

and then have you
be disappointed."

"I'm gonna call you
every 15 minutes."

And he calls and he says,

"I was wrong about 'Fugitive.'

You're not gonna
get that number."

"Where do you think
we're gonna land?"

He said, "I think it's gonna be

37 and a half million dollars."

Harrison and Pat McQueeney,

everyone's looking at me
going, "What does he say?"

I say, "It's not
good. It's not good."

I said, "It's the largest
opening in film history."

We all cried.

Why not?

I could cry now thinking
about it, it's like so sweet.

It's like you won the
Super Bowl, that's great.

Against
its $85 million budget

"Air Force One"
would go on to earn

over $315 million worldwide

as the fifth highest
grossing film of 1997

and the best of all...

And we can afford to
keep our best player.

It's like that's kind of cool.

Earnings
would help retain Joe Sakic

for the Colorado Avalanche

and provide Beacon Pictures

the capital to produce 30 more
films over the next 20 years.

"Air Force One"
was what defined us.

And it would
only further enhance

Ford's bankability.

If he can sell,
"Get off my plane,"

he can sell anything.

At the
start of his career,

Harrison swung hammers
to supplement his income

so he could choose his films.

But in the 90s, he'd
pick up a shovel

to dig his way out
of career doldrums

and "Air Force One" was the
vehicle to power Harrison Ford

through the next 30
years of on-screen magic.

He's gotten to play some
unbelievably iconic roles.

That are pivotal
to me growing up.

Junior?

Don't call me that, please.

One of the most professional
actors I ever worked with.

I did not sign up for this.

There are things
that Harrison Ford,

only Harrison Ford can do.

He stops and he looks...

Absolutely down the
line, down to earth.

What do you want?

Some things never change.

You still drive me crazy.

He certainly seems to be
enjoying still working.

He's effortless.

He doesn't look
like he's trying.

If Harrison was here and
the red light went on,

he wouldn't even blink.

Like that.

He was like made
for the movies.

That's why he's a movie star.

Harrison Ford is Harrison Ford.

And he is, he's Harrison Ford.

It's like, he's that guy.

I mean, the guy
remains an icon

and he's shown us that
he can do it all.