Another streaming action movie bound to be forgotten as soon as it’s over, those considering watching Heads of State on Prime Video should rethink their options. For a much more entertaining and higher-quality product across the filmmaking spectrum, those looking for an action-thriller that threatens the U.S. President must board Air Force One ASAP.
The critically and commercially successful film pairs bona fide action hero Harrison Ford with superb German filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen, earning $315 million worldwide and scoring two Oscar nominations. With Petersen’s passing in 2022 and current streaming movies suffering from cheap digital camerawork, derivative stories, and formulaic plotting, Air Force One is a refreshing reminder of how fun, exhilarating, and downright amusing action movies used to be in the 1990s.
Why You Should Skip ‘Heads of State’
Amazon MGM Studios
By director Ilya Naishuler (Nobody), Heads of State is a listless, tone-deaf action comedy starring John Cena and Idris Elba. Cena plays The American President, and the formerly famous action movie star, Will Derringer. Elba plays the British Prime Minister and former special forces commando, Sam Clarke. Although these two national leaders do not agree on much politically, they are forced to band together and thwart a deadly plot that aims to kill them both.
A typical buddy-action movie that lives and dies with the palpable rapport between Elba and Cena, Heads of State is a slight time-killing diversion that, despite offering a few laughs, brings nothing new in a long-trampled subgenre. Whether evoking White House Down or Olympus Has Fallen, far more talented and accomplished moviemakers like Roland Emmerich and Antoine Fuqua have covered similar ground, with more memorable results, for more than a decade. Even the unoriginal title refers to Chris Rock’s Head of State, made over 20 years ago.
Beyond the story’s derivative nature, Heads of State projects the same flat, untextured visual aesthetic that many digitally shot movies suffer from. In the quest for cost-effective, Ultra-High Definition clarity, Heads of State falls well short of classic 35mm celluloid prints shot on film. The cheap, monotonous visuals will remind viewers of the vitality of old-school movies built on classic filmmaking techniques.
Outside of Elba and Cena’s exuberant chemistry, the film struggles to meet its objectives as a fresh, original, and genuinely memorable action movie. A routine, paint-by-numbers affair that feels plotted by AI, action movie lovers have heard this song many times before, often with a more assured tone, lasting and satisfying staying power. One excellent example is Wolfgang Petersen’s Air Force One, starring Harrison Ford in the prime of his action movie career.
‘Air Force One’ Soars Over ‘Heads of State’
Columbia Pictures
With a stellar collection of talent above and below the line, Air Force One flies far above Heads of State. Released in 1997, the Wolfgang Petersen film follows the American President, James Marshall (Harrison Ford), whose personal/professional aircraft, Air Force One, is overtaken by terrorists from Soviet-backed Kazakhstan.
When the hijackers demand that the United States free the imprisoned dictator of their country, General Ivan Radek (Jürgen Prochnow), Marshall’s wife, child, closest allies, and Secret Service members are brutally attacked on board while in the air. With his protectors dwindling by the minute, Marshall is forced to fight back and commandeer the plane, and redirect its flight path towards safety. Instead of self-preservation, Marshall heroically vows to keep every innocent bystander on Air Force One alive and free of harm, battering and shooting his way through a throng of Russian villains.
The film ramps up into a fast-flying vehicle for Harrison Ford to flex his action muscles and deliver another believable performance. Those watching the movie feel safe knowing Ford is in charge of the country, knowing deep down that he will not falter. Unlike Heads of States, which strains credulity at every turn, Air Force One does not insult the audience’s intelligence in its quest for old-fashioned escapism. On the contrary, the plot is rife with fascinating geopolitical subtext that glues the thrilling action together.
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Although the supporting cast in Heads of State ranks among the movie’s strong suits, it too can’t compete with Air Force One’s superb ensemble. Beyond Ford and Prochnow, everyone from Gary Oldman, William H. Macy, and Glenn Close to Dean Stockwell, Phillip Baker Hall, and Paul Guilfoyle lend tremendous performances in the film, grounding the high-flying action in rooted reality. Oldman is particularly effective as the terrifying ring-leader, Egor Korshunov.
Past the sublime cast, Wolfgang Petersen once again proves his mastery of big, bold, breathless action set-pieces. One of the wisest moves he made on Air Force One was to hire the great cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (Goodfellas, Gangs of New York), who frames the onboard action with such harrowing tension and claustrophobia that it evokes Petersen’s tour-de-force German submarine movie Das Boot. Include another exquisitely moody score by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith (who replaced Randy Newman at the last minute), and Air Force One rounds out a genuinely moving cinematic experience that most streaming movies grossly lack, including Heads of State.
How Much Did ‘Air Force One’ Gross, Adjusted for Inflation?
Columbia Pictures
Air Force One was made for $85 million, which, adjusted for inflation, equals roughly $170 million in 2025 (the price of Top Gun: Maverick). Upon release on July 25, 1997, Air Force One became a monstrous summer blockbuster en route to becoming the fifth highest-grossing movie of the year. Air Force One grossed a staggering $315 million in global ticket sales (via Box Office Mojo), which equals roughly $621 million when adjusted for inflation in 2025. Air Force One is the third highest-grossing movie of Petersen’s career, behind Troy and The Perfect Storm.
Although Air Force One was financially successful, it was overshadowed by Titanic a few months later when it lost the Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Film Editing to the James Cameron classic. Yet, before Titanic was released in December, Air Force One ruled the summer box office. Coupled with critical acclaim that noted the trenchant commentary on post-Cold War foreign relations, Air Force One struck the perfect balance of hardcore action escapism and political intrigue.
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The simple truth is that, in 1997, Hollywood was far different from what it is nowadays. In 2025, streamers own the day, with studios that are too big to fail producing unoriginal, risk-averse remakes, sequels, and derivative rehashes. While it’s hard to say if Wolfgang Petersen would thrive in this current filmmaking climate, Air Force One flies leaps and bounds above the run-of-the-mill factory-line products like Heads of State.
Although the legendary Wolfgang Petersen passed away in 2022, Air Force One ranks among the top of his lasting cinematic legacy. Those on the fence about watching Heads of State on Prime Video ought to skip and head over to PlutoTV to catch Air Force One before it takes off for another streamer. Air Force One is available to stream on PlutoTV.
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