He may be President of the biggest super power in the world but that doesn’t mean he always has to be the right man for the job; imagine Donald Trump winning the 2016 US Presidential election and you’ll know what we mean.
Harrison Ford’s President James Marshall is a one-man army in Air Force One.
On the eve of the US Presidential Election, Instep looks over Hollywood’s treatment of US Presidents through time, drawing out five of the very best.
He may be President of the biggest super power in the world but that doesn’t mean he always has to be the right man for the job; imagine Donald Trump winning the 2016 US Presidential election and you’ll know what we mean. When it comes to politics and films, Hollywood has played around with the President quite a bit. POTUS (President of the United States) has been hijacked, tortured and even ordered to cover up a murder in Hollywood flicks. However, he is also the man who inspires the world to beat the aliens and he’s a bit of a super power in the way he always ends up saving the world.
Let’s take a look at the five shades of POTUS as portrayed in Hollywood films in the last 20 years, because for a complete list of US Presidents portrayed on film and television we might need a special issue!
Jamie Foxx (White House Down, 2013)
Oscar winner Jamie Foxx may not be proud of this film but at least he got to live in the White House through this movie. In this Roland Emmerich flick, President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) joins hands with policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) and defeats those who want to hijack the White House, even if it means tearing it down. James Woods plays the bad guy who wants to avenge his son’s death whereas there is a daughter involved too, to give it a Sudden Impact touch.
In White House Down, Jamie Foxx essays President Sawyer, who joins forces with policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) to defeat criminals from taking over the White House.
Chris Rock (Head of State, 2003)
Who says the US President or Presidential candidate can’t have fun? In Head of State, a random US citizen finds himself in a tough spot when he is chosen to run for the President … and lose. African-American Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock) who rose to fame after saving a woman from an explosion then changes the course of history by speaking the truth, choosing his elder brother (the late Bernie Mac) as his running mate and defeating his opponents by paying back in the language they understand. The movie was released when George W. Bush was the President and the current US President Barack Obama was one of the candidates to replace him.
Gene Hackman (Absolute Power, 1997)
Being POTUS doesn’t mean you can do no wrong; in this Clint Eastwood directed flick, master thief Luther Whitney (Clint Eastwood) witnesses President Richmond (Gene Hackman) and Secret Service agents murder the wife of an influential figure and nearly get away with it. Eastwood’s character takes it on himself to make the President pay and he does in style. You don’t have to be ‘always right’ when you are a resident of the White House. One word: Nixon.
Harrison Ford (Air Force One, 1997)
Harrison Ford was so convincing when he delivered the lines - ‘I am the President of the United States of America’, that one would be forgiven for thinking that he actually ran for the office and won. Wolfgang Petersen called the shots in this movie where Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman) hijacks the Air Force One only to realize that President James Marshall is a one-man army, when provoked. Harrison Ford makes the American President look so good that even the then US President Bill Clinton had to praise the movie.
Bill Pullman (Independence Day, 1996)
And then there is Bill Pullman who must be credited for the best portrayal of an American President on screen in the last 20 years. Planet Earth is under attack and aliens are all set to take control when just one day before the American Independence Day, President Whitmore delivers a speech that gives you goosebumps to this day. He not only devises a strategy (with the help of others) to defeat the aliens but also leads an attack on the mother ship, killing all aliens in the process. He did make his return as former President in the sequel earlier this year but that had no impact on the audience, who were in awe of their favourite screen President’s return.
—Omair Alavi is a freelance journalist and can be contacted at omair78@gmail.com