When President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) goes off of the regular script at an international dinner and announces that the United States will not bargain with terrorists in any fashion, he has no idea that his challenge will soon be put to the test.  On his way home from Russia, after his remarkable pronouncement, Air Force One is hijacked by terrorists led by Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman).  They are determined to win the freedom of General Ivan Radek (Jurgen Prochnow), a military leader who murdered thousands of people in his bid for power.  The secret service agents on the plane sacrificed themselves to get the President into the escape pod in the belly of the plane, leaving the President's closest advisors, as well as his wife and daughter, at the mercy of the terrorists...