I saw this film for the first time in theaters with my aunt and a friend, at the time, bad move!(long story) I'm much more analytical now with movies, most of the time. Harrison Ford does a very good president who has a no-nonsense approach to terrorism, led by a cold and merciless terrorist Gary Oldman. The plot is fairly easy to follow, and composer Jerry Goldsmith, who I'd swear Saw composer Charlie Clouser took some tips from) once again has an excellent musical score. Even though I do enjoy this film, I do have a couple issues with it: first, I know Gary Oldman is the primary villian in this film, and the script makes him very easy to hate, more with actions and facial expressions. However, he isn't the only character I couldn't stand, Dean Stockwell as the Defense Secretary, how pathetic, in this case. Aside from Harrison Ford, Glenn Close, the wife played by Wendy Crewson from Good Son and daughter, some characters don't last long enough to even care about. And in movies like this, you have to know the villian has back-up, unfortunately, that cliche has gotten very old for me, along with the "kill the witness formula". All that aside, this also set the stage for two other similiar movies recently released in theaters, both that I watched and overall liked-Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down) This film however, seemed like a blueprint for those films, even though, obviously, the new ones, seemed a lot more intense. In those films, however, at least with White House Down, the media was as bad as the terrorists! When it comes to news reporters and tabloid reporters, whatever celebrities want to dish out at them, including violence, dare I say it? Bravo! Esp. when they are so relentless and don't care who they hurt to get their story, remember Princess Dianna? Don't even get me started!