Executive Decision (1996) Scenes and Screenplay: Cappy Hour
Scenes with Cappy and the chattering bomb steal the show in the second hour of Executive Decision, a political thriller I recently watched for the first time.
This article is part of a series where I write about an older movie using insights from a piece of memorabilia. For Executive Decision I collected the ninth production rewrite of the studio-issued screenplay used by the movie's location manager. He passed away in 2024 and his family sold the script at an estate sale. This article is dedicated to him!
Executive Decision is a movie I had never heard about until weeks ago when I discovered an auction for a collection of studio-issued screenplays owned by the movie's location manager. I was aware of the other movies the location manager worked on—Demolition Man, Lethal Weapon 4, and The Green Mile—and knew I wanted to bid on those screenplays but was unsure about Executive Decision, so I decided to check it out.
The opening scene with Lt. Colonel Austin Travis (Steven Seagal) and his commandos infiltrating the Chechen compound, strangely similar to the opening scene of Air Force One, was not promising. Nor was the next scene that introduced David Grant (Kurt Russell). Nor was the next scene that introduced the terrorists via flashback. I nearly lost hope, changed the movie, and decided to scrap the opportunity of collecting the original screenplay. But then something happened. In the boardroom scene with Grant, Travis, and the joint chiefs, the movie started following the direction of the screenplay and I ended up loving the movie. Of course, I know it started following the screenplay because I placed a winning bid for the script.
In the ninth production rewrite of the script, the story opens with the lead terrorist at his daughter’s wedding. In this scene we are also introduced to his right-hand man Nagi (David Suchet) who ends up hijacking the 747 later on. In the screenplay, the wedding is crashed by mercenaries, Jaffa is captured, and we understand the relationship and motives of these villains who incite the conflict of the story. In the movie, however, this scene is diluted into a 30-second flashback. It's presented out of context after we're introduced to Grant and makes for an awkward watch.
But the movie redeems itself and then some. When Oliver Platt’s character (Cahill) nervously explains the Ramora mechanism that can allow the commandos to infiltrate the 747 mid-air, the heart of the screenplay written by brothers Jim and John Thomas (Predator, Behind Enemy Lines) begins to beat. The skills of long-time editor and debut director Stuart Baird also begin to shine. Much of the story takes place in the confines of the 747’s fuselage and cargo hold yet the pacing is relentless.
“Stuart and I have worked on many, many action pictures together,” said Joel Silver, the producer who made ten movies before Executive Decision that each earned over $100 million in global box-office sales, including Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and Predator. “Stuart has a terrific sense of pacing and really understands how to build a movie," he told Warner Bros. in the movie's press kit.
Strong performances are also delivered by John Leguizamo who plays Rat (and also an actual rat two years later in Doctor Dolittle) and Joe Morton who plays Cappy. While watching the movie, I frequently shouted “Cappy!” with celebration and came to appreciate the acting skills of these actors all the more. I'm especially excited now to revisit Morton's performance as Miles Dyson in Terminator 2: Judgement Day in which he also has a bomb scene. "I don't know how much longer I can hold this," he says in T2 while hyperventilating, grasping at his last sips of air before dropping the weight on the detonator.
BOOM!
No one does a bomb scene better than Morton.
“It was great working with this cast who all play characters a little out of their usual roles,” said Baird. “It was also great working with Joel again, and I was impressed with the various layers of the story, the moments of action counterbalanced by the suspense and tension.”
I’ll have to rewatch Air Force One, a movie Executive Decision is often compared to, but with the exception of the opening scenes and character development of the terrorists (AFO is better here), I’m inclined to say that Executive Decision is the smarter, sharper picture. My question though to you is: If Harrison Ford’s hero line in AFO is “Get off my plane,” what is Kurt Russell’s in Executive Decision? Or maybe more importantly, what's your favorite line from Cappy?
My favorite scenes from Executive Decision
Scenes with Cappy and Cahill steal the show in the second hour, but I also especially enjoyed scenes with Rat placing the snake cams into the cabin while pulleying through the overhead section of the plane. It's now clearer to me why so many people love John Leguizamo, including Amanda Kusek of The 90-Minute Movie who wrote about four of his movies last "John-uary".
How to watch the scenes: To watch the scenes featured below without Movieclips, you can rent or buy the movie on YouTube and click the timestamp links. If you already own the movie, use Movies Anywhere to link your license to YouTube.
Bomb program test scene: Cappy’s dead!
I love so much about this scene—Rat whispering, the chattering bomb, Cahill freaking out, Grant telling Cahill to calm down, and, of course, Cappy spasming on his stretcher as the sleeper runs a program test on the bomb. Cappy spasms two more times like this after regaining consciousness, a body movement that made Cappy one of my new favorite characters in cinematic history and what, from this point forward, I’ll call B4: the Beeping Bomb Body Bop. Friends: look out for it on the dance floor.
INT. FORWARD BAGGAGE COMPARTMENT – NIGHT
Cappy now barely conscious from the tension and morphine.
CAPPY
(in pain, groggy)
Someone just ran a program test on the bomb. Whoever it is, they’ve got an override switch... with their finger right on the goddamned trigger!
RAT (V.O.)
Christ, can you override it?!
There’s no reply -- Cappy is unconscious.
RAT (V.O.)
Cappy, I said, can you override it?!
Cahill sees Cappy is unconscious.
CAHILL
He’s dead. Jesus, Cappy’s dead!
GRANT (V.O.)
Cahill, calm down, I’ll be right there.
–-> Ninth Production Rewrite, Scene 196 <--The movie stayed true to this version of the scene in the screenplay and it’s what made me go all-in as a first-time viewer.
The red wire scene: Cappy wakes up!
The timing of Cappy waking up just as Cahill is about to blow them up defuses the tension of the movie with a spark of comedy. “Whatever you do, do not cut that red wire.” I was as relieved as Cahill when Cappy awoke from his groggy slumber in this scene.
INT. FORWARD BAGGAGE COMPARTMENT - CLOSEUP – BOMB
At this point Cappy opens his eyes, looking into his mirror, seeing Cahill’s hand, the wires...
CAPPY
(groggy)
Cahill... whatever you do... don’t cut that wire...
Grant and Cappy turn, Cappy now awake.
GRANT
(relief)
Cappy, thank god...
Baker’s voice breaks in on the com line...
BAKER (V.O.)
(filtered)
Grant, we’re about ready to try this.
GRANT
Be right there.
CAHILL
Grant, you can’t leave me!
GRANT
Cahill, you don’t need me. You’ve got Cappy.
–-> Ninth Production Rewrite, Scene 218 <--If only we all had a Cappy, what a beautiful world it’d be.
Decoy bomb scene: Cappy and Cahill go fishing
After breaking his back, taking a hit of morphine, and resurrecting himself from unconsciousness, Cappy finds the wherewithal to help a nervous Cahill with a brief breathing exercise. True to Cappy’s excellent character, this simple exercise is actually a guided meditation in the ninth production rewrite of the script (below) in which Cappy describes a pine forest with an emerald green pond of heavenly trout.
INT. FORWARD BAGGAGE COMPARTMENT – CLOSEUP – BOMB – NIGHT
Cappy realizes Cahill’s nerves are nearing the limit.
CAPPY
All right, put it down, Cahill. Relax. I’m right here.
(thinks)
You know anything about fishing?
CAHILL
(numb)
No… I hate fish.
CAPPY
Doesn’t matter. Shut up and listen. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes.
(beat)
You're in the middle of a pine forest... beside the most beautiful pool of deep, green water you've ever seen... Focus on the water... keep watching, eyes on the water...
Cahill's breathing slows, his face beginning to relax. Cappy closes his eyes, absorbed into the image.
CAPPY
A trout rises... causing a ripple in the water... smooth concentric rings slowly spreading across the surface... They settle, the water calming... smooth and cool, like glass...
(softly)
Now open your eyes and cut that wire.
–-> Ninth Production Rewrite, Scene 227 <--We get another glorious B4 from Cappy when Cahill cuts the wire and the bomb goes berserk. "It's a fucking decoy!"
Bomb detonation scene: Cahill sticks the straw
Grant looks life-or-death nervous when he emerges from the elevator with Jean. It's unclear how and why his hair and clothes are suddenly different, but the scene still works. (In the screenplay, Grant kills a guard in the elevator and changes into his clothes before emerging with Jean in an attempt to blend in as a terrorist.)
Any scene gaps are forgiven since we're gifted with a final B4 from Cappy as the bomb prongs clamp down on Cahill's straw and the bomb nearly explodes. When I watched this scene for the first time I wondered why it felt so familiar. And now, while writing this, it hits me: the shot of Cahill yelling is similar in tone of the final scene in Goldeneye (1995) with Boris. Both Cahill and Boris are brainiacs but only Boris blows up. Why? Boris didn't have a Cappy.
Keep the scene going
If you love Executive Decision and the scenes featured in this article, you can keep the scene going in a bunch of fun ways.
Preview the screenplay for the ninth production draft distributed to cast and crew members.
Shop Executive Decision memorabilia including studio-issued posters, photos, press kits, props, screenplays, storyboards, and more.
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