Traitor and SS Agent Gibbs
Agent Gibbs was the mole from the Secret Service and the quaternary antagonist of Air Force One.
He is portrayed by Xander Berkeley.
Air Force One
President James Marshall seemed to trust Gibbs, but it was revealed to the audience that he was a traitor when he used a Beretta 92FS fitted with a suppressor to shoot several Secret Service agents guarding the on-board armory of Air Force One. He then took a smoke grenade from the armory and pulled the tab after he opened it, alerting Egor Korshunov and his men of the situation. They get up and take weapons from the armory, shooting anyone who attempts to disarm them. Gibbs posed as a hostage for the remainder of the film, and Marshall was foolish enough to give Gibbs a firearm. At the end of the movie, there were about five survivors left on Air Force One, and the U.S. Air Force sent a zip line to rescue the president and his family from Air Force One. After it is revealed that Air Force One is getting too low, and that there is only room for two more people to go, Gibbs shoots Major Caldwell and reveals himself as a traitor to the president. Marshall is enraged and tells Gibbs that he trusted him with his life. Gibbs responds: "So will the next president!" He then instructs Marshall that he is leaving the plane, only for a brief scuffle to ensue. Marshall gets onto the zip line right as it breaks off, stranding Gibbs on the aircraft as it plummets into the Caspian Sea and disintegrates, killing him.
Motivation
Some critics have criticized Air Force One because Gibbs presumably had no motivation for being a traitor. The audience is just left to believe that he simply didn't care about the United States. However, there were deleted scenes that illustrated his motive. It is revealed that Gibbs lost a lot after the end of the Cold War and blamed America for it, therefore justifying being a traitor. However, the scenes were cut for excessive details. Dave Forbes in Olympus Has Fallen bears resemblance to him, although has slightly more fleshed out backstory.
Gallery
Trivia
- Gibbs' portrayer Xander Berkeley would later co-star with supporting Secret Service actor Glenn Morshower on other high-profile shows such as "CSI" and "24".
- There is a lead protagonist named "Agent Gibbs" on the hit show "NCIS" and in the pilot episode, there is a criminal case that involves terrorists taking over Air Force One based on studying the actual 1997 film of the same name.
| Air Force One Characters | |
|---|---|
| Heroes | President James Marshall - Vice-President Kathryn Bennett |
| Villains | Egor Korshunov - General Ivan Radek - Gibbs |
| Allies | White House Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepard - National Security Advisor Jack Doherty - Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchel - Major Norman Caldwell - Secretary of Defense Walter Dean - Attorney General Andrew Ward |
| Henchmen | Andrei Kolchak - Sergei Lenski - Igor Nevsky - Boris Bazylev - Vladimir Krasin |
| First family | Grace Marshall - Alice Marshall |