Editing Executive Decision (section)

===Critical response===
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 62% based on reviews from 42 critics, with an average rating of 6.30/10. The site's consensus states: "''Executive Decision'' adheres entertainingly to classic action thriller formula, proving a genre outing doesn't need to win points for originality to be solidly effective."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/executive_decision/ |title=Executive Decision (1996) |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=2024-05-24 |archive-date=2024-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603031211/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/executive_decision |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]] the film has an approval rating of 62 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics.<ref name="metacritic">{{cite web |title= Executive Decision |url= https://www.metacritic.com/movie/executive-decision |website= [[Metacritic]] }}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= Cinemascore |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref>

[[Leonard Maltin]] called it "a tense, inventive thriller" which needed more editing.<ref>{{cite book|title=Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|year=2014|isbn=9780698183612|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F60TAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT725}}</ref>  Leonard Klady of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote, "The picture's logic may be a bit fast and loose, but its action-and-excitement quotient is top-notch."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/auds-likely-to-decide-in-favor-of-executive-1200445413/|title=Review: Auds Likely to Decide in Favor of 'Executive'|last=Klady|first=Leonard|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=1996-03-10|access-date=2014-09-27|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093739/http://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/auds-likely-to-decide-in-favor-of-executive-1200445413/|url-status=live}}</ref>  [[Roger Ebert]] rated it 3 out of 4 stars, calling it "a gloriously goofy mess of a movie" with several [[plot holes]] (e.g. smuggling a toxin into the country would likely be easier and just as effective as hijacking). Ebert praised the first-act [[plot twist]] of killing off the character played by Seagal, then a major Hollywood star: "I perked right up".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/executive-decision-1996 |title=Executive Decision |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=1996-03-15 |access-date=2014-09-27 |archive-date=2016-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224030138/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/executive-decision-1996 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Doug Hamilton, writing for ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|The Atlanta Constitution]]'', called the film a "crafty pastiche of [[Tom Clancy]], ''[[Die Hard]]'' and ''[[Airport (1970 film)|Airport]]''" in his three star review.{{sfn|Hamilton|1996}} Seagal's early death was praised by Marc Horton, writing for ''[[Edmonton Journal]]'', but criticized the rest of the film as predictable in his review that gave the film two out of five stars.{{sfn|Horton|1996}} It was called "a preposterous but riveting new entry into Hollywood's neverending lineup of cliched, action packed techno-thrillers" by Michael Reid in his four out of five stars review for the ''[[Times Colonist]]''.{{sfn|Reid|1996}}