US President-elect Joe Biden finally gained victory over Donald Trump. After his inauguration ceremony in January, he will officially become the 46th president of the United States and the oldest person ever to be elected to lead the White House.
As people around the world have been closely monitored the election results since last week, there is no better time to delve into our old movie list and explore the representation of presidents, prime ministers and world leaders in films and shows. Here are some of our picks.
Air Force One
Available on iTunes Store
- This 1997 film starring Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman tells the story of a group of communist radicals who hijack Air Force One with the US President James Marshall and his family on board. As people on the ground, including the vice-president, try to negotiate with the terrorists, the president himself goes out of his way to save all the hostages on the plane. Marshall here is portrayed as a heroic world leader who refuses to flee through a one-person escape pod so that he can save his people, including loved ones on the aircraft. In all, Air Force One is a fun movie to watch.
Danny Glover plays US President Thomas Wilson in 2012. (Photo: imdb.com)
2012
Available on iTunes Store
- As the planet is about to be wiped out by huge floods and the Earth's crust is about to be displaced, what will the leaders of the world do? Will they run away to a gigantic ship specially designed for survivors? Or will they stay behind?
In the 2009 film about an apocalypse caused by a natural disaster, African-American US President Thomas Wilson is played by Danny Glover. President Wilson urges both leading scientists and world leaders from around the world to leave at once but he ensures his daughter Laura (played by Thandie Newton) gets on board the ark. In fact, the film shows several world leaders (the Italian prime minister, for instance) choosing to stay behind with their people.
Payton Hobart, played by Ben Platt, is on a path to becoming the US president in The Politician.
The Politician
Available on Netflix
- Although we don't see the president at all in this series, Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) is on the path to becoming one in this Netflix show, which follows him through his one and only ambition of taking over the White House.
With two seasons now available on the streaming service, we see Payton running for the seat at the New York State Senate. The series also stars other big-name actors like Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays Payton's supportive mother, and David Corenswet, who plays River Barkley, Payton's love interest who ends up killing himself.
John Lithgow, left, as Winston Churchill in The Crown Season 1. (Photo: Alex Bailey/Netflix)
The Crown
Available on Netflix
- In this award-winning series which is set to unveil Season 4 this Sunday in Thailand, viewers get to see Queen Elizabeth's interactions with prime ministers -- from Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden to Harold Wilson, in the first three seasons -- as they shape political movements in the United Kingdom. As the series progresses with the triumph of Labour Party leader Harold Wilson and anti-monarchy sentiment in the latest season, we also get to see the British royal family's attempt to win over US President Lyndon B. Johnson to prevent the economic crisis back home from worsening.
