‘Executive Decision’

Everything about this 1996 hit, in which Arab terrorists take over a 747, is familiar except how crisply its conventional story is executed. It is another film in which a handful of heroes is all that stands between the bad guys and the end of civilization as we know it. The film is also shrewdly cast, starting with effective performances by Kurt Russell (pictured) and Halle Berry (pictured) as a steely flight attendant (HBO Wednesday at 8 p.m. and early Saturday at 4:15 a.m.).