Broken Arrow (1996)

Director:

John Woo

Writer (WGA):

Graham Yost (written by)

Release Date:

9 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Prepare to Go Ballistic

Plot:

Terrorists steal nuclear warheads from the US military but don't count on a pilot and park ranger spoiling their plans.

Plot Keywords:

Park Ranger | Desert | Utah | Train | Stealth Bomber

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

John Travolta	...	Maj. Vic 'Deak' Deakins
Christian Slater	...	Capt. Riley Hale
Samantha Mathis	...	Terry Carmichael
Delroy Lindo	...	Colonel Max Wilkins
Bob Gunton	...	Pritchett
Frank Whaley	...	Giles Prentice
Howie Long	...	Kelly
Vondie Curtis-Hall	...	Chief Sam Rhodes
Jack Thompson	...	Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff
Vyto Ruginis	...	Johnson
Ousaun Elam	...	Lt. Thomas
Shaun Toub	...	Max
Casey Biggs	...	Novacek
Jeffrey J. Stephen	...	Shepherd
Joey Box	...	Frakes

MPAA:

Rated R for strong action violence and language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-15 (re-rating) | France:Unrated | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Malaysia:18SG | Brazil:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 (w) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #34096)

Filming Locations:

Barstow, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [John Woo] [unusual hand-to-hand weapons]On the train, Terry kicks the helicopter's tail-rotor against Shepherd's arm to knock him off-balance.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the park ranger is handcuffing Hale, her gun is drawn. When he kicks her over his head and pins her, he draws her already drawn gun from her holster.

Quotes:

[Terry attacks Max with a hammer. He easily blocks her and throws her aside]
Max: We haven't met. I'm Max.
[she tries again and fails]
Max: You probably thought I was a computer nerd, didn't ya?
[laughs]
Max: Wrong! I was a Navy SEAL, lady. You really should see what I can do... with just my thumb.
[he draws a pistol, Terry picks up the hammer and throws it killing him]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mission to Mars (2000)

John Woo hones his craft here in America

John Woo, after his many Hong Kong efforts, came to America and made Hard Target (1993), which due to studio interference and bad taking of direction by Jean Claude Van Damme, wasn't as good as it could have been. Woo got a bad reputation due to his conflicts with both the MPAA and Universal, and it took him awhile to get this one off of the ground. Woo had never worked with special effects, so he was treading into new territory. Luckily, he got two great leads, Christian Slater (soon to be in Windtalkers), and John Travolta (Face/Off). They take his direction well, and each gives a good performance. As the traditional villain's henchman, which I like to call Indestructable Villain Sidekick, Howie Long gives a good performance, and dies a good death too. I never appreciated this movie that much until watching it tonight, and I realized, this is probably the most action-packed movie in a long time. It takes only about 6 minutes to get going, and then, boom! boom! boom! Action sequence after the other, no let-down in between. This movie has plently of shootouts, explosions, and great innovative twists (kicking the rear blade of a helicopter to knock a gun out of one's hand) to make a action movie good. John Woo's cinematography, the great shared moments (the 20 dollar bill and whatnot) are what makes this one a great action movie. Another thing that makes this flick great is that it gave Woo the power to get Face/Off, his best Hollywood outing, the greenlight. I'm looking forward to Windtalkers and love all of Woo's movies.

9 outta 10.