‘Would you mind not shooting at the thermonuclear weapons?‘
All things considered, I think the John Woo classic Face/Off might be the most ’90s film of them all. It was preceded a year earlier by another action movie starring John Travolta – Broken Arrow. And it’s just as bonkers and just as fun…
Unlike the aforementioned Face/Off, Travolta plays the villain here. And what a villain. Vic Deakins. An antagonist for the ages. Travolta hams it up to the max but that’s what makes Broken Arrow such a thrilling ride. It helps that in Christian Slater, Travolta has the perfect foil. The scenes that the two share together appear sparingly but that only makes those moments even more exciting. Elsewhere, Samantha Mathis is insanely likeable as hapless park ranger Terry Carmichael and the rest of the supporting cast is filled out with ’90s character actors and bit-part players including but not limited to Delroy Lindo, Frank Whaley and Warden Norton himself, Bob Gunton.
As this is a John Woo flick we get some lovely aerial shots, special effects that run the full gamut from the ridiculous and the sublime and some of the cheesiest dialogue this side of an Arnie movie. The whole thing is a lovely nostalgia exercise and it is also incredibly entertaining. It’s all tied together by an exquisite Hans Zimmer score (a portion of which was bizarrely repurposed as Dewey’s Theme for the Scream franchise) and some excellent explosions. What more could you possibly want?
Broken Arrow is not high art (thank God) because not every meal can be fine dining. This film is a double cheeseburger with fries and that’s all an action movie ever should be. Thoroughly enjoyable.