In his second Hollywood action movie, John Woo lives up to his tag- name "The Mozart of Mayhem" : and he certainly doesn't disappoint! One of the best things about this film was seeing a strong female role played by Samantha Mathias. For once Hollywood used a woman who did not have to rely upon a man to save her. This was not a "love interest" part, it could easily have been played by male or female. The direction was good, as with all John Woo's work, and not cluttered up with too many special effects. The action rattled along. John Travolta made an excellent villain and delivered some pretty cool lines - all credit to the script here for avoiding too much cheesy dialogue. Delroy Lindo as ever, was good, as was Christian Slater - good guys are never as much fun to watch as the villains!
John Woo imposes his signature dramatic flair and, so, elevates this from the more generic action thrillers. The slo-mo balletic action beats. The poetic gun-play choreo. The prolonged stand-offs. The flash on this guy! Is it a case of style over substance for this movie? Probably. The story is essentially Slater and Travolta in a cat-and-mouse chase that encompasses the canyons and hills of the desolate Utah badlands. So, it's a travelogue, as well. This movie is far-fetched and mindless and anathema to airtight plotting. If nothing else, this movie is worth it for reuniting Slater and Samantha Mathis who rocked it so hard in "Pump Up the Volume". John Travolta is terrific. Christian Slater breaks typecast by playing a nice, sane soldier doing his duty. The love interest isn't an idiotic supermodel playing a nuclear scientist or something, but a park ranger, also doing her duty. She is cute, earthy, and actually believable. If you want a film that delivers well paced action, some great one-liners and plenty of thrills, Broken Arrow is one to watch.
Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
John Woo imposes his signature dramatic flair and, so, elevates this from the more generic action thrillers. The slo-mo balletic action beats. The poetic gun-play choreo. The prolonged stand-offs. The flash on this guy! Is it a case of style over substance for this movie? Probably. The story is essentially Slater and Travolta in a cat-and-mouse chase that encompasses the canyons and hills of the desolate Utah badlands. So, it's a travelogue, as well. This movie is far-fetched and mindless and anathema to airtight plotting. If nothing else, this movie is worth it for reuniting Slater and Samantha Mathis who rocked it so hard in "Pump Up the Volume". John Travolta is terrific. Christian Slater breaks typecast by playing a nice, sane soldier doing his duty. The love interest isn't an idiotic supermodel playing a nuclear scientist or something, but a park ranger, also doing her duty. She is cute, earthy, and actually believable. If you want a film that delivers well paced action, some great one-liners and plenty of thrills, Broken Arrow is one to watch.
Overall rating: 8 out of 10.