Broken Arrow

"Broken Arrow" is a good action film about a Stealth pilot (John Travolta) who steals nuclear weapons one night during a practice mission. His goal is to sell the weapons back to the United States government by blackmailing them. Old partner Christian Slater is willing to stop Travolta at all costs with the help of ranger Samantha Mathis. Howie Long makes an impressive film debut as Travolta's evil henchman. The screenplay is smart enough to work and the direction is fast and furious. A film that is about as good as it can be. 4 stars out of 5.

Well. What can I say? This film is rather typical and has the same amount of violence as many other action-thrillers. (But perhaps a little more?) Despite this, it was very enjoyable and in my opinion deserves 6.5 stars-slightly more than it actually got. I never realized that Travolta was such a good "bad guy" actor and almost deserved an Oscar! But Christian Slater was just as good as the out and out good guy, along with Terry Carmichael as his side-kick. The ending was short but effective, because of the pleasing lack of sentimentality and sexism. Keep up the good films, because I certainly enjoyed this one.

John Travolta stars in this mindless thriller in which he steals a nuclear weapon and its up to Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis to save the world.. Overall a good action flick with a leave your brain at home plot..Travolta goes slightly over the top with his character but is still good..Slater is ok and Mathis does what she can with what little the script gives her.. on a scale of one to ten... 6

Usually I'm the first person to label this sort of movie. Look at it. It's got the usual assortment of cliches and conventions. The John Woo directed action scenes stretch over the top. There's a mentally unstable talkative nemesis, a predictable betrayal and even one of those bombs that graces us with a digital readout. All prerequisites for movies of a certain quality and after saying all that - I'd usually be complaining about now.

Yet for one reason I can't. This movie really entertained me. It finds a way to come together in a really enjoyably manner and I'm happy with what I got. I can't bad mouth it. Nothing got in my way of everlasting enjoyment of seeing baddies die, bombs going off and the baritone guitar instrumental. It just all clicks from the get-go.

If your reading this you don't need me to recycle the plot summary. It's of a trivial nature. Good action, decent cast and a fun atmosphere go a long way with Travolta ultimately holding it all together. He plays his role to the hilt and delivers some fantastic lines. Him and Slater tango pretty well too. Travolta makes for a great bad guy and good action movies require great bad guys. Chances are anyone else in Broken Arrow and you'd be reading a completely different review. A guilty pleasure if there ever was one.

If you want an action film in which the hero has a personality, and the bad guy has an even better personality, take a look at Broken Arrow. John Woo's choreographed action is not as dramatic as the Matrix-clone films that are so common today. He is great at creating interesting relationships between heroes and villains, and this film is a good example.

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 will repeat every aspect of every other military adventure film you have ever seen, you will be disappointed. If dialog bores you, skip this film. If you like action movies filmed entirely in parking garages and spooky allies, then you will not appreciate the settings in this film in America's majestic West.