Broken Arrow

Name: Broken Arrow
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Released: February 9, 1996
Duration: 108 min
Rating: 61
Cast: Christian Slater, John Travolta

1996

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 125 Ratings

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3.5

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3.5	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 125 Ratings

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Broken Arrow

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Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: February 9, 1996 | R

Starring: Christian Slater, John Travolta

Summary: A traitorous Air Force major hijacks two nuclear warheads with the intent to extort money from the government. But his plans are complicated by his co-pilot and a park ranger determined to recover the Broken Arrow.

Director: John Woo

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 108 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Peter Travers

Broken Arrow delivers the hippest action fun around. Travolta's "Dr. Strangelove" exit will blow you away. Ditto the movie. Read full review

Barry Walters

Broken Arrow isn't the ultimate fusion of Hong Kong surrealism and Hollywood realism, but it points the way to nerve-shattering possibilities. Read full review

Joey O'Bryan

A lively action picture with a spirited sense of humor, Broken Arrow is a great deal of fun, even if it isn't exactly a return to form for its celebrated director, former Hong Kong action auteur John Woo. Read full review

Richard Corliss

The audience gets as pulverizing a workout as the stars do. Or rather, the stars' stunt doubles, who deserve Oscars for best supporting masochism. Read full review

Roger Ebert

One fundamental problem with the movie is that John Travolta is seriously miscast as a nuclear terrorist. Say what you will about the guy, he doesn't come across as a heavy. Read full review

William Arnold

It's fun in places, and moves like a bullet, but it's also clumsy and mostly quite routine - and seems a particular letdown considering it was made with a blank check from 20th Century-Fox and the services of John Travolta at the peak of his career. [9 Feb 1996, p.25]

Rita Kempley

Broken Arrow, a deafening, brain-deadening action thriller, takes a mighty blase approach to nuking Denver. Read full review

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User Reviews

JohnTravolta321

Jul 26, 2016

Broken Arrow is not an original movie, it's an action movie that's made to thrill audiences, not to leave them deep in thought. It manages to rise to the head of the pack thanks to great acting, directing and an excellent score.

2 U.S. army officers, Major Vic Deakins(John Travolta) andBroken Arrow is not an original movie, it's an action movie that's made to thrill audiences, not to leave them deep in thought. It manages to rise to the head of the pack thanks to great acting, directing and an excellent score.

2 U.S. army officers, Major Vic Deakins(John Travolta) and Captain Riley Hale(Christian Slater) are assigned to fly a jet plane carrying 2 live nukes to conduct a test. During the flight Deakins reveals his true intent, ejects the stunned Hale out of the plane, and releases the nukes before crashing it.

This comes to the alert of park ranger Terry Charmical(Samantha Mathis) who immediatly sets out to find what is going on. Once the nukes are dropped Col. Max Wilkins(Delroy Lindo) is faced with bringing down Deakins and right hand man turncoat soldier Arvid Kelly(Howie Long) with the help of pencil pusher Giles Prentice(Frank Whaley).

Travolta is great in an over the top but very entertaining role, and Slater does a good job as an action hero. Mathis is slightly miscast though, and should probably stick to her other hit films. Howie Long effectively plays Kelly with very little skill and no expierence, but his size helps give him on screen presence. Delroy Lindo is effective as the confident military officer, although Frank Whaley, despite being a good actor, is rather annoying in his role

All in all if your looking for a great way to spend almost two hours, then sit down and watch this movie. It's definately a movie worth watching several times over **** 1/2 out of *****… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Mandala

Feb 6, 2015

Superb movie - great setting, creative action, tough ass characters, great music. This movie takes it all to the max - classified experimental stealth bomber, hijacking 2 warheads, bad guy so power tripping he's more into winning the challenge than surviving the mission... and If you see it,Superb movie - great setting, creative action, tough ass characters, great music. This movie takes it all to the max - classified experimental stealth bomber, hijacking 2 warheads, bad guy so power tripping he's more into winning the challenge than surviving the mission... and If you see it, it can be blown up - bomber, helis, hummers, mineshaft, train-car, train. This is a uniquely head-strong action movie, and it's awesome.… Expand

2 of 7 users found this helpful25

Thwompthing

Nov 16, 2019

WOW, the people who rated it 0/10 are seriously sick. You have NOT seen a 0/10 movie until you've seen some trash like Scary Movie 5. Please rethink your lives. This action film was AMAZING and John Travolta delivers as the bad guy as always. This, Con Air, and Faceoff are highlyWOW, the people who rated it 0/10 are seriously sick. You have NOT seen a 0/10 movie until you've seen some trash like Scary Movie 5. Please rethink your lives. This action film was AMAZING and John Travolta delivers as the bad guy as always. This, Con Air, and Faceoff are highly regarded as the best 3 action movies of the 90's. People are stupid today. Oh yea, the music by Hans Zimmer is also incredible and in case these idiots didn't know, Hans Zimmer is the most popular film musician still going.… Expand

3 of 11 users found this helpful38

timone

Nov 30, 2021

So if I didn't know, John Woo was the one who directed Broken Arrow before Face/Off and after Hard Target. This is a generic action film by all means but it's enjoyable by any means necessary. Aside from that, it does have one scene that is just as awesome as the action scenes. I literallySo if I didn't know, John Woo was the one who directed Broken Arrow before Face/Off and after Hard Target. This is a generic action film by all means but it's enjoyable by any means necessary. Aside from that, it does have one scene that is just as awesome as the action scenes. I literally remember some parts of the film and the nuclear weapon explodes. Watch this! That is awesome! Aside from that, nothing really out about Broken Arrow. It's an enjoyable film for some viewers but they'd just manage it to be decent. Broken Arrow is not as good as I thought but it's decent. However, I still think his film, Face/Off is fantastic.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Meth-dude

Mar 23, 2018

Typical 90's action flick. The acting was okay, the cinematography was good, the movie was filled with cheesy one-liners, it was predictable and the last half hour is filled with action. If you like 90's action flicks you will probably find this one at the very least entertaining.

1 of 5 users found this helpful14

jamesmitchell28

May 3, 2021

It meant to be a honest action thriller about nuclear weapons but is overblown by one or two lousy action sequences and Samantha Mathis is just a distraction.

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

panic

Aug 26, 2015

Quite possibly one of the worst movies I've ever seen (right up there with MI:2 - another John Woo movie). I can't seem to fathom how people can enjoy this guys movies. It's so absurd and the acting is horrible! (mainly the girl and Travolta's character)

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

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67	#67 Best Movie of 1996
39	#39 Most Discussed Movie of 1996
31	#31 Most Shared Movie of 1996