Product Details

• Actors: John Travolta, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, Delroy Lindo, Bob Gunton
• Directors: John Woo
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: January 21, 1997
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304078250
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,152 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #10 in	Video > Action & Adventure > Action Directors > John Woo
  #15 in	Video > Action & Adventure > Action Stars > John Travolta
  #97 in	Video > Action & Adventure > Espionage

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
John Travolta is Vic Deakins, a bomber pilot who launches a devilish plan to hijack two nuclear missiles for big-time extortion. Vic never sweats, spews out great one-liners, knocks off money men with glee, toys with killing half a million people... he even smokes!

If you giggled at his "Ain't it cool" line from the trailer, you're in the right frame of mind for this comedic action film. Never as gritty or semi-realistic--or for that matter as heart-thumping--as the original Die Hard, Broken Arrow still delivers. If Travolta is cast against type, everyone else is by the numbers; Christian Slater as Hale, the earnest copilot looking to foil the plot, Samantha Mathis as the brave park ranger caught in the middle, Frank Whaley as an eager diplomat, Delroy Lindo as a right-minded colonel. As with his previous script (the superior Speed), writer Graham Yost moves everything quickly along as Hale and the ranger try to cut off Deakins's plan over a variety of terrains. We have plane crashes, car chases, a pursuit through an abandoned mine, a helicopter-train shootout, and lots of fighting between boys. Each time Hale finds himself perfectly in place to foil Deakins. You're suppose to laugh at the unbelievable situations. That's where Arrow is deceptive: its tone is right for the laughter compared to the mean-spirited Schwarzenegger and Stallone action films with labored jokes. Hong Kong master director John Woo (The Killer, Hard Target) pulls out all the stops--slow motion of Hale and Deakins's gymnastic gun play, nifty stunts, countdowns to doomsday. Woo may know action, but he needs more guidance in creating unique and stunning special effects. This is action entertainment at its cheesiest. Travolta and Woo later reteamed for Face/Off. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker
In John Woo's new movie, John Travolta plays a disgruntled Air Force pilot who hijacks a couple of nuclear warheads. This is not, however, a standard-issue doomsday thriller, but a spectacularly nutty and entertaining chase picture: like "North by Northwest," it wants to cover as much ground, in as many different ways, as it possibly can, and it's disarmingly aware of its own absurdity. Woo-who is best known for his delirious Hong Kong gangster movies-tosses off risky stunts and eye-popping effects like one-liners, with a rapid-fire rhythm that lets us know that he's got a million of 'em. The hero and the heroine, played by Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis, are likable, but in a Woo picture the character to watch is invariably the chain-smoking guy in shades. Here that guy is Travolta, who brings a refreshingly all-American exuberance to action-movie villainy. Also with Delroy Lindo, Howie Long, Kurtwood Smith, and Frank Whaley. Screenplay by Graham Yost (who also wrote "Speed"). -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not broken...yet..., February 21, 2000

By	Nick (Walnut Creek, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Broken Arrow (DVD)

Broken Arrow, in 1996 it electified the big screen as John Travolta and Christian Slater Duke it out in an orgy of explosions and action...now its out on dvd. Well, ok, that is a very good thing, but let me tell you about it really. It is a very good movie, with some excellent directing by John Woo, not to mention good acting by Travolta and Slater. Also, there are some great one-liners, also the story is not lack-luster, and is in fact anything but, it is well thought out and surpasses by a longshot those other action gore-fests that are just that, gory action -- no brains. Over all this movie is very well done. I give it five stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast-Paced and Suspenseful, July 6, 2008

By	Dan Corrigan (Indiana) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Broken Arrow (DVD)

This is a pretty good action flick. John Travolta plays an Air Force pilot who becomes a madman when he hijacks a nuclear missile to sell. Christian Slater is the good guy, also a pilot, who tries to stop him. This has plenty of action, fight scenes, explosions. They use trucks, planes, trains, etc. The desert and canyon settings are beautiful. Samantha Mathis plays a very likeable Park Ranger caught up in all of this and helper to the Slater character. It is a fairly short movie which helps it move along. Not a bad storyline either, kept me interested.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Broken Arrow...Yes it is cool!!, May 6, 2007

By	PATRICK J.POWERS "PAT POWERS" (Duncombe,IA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Catching a line from this movie the suspense in this movie is "cool". John Travolta and Christian Slater are at odds in this 1996 movie on the theft of two nuclear warheads in rugged terrain of Utah. At times it has you on the edge of your seat. It certainly is a far cry from Travolta's roles in Grease and Saturday Night Fever but one of his best!!