Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
When rogue stealth-fighter pilot Vic Deakins deliberately drops off the radar while on maneuvers, the Air Force ends up with two stolen nuclear warheads -- and Deakins's co-pilot, Riley Hale, is the military's only hope for getting them back. Traversing the deserted canyons of Utah, Hale teams with park ranger Terry Carmichael to put Deakins back in his box.
Broken Arrow is a competent but formulaic mid-90s action thriller. The plot is a straightforward nuclear MacGuffin chase with little surprise — stolen warheads, rogue military villain, reluctant hero — ticking every box of the era without subverting any. Travolta's campy villain performance and Slater's reliable heroics keep the acting serviceable and entertaining, elevating what is otherwise a thin script. Cinematography is polished and workmanlike for a John Woo film — some kinetic action set-pieces and decent Utah landscape photography, but lacking the stylistic bravura of his best work (Face/Off, The Killer). Novelty is low; while Woo brings some signature slow-motion flair, the film is largely derivative of other nuclear-threat thrillers and doesn't distinguish itself conceptually. The ending resolves predictably with a rushed Mexican standoff and climactic train sequence that feels rushed rather than earned.