Broken Arrow [1996]

[Cross-posted on the Bad Movie Night Facebook page.]

Because of the weather, Erik couldn't make it to movie night this time so we all had it in our minds to watch something that probably wouldn't be a hall-of-famer. Our instinct was right to delve into Sarah's childhood for this action movie nonsense: "Broken Arrow." It was likely another favorite of her father's (the man who brought us "Baby's Day Out" and "Undercover Blues") but we can't confirm that one. Already there was trepidation at the John Travolta-Christian Slater casting combo pack but the moment we knew we were in trouble was when we saw "A John Woo Film" right at the beginning and Adam and Kay let out primal groans of people who know what to expect.

Writing up the plot of this movie is ultimately not a very useful endeavour since it's nearly two hours of running around and explosions in southern Utah without any real depth or intrigue. John Travolta plays a crazy man with no character development who steals a nuclear bomb so he can blackmail the government and then, "invest 5% in Volvo, the safest automobile in the world." His one rule as a chaotic neutral is to endorse products. Christian Slater is trying to stop him with the help of a female park ranger who doesn't do anything of substance. We get a lot of nice shots of Glen Canyon and Lake Powell and some really hammy acting from Travolta who never met a piece of scenery he didn't wish to consume whole like a snake, but otherwise the film is a little boring (unless you're Sarah, who loved it; bless her nostalgia goggles).

The one thing that probably could have improved our experience was playing John Woo bingo, but we had no idea it was one of his movies until we were too far in. I can tell you though that there were no shots of doves flying, likely a byproduct of the location. Next week as long as everyone is present we will probably be doing a rewatch of something we know will be good as a palate cleanser.

Spoon Rating: 3.5