Broken Arrow (1996) - Episode 121

The Rewind Movie Podcast

“Would you mind not shooting at the thermonuclear weapons?” We engage stealth mode with legendary Hong Kong director John Woo’s second Hollywood feature, Broken Arrow.

Cocky, veteran US Air Force pilot Major Vic "Deak" Deakins (John Travolta) absconds with a pair of nuclear warheads from an intentionally downed experimental fighter jet, leaving his erstwhile co-pilot and chippy younger mentee Captain Riley Hale (Christian Slater) with the task of pursuing him through the Utah desert with the assistance of the scrappy but overmatched local park ranger Terry Carmichael (Samantha Mathis) to try to prevent a catastrophic international incident.

John Travolta continues his post-Pulp Fiction career renaissance with this Graham Yost (Speed)-penned action thriller, a modest hit on release in the jam-packed blockbuster schedule of 1996 that weaves together the era’s headline fixations of political paranoia, post-Cold War nuclear chicanery, and pre-9/11 domestic terrorism, in a Simpson/Bruckheimer-adjacent package of explosions and manly-man posturing. Childhood aficionado Matt discusses the film with occasional appreciator Gali and first-time viewer Devlin, as they discuss the lost art of conference room lighting, a stacked roster of cranky middle-aged character faces, the Great Christian Slater Leading Man Experiment, and much, much more.

If you have a film you’d like the gang to tackle, send us an email at [e-mail]. For introductions, essays, playlists, and the full back catalogue of episodes and specials, find us at rewindmoviecast.com. For specially designed merchandise, movie shirts, posters, and our famous Bingo Trope Totes and a poster based on this week’s episode cover image, head to DevlinDoesDrawing on Teemill.

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