Within the late Nineteen Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties, John Woo was probably the most trusted title in worldwide motion cinema. Throughout that interval, the director cultivated his “heroic bloodshed” methodwhich mixed choreographed violence and honest emotion in movies like A Bullet within the Head, The Killerand Onerous Boiled. His transition to Hollywood, nevertheless, was bumpy, kicking off with the much-maligned Onerous Goala movie that suffered from huge studio interference.
However in February 1996, Woo had his first real Hollywood success with Damaged Arrow. The John Travolta and Christian Slater movie was Woo’s first hit on the U.S. field workplace. Its success set the stage for Woo to go wilder and offered Travolta one other post-Pulp Fiction hit.
‘Damaged Arrow’ Is Typical Thriller Fodder Elevated by Woo’s Motion Chops
In Damaged ArrowTravolta performs Deakins, a rogue Air Pressure pilot who steals two nuclear warheads throughout a coaching mission, turning on his former accomplice, Hale (Christian Slater). As Deakins devolves additional into insanity and threatens a significant U.S. metropolis, Hale groups with a park ranger (Samantha Mathis) to chase his former buddy throughout the desert and avert an atomic catastrophe.
Damaged Arrow is the sort of ludicrous, meat-and-potatoes motion flick that was frequent within the ‘90s. There are approach too many characters, with Frank Whaley’s DC bureaucrat determining Deakins’ scheme however having no different affect on the plot, and a weak romance between Slater and Mathis’s characters. However Woo’s model and aptitude for motion hold the power up. Slater dives via the air holding two weapons, something that may blow up does, and there’s ample use of sluggish movement. Plus, the movie’s stuffed with stable character actors in supporting roles, together with Bob Gunton, Kurtwood Smithformer NFL nice Howie Lengthyand current Oscar nominee Delroy Lindowho grounded probably the most far-fetched components.
Whereas Slater is ok because the lead, Travolta offers the movie its spark. The star was only a few years off his comeback flip in Pulp Fictionwhich he adopted with an equally charismatic flip in Get Shorty. He brings that very same swagger and funky to Damaged Arrow. Travolta has a blast enjoying flippant to his superiors and being amused at any time when his former accomplice turns the tables on him. As Deakins turns into extra unhinged, Travolta leans tougher into the snark, deadpanning at one level, “I don’t see what the massive deal is” after killing one in every of his henchmen. The movie culminates in a rousing fistfight aboard a shifting practice, the place Deakins will get a violent comeuppance. It’s not an important film, nevertheless it’s a substantial amount of enjoyable.
‘Damaged Arrow’ Introduced John Woo His First U.S. Success
Woo’s Hong Kong work cemented him as an motion legendwith followers distributing bootlegs of A Higher Tomorrow, The Killerand Onerous Boiled once they couldn’t discover them on VHS in the US. It was solely a matter of time earlier than he introduced his mix of bloody, balletic mayhem stateside. Sadly, his first studio movie was a misfire.
Onerous Goalthe Jean-Claude Van Damme adaptation of The Most Harmful Sportwas hobbled by a messy script and quite a few MPAA-mandated cuts that truncated a romantic relationship and eliminated the movie’s overt carnage, robbing the movie of most of Woo’s signature thrives. The movie additionally had the misfortune to open reverse The Fugitivewhich was nonetheless drawing robust audiences in its third week. Onerous Goal limped out of theaters after incomes solely $35 million in the US. The movie has its followers and has undergone a crucial reclamation, however it was a troubling begin to Woo’s Hollywood profession.
Damaged Arrownevertheless, was a authentic success. It opened at primary at $15 million and owned the spot once more the following week. It grossed a wholesome $70 million within the U.S. and in the end earned $150 million worldwide. It wasn’t a juggernaut, nevertheless it was adequate to realize studios’ belief. His subsequent movie, 1997’s Face/Offreunited him with Travolta, added Nicolas Cageand went wild with the motion, cementing its place as a style traditional and main on to 2000’s highest-grossing movie, Mission: Unimaginable II. It additionally continued Travolta’s trajectory as an motion star and a re-proven field workplace draw, a run which might proceed into the early 2000s.
‘Damaged Arrow’ Is Forgettable Enjoyable, However an Necessary Stepping Stone
Face/Off and Mission: Unimaginable II are typically thought to be Woo’s greatest studio movies, and positively his most profitable, whereas Damaged Arrow is lumped in with different ‘90s shoot-em-ups. Which is comprehensible; it pales compared to Woo’s greatest work. It’s serviceable, and there are temporary hints of favor, nevertheless it’s nothing masterful.
But, it’s an vital step in his profession. It’s the film that first confirmed he may pack within the crowds and ship a success, and it gained him the liberty to work with out restraint in subsequent initiatives. With out it, there may need been no Face/Off, Windtalkersor Silent Evening. Damaged Arrow is a relic of its timebut in addition a reliable instance of the style at its time, and a touch of what was to come back.
Damaged Arrow is accessible to lease or purchase on VOD providers within the U.S.