John Woo, after striking gold in action cinema in Hong Kong, came to Hollywood in the early 1990s in search of success here. His first film, Hard Target, came out in 1993, to minimal critical and popular success. Many criticized Woo, and it took him over 3 years to put out another movie, Broken Arrow (1996). It wasn't all Woo's fault. For one, during filming, Jean Claude Van Damme wouldn't listen to his directing. Yancy Butler once said: "John would tell him to use the guns, but Jean would just go back to kicking." Woo found interesting ways to counteract this, and invented a awesome combo of martial arts and gunplay. Woo finished principle photography, then the movie was edited and submitted to MPAA for rating. The movie was issued a NC-17. Woo wasn't happy, but agreed to trim down some of the violence, and that he did. The movie was reissued, but still not refused. Universal Studios then took the film, cut it themselves, not trying to fight the MPAA, and released it. Some violence was trimmed (more arrow hits in Binder's death and some people being shot more than shown), and a sex scene was removed as well. The movie is still Jean Claude's best and one of Woo's best. The martial arts scenes are excellent, as is the gunplay. Jean Claude has one of the greatest stunts in history involving a truck, a motorcycle, and a flip. As for the plot, nothing special, just a new version of "The Most Dangerous Game." Good acting from Van Damme (!), Butler, and Lance H. make it easier to swallow as well. All in all, it gets
Seven outta Ten.
P.S. Here's to hoping they release a director's cut DVD!
Seven outta Ten.
P.S. Here's to hoping they release a director's cut DVD!