Do you want to see Broken Arrow?

It’s hard to have complete memories of a night that happened 29 years ago. We fill in the gaps with interpretations of flickers of how we remember it happening. The details might be fuzzy, but some of those feelings linger with a clarity that never fades away. I remember that musical was fucking awful. 

I know this might be hard to believe for some of the younger generations, but there was a time when you could get things for free. One of the perks of growing up in a building for performing artists was we would get access to previews of Broadway shows and all sorts of other live theatre. You would simply look on the bulletin board of available tickets and go to the main office. One day in 1996, my dad decided to get tickets to a show at the recently revived New Victory Theatre. 

I don’t remember much of that show. I can’t tell you the title, the setting, or any of the characters’ names.* What I can tell you is by the time we reached the part where the main character (who may or may not have been wearing overalls) sings a whole song about playing football on a farm during his youth, we had just about had enough of this show. Mercifully, intermission soon followed, and we agreed that one act was more than enough to endure. We were not the only audience members to reach this conclusion. 

So, there we were, out on a Saturday night, both with an unscratched itch for some quality entertainment. What do you say to your 11 year old son in this situation? If you’re my father that night, you ask, “Do you want to see Broken Arrow?” You’re god damn right I want to see Broken Arrow and build some core memories with my father. I don’t know if this is exactly what my dad said. What matters is the sentiment, the feeling that never fades away, even if my hairline does. I do remember Broken Arrow, though. 

Listen, Broken Arrow is no masterpiece. What it is is an honest to god red blooded ‘Murrican action movie. It’s a remnant of a simpler time when the idea of a potential nuclear disaster could be cheesy fun because Christian Slater is here to save the day. It remains ingrained in my memory as part of a night that I’ll always look back on fondly, despite and oh so slightly because of that dreadful musical. 

Broken Arrow will not be in list of the best action movies of the 90s. However, spoiler alert, Terminator 2 most certainly will. Dad didn’t need to walk out of musical to take me to see that one. I don’t remember what got us into the theatre that night. What I do remember is dad deciding six was old enough for my first R rated movie. He wasn’t wrong and obviously chose the perfect movie for that experience. Beyond the multitude of iconic action sequences and the best CGI of all time, it has that pitch perfect father/son dynamic that makes it one of the most enduring cinematic experiences of my life. 15/10 will rewatch and think about my dad for the rest of my life.  

My Top 10 Action Movies of the 90s

10. Die Hard with a Vengeance 
9. Goldeneye 

8. Point Break
7. Mission: Impossible 
6. Face/Off
5. The Rock 
4. Speed 
3. Heat 
2. The Matrix 
1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Omitted due to being too much of another genre: Batman Returns, Independence Day, Men in Black, The Fifth Element, Total Recall, The Mummy

Honorable Mentions: Demolition Man, Broken Arrow, True Lies, Con Air, Ronin

*I think I found it! A show called Different Fields opened on February 17, 1996 and closed on February 18, 1996. We walked out of the one and only showing of Different Fields. Ain't it cool?