I do not know how to play chess, but it seems to be a mentally engrossing game. One of my sons actually was a chess champion when he played competitively as a member of his high school chess team. From watching him and other students play, it seems clear that to be successful at the game, one must be able to envision the next moves of your adversary. You have to consider not just one move ahead, but many moves ahead to be victorious.
This kind of mental maneuvering takes place between Major Vic Deakins and Captain Riley Hale, two pilots in the United States Air Force who are tasked with transporting two nuclear bombs in a training exercise in the tense thriller, Broken Arrow.
Their flight begins calmly, but once airborne Deakins, on a mission of his own, attempts to kill Hale. The end result: Deakins ejects Hale from the plane and, using parachutes, steals the nuclear warheads with the goal of threatening to detonate them if a huge sum of money is not deposited in Deakin’s Swiss bank account. The title Broken Arrow refers to the code name for lost nuclear weapons.
Hale lands safely, and with the help of Forest Ranger Terry Carmichael, attempts to thwart Deakins’ plans. Deakins and Hale know one another well. As the action progresses, each tries to anticipate the other’s moves. Deakins leads them to red herrings, but Hale sees through the obfuscations. After all their chess-like moves, in which each tries to anticipate the next move of the other, there is a final physical confrontation between Deakins and Hale.
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo writes about the analogy between chess and life. By doing so, he sheds light on the respective strategies of Deakins and Hale and the exhilaration of combat experienced by both of them. Cardozo writes: “The chessboard becomes the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are the laws of nature; and man roams freely once he applies the rules to such an extent that a whole new world is revealed. But let us never forget: He who knows all the rules is not necessarily a great player. What makes him a formidable opponent is his ability to use these rules to unleash an outburst of creativity, which emerges only because of the game’s unbearable limitations. It is mental torture, but it is the height of beauty as well. It is poetry to the game, as melody is to music — like one gentle brushstroke of Rembrandt on a colorful canvas, making everything look radically different; or like the genius musician playing her Stradivarius, re-creating the whole of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5. It transports the chess player to heaven.”
This poetic description of chess suggests the satisfaction that both Deakins and Hale feel when they have figured out the next move of their adversary. Deakins and Hale engage in a war of the minds, and both savor the combat.
It is fascinating to observe how Deakins and Hale try to outguess the other. A case in point. Law enforcement has to determine where the bomb may be detonated. Deakins plants clues that indicate the location will be in Salt Lake City to the west. In fact, Deakins plans to obliterate Denver to the east. The authorities at first head west to surround Salt Lake City, but then, in an “aha” moment, Hale realizes that Deakins has planted clues that serve as a subterfuge for his true intention, which is to attack Denver.
Broken Arrow is a high caliber action film. It delivers all the fights and explosions that one expects in escapist entertainment, enabling the viewer to enjoy the cathartic release of good triumphing over evil. Along the way, it provides an insight into the strategies of those who want to destroy others. Not only do they want to win the battle, but they may also enjoy intellectually checkmating their opponent.
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