Breakheart Pass
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Movie Reviews of Breakheart Pass
Movie Review: Take a ride on Charlie's train
Summary: 4 Stars
I was given this movie as a Christmas present this past year by my mother, who knows I am a huge Charles Bronson fan. Sadly, it took me quite a while to watch this film until the other day. I have to say that I was very impressed. I for one love Mr. Bronson's vigilant films and "Breakheart Pass" isn't a gritty urban revenge film, but isn't a total departure from the Charlie we all know and love.
As for the rest of the cast, "Breakheart Pass" had Richard Crenna, Ed Lauter (who was also in Death Wish 3), Charles Durning and Jill Ireland (Bronson's wife and in many of his other films). Ultimately, the acting in this movie was really good.
The premise of the movie is rather simple; a train is bringing medical supplies to an area that is infested with disease. On this locomotive are a Governor and other high status individuals whose mission is to bring these medical supplies to aid the land and replace the soldiers who fell to the disease.
Now you might be wondering where good old Charlie fits in, well he plays a (somewhat) scoundrel who is wanted by law enforcement in San Francisco and since the train is going that way, the "good Samaritans" figure they will bring him to "the law" in California. Yet during the journey, people start turning up dead. This sets the stage for a great movie.
I will admit, the movie starts out a bit slow but picks up quickly. I was surprised how this movie was more mystery than western. Of course the movie has that western flare due to the time period, but I felt the mystery really drove this motion picture.
There was lots of adventure and action, also a couple of dummies (which in many cases looks better than CGI in modern movies). Also I felt this movie was quite brutal despite the PG rating.....times have changed. Look for the fight sequence on top of the train, one of the best scenes in the film. I would love to know just where this movie was filmed, absolutely beautiful landscape.
Overall "Breakheart Pass" was a great mystery, a great western, a great adventure and a great performance by Charles Bronson. Now if only I could be a smooth as Charlie B, I wouldn't have to work full time.
Movie Review: A train worth catching
Summary: 4 Stars
Anyone who's ever had to slog through his soul-destroying ITC or Cannon-years output will find it hard to imagine that there was ever a time when Charles Bronson was a half-decent actor who not only made films that were actually released in theaters, but good ones at that. Breakheart Pass is probably the best of the last burst of quality output in the actor's oeuvre that also saw Hard Times (aka The Streetfighter) and the whimsical From Noon Til Three; for that matter, the last good Alistair MacLean screen outing before what seems like an eternity of formulaic made-for-TV efforts with C-list casts.The plot has all the MacLean staples - sabotage, secret identities, wolves in sheep's clothing and a plot where no-one and nothing is what they appear to be. The only novelty is the location, a train rushing through the old West to bring medical supplies to a cholera-infected fort through strikingly snowbound mountain countryside beautifully captured through cinematographer Lucien Ballard's lens. But the fact that so much of the film is simply one of the author's beloved WW2 plots with outlaws and Indians instead of Nazis doesn't matter: it's the telling that counts, and with a tight script and strong direction from Tom Gries that is equally adept at the mystery (more a 'what the heck's going on?' than 'who's behind it all?') as action (most notably a good rooftop punch-up and a spectacular wreck) it's never a dull ride.
Bronson, still making an effort in those days, comes over well, while the strong supporting cast (including John Ford and Sam Peckinpah regular Ben Johnson, as well as Richard Crenna, Charles Durning and Ed Lauter) add a pleasing layer of professionalism and credibility. Even Jill Ireland, never the most interesting of leading ladies, acquits herself well here.
Everyone here has done better work (check out Gries' extraordinarily affecting Will Penny or Ballard's work on The Wild Bunch), and it's not a life-changing experience, but that's not the point. This is an audience picture that sets out to entertain you for an hour-and-a-half, and succeeds admirably. And Jerry Goldsmith's terrific and exhilaratingly exciting score - his best in the genre - is the icing on the cake.
Movie Review: Old West Mystery on A Train
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very intruiging and effective action thriller on board a train. Charles Bronson star's as John Deakin who is arrested for cheating at poker. But Bronson in reality is an undercover agent. The train is occupied by Richard Crenna who is (Governor Fairchild) , Jill Ireland who is on her way to visiting her father , Ben Johnson who is a U.S. Marshall and Ed Lauter who is the Army Major. The plot of this film is this train is carrying medical supplies to an army outpost in Utah and also carries many army soldiers who are to replace soldiers who have been wiped out by a medical disease. However as People start disappearing and dead bodies turn up Bronson begins snooping around and discovers a plot that is in reality a way for the train to get to the Utah outpost so that awaiting Indians can take over boxes of medical supplies but in reality the boxes contain rifles and ammunition and there is a group of outlaws also waiting at the outpost who plan to steal Gold and Silver which happens to be distributed through that particular outpost. There are some holes in the plot but the film is full of action and suspense along with a terrific musical score. The beautiful snow covered landscapes for which the train travels through is astonishing. Great acting from Bronson ,Jill Ireland who was never one of the greatest leading ladies so to speak actually does a very good job here , Robert Tessier who Plays the Lead Outlaw (Calhoun) is solid and Ed Lauter really standsout and he has always been an underated actor who has never really gotten his Due.There is a Fight scene involving Bronson and Former Boxing Champion Archie Moore who plays the train's Chef . This fight scene Between Bronson and Moore takes place on top of the moving train covered with snow and is without a doubt one of the greatest fight scenes you will ever see.Movie Review: Western murder mystery from Alistair MacLean
Summary: 4 Stars
Breakheart Pass is a suprisingly good mystery/thriller from a genre you might not normally expect; a western. Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean, the movie begins with a train loaded with troops and medicine stopping in a small town called Myrtle City. The train takes on two passengers, John Deakim, a gambler accused of murder, and Nathan Pearce, a U.S. Marshal. It is revealed the train is traveling to Fort Humboldt to deliver some much needed medical supplies. But soon, dead bodies start appearing, and we realize something more sinister is going on. I was suprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. There are enough plot twists and suprises to keep you entertained, and several good action scenes. Throw in a very catchy Jerry Goldsmith score and how can you lose?
I've said this in other reviews of Bronson movies, but moviegoers often assume Charles Bronson is a one-trick pony, that he can't play anything other than his Paul Kersey Death Wish character, but here is another role that proves otherwise. Bronson plays John Deakim, a gambler accused of murder who knows more than he is letting on during the train trip. Ben Johnson co-stars as U.S. Marshal Pearce, a deputy marshal who finds his way onto the train with Deakim. The strong supporting cast includes Richard Crenna as Governor Fairchild, the governor of the unnamed territory, Jill Ireland as Marica Scoville, a young woman visiting her father, Charles Durning as O'Brien, the railroad represenative, Ed Lauter as Major Claremont, the officer in charge, and Bill McKinney as Peabody, a travelling reverend. The DVD offers a pretty nice looking widescreen presentation and trailers. Don't judge this book by its cover. I didn't think a murder mystery western on a train sounded very good, but I really enjoyed this movie. So for a good mystery/thriller western with a great cast, a good Goldsmith score, and plenty of twists and turns, check out Breakheart Pass!
Movie Review: ONE OF THE GREATEST FIGHT SCENES EVER FILMED
Summary: 4 Stars
This isn't one of the best Charles Bronson movies. However, it's hard to believe that he's in his mid-50's when he made this movie. Nonetheless, this movie would be just another western, if not for this fight scene, that takes place in the middle of the movie. Mind you, not just your ordinary fight scene, because this fight scene takes on top of a moving train, which is covered with heavy snow, in very frigid cold temperatures. Oh, I left out that the fight scene is on top of a train, that is moving on train tracks...Hundreds of feets in the air!!! There are times when the stuntmen...I say stuntmen because I doubt very seriously that Charles Bronson and Archie Moore is hanging from the side of this moving train box car...hundreds of feet in the cold frigid air, but those two stuntmen are. Mind you, this fight scene was filmed long before the computer-enhanced stunts. There is actually a train here. Clearly, the highlight, of the movie, but makes the movie worth looking at.