Retro Film Review: Breakheart Pass (1975)

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In the 1970s Charles Bronson was a synonym for the action movies about men who could eat bad guys for breakfast, regardless of the circumstances. The name of Alistair MacLean was a synonym for novels whose elaborate and complicated plots served only as an excuse for numerous and spectacular action scenes. The combination of the two happened to be Breakheart Pass, a 1975 Western directed by Tom Gries, a director who obviously liked both of those concepts.

The movie begins on a train destined for Fort Humboldt, a distant U.S. Army post in the Rocky Mountains. The fort is plagued by diphtheria, and the territorial governor, a doctor, a priest and a small detachment of soldiers are going to deliver the medicine and other supplies. U.S. Marshal Nathan Pearce (played by Ben Johnson) boards the train, together with his prisoner, former doctor and wanted murderer John Deakin (played by Charles Bronson). Soon after the train begins its journey through mountainous wilderness, strange and frightening things start to happen; some of the passengers are killed and it turns out that almost nobody on the train is what he seems to be.

In the first half, Breakheart Pass looks less like an action-oriented Western and more like an Agatha Christie whodunnit mystery. It is also a painful opportunity to watch capable character actors like Richard Crenna, Charles Durning and Ben Johnson unsuccessfully trying to breathe some life into their one-dimensional roles. The same is true of Bronson's wife Jill Ireland, whose character should have been left out of the script. Of course, the viewer knows that, since this is a Charles Bronson movie, his character won't stay the bad guy until the end. So, one huge element of surprise is wasted. Luckily, in the second half Bronson gets teamed up with Ed Lauter, more believable as his sidekick, and director Tom Gries saves the day with a few impressive action scenes, with the stunts co‑ordinated by the legendary Yakima Canutt. All in all, Breakheart Pass is an average Bronson actionfest, with good Canadian exteriors and Jerry Goldsmith's music as an additional attraction.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on October 12nd 1998)

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