High-Octane
Summary
Based on a novel by Alistar MacLean, Breakheart Pass is light on action, but a mid-point fight scene between Bronson and real-life World Champion light-heavyweight prizefighter Archie Moore atop the chugging train is a highlight.
Plot: An undercover secret service agent aboard a speeding train has a mission that gets more precarious by the minute.
Review: An Agatha Christie-esque thriller / mystery set in the frontier era of America, Breakheart Pass is set almost entirely on a moving locomotive. Charles Bronson plays an undercover secret service agent posing as an outlaw in order to get himself aboard a train, speeding through the Rockies. His mission slowly becomes apparent as the lawmen and various civilians aboard the train turn up dead or missing, and he begins to reveal his true intentions. The train’s passenger’s include a Governor (Richard Crenna), a Cavalry Major (Ed Lauter), and a U.S. Marshall (Ben Johnson), and everyone’s a suspect when dead bodies of soldiers turn up and an entire train car(!) is unhooked from the rest of the train and meets a terrible end.
Based on a novel by Alistar MacLean, Breakheart Pass is light on action, but a mid-point fight scene between Bronson and real-life World Champion light-heavyweight prizefighter Archie Moore atop the chugging train is a highlight. Bronson is good in this, and his performance is “light” as far as Bronson performances go. A score by Jerry Goldsmith helps. Directed by Tom Gries, who also made Breakout with Bronson and 100 Rifles with Jim Brown.
Kino Lorber has just reissued a Blu-ray edition of Breakheart Pass as a “Special Edition” with a new audio commentary by two film historian and a slipcase with a reversible sleeve with alternate artwork. Also included is the trailer. The high definition transfer is crisp and more than adequate.