BREAKHEART PASS - Remastered Blu-Ray - Andy's Review

[AndyDursin]

BREAKHEART PASS
7.5/10

An exciting, tight Alastair MacLean concoction – with the bestselling author writing the screen adaptation of his own 1974 book. Set in the Old West, “Breakheart Pass” is as much a mystery as a western as the plot unravels with a group of suspects on a snowbound train thundering through the Rockies – among them is a suspicious wanted man (Charles Bronson) who knows more about the train's mysterious cargo involving dozens of caskets intended for a plague-ridden fort...except the caskets are filled with guns and explosives, and the Governor (Richard Crenna) clearly isn't on the level – nor are most of the passengers on this ill-fated trip.

At just over 90 minutes “Breakheart Pass” is a fast-moving, confident picture that hits the right note right off the bat courtesy of Jerry Goldsmith's superb score and never lets up. The action, which comes in quick spurts, is crisply choreographed, Lucien Ballard's cinematography effectively captures the wintry Idaho locations, and the performances – from an engaged Bronson to Jill Ireland (of course) and character actors like Charles Durning, Ed Lauter and David Huddleston – are just right. There are no extraneous characters or detours – director Tom Gries sticks to the central narrative and the result is clearly one of Bronson's best movies from the era.

Kino Lorber previously released a Blu-Ray of the film back in 2014 but this new release offers a much improved 2K scan (1.85, DTS MA mono) with fresher detail and warmer colors. A highly enjoyable commentary with Nathaniel Thompson, Steve Mitchell and Howard S. Berger also debuts on the set, with the trio praising Goldsmith's score and discussing the film's initially disappointing box-office returns. The trailer is also on-hand.

[Paul MacLean]

Seen parts of this movie on TV but never the whole thing.

I remember as a little kid going to the drive-in with my family, and seeing trailers for Logan's Run, The Omen and Breakheart Pass! Jerry was busy in those days!

The soundtrack LP for Breakheart Pass was originally a bootleg release -- the guy who put it out, Walter Bouser, tried to disguise the fact it was a boot with phony "liner notes" which he cut and pasted from an Asian newspaper, to make it look like an import!

To this day, many websites devoted to soundtracks and Goldsmith's music list it as a "Japanese import"!

Walter Bouser was eventually arrested by the FBI for bootlegging albums, though luckily he was only slapped with a hefty fine.

[AndyDursin]

It's too bad there aren't any stereo tracks in existence -- that's a pretty infectious, solid score and much more musically enjoyable than something like THE CASSANDRA CROSSING.

I think the LLL and Kritzerland CDs were all mono.