Pluskylang Great Film overall

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

PimpinAinttEasy A bunch of people cooped up inside a train together. In another compartment is an army unit who are headed to the rocky mountains to provide relief to an army camp devastated by a plague. But there is a killer among the main set of train passengers. the hero (Bronson) who is a prisoner gradually wins everyone's trust. The supporting cast including the great Charles Durning and Richard Crenna were surprisingly tepid due to poorly written roles. Jill Ireland looked gorgeous in this film. The film was rather slow at times and never rises above a certain level. It might have had some sort of an impact on Tarantino's THE HATEFUL EIGHT. I mean it might have inspired Tarantino.

Morten_5 Let's start with the title: "Breakheart Pass." Isn't it wonderful? Short, powerful, almost a bit poetic. Then we have Bronson, the one and only, doing what he used to do. Adding to this, we have Jerry Goldsmith, legendary Jerry, may he rest in peace. Continuing with the landscapes, nicely and atmospherically captured by experienced DP Lucien Ballard, long- time collaborator of directors Henry Hathaway and Sam Peckinpah, among others. All in all, it's a pleasant train ride, with enough of great stuntman work and well-executed practical effects to keep you entertained all through the film.

mark.waltz From "The Lady Vanishes" to "Murder on the Orient Express", heck even "The Cassandra Crossing". There's something about hearing a train whistle, the sound of the wheels rolling over the track, smoke coming out, and the country side flying by. As long as the train isn't heading to a concentration camp, I am in heaven by the visuals of trains in the movies, even lavish toy train sets.For this movie, it's basically just an o.k. action film, but for a Charles Bronson movie, it's an above action movie as he's out to find a killer and avoid becoming a victim, after being exposed as a fraud wanted for billing gamblers out of their money by using a crooked deck of cards. Along the way, he meets up with pretty Jill Ireland, a young woman involved with a crooked governor (Richard Crenna), and she agrees to help him when he reveals his real identity, and it's as much a surprise for the audience as it is for her. The conflict erupts between Bronson and marshal Ben Johnson who has some shady activities going on as well. The scenery and action sequences are fantastic, with a runaway train sliding off the tracks over a huge cliff, and continuously sliding down the embankment as you hear the people inside screaming. A fight between Bronson and another man on top of the train as it passes over a very high snowy train trestle is quite intense. An OK script slugs along here and there, but there are moments of excitement that will have your eyes glued to the screen. I can see young boys fascinated with trains loving this, not for the story by Alistair MacLean, but for everything that happens when those wheels rolling along the tracks take over the screen.

Spikeopath Breakheart Pass is directed by Tom Gries and adapted to screenplay by Alistair MacLean from his own novel. It stars Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, Jill Ireland, Charles Durning and Ed Lauter. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Lucien Ballard.A train apparently loaded with medical supplies is heading through the mountains towards plagued Fort Humboldt. On board is a small U.S. Army unit and an assortment of passengers, all of whom are about to be in the middle of murder, mystery and dastardly plotting.Not exactly loved by the critics of the time, but liked well enough by the paying public, Breakheart Pass is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. True enough to say it's a blend of Murder On The Orient Express and Ten Little Indians, only with a gorgeous Western backdrop, but so what? Just exactly what is wrong with that anyway? The plot is a little too tricky for its own good and characterisations are not rich in detail, but there's so much else to enjoy regardless.It's a fine cast playing a number of desperate/cunning/dubious characters, with Bronson leading from the front at a time when he was hot at the box office. The reasoning behind all the murders, as passengers start getting bumped off one by one, keeps the mystery element strong, while Gries (Will Penny) directs without fuss and filler. The action sequences are impressive (the train roof fight is as great as you have heard it is), with stunt coordinator Yakima Canutt (in his final assignment) once again excelling.Elsewhere, Jerry Goldsmith's score is wonderfully robust and chest thumping, a real triumph from the great man. Ballard (also Will Penny/The Wild Bunch) beautifully captures the snowbound Lewiston locale whilst ensuring the gorgeous Camas Prairie Railroad is a must see for locomotive enthusiasts. All told it's a very entertaining hybrid picture that is well constructed, technically smart and pulsing with good honest intentions. 7/10