Crappy film

As Good As It Gets

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

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.

Based on a novel by spy-master Alistair MacLean, BREAKHEART PASS is one of those twisty suspense films in which nobody is really whom they first appear to be and there are bad guys everywhere you turn. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery story, which benefits from a perfectly-cast Charles Bronson playing the film's hero. Although he wasn't the first choice for the role, Bronson is a breath of fresh air away from his grittier DEATH WISH-type films and his stoical turn here is one of the movie's best assets.Making wonderful use of some bleak, snowbound locations, BREAKHEART PASS is a film set entirely on a train and, like the later B-movie UNDER SIEGE 2, the endless momentum of the train ploughing through the countryside is matched by a screenplay that is fast-paced and equally relentless. Veteran director Tom Gries really knows his stuff when it comes to film-making and it shows, as this is pretty much perfect on a technical level. Jerry Goldsmith's score is an exciting, driving piece of work and the photography is crisp and beautiful throughout, one of those films where every scene looks good.The suspense story in itself is involving and thrilling, but on top of that there are a series of action set-pieces which really add to the film's impact. Bronson's train-top fisticuffs with real-life boxing legend Archie Moore is the bit everybody remembers, but there are also some fine, bloody shoot-outs on board the moving train as well as tense sneaking around in the carriages. Special effects for the time are very good, with one of the most horrifying train crashes I've seen on film, and I got a real kick out of seeing one of the villains fall to his death down a ravine! Things eventually culminate in a gung-ho climax using the convention of a tribe of Native American Indians as the villains of the piece, and somehow fresh life is put even into this tired plot element.The film does feel a little clinical and coldly-detached in places and that's because the story is focused on over the characters throughout. I didn't let this bother me in the least; many '70s westerns are the same and this one feels right at home in the genre. Aside from Bronson, there are good turns from a range of willing character actors including Rambo's Richard Crenna, veteran actor Ben Johnson, Charles Durning, Paul Newman's son Scott, the ubiquitous Jill Ireland – Bronson's wife at the time – and finally a young-looking Ed Lauter, who would later team up once more as Bronson's gun-buddy in DEATH WISH 3. BREAKHEART PASS has all the right ingredients to be a top-notch, intelligent thriller and it never disappoints. An above-average treat.

American film 'Breakheart Pass' is a highly entertaining western film about the death defying adventures of some passengers on a moving train. It has been directed by Tom Gries who is best remembered by fans of westerns for one of his successful films "100 Rifles". The development of action superstar Charles Bronson as an actor is evident in his role as an intelligent man with a hidden agenda and a secret identity who uses all his cleverness to outsmart his enemies who are determined to get their demands met at all costs. For this role Charles Bronson had to either remain quiet to a large extent or speak whenever it was necessary. His intelligence gets revealed in his talks which is not at all appreciated by his opponents. The action elements are equally divided in "Breakheart Pass" as apart from vile acts of violence on a moving train, there are challenging fight sequences outside the train too which reveal the devilish treachery of some of the train's passengers. There are numerous elements of mystery too in this film which has been adapted for screen by bestselling novelist Alistair Maclean. 'Breakhart Pass' also starred actress Jill Ireland who played the role of the sole woman passenger on the ill fated train. Apart from magnificent actions scenes, Breakheart Pass features excellent views of rocky mountains.

The biggest problem with this movie is the rather uninteresting beginning. The movie doesn't introduce us to the characters in the interesting way. It simply lacks hook for the first twenty minutes. Thankfully with time the movie slowly gets more and more interesting. It's not strange , because the story is an interesting mix of western , thriller and action.There are some nice dialogues here and plenty of action in the last 30 minutes. There is also quite many twists and nice mystery along the way. Good old Alistair MacLean. "Breakheart pass" feels like a book , although I'm not sure if there was a book under the same title.Charles Bronson ("Death wish") is a typical silent bad ass hero that is easy to like. I was delighted to see Richard Crenna ("Rambo : First blood") as the governor. Other actors are OK.Action scenes feel real. The special effects are sometimes a little outdated. The music by Jerry Goldsmith is really nice.Good and underrated western. I give it 7/10.