Breakheart Pass (Widescreen/Full Screen)

While at a train stop, Deakin is arrested, and put on board the train for transport to the stockade at Humbolt. Already strange things have begun to happen, as two soldiers have disappeared. With an urgent mission to complete, the train must get under way. Trouble and misfortune begin to mount. A passenger is found dead, and then a train worker has a fatal fall. Next a whole carload of soldiers suffers a catastrophe. The survivors push on towards the fort, but find themselves with no way to communicate, as their telegraph set is mysteriously missing. What is happening, and who is behind it? Deakin investigates to try get to the bottom of the dark and deadly plot. Outlaws, Indians, guns and gold all figure into the mix. Deakin takes command of the train as it heads for a showdown in Breakheart Pass.

Breakheart Pass was written when MacLean's best works were already behind him. While it doesn't rank as one of his best books, it does make pretty good material for the big screen. The film is not outstanding, either as a western or as an action-adventure. It does however offer a different slant on the standard western story, and is presented in an easily accessible way. MacLean's script is handled capably by the large distinguished cast, under the direction of TV veteran Tom Gries. Charles Bronson's performance is very solid, and he competently carries the film. A couple of ex-athletes are also part of the train crew. Former boxer Archie Moore, plays the cook and gives Bronson all he can handle in a battle on the roof of the train. And former California and Viking QB Joe Kapp plays a train steward working for more than just tips.

Jerry Goldsmith's rousing theme music starts the movie, and then his score continues to effectively add to the enjoyment of the film. The transfer to DVD is good, but in certain scenes the poor quality of the original material shows. The DVD edition provides both widescreen and fullscreen versions, but no other extras except a tattered copy of the original trailer for the film.

The plot has all the MacLean staples - sabotage, secret identities, wolves in sheep's clothing and a plot where no-one and nothing is what they appear to be. The only novelty is the location, a train rushing through the old West to bring medical supplies to a cholera-infected fort through strikingly snowbound mountain countryside beautifully captured through cinematographer Lucien Ballard's lens. But the fact that so much of the film is simply one of the author's beloved WW2 plots with outlaws and Indians instead of Nazis doesn't matter: it's the telling that counts, and with a tight script and strong direction from Tom Gries that is equally adept at the mystery (more a 'what the heck's going on?' than 'who's behind it all?') as action (most notably a good rooftop punch-up and a spectacular wreck) it's never a dull ride.

Bronson, still making an effort in those days, comes over well, while the strong supporting cast (including John Ford and Sam Peckinpah regular Ben Johnson, as well as Richard Crenna, Charles Durning and Ed Lauter) add a pleasing layer of professionalism and credibility. Even Jill Ireland, never the most interesting of leading ladies, acquits herself well here.

Everyone here has done better work (check out Gries' extraordinarily affecting Will Penny or Ballard's work on The Wild Bunch), and it's not a life-changing experience, but that's not the point. This is an audience picture that sets out to entertain you for an hour-and-a-half, and succeeds admirably. And Jerry Goldsmith's terrific and exhilaratingly exciting score - his best in the genre - is the icing on the cake.