Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8410 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 1998-12-01
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.com
Tautly directed and superbly photographed, this crowd-pleasing thriller from 1997 is indebted to Steven Spielberg's Duel, but more closely resembles Dead Calm in its strengths and weaknesses. Kurt Russell plays a stressed-out husband whose wife (Kathleen Quinlan) disappears after their car breaks down in the desert. Tracking her whereabouts leads to an interstate theft and kidnapping ring, and as Russell pursues--and is pursued by--a vicious redneck played to perfection by J.T. Walsh (in one of his final film roles), the movie succumbs to several tense, but utterly conventional action sequences. That doesn't stop the movie from being an above-average nail-biter. It is so effectively directed by co-writer Jonathan Mostow that even the more surreal situations seem plausible and altogether unsettling. Russell's performance is key to the film's success--he's smart enough to be admirable, and we can readily identify with his frustration, confusion, and torment. Through him, Breakdown takes on the edgy quality of a wide-awake nightmare. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

One of the most underrated action movies of all time
"Breakdown" is without a doubt one of the best action movies I've ever seen. It's about a married couple that get stranded after their car breaks down in the desert. A truck driver (J.T. Walsh), convincingly urges Kurt Russel that he will take his wife to a nearby phone so she can call for help. However, that's when Russel's wife gets kidnapped and this movie really starts to roll. Kurt Russel goes on an action packed adventure to try to find his wife and when he finally finds where she's at, the suspense gets more intense than just about any movie I've ever seen.

I don't see why "Breakdown" wasn't one of the biggest blockbuster hits of the 90's. Kurt Russel puts on one of his best performances ever and J.T. Walsh plays his role as the main villain as close to perfection as any other actor ever has. "Breakdown" has many of the best and most suspenseful action sequences you'll find in any movie.

There's not many movies that I'll watch twice within a week, but "Breakdown" was so good I watched it 4 times the first week it premiered on cable. I also told all my friends and family how good it was and that they needed to watch it. I taped it the last time I saw it and it's still on my list of one of the best action movies of all time and it always will be. It is also one movie you will never forget. If you like action movies with great suspense and non-stop action, "Breakdown" is one movie you can't miss.

Simply one of the best....
I'll make this review short and sweet: This is one of the most under-rated suspense thrillers ever released. The acting is superb...the plot line is very believable. From this writer's perspective, this is arguably one of the best movies Kurt Russell has ever acted in.
Just one question, why didn't this film get the attention that it deserved when it was first released???

This movie is a classic nail-biter. Hitchcock would be proud. This is highly recommended. It easily earns five stars out of five...

Viewer gets involved!
This movie was just like one of my favorite Dean Koontz or Richard Laymon books.

Besides the non stop action and my level of interest not dropping even once, it was nice to see a movie that did not make my cry for two hours lost in my life, because many movies I have seen lately new or old did just that.

What makes this story so gripping is the fact that Kurt Russell's character is someone you begin to like really fast and you don't want anything happening to him. Also the action begins on a desert road, with no people around, so this reminds me of those " lost in the woods" story, where someone is escaping and there's not many places to hide, besides being all alone and in trouble.

When Russell's car breaks down and his wife hitches a ride with someone from around there to get help, and never comes back, he decides to take the matter into his own terms, and let me tell you, I yelled at the TV a few times, and I never do that, because he gets on a bumpy ride to discover the towns little dirty secret, and he doesn't stop.

Excellent move for any time of the day can't wait to watch it again soon.