JasparLamarCrabb Not as action packed as one would have hoped for. Charles Bronson is a pilot hired by Jill Ireland to break husband Robert Duvall out of a Mexican prison. It proves to be quite a bit more difficult as Duvall's own uncle (John Huston) aims to keep him in the south of the border hellhole. There's plenty of humor (Bronson laughs!) and a few thrills courtesy a very uncooperative helicopter but not much else to recommend. The oddball supporting cast includes Alan Vint, Randy Quaid, Alejandro Rey and the incomparable Sheree North as a good time girl. It's never really clear why Duvall is framed by his uncle and the film has no real ending; it just stops. Directed with little fanfare by Tom Gries and written by Marc Norman (who would later win a couple Oscars for "Shakespeare in Love").

Kieran Green Robert Duvall is Sentenced to 28 years in prison for a crime that he never committed. Only two things can get him out - A lot of money and Charles Bronson! Bronson is Colton a bush pilot who is hired by Duvall's wife Jill Ireland (Mrs Charles Bronson) to spring him from prison in Mexico. what follows is some excellent action sequences where they're are various attempts to spring Duvall. a post Last Detail Randy Quaid also stars as Bronson's sidekick, one of the highlights is Quaid's attempt to spring Duvall out of prison whilst being in drag. as ever with every Bronson film, there is excellent action sequences. The Wild Bunch's 'Mapache' Emilio Fernandez is the villain, John Huston also makes an appearance 'Breakout' is a great film that Bronson fans will truly enjoy.

Poseidon-3 Fans (or foes) who think Bronson doesn't say anything in his movies should take a look at this one in which he not only speaks a bit more than usual, but also even smiles occasionally! When shady corporate head Huston decides to sock away his grandson Duvall for over 25 years in a Mexican prison, Duvall's devoted wife Ireland hires Bronson to, as the title alludes, break him out. Duvall tries to get out on his own at first, with unpleasant results, and Bronson's initial attempts are no less troublesome, but eventually he comes up with a plan that has a better chance of succeeding. The trouble is, Huston's pocket henchman Mantee is on the case with plans to kill Duvall should he ever escape! Bronson portrays a rundown, flat-broke pilot who will do almost anything for money and his character has a sly, con-artist bent to it mixed with an appealing uncertainty as to what he is able to do to make the breakout happen. For instance, he settles on using a helicopter for his plan and yet barely knows how to fly it! This makes him more of a feasible pressed-into-service rescuer rather than some super-hero. Duvall is the one who has little to say this time, his character holed up in prison for most of the running time and sick or dazed for a lot of that. Incidentally, he is in very fine shape in this film, evidenced by his torso during a running scene he has. Ireland runs hot and cold, unfortunately saddled with a needless (and obvious) wig in the second have that is meant to be her own hair, but clearly isn't. Her makeup scheme is odd, giving her dark, smeary eyes that look as if they've been punched. Quaid, in one of his early roles, is impossibly tall and skinny and does a nice job. Astonishingly, he has one scene in drag and, facially at least, the result is not quite as horrifying as one might expect! Adding a delightful and sexy aspect to the film is North as one of Bronson's old flames who he enlists to help him with his scheme to save Duvall. For her age, she is in great shape, too, and makes a generally good impression, if, perhaps, a bit too carefree under all the threat of danger. Huston's role appears to have been trimmed a bit and his motives are left rather fuzzy. There's a scene with him and Mantee that begins with a view-screen door closing and it's possible that some pertinent info was relayed in that scene, now lost to the cutting room floor. In any case, his storyline is not really resolved. Mantee has a memorably meaty scene on the runway of an airport. Other notable cast members include Rey, as Ireland's attorney, in a role that seems pointless in the finished film, and Vint, as a flight instructor who gets roped into helping Bronson with his plan. This is not a great movie, but it's an agreeable time-killer with a non-oppressive running time, a Jerry Goldsmith score and several sequences of action and suspense. Fans of the famous real-life husband and wife duo will likely get more out of it than the average viewer.

lost-in-limbo This ready-made Charles Bronson vehicle with a better then expected cast (Robert Duvall, John Huston, Randy Quaid, Jill Ireland and Sheree North) doesn't really take flight and ends up being nothing much but ho-hum charades. Bronson's bright, casual performance and Lucien Ballard's scenically polished cinematography are what eventually carries this highly systematic, limp and basically no frills prison breakout get-up. The light, old-fashioned story stays direct, even with its muddled sub-plot involving why the captor is in prison, but in the long run it's by the numbers. There's nothing wrong with providing us something that's not original, but there's very little suspense and action drawn upon the cracking situation. Tom Gries' direction is static, and plodding, as the momentum slowly increases to end with a memorable climax with a plane repeller. Gries is well served upon striking up a rough appeal, but lacks a slam-bang attitude. It stays quite talkative, and the breezy script flows with humorous jibs that Bronson seems well suited to. The music score might not me be anything special, but Jerry Goldsmith does a resourceful job in orchestrating some titillating cues. The support cast of John Huston, Randy Quaid and a buoyant Sheree North are an enjoyable attraction of fun. Robert Duvall plays it dreary, and confused and Jill Ireland came across superficially bland. There's an interesting bunch of minor support parts by Paul Mantee, Alejandro Rey, Roy Jenson, Jorge Moreno and Alan Vint. Bronson is the major draw-card, and deservedly so as it's his well lit performance (and his constant urge for a can of beer) manages to keep you watching. Modest at best.