by John Larkin
BREAKDOWN is available to purchase on blu-ray in stores and at Amazon.com. It is also available digitally in 4K Ultra HD on digital platforms such as Apple TV and VUDU.
How I had never heard of or seen BREAKDOWN until this new blu ray release from PARAMOUNT will go down as one of my life's great mysteries. After my first and only viewing I consider the film one of the greatest thrillers ever made and it's easily Kurt Russell's greatest screen performance. It is rumored that Walt Disney's last words before he died were "KURT RUSSELL" now I understand why!
There is a no nonsense tone and intensity to the proceedings that you just don't see anymore in films made today. Jonathan Mostow, who hasn't really directed anything significant since TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES is firing on all cylinders here, surrounding the brilliantly intense yet vulnerable Russell with one of most frightening screen ensemble's ever culled. The depraved trio of J.T. Walsh, M.C. Gainey and Jack Noseworthy are the thing of nightmares and they add a realism to the scenario that makes the film stick to you like sweat on a hot sweltering day.
The best thrillers know how to trigger your own fears to pull you into the protagonist's struggle and BREAKDOWN does it with masterful effectiveness. As someone who has had their own fears of taking long drives on unfamiliar highways It didn't take much to grab me from the start and once it does, the problems keeps upping themselves and I soon found myself simultaneously cowering in fear while enraged at the struggle Russell had to face.
BREAKDOWN is a visceral and terrifying masterpiece and a quintessential white knuckle thriller. I am thrilled that Paramount gave it the polished blu-ray release treatment that it deserves. Note that the blu ray release comes with a digital code redemption for itunes that redeems the film in 4K UHD with HDR. I really wish paramount would include the 4K discs in these releases so that the better quality version was not on streaming only. Despite that, whichever way you chose to watch it, you won't forget it!