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SummaryJeff Taylor (Russell) and his wife Amy (Quinlan) are headed toward a new life in California when their car's engine dies on a remote highway. Amy accepts a ride from a helpful trucker (Walsh) while Jeff waits with the car. But when Jeff shows up at the agreed rendezvous, he finds his wife's not there. The locals aren't talking; the police aren't ... Read More

Breakdown

Metascore
Generally Favorable
74
User score
Generally Favorable
7.6
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
74
68% Positive
13 Reviews
26% Mixed
5 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Bucking the lava tide of computer special effects gushing out of Hollywood this season, the makers of Breakdown use old-fashioned ingenuity -- plus a compelling star, a fast- paced mystery and a deadpan villain -- to come up with a sizzler.
90
Los Angeles Times
Mostow, with his first feature, has made such a convincing, fast-paced, edge-of-the-seat thriller that you'd swear you'd never seen anything quite like it.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.6
82% Positive
56 Ratings
16% Mixed
11 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Dec 1, 2021
10
timone
Now I would say that this is more like a abduction thriller and I think I know the story straight up. The plot is about Jeffery Taylor (Kurt Russell) and his wife going to San Diego and almost crashed into the truck. So they went to the gas station and they off again and all of the sudden, the jeep breaks down so Jeffery tries to call someone but the phone is dead. The lorry stopped and the man named Red Barr (played by J.T. Walsh) went to Jeffery and his wife push the jeep of the road and asks if they wanna ride in the lorry, Jeffery stays with the jeep. So when Jeffery forgot to wire the jeep he went Belle's Diner to see if his wife is here. Jeffery went to talk to Red Barr but Red said he never see him before in his life. Jeff is confused and hails a passing police car and told the cop that he had done something with his wife. So the cop went to look at the truck and there's nothing in it. Jeffery went to the police station and Belle's Diner again. The bartender didn't see his wife. So Jeff talks to Billy who says he his wife went on another truck. Jeffery went to find his wife but he was ambushed by Earl so he drove away from him and went into the river and got knocked out by Billy. So he wakes up by the bad guys. Their leader Red Barr tells him to the $90.000 for the ransom. So he went to the bank, called Red and went in the truck got taped by Earl. When Earl discovers Jeffery's ruse for the ransom, Jeffery stabs him, tapes him and tortures him by driving holy-grocal-molyly. The cop saw the truck speeding, Jeff stops and warns him that the bad guys kidnapped his wife, Earl shoots the cop so he shoots him. Jeff calls the officers to get the ambulance for a wounded cop. While Jeff's not talking, he hides underneath the lorry and climbed in. While arrived, he quietly enters Red's house and forces Red and his men to release his wife from the freezer before locking them in the cellar. Jeff and his wife went outta here. After Billy escapes from Jeffery, he frees Red and his men. While Jeff and his wife escapes, Red and his gang catches them. Red's truck got dameged at the back. Then he rams Jeff's vehicle off the bridge, his truck got hanged and Jeffery fights Red by hurling him of the truck and the truck got destroyed and that was it. Wow, what a thriller! I enjoyed this much more and I never got tired of it. For all you ''Fast and Furious'' fans out here, this is the film that you will enjoy. It has suspence in it and it has thrills in it, I've seen it a million times and I'll probably seen a million more.
Apr 11, 2021
10
AmadeusE
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
90
The New York Times
His Breakdown is a tough, vigorous exercise in pure action, shot with throwback expertise and, most refreshingly, without special effects.
75
Christian Science Monitor
It starts slowly, but builds to a spectacular climax with hearty sound effects and deftly directed stunts.
70
Washington Post
Jonathon Mostow, who wrote the script and then directed the movie, travels mostly familiar backroads and crosses bridges when he comes to them, actually managing a pretty good cliff-hanging denouement on the latter.
50
San Francisco Examiner
When you really think about Breakdown - and believe me, that would probably require spending more time thinking about the movie than the filmmakers did - it doesn't make much sense.
38
ReelViews
Breakdown is the latest in a seemingly endless traffic jam of thrillers that opens strong but finishes abominably.
See All 19 Critic Reviews
Jul 18, 2014
10
TylerDurden900
Breakdown is a fantastic thriller with Kurt Russell. The movie has great imagination and few movies can have no flaws or slower paced scenes. Breakdown is a thriller in the tradition of all the classic thrillers.
Oct 2, 2024
9
OzanDK
Wow, such a classic movie is this. It's very thrilling action movie.Definitely worth watching!
Mar 11, 2018
9
TryASummersault
This thriller is absolutely relentless from the start and actually horrifyingly plausible. The desert setting proves for a great backdrop for the chaos to ensue and the suspense and tension is heavily consistent. The final gripping 20 min is some of the most intense thrilling cinema I've ever seen and was executed flawlessly. Kurt Russel once again proves to be one of the most excitingly underrated actors of all time with a stunningly determined performance. This is everything a thriller should be even at its simplest points, and delivers across the board for the genre.
Mar 18, 2020
8
Rcavey92212
Action packed, edge of your seat, sweaty palm inducing, adrenaline fueled thrill ride. Breakdown is one of those films that's so intense and so well done it just gets under your skin and drills itself into your psyche. Kurt Russell is awesome as a yuppie whose car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. His wife hops a truck to the nearest rest top to get help but upon arriving there she never showed up. He begins to look for the truck and upon finding it the driver swears to never having seen him before. From than on he's in a urgent race to try and save his wife before it's too late. I don't wanna give anything else away for those who haven't seen it. But it's truly a wild ride and needs to be celebrated more. To this day it still gets my heart racing and my mom can't even watch it. Budget: $36m Domestic Box Office: $50m Worldwide Box Office: $50m 4.25/5
Mar 10, 2014
8
MikeyStephens
One of my favourite films of all time, why?. Because it felt real I had watched this young so I had a imagination that was way to big to control. I had liked and watched this great thriller genre that I would say now easily pitch's up to the master of thrillers like the great Aldred Hitchcock would definitely recommend this classic to any who are interested in great stories and unpredictable conclusions.
See All 68 User Reviews
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  • Dino De Laurentiis Company
  • Paramount Pictures
  • Spelling Films
May 2, 1997
1 h 33 m
R
No-one is safe from chance
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 2 Nominations
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
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