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Breakout

Robert Duvall (Actor), Charles Bronson (Actor), Tom Gries (Director) Rated:
PG
Format: DVD
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 307 ratings
IMDb6.1/10.0
Additional DVD options Edition Discs
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DVD
January 1, 2002 		—
1
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$6.95 $2.76
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October 13, 2003 		—
1
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— $14.84
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— $39.98
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Breakout $3.99 $12.99
Genre Action
Format Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, Widescreen, Import, Subtitled, NTSC
Contributor Irwin Winkler, Charles Bronson, Robert Duvall, Chartoff-Winkler Productions, Randy Quaid, Robert Chartoff, Tom Gries, Sheree North, Jill Ireland See more
Language English
Runtime 1 hour and 37 minutes
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Product Description

Imprisonment in a foreign country... it may be a fate far worse than death. Jay Wagner (Robert Duvall) is framed for murder by his scheming grandfather (John Huston). Unjustly convicted, he faces 28 hard years of confinement in a crowded Mexican prison. Wagner's guilt-ridden wife Ann (Jill Ireland), who unwittingly aided in framing him by confiding in the grandfather, turns to pilot Nick Colton (Charles Bronson) and his partner Hawk (Randy Quaid) to help Wagner escape. Only the most cunning anddaring tactics can spring Wagner, so Colton must plan the impossible. BREAKOUT builds to an explosive climax when Colton launches an all-out desperate helicopter raid that will either rescue the prisoner or cost the lives of all involved.

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 2.35:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 2.72 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Tom Gries
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, Widescreen, Import, Subtitled, NTSC
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 37 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2002
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Robert Duvall, Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Randy Quaid, Sheree North
  • Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ French
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, Portuguese, Thai, French, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin Chinese
  • Producers ‏ : ‎ Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00005YUNO
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 307 ratings

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
307 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Quiet Knight
5.0 out of 5 stars Breakout Breaks into Blu-Ray
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022
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Kino Lorber Studio Classics releases this 1975 action film based on fact and starring Charles Bronson as a private pilot hired by a woman (played by Jill Ireland) to breakout her husband (played by Robert Duvall) out of a Mexican prison after being framed for murder. Looking quite good in HD, a noticeable upgrade from the 2002 Columbia Pictures DVD, now containing extras like TV and Radio spots, theatrical trailer, other trailers for Bronson titles, and an audio commentary by Film Historian Paul Talbot, author of two books about Charles Bronson. Comes with a slipcover.
3 people found this helpful
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Clair Waucaush
5.0 out of 5 stars Great DVD
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2023
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Great fun movie. It was struck from a nice print. Looks and sounds good.
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curtis martin
4.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite Bronson films
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2022
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We went to see this AS A FAMILY when it played the theaters back in the day, and it remains a favorite. It's classic 70s drive in stuff. If Death Wish hadn't hit so big, I think Bronson would have done more of these action-comedies Instead, Burt Reynolds filled that need in the market. This is really one of Bronson's liveliest performances.
The only reason I give it only 4 stars instead of five are for a couple of anti-mexican slurs (though the villains are really a white billionaire and white CIA agents) and casual jokes about rape (which, even though made by a female character, weren't funny then or now.)
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Rex Gettman
5.0 out of 5 stars Great "plot" and screen play, !!! .
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2019
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Classic Charles Bronson, !!! . (His wife, actress Jill Ireland, is also memorable, "and" beautiful, !!!) and has Great performances from "Randy Quaid" and "Sherree North" and even Robert Duvall, who only has maybe "2" lines, (??) in the whole movie, "???" .
2 people found this helpful
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Joe Smart
3.0 out of 5 stars Above Average 1970's Bronson
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2015
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Robert Duvall's Jay Wagner is set up by his own father-in-law (John Huston, automatic movie shorthand for evil after Chinatown) because of some damaging information he has about the family business and framed for murder in Mexico. To give you a quick idea of how corrupt the Mexican justice system is Duvall's lawyer proves beyond a doubt that his client was somewhere else when the murder was committed but the judge finds him guilty anyway.

Jay's wife Ann (the inevitable Jill Ireland) is trying to come up with a plan to help her husband escape from custody but doesn't realize things keep going wrong because the man who is helping her works for her father-in-law who doesn't want any escape plans to succeed. Then she stumbles across a shifty pilot named Nick Colton (Bronson) who promises to do the job for no money up front--and who is also suspicious enough not to reveal the specifics of his plan until the last minute.

If you're a Bronson fan Breakout has a lot going for it. It's not directed by Michael Winner or J. Lee Thompson which immediately represents a big plus. Charles Bronson was at least as good of an actor as Clint Eastwood, probably better, but Eastwood was much smarter, producing and directing his own projects while Bronson worked strictly as an actor for hire. The two things that hurt Charles Bronson's career were that he too frequently worked with Michael Winner or J Lee Thompson and that he almost always gave wife Jill Ireland the lead role in his films. Jill Ireland likely wouldn't have had any acting career at all if not for her too loyal husband--more often than not she was a terrible lead. Breakout actually features one of her more effective performances.

The script allows Bronson to have a bit more fun than usual--this time out he's not a grim vigilante or renegade cop--he's a pilot running various scams to try and stay afloat. Bronson's Colton wants to rescue Wagner from that Mexican prison mainly because nobody believes he can do it. The plan he comes up with is not only daring but also largely avoids violence and bloodshed which definitely makes this a different kind of Bronson film.

Breakout takes some unfortunate shortcuts storytelling wise. We never find out exactly what it was that Robert Duvall's character found out that earned him the murder frame in the first place. The movie also glosses over what happens to him after the escape--his father-in-law is the one who set him up so it's not like his troubles are over after Bronson gets him out.

Breakout still qualifies as an unusually light and fun Bronson film. Randy Quaid provides the buddy comedy; Jill Ireland isn't terrible and Robert Duvall generates some actual drama as you see him deteriorate physically and lose hope. Tom Gries who directed another above average Bronson vehicle, Breakheart Pass, does a nice job with his actors and the action--it's a shame he and Bronson didn't get more opportunities to work together but Gries died just two years after Breakout was made. Considering how much better Breakout and Breakheart Pass are than the J Lee Thompson vehicles (Thompson directed St. Ives and The White Buffalo in roughly the same period) it's not hard to suppose that a lot of Bronson's 1980's films at Cannon might have turned out better with Tom Gries behind the camera instead of the perpetually uninspired J Lee Thompson whose direction usually turns movie watching into a chore.

By my count Charles Bronson made 9 films with J Lee Thompson and 6 with Michael Winner while making only one film each with the far more talented Don Siegel and Walter Hill. How much better might Charles Bronson's movie career have been if he had simply worked with better directors more often and not given wife Jill Ireland lead roles that she was generally ill-equipped to play?

Breakout isn't likely to have much appeal for people who aren't already fans but if you like Charles Bronson it definitely beats watching Love and Bullets and The Evil That Men Do and the seemingly never-ending Death Wish sequels.
8 people found this helpful
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BobbyT
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Bronson Flick
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2017
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Great movie with an excellent cast. Bronson, Ireland, Duvall and the talented Sheree North. I have never seen Randy Quaid so thin, when I saw this at the show years ago I didn't even know who he was. Start to finish I loved it.
2 people found this helpful
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john
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Bronson movie - next to "Death Wish", one of his best!
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2014
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Next to "Death Wish" (the original movie - the sequels were horrible!), this is perhaps one of "Vintage Bronson's" best, in my opinion. With a great supporting cast, the film carries you along well to the very end! Very entertaining - particularly watching Bronson's character while he learns to fly a helicopter on his own!
One person found this helpful
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John A. Malagrin
5.0 out of 5 stars Action and fast paced
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2008
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Breakout

A must buy for Charles Bronson fans. His real wife, Jill Ireland, is just so beautiful. Robert Duvall, Sheree North, and Randy Quaid greatly support Bronson in this "breakout" tale of Bronson and company rescuing Duvall from a Mexican jail, for a crime he did not commit.
There is action, humor, action, and great tension and drama in this movie.
11 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Smilie
1.0 out of 5 stars Nicht abspielbar
Reviewed in Germany on December 29, 2023
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Dieser Film war leider nicht abspielbar. Von daher habe ich nur 1 Stern vergeben. Der Film an sich ist klasse. Ich kannte ihn von früher her, auch wenn sich der Humor heute ein anderer ist.
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TheresonlyoneCharlesBronson
5.0 out of 5 stars Blu Ray -Powerhouse Films/Indicator release
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2019
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Excellent Bronson film where Charlie is quite funny in some scenes.I reckon he could have done more comedy if he’d chosen to.
Great picture quality and in its proper screen format of 2.39:1
For me,being a huge Bronson fan,this release was worth buying as there is a 6min French made’making of’ where Charlie is interviewd briefly(which is quite funny).You also get to see him on set being followed around by the extras.Amusing.
Just wish he’d given more interviews during his career and what a shame he never made a movie with Clint Eastwood or Burt Reynolds during the early to mid 70s.
Actor Paul Koslo explains what it was like to work with Charlie on the Powerhouse films Blu Ray release of the Stone Killer...really funny.
The producer of Hard Times on the Eureka Blu Ray release also explains what Charlie was like on that movie....hilarious.
Very funny commentary from Kathleen Wilhoite regarding Charlie on Twilight Time’s Blu Ray of Murphy’s Law.
Shout Factory have just released 10 to Midnight in 4K where Andrew Stevens and others describe what it was like to work with Bronson on that movie..again funny and as the producer Lance Hool said”there’ll never be another Charlie Bronson.”
I just don’t think today’s actors(of which many are good)come close to Charles Bronson.He had a great voice,presence and always delivered his lines that only Clint and Burt(tough guy roles)could match.
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Chales V. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful film based on fact
Reviewed in Canada on July 6, 2014
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Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland I believe were a perfect couple and a great team in front of the camera as well
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robert
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on November 2, 2015
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VERRY HAPPY THANKS !
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BronsonFan
5.0 out of 5 stars Great release of Bronson classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2019
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Indicator release of this Bronson film is the Best there is available. Though the film itself is certainly not among Charlie's greater films, it's still fun and from his golden period In the mid 70's. Very enjoyable bonus materials.
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