07-09-06 A Breed Apart (1984)

Seen: September 2, 2007
Format: Broadcast (Encore)
Rating: 2

I watched this one out a of a bit of desperation. I've been on a trip and don't have access to my normal flow of decent cinema. This was on late and looked atrocious.

It was.

The director has both a directing and writing credit for a film called Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills. I recognize nothing the screen writer's ever done. Despite the fact that there's some actual talent in the cast, these are the real signposts to what you're in for.

Basically this film is a mass of tired cliches. We've got a damaged Vietnam vet, cut off from society. We've got a working class single mom, looking for a role model for her young son. There's the evil corporate bastard with the strange collection, who's willing to pay to complete it, regardless of the environmental and moral implications. And the headstrong outdoor adventurist, whoring for cash for his next expedition. And to round it off, the drunken rednecks who kill wildlife which crosses their path, all of it.

Mix this in with an undiscovered and virtually extinct species of eagle, and a reporter who's willing to trade her person for a story and you've got, well pretty much nothing. Basically it about throwing this characters together with a thin, concocted premise and seeing what happens.

The good news is that we've got Rutger Hauer, Kathleen Turner, Powers Boothe, Brion James and Donald Pleasence doing the acting. The bad news is you can't make shortcake out of manure. While they all do their best to bring these characters to life, and even do a passable job in some cases, what's happening here just isn't that interesting, not to mention plausible.

Hauer's Jim is the strangest and perhaps most interesting of the bunch, and he comes off almost post-apocalyptic. He acts as if humanity is foreign to him and slips off into strange reveries, complete with background chopper sound effects. Yeah, we get it.

Technically, there's nothing remotely interesting going on. It's not terrible, but there's nothing really redeeming.

There is some gratuitous nudity, which is actually a bit comical. But overall it's a bit pointless and even preachy, and has somehow ended up where it belongs, playing on a second-rate cable movie channel in a spot even the infomercials aren't interested in.

The Good: Some decent actors.

The Bad: The premise and script

The Ugly: Pretty much the whole thing...