Breakdown: Paramount Scares – Volume 2 (4K UHD Review)

• Reviewed by: Dennis Seuling
• Review Date: Mar 28, 2025
• Format: 4K Ultra HD
• 

Director

Jonathan Mostow

Release Date(s)

1997 (October 1, 2024)

Studio(s)

Paramount Pictures (Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment)

• Film/Program Grade: B+
• Video Grade: A-
• Audio Grade: B
• Extras Grade: A

Review

[Editor’s Note: Though we’re reviewing each of the films in the Paramount Scares: Volume 2 set one at a time, Breakdown is also currently available in a separate physical 4K disc, albeit as an import. The majority of this review was originally written by Dennis Seuling who covered the Paramount Presents Blu-ray release of Breakdown. The video review portion is by Tim Salmons.]

Watching Breakdown, I was reminded of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes. In both films, a character mysteriously disappears, leading to attempts to find out what happened and locate the missing person. Both films rely on the build-up of suspense to drive the plot.

Massachusetts couple Jeff and Amy Taylor (Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan) are driving through the deserts of the Southwest when their car breaks down. A truck driver (J.T. Walsh) stops and offers them a ride to the diner up ahead, where they can call for a tow truck. Jeff decides to stay with the car and Amy accepts the offer so she can phone road service.

Later, Jeff arrives at the diner and told that no one there has seen his wife. Thinking he and Amy got their messages crossed, he heads for the next town but spots the truck along the road and stops it, asking the driver what happened to his wife. The driver denies ever having seen her. A deputy sheriff passing by questions the trucker, who again claims that he’s never seen the woman. A search of the truck turns up nothing, leaving Jeff confused, frightened, and angry.

As Jeff continues trying to figure out what could have happened to Amy, it becomes clear that a well-orchestrated plan involving many of the locals has targeted the couple. Jeff is left alone both to extricate himself from a plot in which he becomes an unwilling participant and to locate Amy.

Director Jonathan Mostow has fashioned a taut mystery thriller that manages to stay several steps ahead of the viewer. Amy’s disappearance and Jeff’s frustrated attempts to find her create real suspense. Jeff is a northerner driving a fancy car, making him a prime mark for the predators. Clearly a fish out of water, he’s at the mercy of those who intend to manipulate him for personal gain, and the fact that they’re lethal adds to the drama.

Russell conveys Jeff’s desperation, anger, and even frenzy in a strange environment as he realizes he alone can rescue Amy. Jeff is not an action hero, so we can identify with his dilemma. An average, law-abiding guy, he’s up against seemingly insurmountable forces, yet he perseveres, often at great risk to himself.

Russell’s Jeff acquires a degree of bravado and daring that owes more to the writer’s imagination than to probability. Initially loathe to get into a confrontation and willing to back off rather than engage, Jeff turns exceptionally athletic and intensely aggressive in the final third of the film. Yes, the stakes are high and he’s gone through obstacle after obstacle to find Amy, but would he realistically transform into a wild-eyed, capable avenger in one day?

As with many Hollywood thrillers, the plot of Breakdown relies on convenient coincidences, unlikely occurrences, and other devices that stretch credibility, but the film offers a wild ride and we go along with it. There are exciting vehicle stunts and chases and plenty of surly characters to keep things breathless and unpredictable. Performances are uniformly excellent. Director Jonathan Mostow transforms the expansive Southwestern desert from a place of rugged beauty to a location of lethal foreboding.

Breakdown was shot by cinematographer Douglas Milsome on 35mm film using Arriflex 35 III, Moviecam Compact, and Arriflex 535 cameras with anamorphic lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Paramount debuts the film on Ultra HD with a 4K scan of the original camera negative, which has been graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and presented on a triple-layered BD-100 disc. The previous Paramount Presents Blu-ray release of Breakdown was approved by director Jonathan Mostow, but I’m not entirely sure about the UHD. Comparatively, the Blu-ray appears a bit more natural at times. The UHD seems a little smoother, perhaps with a bit of DNR, but not to the point where everything appears waxy. The bitrate is also lacking, sitting in the lower 70 to 75Mbps range most of the time. The HDR grade also darkens the image to the point where the desert skies and landscapes look more like they’re sitting at dusk than at daytime, meaning that the hot, natural lighting in the middle of nowhere is clipped a bit. However, the color palette maintains consistently strong hues and deep blacks, maybe a tad too deep. Obviously, contrast isn’t super ideal, but the image is stable and clean otherwise. So it’s a mild upgrade in terms of overall sharpness and level of detail, but inconsistent when it comes to contrast levels, which is a shame because the Blu-ray looks terrific.

Audio is included in English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD with optional subtitles in English and English SDH. Dialogue is clear and distinct throughout, mostly emanating from the front center channel. The surround effect isn’t overly pronounced but nicely tracks left-to-right and right-to-left movement of on-screen vehicles. The 18-wheeler that figures prominently roars along the highway, intimidating in its sheer size and power. Sound effects abound in the chase sequences when metal is scraping against metal, tires are skidding, and vehicles are overturning. Pistol and shotgun fire are also “sweetened” for dramatic oomph. Basil Poledouris’ score appropriately amps up the excitement. Additional audio options included English 5.1 Dolby Digital Descriptive Audio, German 2.0 mono Dolby Digital, and French 2.0 Dolby Digital, with additional subtitle options in German and French.

The 4K Ultra HD release of Breakdown is available in its own separate package (which also includes a DVD copy of the film), as well as the Paramount Scares: Volume 2 boxed set, along with the other films Friday the 13th Part 2, World War Z, and Orphan: First Kill. Also included in this set is a Special Paramount Scares Collector’s Edition of Fangoria magazine, which covers all four films; a set of patches; a sticker; and a Paramount Scares enamel pin. Each UHD is included in its own black Amaray case and dedicated slipcover. Everything is housed in a large rectangular chipboard box. The following extras for Breakdown are included on the Blu-ray only, itself a duplicate of the Paramount Presents Blu-ray:

• Audio Commentary by Jonathan Mostow and Kurt Russell
• Isolated Score in 2.0 Dolby Digital
• Filmmakers Focus: Jonathan Mostow on Breakdown (10:46)
• Victory Is Hers: Kathleen Quinlan on Breakdown (4:22)
• Brilliant Partnership: Martha De Laurentiis on Breakdown (8:18)
• Alternate Opening (11:40)
• Alternate Opening with Optional Commentary by Jonathan Mostow (11:54)
• Trailers:
  • Breakdown (SD – 2:10)
  • Kiss the Girls (SD – 2:17)
  • Hard Rain (SD – 2:23)

Audio Commentary – Director Jonathan Mostow and actor Kurt Russell share this commentary. Dino Di Laurentiis is described as an old-school producer who loved and cared about movies. When a backstory for Jeff and Amy was deemed necessary, another writer added to Mostow’s screenplay, but it was ultimately found unnecessary and deleted. The director believes that “character is revealed through behavior.” Russell comments that the actors playing bad guys were actually pleasant, easygoing people. Mostow wanted to be sure that at all times the characters were making the right decisions based on the circumstances they faced. There was trouble casting the role of Amy because the character appears for only a few minutes at the beginning of the film, then disappears until the last few scenes. Kathleen Quinlan committed to the role after reading only ten pages of the script because she was involved, as a nominee, with getting ready for the Academy Awards presentations. An FBI agent told Mostow that it was difficult for law enforcement to search for a person over the age of 18 who is reported missing. This information was the springboard for the story, whose “concept was air tight,” according to Mostow. Both Mostow and Russell had J.T. Walsh in mind for the trucker because “he seamlessly blends into every movie.” The director and actor briefly discuss the difference between editing with actual film and editing digitally. In an early version of the script, there was a secondary character that Mostow had in mind for Morgan Freeman, but this character was eliminated along with considerable dialogue. Russell notes that when the writing is strong and there’s nothing extraneous, it makes playing a role easier. The last scene is reminiscent of action films of the 1970s. It was shot in pieces, with editing making it look authentic. No computer-generated images were used, though some shots utilized miniatures.

Isolated Score – The Basil Poledouris score, as well as other music, is heard as the film plays without dialogue, ambient sound, or sound effects.

Filmmaker Focus: Director Jonathan Mostow on Breakdown – Mostow had to shift gears when a planned film based on a Stephen King story fell through. He wanted to write a film set in the desert with trucks, and decided to come up with a modern story about the mysterious disappearance of a character. He completed the script in three weeks and wanted Kurt Russell for the lead because of the actor’s ability to communicate without dialogue. Working out the car chases was “like choreographing a ballet for elephants.” Models and storyboards were used in planning the climactic car chase. Russell, described by Mostow as a “laid back chill guy,” did all his own stunts. Not wanting to be away from his family for a long shoot, Russell received daily round-trip private air transportation from filming locations in Utah and Nevada to his Los Angeles home. The reviews for the film were very good and it opened at number one at the box office.

Victory Is Hers: Kathleen Quinlan on Breakdown – Quinlan felt the chemistry between Kurt Russell and herself was instrumental in making their on-screen relationship believable. Producer Dino Di Laurentiis wanted to provide Quinlan with a wardrobe by designer Armani but she felt it would be inappropriate for a woman making a cross-country journey. Di Laurentiis was very approachable and “easy to talk to.” Russell makes acting look easy, but he demands a certain degree of perfection. She recalls Jonathan Mostow as a quiet director who let her find her own performance with only minor suggestions. Jeff was originally supposed to release the gear that plunged the truck into the river, but Amy was eventually given that key action moment.

A Brilliant Partnership: Martha Di Laurentiis on Breakdown – Co-producer Martha Di Laurentiis wanted to do a road movie, liked Jonathan Mostow’s script, and was determined to get a top cast and secure a decent budget. The film is based on the question, “You’re alone on a lonely road. What happens?” Dino Di Laurentiis needed a star and contacted Kurt Russell. Russell initially thanked the producer and declined, saying he didn’t want to be away from his family for a long feature film shoot. Di Laurentiis agreed to provide private jet transportation and helicopters to get him to and from the set each day. Though Russell’s performance might vary slightly from one take to the next, he always “performed correctly on every single take.” Russell felt that using a stand-in for the stunts would be cheating the audience. The company was constantly on the move. “We were in a different location every day.”

Alternate Opening – This sequence shows Jeff as a news cameraman in a war-torn Central American country witnessing the death of a woman by a sniper. Returning home to his wife Amy, he discusses his disenchantment with the job and they make plans to move from Massachusetts to California.

Alternate Opening with Commentary – Director Jonathan Mostow explains that the studio and a second writer felt a backstory was necessary so the audience could get to know Jeff and Amy. Mostow objected but agreed to shoot the scenes provided that two test screenings would be held, one with the backstory footage, the other without. After watching both versions with an audience, the studio executives agreed that the version without the backstory was better, and that’s the version that was released to theaters.

Breakdown is an exciting, suspenseful thriller that resonates with the audience. We wonder how we would handle the sudden disappearance of a loved one when we’re suddenly alone and without support. The Taylors’ cross-country journey becomes a never-ending living nightmare. The film’s tag line “It could happen to you” rings true.

- Dennis Seuling w/Tim Salmons

(You can follow Tim on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd. And be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel here.)