The Passage

1979

Action / Drama / War

11
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 43% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 43% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 2559 2.6K

shepherd nazi world war ii exploitation basque country, spain scientist

Plot summary

During WW 2, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees. While being pursued by a sadistic German.

Director

J. Lee Thompson Photo
J. Lee Thompson

Top cast

Patricia Neal Photo
Patricia Neal as Ariel Bergson
Malcolm McDowell Photo
Malcolm McDowell as Capt. Von Berkow
James Mason Photo
James Mason as Prof. John Bergson
Christopher Lee Photo
Christopher Lee as The Gypsy
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
808.72 MB
1280*544
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 3
1.54 GB
1920*816
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 7

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ma-cortes 5 / 10

Average wartime motion picture with large cast and spectacular landscapes

The film talks upon a Basque shepherd (Anthony Quinn) whose assignment results to be the leading a family (James Mason , Patricia Neal , Kay Lenz and Clemens) through the Pyrenees mountains (France) until Spain . But they are relentlessly pursued by an evil Nazi officer (Malcolm McDowell) .The movie is set in Second War World when Hitler invaded France and ruled the collaborating government from Vichy under command of general Petain .In the flick there are shocks , action , thriller , shootouts , drama and deal of violence and tortures in charge of Malcolm McDowell .Acceptable acting with all-star-cast . Anthony Quinn and James Mason are good and give nice performances ; also Christopher Lee acting as an agreeable gypsy , changing his usual villain role .Malcolm McDowell's interpretation is overblown , he plays as an evil , sadist , wry and murderer Gestapo officer .The final confrontation between the starring family , the Basque and the Nazis across the snowy landscapes is breathtaking .The flick was regularly directed by J. Lee Thompson .The yarn will appeal to suspense , emotions enthusiasts and WWII buffs .Rating : 5.5/10 , mediocre .
Reviewed by bushtony 5 / 10

The Right Frame Of Mind

The acclaimed director of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (J. Lee Thompson) churned out this lurid late seventies pot-boiler at a time when his best days were probably behind him. Ostensibly, a WWII adventure yarn about a Basque shepherd (Anthony Quinn) guiding a scientist (James Mason) his wife (Patricia Neal) and kids (Kay Lenz and Paul Clemens) across the Pyrenees and out of the clutches of the Nazis. Sounds a reasonable set-up on the surface of it, right?Throw into the mix Malcolm McDowell as Von Berkow, a Gestapo captain in hot pursuit and, yes, still sounds reasonable. I mean, bang in some tunes and the hills could be alive with the sound of them.However... At sixty-four Quinn's action man days were pretty much over. Yet out of the cast, he manages to be the most convincing character and at least seems the most physically capable. Mason looks frail and doddery at seventy. Patricia Neal looks like she's already died but someone's forgotten to tell her. There is as much chance of any of these people climbing mountains through deep snow and freezing temperatures as there is of me French-kissing Jessica Biel on top of an iceberg in the middle of the Sahara desert. Neal, especially, has difficulty managing a flight of steps (she was seriously ill in real life). It's ludicrous.Then to Malcolm McDowell. Not an actor renowned for subtlety, here he seems to have been completely let off the leash. His performance transcends all known boundaries of thespian restraint and spins off into a whole other far distant galaxy of pantomime excess. He is jaw-dropping. This is the most astonishing comedy caricature Gestapo-Nazi madman portrayal ever committed to film. By comparison, it makes his work in CALIGULA seem like John Gielgud whispering the poetry of Betjeman in Winchester Cathedral to an audience of the moral majority. If you have no other reason for watching this film, then I urge you to do so to marvel at McDowell and his interpretation of Nazi villainy. It'll mess with your head. Especially the sight of his underpants with the swastika motif. He later described it as "some of the best work I've ever done." Hopefully he was being satirical.Throw in some violent action, throat-slittings, finger amputations, burnings, explosions (anything resembling a structure that gets shot at blows up), rape, sodomy, a completely histrionic Captain Oates scene, avalanches and consistently brain-freezing dialogue and there you have it.It's not a good film, but it is a film that provides a good laugh if you're in the right frame of mind - and providing you can stand the mania and sadism.
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