A Breed Apart

After declaring myself not a Philippe Mora fan, mostly based on "According to Occams Razor", which is a mockery of a movie, and 'Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills", which is just pathetic, I was totally surprised as to how much I enjoyed "A Breed Apart" . The North Carolina location photography is very good, and the acting by Rutger Hauer is especially intriguing. He is a mystery man, protecting the animals on his Blue Ridge Mountain island. His hermit like tranquility is threatened by poacher Brion James, and another intruder, Powers Boothe, helps Hauer run off Brion and his gang. Kathleen Turner being romantically rejected by Hauer, decides to play the jealousy card, with decidedly mixed results. Meanwhile Boothe is using both Turner and Hauer to try and complete his mission of stealing two Bald Eagle eggs for $250,000 promised by egg collector, Donald Pleasance. Well worth a look. - MERK

Director Philippe Mora (Howling 2, Pteridophyte Woman from Beverly Hills) helms this curious little film that has Vietnam vet Jim (Rutger Hauer) living on a secluded island up against egg poachers and the mountain climber that Whitier (Donald Pleasence) hires to steal bald-eagle eggs. Kathleen Turner also stars as Stella their love interest. And no 80's movie would be complete without Brion James as a bad guy.

A missing film reel was lost to time, but rather than trash the whole movie, the editors choose to cut around it. This explains why the film seems so scatter-shot, characters motivations are not always clear, the plot is muddled. However what remained is still watchable enough,

Eye Candy: Jayne Bentzen gets fully nude; Kathleen Turners shows T&A

Hotshot mountaineer Booth ventures onto private nature reserve owned by nutty Vietnam vet Hauer, with the intention of stealing some priceless eagle eggs. Good story is bolstered by a memorable turn by Hauer and some lovely scenery, but it's a shame that Turner is wasted in a thankless role as Hauer's love interest. Music score by Maurice Gibb of Bee Gees fame.

An environmentalist and adventurous film with special mention for the colorful cinematography, showing splendidly the wonderful outdoors. Concerns the veteran Jim Malden (Rutger Hauer), he is a strange recluse who lives in a tent-palace in the loneliest reaches of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he protects the fragile birds of the region. His only contacts with humanity are with single widow Stella Clayton (Kathleen Turner) and her young son Adam (Andy Fenwick), who have a small supply store on the mainland. One day, the widow meets a mountain climber named Mike Walker (Powers Boothe) who comes to a visit to the island to observe two rare eagles. What he doesn't tell is that Mike has been hired by a billionaire collector (Donald Pleasence). An on-going battle over a rare eagle's eggs strikes sparks between the reclusive conservationist and the scheming adventurer.

An acceptable but uneven film with star-studded cast, it is absolutely stunning to look at. Dealing with a decent intrigue that involves a tough conservationist, an adventurer hired to steal bald-eagle eggs and a stubborn widow. The result is a nicely paced movie that manages to combine suspense, drama, romance and even a touch of post-Vietnam commentary.

The cast is pretty well, starring Rutger Hauer is fine as a Vietnam veteran who has lost his wife and child, living as a recluse on an island full of rare birds. Blond, cool, deep-voiced Rutger Hauer takes a break from cold-eyed killers to perform the independent-minded conservationist. While Kathleen Turner is the obstinate widow who falls in love for him. And Power Boothe -familiar to TV viewers as Philip Marlowe- as an adventurous mountain climber hired by an egg collector to steal the eagles' eggs. And two usual baddies, Brion James and John Dennis Johnston . To this day all the main and supporting actors have unfortunately passed away, except for John Dennis Johnston and Kathleen Turner, who is now very old and chubby.

The film's landscape photography stands out, with its gorgeous forests and mountains, shot on location in Lake Lure, Asheville, Biltmore Estate, Chimney Rock Park, North Carolina. As well as the unique musical score by Maurice Gibbs, one of the members of Bee Gibbs. The motion picture being basically an adventure flick, was unevenly directed by Philippe Mora, containing some shortfalls , flaws and gaps. Director Philippe Mora seems to have an empathy for the material, but at times giving a lethargic filmmaking , though provides some thrilling scenes. A certain professionalism in the direction cannot fully sustain the thin and disjointed story. Mora is an Australian craftsman who has made a lot of films in all kinds of genres , getting successes anf flops. Usually directing in low budgets, his uneven career with highs and lows is made up of the following films : "Scream of a winter night , The Beast within , Return of Captain Invincible , A Breed Apart , Howling 2 your sister is a werewolf , Holing 3 The Marsupials , Death of a Soldier , Communion , Precious Find , Back in Business , Pterodactyl Woman of Beverly Hills" and several others . Rating: 5.5/10. The picture will appeal to Rutger Hauer and Kathleen Turner fans.

Rutger Hauer does a typically fine job as Jim Malden, a nature-loving recluse who lives on a privately owned island. Taking care of the animals there is everything to him. A local store keeper, Stella Clayton (a radiant Kathleen Turner), is obviously sweet on him, but he has a knack for pushing people away. (He's one of those movie characters who has turned his back on society after tragedy in his past.) Into their lives comes Mike (Powers Boothe), an expert mountain climber. Mike needs a lot of money for his latest ambitious venture, and hooks up with a creepy collector (Donald Pleasence), who's offered him six figures to steal some bald eagle eggs; these eggs belong to a new (fictional) subspecies that are bigger than ordinary bald eagles.

Directed by cult favourite Philippe Mora ("Mad Dog Morgan", "The Beast Within", "Howling" II and III), "A Breed Apart" is the kind of film more noteworthy for its good intentions than for whatever it actually accomplishes. However, while the script seems to be full of unresolved subplots, this is supposedly because one full reel disappeared while en route from North Carolina to California. The human stories have some appeal, but are trite compared to some of the films' bigger messages and majestic outdoors scenery. One cliched plot point has a pair of braindead, yahoo hunters played by Brion James and John Dennis Johnston seeking revenge against Malden. This leads to predictable developments.

The biggest question that Paul Wheelers' script poses is whether or not Mike will exit the somewhat grey moral area that he currently occupies. The man is something of an enigma, and delights in wasting the time of a sexy reporter (Jayne Bentzen) looking for her big breakthrough story.

The actors are entertaining to watch. Hauer is playing a cliched character (a "noble savage" as Mike calls him), and the charismatic Boothe and the lovely Turner have more interesting roles to play. Pleasence is effective in his select few scenes; James and Johnston are standard-issue but amusing redneck antagonists. (The latter is a semi-regular in the films of Mora.)

Notable for an atmospheric electronic score composed by Maurice Gibb of the Bee-Gees, and its exquisite photography by Geoffrey Stephenson.

In real life, the bald eagle WAS at risk of becoming extinct in 1984, but fortunately its numbers subsequently improved.

Seven out of 10.