| The Missouri Breaks | 
 enlarge | Director: Arthur Penn
Actors: Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Kathleen Lloyd, Frederic Forrest
Category: Video
Buy Used: CDN$ 29.99
Used (2) from CDN$ 29.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Format: Import, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0792837339
UPC: 027616622938
EAN: 9780792837336
ASIN: 0792837339
Theatrical Release Date: May 19, 1976
Release Date: December 9, 1997
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Condition: Ex rental copy, cassette and sleeve have rental stickers, but both in very good condition. Different picture on cover.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 shakespeare on the breaks February 24, 2004
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This title belongs on DVD. That has to get said first. I'm not sure that Missouri Breaks really falls into the category of anti-western; it isn't undermining any of the accepted notions of manifest destiny or cultural superiority that make an anti-western like Little Big Man. It's more like a great western novel adeptly turned to film. Harry Dean Stanton and Randy Quaid give rock solid supporting performances and help lend realism to the characterizations which Nicholson caps with his performance. All this solid character/period piece acting allows Marlon Brando to launch an outer space crazy minded performance that somehow really works in this flik, better than his outer space performance in Apocalypse Now. The feeling of placement into a historical time period is intense, and unlike many such fashion shows of recent western period filming, this one is dirty and true, we're not gawking at the authenticity of the clothes folks are wearing, but at how we've been transported to the Breaks of the late 1800's. Amazing work all around. See this film.
One of the best "anti-westerns" of the '60s and '70s. November 24, 2003
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
'The Missouri Breaks' caps a short list of "anti-western" films that marked the death of the classic western as an American Icon. Writer Thomas McGuane skillfully weaves the counter-cultural mores of his own generation into the fabric of this non-conformist screenplay in which the "good guys" are the cattle rustlers and the "bad guys" are the law (or what passes for law in the west). Jack Nicholson (as a rustler) and a very scary Marlon Brando as a looney bounty hunter head up this cast, which reads like a rogue's gallery of great character actors such as Frederick Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton and Warren Oates. Many mainstream American critics panned this film, largely because of its refusal to fit within well-defined story arcs, yet foreign critics praised it for its rawness and superb acting. If you're a fan of films that stretch the limits of their genre, then 'The Missouri Breaks' is a must-see Western.
Not another one like this EVER November 14, 2003
This movie has the best character actors doing the most bizarre tour-de-force performances in cinema history. Just like Boagart could only have played Rick in "Casablanca," no other actor could have played the gunslinger that Marlon Brando protrays in this movie, and it is his talent to control the screen that makes this movie unforgettable.In the same context, Jack Nicholson with his wry humor and controlling demeanor on screen, is the only adversarial character strong enough to hold his own on the screen with Brando. What is the matter with the studios that they do not release this movie to DVD ... it is more than a classic, and when seen once, never forgotten and rarely compared with any other cinema celuloid done to date. I give it 6-stars, in that nothing can touch this movie in any category.
An unjustly overlooked Western November 4, 2002
Hard to say why this film has fallen out of favor. Great script by Thomas McGuane (92 in the Shade), star turns by Brando and Nicholson, and excellent supporting cast including Randy Quaid, Harry Dean Stanton, John Ryan, Kathleen Lloyd, R.L. Armstrong, and others. Story is of a cattle baron who's getting ripped off by a bunch of rustlers played by Nicholson, Stanton, Quaid and one other guy. The baron hears of a regulator (a guy who cleans up messes like that) named Robert E. Lee Clayton, and here he is, Brando in a terrific performance as an extremely unusual person, to say the least. He's basically a very nasty dandy that nobody likes. But he's good at his job--so good that...well, no spoilers here. Nicholson is an appealing sort, just trying to get by and when he and Lloyd meet, it's a good thing. He poses as a dirt farmer to win her sympathy, all the while stealing her pa's cattle. But turns out she isn't wild about her father anyway...yep, even in those days, there were dysfunctional families. The story is helped tremendously by the very odd quirks that Clayton exhibits, by the tension between him and the cattle baron, by the attraction of the "dirt farmer" and the daughter, and by the camaraderie of the gang. This is a lot of fun to watch; recommended. Arthur Penn movies don't get much attention these days; basically, none of his good ones except Bonnie & Clyde are on DVD--Little Big Man, Night Moves, and Missouri Breaks are all languishing on VHS.
 Maybe I should have watched the Juiceman infomercial instead July 31, 2001
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I watched this movie a few days ago at a time of night when infomercials are most prevalent. I began watching the film with no real expectations, but still happy that I might have stumbled upon some cinematic gem at 2 or 3 in the morning. But as the movie progressed I could only justify my further viewing of it as the choosing of a lesser "evil". Sadly, this movie joins a long list of other films where a cornucopia of talent was assembled, but the result was.... So many of the actors in this film are wasted on the material given them, and the only perfomance that really makes an impact (Brando's) is simply laughable. One can catch a glimpse of the sad state Brando's career will ultimately reach while watching this film. I'm not even going to get started on the dull, meandering plot. Basically, just don't watch this movie, at least if there's something else better on...like a Juiceman infomercial.
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