A Breed Apart

Why would I watch the movie now that the person who so carefully crafted the storyline on this page has just as carefully given away every single aspect of the movie?

If you are going to write a synopsis, then don't give away all the major plot points. Hint, give clues, talk generalities, but don't spoil THE WHOLE DAMN THING!

What is wrong with you people?

Jim Malden (Rutger Hauer) is a reclusive woodsman who obsessively protects the animals on his land. Single mom Stella Clayton (Kathleen Turner) owns the local store and has a crush on him. Mike Walker (Powers Boothe) needs $150k to fund a mountain climb in China. Rich egg collector J. P. Whittier (Donald Pleasence) is willing to pay, but needs Mike to steal the eggs of a new breed of bald eagle. In fact, he wants all the eggs to drive the new species into extinction.

These are big time actors from this era and I am surprised to have never heard of this movie. After doing some reading, I can see why. Aside from any difficulties, the story is rather wonky. The premise of the new eagle species is also a bit wonky. On top of that, it's hard to outright root for any of the characters. In the end, I love these actors and that helps a lot.

I watched this film when it was recently shown on British television, largely because of my interest in bird watching and nature conservation (although the looks of the young Kathleen Turner might also have been a factor). The story revolves around the doings of egg collectors (or "oologists" as they sometimes call themselves), a breed of men which I, in common with most ornithologists, struggle to understand; if, as they claim, they are motivated by a love of nature, why do they persist in endangering through their activities the very creatures they profess to love? J.P. Whittier, an obsessive and very wealthy egg collector, is trying to obtain specimens of the eggs of a newly discovered (and fictitious) subspecies of the bald eagle. In reality there are two existing subspecies of this bird, the northern and the southern, although the supposed new variety is said to be larger than either. At the time the film was made in 1984 the bald eagle was on the brink of extinction in the continental United States, although its numbers have since recovered and it was removed from the list of endangered species in 2007.

Whittier is well aware that stealing its eggs will be likely to push the new subspecies closer to extinction, but is nevertheless determined to proceed with his scheme. Because the only known nest is on top of a lofty crag, he hires rock climber Mike Walker to steal the eggs for him. Although Walker can no more comprehend Whittier's motivation than I can, he is tempted by the huge sum of money he is offered. There is, however, a problem. The nest is on land owned by Jim Malden, a reclusive and eccentric conservationist who fiercely guards both his privacy and the wildlife on his land, going so far as to attack hunters with a crossbow when he catches them poaching. To allay Malden's suspicions, Walker poses as a photographer. Turner plays Stella Clayton, a local storekeeper in whom both men are romantically interested. Stella is presumably a widow or divorcée, as she has a young son, Adam. Turner may have taken the part in order to try and play down the "femme fatale" image she had acquired after "Body Heat".

"Variety" magazine accused the film of lacking dramatic tension or emotional involvement, and there is justice in the accusation. The main villain of the piece is Whittier, and he always keeps well away from the action. Walker, even at the beginning of the film, never seems very villainous, and by the end he is not a villain at all, having been converted to the conservationist cause by Jim and Stella. Malden is not always entirely sympathetic, seeming at times too fanatical and obsessive; putting a crossbow bolt through someone's leg is not generally regarded as the act of a Christian gentleman, even if done in an ostensibly good cause.

The plot does not always flow very smoothly and there is, apparently, a reason for this. After filming had been completed, one of four reels of film went missing and the director Philippe Mora had, somehow, to put a coherent story together from the remaining three. Despite some attractive shots of the North Carolina scenery, "A Breed Apart" is a routine action thriller which is not always very thrilling, but given its strange history the finished product could have been much worse. 5/10

In my opinion, this movie is much better than you'd expect for the low ratings it has received. All the starring actors do a great job here and the casting fits the characters easily.

This is a tale of a of vietnam veteran living as a hermit (Rutger Hauer) in his own private island, taking care of the wildlife and protecting the animals. He confronts some nasty scoundrels (Brion James acting one of them, good old Gaff from Blade Runner!), shooting birds just for the fun of it, scares them away, though they keep coming back for more. There's a rich old bird-egg collector (Donald Pleasance) who hires for a grand price a slick mountaineer (Powers Boothe) to collect eggs for a from an endangered eagle species living on the island. A single mother, working as a shopkeeper in nearby village (Kathleen Turner) feels strongly for the hermit veteran and is always turned down by him, though he cares for her boy and spends time with him in the woods, saving some animals etc.. There are some quite strong emotional scenes for Hauer and Turner and I think it's exactly the unrequited love between their characters that's one major motor here keeping the film interesting.

The pace of this is film probably rather slow for younger audience, but there are plenty of good elements to make this movie worth watching. For instance, the cinematography: it's shot mostly in open air enviroments, and it's also a very bright movie, as it is filmed mostly in sunny daylight. Good character evolution: the characters really contemplate on their actions and their consequences. The plot is simple, quite naive actually, but works fairly good in a certain, innocent mood. There's some mild violence to give a bit of tension and mild nudity for the erotica but nothing too nasty to kill the overall positive vibe of the film.

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