A Breed Apart (1986) – Review

Where to watch A Breed Apart

1 Star

A Breed Apart is a curious mixture of Rambo, Robinson Crusoe, and Southern Comfort, with an environmental conservation message. The two main characters are driven men, one fights to protect the wilderness, the other is out to capture a rare bald eagle egg for a rich collector. The always watchable Powers Boothe rescues this nature adventure from the ranks of bomb, just from his steely presence. Hauer, on the other hand appears to be recycling his Blade Runner performance in another setting.

Deep in the rugged Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, a pair of nesting eagles, believed to be the last of a dying breed, are in danger of extinction. A mysterious and dangerous recluse, Jim Malden (Rutger Hauer) guards his nature preserve with his life. Mountaineer Mike Walker (Powers Boothe) is contracted by a billionaire collector (Donald Pleasence) to steal a un-hatched egg from the eagle’s nest. Caught between the two men is Stella (Kathleen Turner), she loves Malden but is fascinated by the stranger Mike. A bond develops between the two men as they lie and scheme about their true intentions and troubled pasts.

This survival-of-the-fittest story is a violent, meandering watch, in which no one wins in the end. A underdeveloped back story to the insanity of Malden due to his experiences in Vietnam is thrown in at the very end, but by that point his unpleasant manner is just plain unredeemable. According to the Wiki page, this production met with some trouble, losing a reel of shot footage in the process. This is apparently to explain the gaping holes in the story and abandoned sub-plots. Presumably, even with the inclusion of these story points the movie still wouldn’t be very good.

Director: Philippe Mora
Stars: Rutger Hauer, Powers Boothe, Kathleen Turner