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The Passage

Play trailer Poster for The Passage R 1979 1h 39m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 39% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
During the Nazi occupation of France, a group of French Resistance leaders is desperate to smuggle professor John Bergson (James Mason) and his family safely out of the country. As their options dwindle, they decide to hire a crusty Basque shepherd (Anthony Quinn) to guide the Bergsons across the treacherous, snowcapped Pyrenees. No sooner do they get started, however, than the Nazis catch wind of their plan and send the sadistic Capt. Von Berkow (Malcolm McDowell) to bring them back.
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The Passage

Critics Reviews

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Matt Brunson Creative Loafing Even an experienced scenery-chewer like Anthony Quinn is no match for Malcolm McDowell, whose smirking, bug-eyed performance singlehandedly places the picture in the realm of camp and foreshadows his even more insane work in the same year's Caligula. Rated: 2/4 Feb 13, 2016 Full Review Chuck O'Leary FulvueDrive-in.com A lurid, exciting World War II chase thriller with Malcolm McDowell chewing the scenery as a sadistic Nazi. Rated: 7/10 Feb 17, 2006 Full Review Shane Burridge rec.arts.movies.reviews Would not nearly be as watchable without McDowell relishing his role as [a] fanatical German officer May 23, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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A.L.Jude P Sad It could have been much better. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/10/23 Full Review sista s I want to download this movie Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/21/23 Full Review kevin w To get a scientist out of Nazi-controlled territory a sheepherder is hired to help him over the Pyrenees. Only the scientist has his family with him, for one. The other is that the Nazi chasing them is singularly determined. Anthony Quinn plays the shepherd with hidden layers, the best in the film. James Mason's scientist is a walk through. And Malcolm McDowell as the SS officer is the very picture of over-the-top, only upstaged by his jock strap. There are moments of tension. And moments of unintentional comedy. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Cheap movie with some great actors as bait. Not McDowell... he's awful as usual. His "acting" would look ridiculous even in cartoons. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Controversial and violent film that's really a rather old-fashioned, straightforward adventure with gratuitous lashings of violence. McDowell chews the scenery and pursues the excellent cast across a wild open terrain, but there's not really any pursuing until the last half hour or so, during which he cuts peoples' fingers off, sets them on fire and displays his schwastika-covered jockstrap. His exploits dominate the film, but as a result the rest of the cast seem rather wasted, particularly Mason, who as the centre of the film has very little to do. Watch out for Lee in one of his atypical good-guy roles, also proving he can do accents! Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Controversial and violent film that's really a rather old-fashioned, straightforward adventure with gratuitous lashings of violence. McDowell chews the scenery and pursues the excellent cast across a wild open terrain, but there's not really any pursuing until the last half hour or so, during which he cuts peoples' fingers off, sets them on fire and displays his schwastika-covered jockstrap. His exploits dominate the film, but as a result the rest of the cast seem rather wasted, particularly Mason, who as the centre of the film has very little to do. Watch out for Lee in one of his atypical good-guy roles, also proving he can do accents! Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis During the Nazi occupation of France, a group of French Resistance leaders is desperate to smuggle professor John Bergson (James Mason) and his family safely out of the country. As their options dwindle, they decide to hire a crusty Basque shepherd (Anthony Quinn) to guide the Bergsons across the treacherous, snowcapped Pyrenees. No sooner do they get started, however, than the Nazis catch wind of their plan and send the sadistic Capt. Von Berkow (Malcolm McDowell) to bring them back.
Director
J. Lee Thompson
Producer
John Quested, Maurice Binder, Lester Goldsmith
Rating
R
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 2, 2021
Runtime
1h 39m
Sound Mix
Surround
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