I saw this many years ago. Micael Longsdale deserved an Academy Award for the scene in a kitchen with the Nazis. Being tortured without showing the graphic details only the outcome made me feel sick to my stomach. Sometimes what you imagine is far more scary than what you see. The rest of the film was memorable by the fact that Mason didn't seem to grasp the need to be saved. I personally would have left him in the mountains for being annoying. It seems the premise was good even if the script was not that good. The film flopped at the box office for some reason. In the day we weren't given trailers that tell the whole story so it must have been word of mouth that doomed the film. Mason and Quinn should have been a sellout, but perhaps more was wanted from the audiences in 1979.

Director J. Lee Thompson delivers a systematic, if quite unpleasant and foolish World War II action thriller with an outstanding cast lead by the hardy Anthony Quinn (who was in Thompson's "The Greek Tycoon" the year before), James Mason, Kay Lenz, Patricia Neal, Michael Lonsdale, Malcolm McDowell and Christopher Lee. Great cast indeed, although everyone looks rather uninterested with the obvious exception of McDowell itchy, overblown performance as a sadistic SS Captain. You can see he is having a ball in the role, from his delivery of the dialogues and his torturous actions. It's "Clockwork Orange" set during WW2, but even the dreary context can't hide his humorous shtick.Anthony Quinn stars as a Basque mountaineer that's hired by the resistance to guide American professor Bergson (James Mason) and his family from France over the dangerous Pyrenees ice-swept mountains into Spain. While at the same time being tracked by the dogged, cold-blooded SS officer Von Berkow.In all well-budgeted "The Passage" can be seen as an interesting failure. It wasn't the rough-and-tumble, old-school war adventure I was expecting. There's so much wrong with it, but for some reason it holds you there. Everything but the kitchen sink has been thrown into it, without any sort of care. The structure is odd, being adapted by Bruce Nicolaysen from his own novel "The Perilous Passage". Continuity seems off at times, as scenes just don't come together on this mission/on-the-run format. It should be epic, but set-pieces come across as individual moments in what are routine situations and the wonderful scenery never really comes into play. Thompson's efforts are workman-like, but indistinguishable. The pace is slow, action is half-hearted (even with its blood spurting, barbaric violence and grand explosions) and the suspense is ragged with McDowell's random craziness making it worth the buzz. From showing his excellent chopping skills when preparing a meal "Chop, Chop, Chop!" revealing his Swastiska jockstrap to Kay Lenz's character before raping her and imitating Hitler by putting a comb above his lip. The tone just feels misguided, but tame and cartoonish nowadays it was crude and uneasy at the time. You can see this being a cult- favourite and this especially could be favourable due to its very strange, tripped-out climatic ending. I was very surprised where it went because of how powerful and ghastly the execution was (face painting anyone?), but to find it actually was only a tease lessen the impact with its multiple versions. The editing was all-over-the-place, and the finale was the tip of that. Better things can be said about the camera-work, where it did flow around the action well enough demonstrating the dark, shadowy realism of the predicament. Visually it was glum."The Passage" might leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, but it's rather transfixing due to McDowell's creepy histrionics that you can't believe what you are seeing.

Ask anyone familiar with Malcolm McDowell's movies to name his most outrageous performance and most would tell you to watch Caligula. A few might suggest that his work in A Clockwork Orange fits the bill. Not many would come up with The Passage, primarily because it's a largely forgotten film which didn't succeed critically nor commercially even when it was originally released. However, McDowell's performance in this movie is outrageously hammy and must deserve some kind of place in cinema history as one of the most bonkers pieces of acting ever seen.The story sounds like a winner. A Basque shepherd (Anthony Quinn) is approached by resistance fighters during WWII and asked to escort a scientist (James Mason) and his family over the Pyrennes Mountains into Spain. A deranged SS captain (McDowell) is the officer sent to chase them and capture them.Alas, this film is an absolute failure. For some reason, a story which had lots of potential for tension and excitement becomes utterly uninvolving. Part of the fault is J. Lee Thompson's leaden direction. Part of the fault is Bruce Nicolaysen's bubble-gum script (based, amazingly, on his own novel) which lacks any depth of character and motivation to arouse audience empathy. Part of the fault is the actors' apparent lack of interest in the material. One of the finest British actors that ever lived - James Mason - is left to contend with the very worst role of his career. He barely has a sentence to utter during the entire film, and by the end the audience knows precious little more about him than they did at the start. But the biggest cause of failure in this film is the decision by its makers to emphasise the gruesome, gory detail. The film is repellent and over-the-top beyond all reason. It actually seems to enjoy wallowing in scenes of rape, torture and killing but has none of the gravity or seriousness to justify such themes (at least the horrific Saving Private Ryan was horrific for a perfectly good reason). Who wants to watch Michel Lonsdale having his fingers hacked off? Who wants to see gypsy leader Christopher Lee being cremated alive? Who wants to see teenager Kay Lenz being brutally raped?I wanted to see The Passage for years and years. With such a great cast, such a well-known director, and such a serviceable plot I felt certain it couldn't possibly be a bad film. How much further from the truth could I have been?

United Artist must have lost a bundle back then, when this film only lasted a week in all screens in Seattle when they released this film. The film is "R" rated, violent and brutal! McDowell plays a psychotic WW2 Nazi Captain who is in pursuit of a doctor (Mason) and his family (Neal, Lenz, Clement) who is on the run from the Nazi's, and is helped by a Basque guide (Quinn) and two agents (Lonsadale/Bouzuffi) to take them across the mountain to safetly. McDowell turns into a Nazi Caligula as he do sick things and plays it almost in a camp like fashion like wear a chef hat and chops off Lonsndale fingers while cooking and saying "chop chop, chop chop!", Burn a gypsy (Christopher Lee) alive saying "I'm send him exactly where he told me to go....HELL", and rapes Kay Lenz as he wears a Nazi symbol on his underwear! McDowall also places a black comb under his nose to look like Hitler in one scene! This film is beyond what McDowall did in CLOCKWORK ORANGE! This is a performance that Mike Myers should look into remaking! The ending is incredible, but I can't give it away, but the bad guy's death doesn't involve a gun. Not recommended if you hate this sort of entertainment, despite the fact this is one of those all star cast international co productions, but the TV print cut out of most of the nasty stuff, so check out the TV print instead if you are a fan of the 70's interantional all star cast epics! Others beware! Great score by Michael J Lewis though!