Thursday, July 29, 2010

Breakdown - Crushed by his Own Semi


Married couple Jeff and Amy Taylor (Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan) have had a terrible trip so far. Their car breaks down in the middle of the desert, Amy is kidnapped and held hostage, and Jeff is threatened at gun point to pay her ransom. Not the greatest cross country trip.

Fast forward to the end. As the couple attempt to escape the wrath of a trucker named "Red" (J. T. Walsh) and his semi, they almost get rammed off the side of a bridge. Jeff gets out and fights Red as the truck falls off the bridge and gets stuck on a support beam. While Jeff hangs from the truck, Red tries to whip him off with a chain but Jeff grabs it and pulls Red down to the rocks below.

Jeff frees Amy and the two look down at the seemingly-dead Red, who then starts to move. Jeff looks on in disbelief, but before he could blink, his wife shifts the vehicle into neutral which dislodges Red's truck. The semi truck then falls off the bridge and crushes Red below.

What makes the death scene even better is the fact that the truck doesn't explode upon impact. The film-makers could have went the low road and just have the truck explode for no reason like it was a Michael Bay movie. But they didn't and it really sells the scene.

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