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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 32331
Released: April 25, 2000 |
| Our Price: $3.45 |
| Used Price: $2.95 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Sometimes a thief can steal your heart. Richard Gere gives "a breakthrough performance" (Time) as a rockin' 'n' rollin', hustlin' and bustlin' crook in a film about chasing after your dreams no matter how high the stakes.Jesse Lujack (Gere) is a smalltime car thief who loves livin', Jerry Lee Lewis and his Silver Surfer comic books. But most of all, Jesse loves Monica (Valerie Kaprisky), the sexy French architecture student he just met in Vegas. Determined to provide her with the good life, Jesse uses all his rockabilly charm to convince the resistant Monica to drop everything and join him on a trip to sunny Mexico. In a fire-red Caddy with the top down and the woman he loves finally at his side, Jesse feels on top of the world. But no matter how much rubber he burns, there's something that Jesse just can't outrun. As he races faster and faster away from his past and toward his dreams, Jesse must keep everything that's important to himespecially Monicaclose by his side...or risk losing them forever!
Breathless Reviews:
A girl, a surfboard,... 
2009-09-20 - Near the beginning of the movie, he finds a comic
book concerning, the Silver Surfer.
His voice is mocking, as he begins to read. But there is
something about the words. And by the time he finishes
reading, there is what seems to be a flash of recognition,
he identifies with the character. His voice no longer
mocks. And so he purchases the comic book, before
leaving, having also seen the story about the manhunt
for somebody who is alleged to have murdered a cop.
A kid with a skateboard, who unbeknownst to him had
been listening to him read, wants to know why the Surfer
stays, for if the Surfer has the power cosmic, why doesn't
he leave? But he is too preoccupied with the thought of
the police looking for him, to consider his question.
*****
The Silver Surfer, The Sky Rider of the Space Ways:
In all the galaxies, in all the endless reaches of
space, I have found no planet more blessed than
this one, and yet in its uncontrollable insanity the
human race seek to destroy this shining jewel,
this blessed sphere which men call earth, and
trapped upon this world of madness, stand I
...the silver surfer
when will they learn that...
love is the power supreme
*****
Then later in the movie, he shares his comic book with
her. And they have a dialogue scene, as if they are
reading for a play. Her voice is mocking, whereas he
gets into the part. And it almost seems that he is hurt
that she cannot, or does not acknowledge the beauty,
or power of the words...
*****
The Surfer:
Though infinity beckons I must leave
behind my very heart
His Girlfriend:
Never has there been, never will there be,
another such as you. If leave you must,
then let us depart together
Surfer:
Say no more, it cannot be, it can never be.
For where soars the silver surfer, there
must he soar alone.
Surfer, by himself:
i have seen the birth of planets and the death of worlds.
i have seen galaxies crumble, and new stars are borning,
but in every star, in every sun, i see her face.
*****
In the final moments of the movie, that question returns,
Why stay? They are from two different galaxies. "You love
me" he says. She says, "No". He whispers, "Liar". He sees
her fear. But refuses to accuse her of betraying him, for
she is weak, earthy, an architect student. The world beckons
to her constantly. How can she ignore that world of
"cheeseburgers whenever she wants" versus his life of
poverty, starvation, ...and FANTASY. She wants something
tangible, she can see. How can he chase a dream? The
world teaches males that to be men, they must care about
sofas and groceries and heating bills. But he is something
else. A boy. Hers to hold, and worry about. He never
accuses her of sin. He has made it this far, shall he not
partake of the Crucifixion too, that final station of the Cross,
that awaits all pilgrims upon "this blessed jewel"? He's
made it this far. The Silver Surfer, why does he stay? To
accuse her of sin, of betraying him, would be to leave, their
relationship. He will stay, in spirit, because that is his nature.
The earth did not interest him, does not interest him. For he
realizes as that gun comes tumbling down, he has something
more than paper or metal, money or guns, he has the Power
Cosmic. He's not leaving her, for he will see her again, when
the earth is gone...He has the Power Cosmic. Music that
others cannot see, or hear.
And so he holds up his hands, and begins to play. A song wells
up in his heart. "You leave me breath ah less". I need you like
oxygen. "Jessie..." Say no more. It cannot be. For where soars
the Surfer...
He never blamed her. Paradox resolved. The Surfer will stay.
God is a Spirit. God is Love.
CAVEAT: Male nudity. I guess the director felt, he needed a
gimmick. Also, the song, Breathless, is kind of boring, with
forgettable lyrics. But the male nudity is not without meaning.
The surfer's body is silver, pure, in contrast to his own, which
is fleshly. A male who sings, or who dances, UNCOVERS himself,
revealing his feminine side. It is a reason why Michal left David:
See, The Bible, KJV.
The American version I found to be better than the
French version, simply because of the positive note,
it ended upon. Whereas in the French version, he
feels betrayed, in the English version he accepts
her flaws. In the French version, he dies, bleeding,
shouting obscenities, accusing her of betrayal, and
the cops of being monsters. He rails against the
feminazis and the sodomites, against the Goliaths
and the Jezebels, as he bleeds to death,
contemptuous of this world. He is a non-believer,
hopeless.
But in the American version, he has the Power
Cosmic. He ignores whatever motivates the cops,
will not give into anger, loves his enemies (hates
without hatred), expects no breaks, and refuses to
let go of her, their love. Breathless, a physical body
ceases to function, comes tumbling down, but his
love for her, soars. He's got the Power Cosmic.
Considering where the gun is tossed into the air,
and where it lands, maybe the bullets will miss him?
Mehi-co, Mary, "the Architect", incorporated. He held
that table, like a surfboard. It too was a sign.
One of my Favorites 
2009-06-23 - Not for everyone, but one of my favorite films. Probably much easier to appreciate if you're not a fan of the original, but this is a wonderful, underrated film.
Spectacular Eye Candy for Either Gender
2008-10-23 - It took me a second viewing to really appreciate this film. Since then I have watched it many times.
This is one of the rare movies where Richard Gere has an equally attractive co-star (Valerie Kaprisky). Intersection with Sharon Stone would be another example.
Richard and Valerie are hard to beat as pure eye candy. They apparently agreed, as word has it that they embarked on a tempestuous affair after this film. I believe she was only nineteen when the movie was made.
The eclectic soundtrack makes this film all the better. It includes rockabilly kings Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley to a hypnotic version of Phillip Glass' Openings to Message of Love by the Pretenders.
If you've ever had a bad boy pulling on your heartsrings at a tender age, you will understand why Monica felt irresistibly drawn to Jesse. You will also appreciate that in the end she gathered the resolve to pull away. This is the kind of affair that lodges in a corner of your heart for a long time, possibly for good.
BREATHLESS 
2008-09-08 - IT'S FUN AND SEXY...VERY 80'S...THEY DON'T MAKE MOVIES LIKE THIS ANYMORE...
IT'S THE RICHARD GERE SHOW !!!!
Reckless!
2008-08-13 - This is definetly one of Richard Gere's sexiest flicks and is even sexier than AMERICAN GIGALO, and AN OFFICER & A GENTLEMAN, plus I couldn't help admiring the steamy intimacy between Richard Gere(Jesse) and Valerie Kaprisky(Monica), especially since Gere and Kaprisky are deliciously nasty doing numerous sexy nude scenes throughout nearly 3/4 of this movie, including the sex scene in the shower with Valerie and Gere in full frontal nudity showing Gere's weenie and Valerie's coochie & tatas, which was probably Richard Gere's best sex scene of all times out of all the movies he's done throughout his whole acting career, not to mention that it took alot of guts for Valerie to prance around nude in front of the camera a lot while filming this movie, since they showed Valerie and Gere naked throughout nearly 1/2 of this film, which made them like eyecandy for people, especially when Monica gets seduced by Jesse.
In fact, my favorite scene in this movie is the part where Gere and Kaprisky are making love in Monica's apartment showing us both Kaprisky's & Gere's booty, especially when Gere is on top of Kaprisky just before Jesse(Richard Gere) tells foreign exchange student from France Monica(Valerie Kaprisky) a catchy line by saying "Don't Take A Shower", since Jesse told Monica that he wanted both of them to smell like they've been doing hubba hubba, but it seems like this movie should've been titled 'RECKLESS" instead of "BREATHLESS" since Jesse was so reckless rather than Breathless in this movie, but I guess they couldn't use "Reckless" for the name of this movie since the title was probably already taken for the movie RECKLESS with Aidan Quinn & Daryl Hannah, which was released a year later after BREATHLESS was since RECKLESS theatrical release was in the Spring of 1984.
It's just too bad that Gere had to play a bad guy and a low-life crook on the lam in this movie who insists that he has to have an old fling(Monica) back in his life while needing a place to hide out, yet Jesse seems to want to just get Monica into bed more than anything else in the world, yet Monica has her whole life ahead of her on the brink of getting her college degree at UCLA, but ends up falling for sleazy Jesse ruining her whole life by humping around with him and being on the run with that reckless flunky crook like, since Monica seemed quite talented enough and committed enough to graduate with a degree, yet at the same time she seemed to be quite unaware of how to be wiser and conscientious as if her only real talent was stripping her clothes and jumping into bed with Jesse, but I guess all that just goes to show you that in the real world and in actuality that sometimes even the most talented or most dedicated people make the stupidest decisions and fall for the worst kinds of people sometimes in real life, especially when they're in love, since love obviously makes us all do stupid things sometimes, including premarital sex, but I guess the director(Jim McBride)figured it would be better to make BREATHLESS this way since Sex and nudity sells a lot more tickets, especially female nudity as opposed to using more common sense in the movies.
Overall, I thought this movie was quite interesting and sexy along with the fact that Valerie Kaprisky and her nude and sex scenes with Richard Gere were the main reason why I liked and bought this movie, it's just too bad that BREATHLESS couldn't have had a happy or obvious true ending of this movie instead of having a cliff-hanger ending only leaving us to guess for sure what happened to Jesse only leaving us to assume that Jesse was more than likely killed off when he fired a shot at the police officer who he was caught in a standoff with, but this is definitly not a movie you want to show or watch with your kids since it's obviously too crude and tempting for teens and kids to watch along with the fact that BREATHLESS is quite a bad influence for people under 20 years old since this movie shows you tons of nakedness making you want to do things with your loved one that are inappropriate for children of all ages, especially children under 18 years old.
Its just too bad that Siskel & Ebert gave this movie 2-thumbs down when it was released out in the movies back in the Spring of 1983.
