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The TrainRating:
Release Date: 01 May, 2001 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $12.99 You SAVE: $1.99! Cast: Complete Cast (12 total) |
The Train Reviews
One of the best WW2 thrillers ever made
The Train is one of those films that is really more European than American. John Frankenheimer (taking over from Arthur Penn) was always the American director who was most influenced by French cinema, with the result that this, the last major action film shot in black and white, has a low-key more continental feel to it than Hollywood - aside from Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield (who for once comes perilously close to ham without ever quite crossing the line) and La Silence de la Mer's Howard Vernon, the cast is made up almost entirely of the great and good of French cinema, from Jeanne Moreau to Michel Simon. What's more, the realistic style - more pre-war French cinema tan nouvelle vague - sells the action scenes which, in other hands, could become pure comic book stuff a la Von Ryan's Express. The fact that the key action scenes are done `for real,' with a condemned railway yard blown up during the air raid sequence and real locomotives crashing into each other, only shows up the weightless artificiality of much modern CGI or of the miniature work of the day. The crash in particular, which destroyed one camera, has a sense of weight and violence to it that you just don't see in films anymore. Still impressive stuff.
John Frankenheimer's audio commentary (dropped for other DVD regions for some reason), carried over from the old laserdisc, is particularly good and enlightening. Very highly recommended.
Lancaster at his best
The Train is a great adventure/action story set during WWII as the Allies edge ever closer to Paris and a retreating German army. Seeing that the advancing Allies will capture a museum full of famous paintings, German Colonel von Waldheim packs them all up and puts them on a train headed for Germany before the priceless paintings are captured. At the same time, a resistance leader, Paul Labiche, is given the order to delay the train enough so that it can be overtaken. What follows is a cat and mouse game as von Waldheim will stop at nothing to get his train to safety while Labiche throws obstacle after obstacle in his path. Pure and simple, this is a great movie. The action scenes are amazing, especially considering there was no CGI back in 1964. The last 30 minutes are incredibly tense, similar to Bridge on the River Kwai, and will have you on the edge of your seat. Don't miss The Train, no pun intended.
In a career that featured many great performances, Burt Lancaster's Paul Labiche stands out as one of his best. Resistance fighter Labiche at first doesn't want to tackle this mission, but he does anyway. He may not understand why he should; he does it because its HIS mission. Paul Scofield is equally as good as Colonel von Waldheim, the German colonel who won't let anything stop his train and becomes obsessed with topping Labiche. Jeanne Moreau turns in a fine performance as Christine, the hotel manager who hides Labiche against all her gut feelings. The movie also features Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon, a great role for WWII regular Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Remy, Charles Millot, and Jacques Marin. The DVD is well worth a purchase, featuring the movie in a great-looking widescreen presentation (the black and white fits perfectly with the story), a good commentary track from director John Frankenheimer, an 8-page booklet on the movie, a music only track, and a 4-minute theatrical trailer. All in all, with a great performance from Lancaster, who did his own stunts, and good direction from Frankenheimer, The Train is a can't miss movie!
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