Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
kijii During WWII, in the final day of the German occupation of , a German colonel and a true art lover, Col. Von Waldheim (Paul Scofield), orders his troops to crate and transport all the great impressionistic paintings (from the Jeu de Paume Museum) that he can possibly get his hands on. These paintings are not only among the best in the world, they are worth millions in Reichsmarks. The crated paintings are loaded onto a train to be sent to . But, the train must arrive in before the Allies liberate . While von Waldheim is obsessed with getting the train OUT of , the French Resistance, represented by Labiche (Burt Lancaster), becomes equally determined to keep the train IN while waiting for the Allied liberation. Very few in the Resistance understand the artistic value of the cargo, but they know that it represents 'their nation's honor' and see how valuable it must be, based on von Waldheim's determination to have it. And, while the Germans control the trains, the railroad workers form a great network of Resistance fighters.The Resistance does everything in its power to sabotage their own rail system and lead the Germans away from . Small French towns are 're-labeled' to make the Germans (riding on the train) think that they are going one way when they are really going in another; trains are re- routed by conductors, switchmen, and engineers; and rail cars are separated from engines, used to block tracks and cause train wrecks. Germans, in their frustration, kill many Frenchman in retaliation. However, the battle over the train continues to the bitter end.Another Frankenheimer black-and-white masterpiece, this action movie is riveting from beginning to end. It pits the wills, skills, and ingenuity of the two principal characters in a seemly ceaseless series of cat-and-mouse ploys to control the train. The cinematography is also great. The constant imagery of trains being twisted and turned, stopped and started, heaving and letting off stem, stand in stark contrast to the art that they carry and the men that try to control them. In this movie, Frankenheimer turns trains and rails into 'living, breathing characters of steam and steel.' Scofield and Lancaster are both excellent in their opposing roles. I would rank this movie among the best movies I have ever seen!!
Leofwine_draca Wow. I wasn't expecting anything like this. THE TRAIN is a black and white suspense thriller set in the dying days of Nazi-occupied . It's one of John Frankenheimer's earliest films and it has all of the suspense, action, and excitement of his late-era productions like RONIN. I thought this would be a typical gung-ho war effort of the kind that Frank Sinatra and George Peppard used to star in, but it's something else entirely.The subject of the film is trains, in particular steam trains. The plot's Macguffin is a shipment of priceless French paintings which Nazi colonel Paul Scofield is attempting to transport to before the Americans arrive in Paris. Burt Lancaster is the tough and imposing resistance fighter who opposes him. The rest of the film is a battle of wills and wits between the two men.Although this is a quite lengthy production it's never boring. Even the dialogue scenes are snappy and bristle with suspense. However, it's the action where this film really hits. The action is terse, realistic, and fast. Frankenheimer was determined to make his film as realistic as possible so there are no special effects or model shots here, just real engines that get crashed and blown up with regularity. I liked Lancaster here better than anywhere else, Scofield's bad guy is perfectly hateable, and the ing cast are excellent. The last twenty minutes in particular remove dialogue from the equation and focus on nail-biting suspense and heroism. It's a fantastic little movie and one which deserves to be wider known.
gilligan1965 I've been watching this movie from time to time for many years, but, the time I best and love most is when I watched it with my 'train-fanatic' little Son. He loves this movie as much as I do, and, I'm sure that anyone who likes train adventures, or, adventures of any kind, will like this, too. My Son never left the living room during the entire movie! :)This really is a classic movie with a great story, great actors, and, a lot of action...especially when Burt Lancaster is speeding away in the train and trying to take cover from the German fighter plane.I not only recommend this movie to war buffs, but, also to anyone who likes a great adventure movie that never gets dull for even a second.I give "The Train" a Solid NINE STARS! :)
tieman64 John Frankenheimer's "The Train" stars Burt Lancaster as Paul Labiche, a French Resistance member. It is the 1511th day of the German occupation, and Paul is attempting to prevent Colonel Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) from transporting French art collections out of and into .Throughout the 1960s, Franhenheimer made a series of films which flaunted their audacious cutting and kinetic camera work. "The Train" is no different. Virtually every shot is special, the film packed with logistically complex sequences, fine location photography and beautiful, now-extinct steam engines, ink-black monsters which lend the film an air of techno-romance."Beauty belongs to the man who can appreciate it!" Waldheim yells, his words speaking to the misguided exceptionalism of whole nations. Labiche shoots him and walks away. This simple moment of revenge is complicated throughout the picture. No painting is worth a life, Labiche tells us, yet strewn around him are the consequences of his very plan to thwart Waldheim; hundreds dead, all for art which Labiche personally has no interest in. Beauty belongs to the man who appreciates, Labiche perhaps wonders as the film fades to black, so long as he's French?8/10 - One of Frankenheimer's finest. See "Decision Before Dawn" and "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold".
