Train Movies?

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by GMAN001, Mar 23, 2019.

  1. GMAN001

    GMAN001 Member

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    Anyone got any good movies with trains in them to recommend?

    Some of my favs are: 'Runaway Train', 'Money Train' and The 'Taking Of Pelham 123'.
     
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  2. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    North West Frontier (Kenneth More, Lauren Baccall, dir. J.Lee Thompson IIRC)
    The Train (Burt Lancaster, Paul Schofield, dir. John Frankenheimer)
    The First Great Train Robbery (Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, dir. Michael Crichton)
    The Silver Streak (Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, dir. Arthur Hiller)

    There are many British Transport Films shorts worth seeking out and, thanks to YouTube, you don't need to look too hard for The Night Mail, The Elizabethan and Snowdrift at Bleath Gill (I knew one of the chaps in that last one) among many others.
     
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  3. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    Unstoppable is a good one!
     
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  4. GMAN001

    GMAN001 Member

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    Thanks for the recommendations, I'll be sure to check them out.

    'The Train' with Burt Lancaster is a great movie, forgot about that one.

    Also I enjoyed 'Night Train' starring Danny Glover.
     
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  5. KiwiLE

    KiwiLE Well-Known Member

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    The Railway Children, Murder on the Orient Express, The Titfield Thunderbolt...
     
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  6. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    I liked Unstoppable but I didn't love it. Apart from good production values, it's the sort of thing that would be a movie of the week on American telly in the '70s probably starring William Shatner (wonder if that's how Chris Pine got the gig). The writing's a bit first draft and it's also all rather shrill and silly, "You're aiming for the fuel cut-off. Its only a few inches away from the fuel tank- that has thousands of gallons of fuel in it so for gahd's sake don't hit that!"
    "Thousands of gallons of Diesel sarge. It's got a really high flash point- you can actually put a fire out by pouring Diesel on it.*"
    "Really? OK guys new plan- weapons to automatic and put as many holes in the fuel tanks as you can. We'll let fuel starvation stop this thing."

    "It's a missile** the size of the Chrysler Building and it's got a clear run all the way to the city! WhattaWeGonnaDo?!?"
    "Switch the next signal to red- the emergency brakes will stop it."
    "Oh... yeah."
    (The end of The Silver Streak has the same obvious weakness but we've had our fun by then.)

    Not a great swan song for Tony Scott.

    * True but don't ever try it.
    ** Pronounced like missal (a book of prayers) of course which is always hilarious.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2019
  7. Big Papi34

    Big Papi34 Well-Known Member

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    Unstoppable, Murder on the Orient Express and Atomic Train where some of my favorite.
     
  8. Big Papi34

    Big Papi34 Well-Known Member

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    And Under Siege 2 dark territory. My first favorite.
     
  9. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    How did I forget The General (Buster Keaton)? A bit flabby and indulgent compared to some of Keaton's films but still great.
     
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  10. Dave Mel

    Dave Mel Well-Known Member

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    The railway children filmed on the keithley and worth valley railway. brief encounter filmed on Carnforth Station
     
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  11. Kojo62

    Kojo62 Active Member

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    I saw Unstoppable for only the first time last Fall. It's your typical Tony Scott formula action movie (Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Days of Thunder). That means it's exciting as hell, but not very realistic. All his movies require a rather huge suspension of disbelief, and not too close attention to the details.

    That being said I still really enjoyed it (R.I.P. Tony), plus I'm a big Denzel Washington fan, so I'll watch nearly anything he does.

    I would like to check out some more grounded recommendations in this genre, though.
     
  12. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    Completely agree- Scott was a great craftsman but not one to let plausibility get in the way of the spectacle.

    Runaway Train mentioned in the OP is a corking thriller but, again, you wonder why the emergency brakes don't kick in after it runs the first adverse signal.

    Another nit-pick- both film versions of Murder on the Orient Express and ITV's adaptation with David Suchet feature trains with four coaches. Four! It's The Orient Express not the last commuter service to Morpeth.

    This might get me in trouble but does anyone else find The Titfield Thunderbolt little more than an assemblage of contrived whimsy and eccentricity lacking any genuine enthusiasm for its subject? Don't get me wrong I still enjoy it but, if I have to watch an Ealing comedy with trains in it, I'd much rather watch The Ladykillers.
     
  13. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    For the emergency brakes to activate at a red signal, the locomotives need to have a safety system. Even if this was implemented in Unstoppable, the air hoses weren’t connected to the cars so the brakes would have done nothing.
     
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  14. Challenger3985

    Challenger3985 Well-Known Member

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    To my most Faves of movies are
    -Runaway Train
    -Unstoppable
    -Silver Streak
    -Empeor of the North

    Note: to most that don't do behind-the-scene looks to these movies, Unstoppable was in fact based on a true event that happened a long time ago (infos here and here). Some of these movies were researched to be as accurate as possible.
     
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  15. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    That is indeed exactly what happened (more or less- the locomotive brakes were on but overcome by the engine and just wore to nothing) and thanks to Challenger for the links. Well... Interesting and not at all worrying to learn that, in the 21st Century, US railways have the same safety systems as my old train set- none.
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2019
  16. Kojo62

    Kojo62 Active Member

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    Yeah, I knew Unstoppable was based on a true event. I believe that might even have been stated in the opening credits. But, like I said, some of the specific details is what you have to ignore (I won't say which, cause spoilers). Thanks for those links.

    It also reminded me of this tragic event I once heard about. Very sad.
     
  17. Challenger3985

    Challenger3985 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, I know the rest is more movie magic to keep the suspense rolling.
    Interestingly enough, Runaway Train was also based on a true event, from the screenplay, as well (The article here, down to page 79) less intense than Crazy 8's story though. :)
     
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  18. TheCadManFan

    TheCadManFan Well-Known Member

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    A number of Bond films have train scenes: From Russia With Love, Live And Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, Casino Roylae, Skyfall and SPECTRE all have various sized scenes on trains.

    There's a Gene Hackman film called Narrow Margin. It has a tense, and from what I remember lengthy, segment on a train. Also if you like films with chases in them, Narrow Margin has an overlooked helicopter/jeep chase down a mountainside forest, which leads into the train segment.
     
  19. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    It's a remake of a pretty good RKO B-movie. Both worth a look.

    In case it wasn't clear I do recommend The Ladykillers. The trains provide a sort of Greek chorus for the last act.

    If you're interested in films The Wrecker is worth a look. It's a mostly silent film with a sound sequence toward the end, some really good photography of the trains, kind of a silly plot and what was reckoned to be the most expensive single set-up in British silent films with the train crash. You can find it (the crash) on YouTube- it was covered by 20-odd cameras one weekend and, the railway company had the line open again for Monday.
     
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  20. KiwiLE

    KiwiLE Well-Known Member

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    The Cassandra Crossing - nice European rail stuffs.
     
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  21. TheCadManFan

    TheCadManFan Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, I didn't mention the original as I haven't seen it. I'll have to find a copy to see how it compares to the remake.

    I've come up with two more:
    Von Ryan's Express starring Frank Sinatra & Trevor Howard
    The Ghost Train starring Arthur Askey
     
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  22. GMAN001

    GMAN001 Member

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    Von Ryan's Express! Of course, what a classic!
     
  23. TheCadManFan

    TheCadManFan Well-Known Member

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    Isn't it just. In spite of winning an Oscar, I don't think Sinatra was ever really given his due as an actor. But Von Ryan's Express is one of a number of films I would point to, to show what he was capable of.
     
  24. BillHanselman

    BillHanselman New Member

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    It was released in 1995 as I saw and found it amazing, I like the chracters and story.
     
  25. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    Like The Wrecker based on a play by Arnold Ridley best known as Private Godfrey of Dads Army.

    Of a similar vintage to The Wrecker (and as bad if not worse by any objective standpoint) is The Flying Scotsman. An early outing for Ray Milland playing second fiddle to Moore Marriott unrecognisable to anyone familiar with him as Will Hay's bearded sidekick. Both are acted off the screen by a certain A1 Pacific. Nigel Gresley was so appalled by the scant attention given to safety (coaches are uncoupled without brakes coming on and the heroine scrambles along the side of the train at speed- which could not have been faked) that a disclaimer had to be added at the start of the film and the LNER never supported another production.
     
  26. Luke8899

    Luke8899 Well-Known Member

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    Sorry (not sorry) for the bump, but reminding people of train films can never be a bad thing!

    I just saw the (I think) shortened version of The Wrecker here and I am stunned! It has all the cliches of a 70s disaster film including the final scene, but 40 years earlier xD. Highly recommended!

    My first recommendation is the 1972 horror spectacular Horror Express starring none other than experts of the genre Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, also Telly Savalas, because why not? You can watch it in decent quality here. Hard to describe the film really, it's very cheesy, but sort of like Snakes on a Plane mixed with Alien, set on the Trans-Siberian express in the early 20th Century (and filmed in Spain, naturally).

    If you like that sort of thing you may also like 2016's Train to Busan, it's a South Korean zombie horror film that takes place almost entirely on or around South Korean trains, it's got a fair amount of realistic gore though, so avoid if you really do not like that sort of thing.

    And of course no list of train-related horror recommendations could be complete the 1976 BBC adaption of Charles Dicken's The Signalman, which is horror in a sort that way only a 70's BBC period adaption can be horror.
     
  27. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    That's the one. The train crash footage was used again in a Launder and Gilliat film thirty-ish years later. The SR staged it using what were then the oldest bogie coaches still in existence. They'd be priceless now but the whole lot was set on fire after the crash for the next sequence.
     
  28. elarthur

    elarthur Well-Known Member

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    No one has mentioned The Cassandra Crossing, a 1976 film starring Burt Lancaster and Richard Harris about a plague infected terrorist making a escape attempt from Geneva to Stockholm by train. Classic 70's disaster movie also starred OJ Simpson and Michael Sheen.
     
  29. TheCadManFan

    TheCadManFan Well-Known Member

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    Good call on The Casandra Crossing, though it's Martin Sheen, not Michael Sheen. ;)

    Has anyone mentioned Terror Train (1980) or its remake Train (2008)?

    And another just came to mind; North West Frontier (1959) with crinkly haired Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall and Herbert Lom.

    Also one of the St. Trinians films has a train. Not sure which film, but the little sods nick a steam loco.
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2020
  30. elarthur

    elarthur Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the Sheen correction. Thought I'd made a mistake.
    The Geneva scenes were however filmed in Basel in the station opening scenes.
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2020
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  31. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    There is the famous car chase scene in The French Connection where Gene Hackman is trying to get ahead of the train on the railway above. There’s more car action than train action but it’s a pretty exciting five minutes in a great film.
     
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  32. Blacknred81

    Blacknred81 Well-Known Member

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    Theres a good old Southern Pacific train in Duel. Never actually watched the movie though...
     
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  33. TheCadManFan

    TheCadManFan Well-Known Member

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    Probably the best car chase ewver put on film. Completely forgot that one when I suggested Narrow Margin.

    The Gauntlet with Clint Eastwood has a train, though the film focuses on just one carriage.
     
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  34. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    The Great St. Trinians Train Robbery which must be Launder and Gilliat.

    Oh you should definitely remedy that. Not for the trains, which appear briefly and are entirely incidental, it's just a terrific film. On the same basis consider The Apu Trilogy made by Satyajit Ray (hang on- I'll just check the spelling on that... yep) in India.
     
  35. hibiki

    hibiki Well-Known Member

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    There is also Buster, with Phil Collins. Which is about the Great Train Robbery.
     
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  36. elarthur

    elarthur Well-Known Member

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    Features a Class 40 and TPO stock.
     
  37. gordon.ramsden

    gordon.ramsden New Member

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    The Lady Vanishes - There are at least two possibly 3 versions
     
  38. TheCadManFan

    TheCadManFan Well-Known Member

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    Robbery (1967) staring Stanley Baker

    Mission: Impossible (1996)
     
  39. Thunderer

    Thunderer Well-Known Member

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    Source Code was good. No idea of the train type or route though.

    Oh and Warriors, that was already mentioned in a previous thread, sadly the LIRR does not cross any of the tracks the Warriors would have taken in the movie.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2020
  40. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    One of few occasions when filmmakers have taken considerable pains to make the railway scenes as authentic as they could. I've lost count of the number of films and TV shows I've watched with railway scenes and thought that it's clearly shot on whichever preservation line gave them the best rate.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2020
  41. elarthur

    elarthur Well-Known Member

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    Unstoppable with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine is a great film based on a real CSX incident.
     
  42. w.lichko

    w.lichko Well-Known Member

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    I would say "Snowpiercer" - a Bong Joon-ho film starring Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton & Ed Harris
    And
    "Train to Busan" - An awesome South Korean Zombie Apocalypse film
     
  43. grob-e

    grob-e Well-Known Member

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    Well, beides the already mentioned, like Unstopable or Narrow Margin (Hollywood is for making entertainment, not documentary, and these movies are entertaining, I want to mention North by Northwest, an old Hitchcock classic with...hmmm...Cary Grant? besides the famous cropbuster-scene there is a longer part taking place in a train.

    I somehow liked Transsiberian with Ben Kingsley and Woody Harrelson, I think.

    Even Death Train with Pierce Brosnan got some nice moments.

    And the opening scene of the Peacemaker with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman is somewhat outstanding.
     
  44. Louie

    Louie Well-Known Member

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    Oh my God I love Pelham 123
     
  45. Rail Runner

    Rail Runner Well-Known Member

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    Burt Lancaster was in a movie called The Train. Very good movie in Black and White using French Steam Locomotives from during the war. Well worth the watch :)
     
  46. Rail Runner

    Rail Runner Well-Known Member

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    Oh Mister Porter staring Will Hay is a great movie (bar the unrealism in some places) also black and white

    The Ghost Train with Arthur Askey, another Great movie and, surprise surprise, in black and white! :)
     
  47. Phil78

    Phil78 Active Member

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    If you like a tense thriller, I can highly recommend giving Duel a watch. It's the daddy of just about every menacing truck scene you've seen in any film since it was made and still stands head and shoulders above all of the homages, 'inspired by' scenes and blatant rip offs.
     
  48. Averageatom6446

    Averageatom6446 New Member

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    WaTcH UnnStoPabLE
     
  49. TheCadManFan

    TheCadManFan Well-Known Member

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    Berlin Express (1948) with Merle Oberon and Robert Ryan, though I don't recall ho much of the train is seen.
     
  50. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    The Brain (1969). David Niven, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Eli Wallach. A comedic "sequel" to the Great Train Robbery, involving stealing millions in NATO cash from the Paris-Brussels express.
     

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