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The Train Review
Overall 5.00 of 5
(by 1 user)
Gripping WWII suspense as Nazis steal France's national treasure
DVD Collector, into movies that tell a great story, Action film aficionado, movie guru, Fan of Superb Productions
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APR
26
2008
John Frankenheimer's The Train depicts a battle of wits between a sophisticated art connoisseur, who happens to be a Nazi colonel (Paul Scofield) and a jaded blue collar locomotive dispatcher (Burt Lancaster) who somehow finds his patriotism in the nick of time.
It is 1944 and the Allies have already established themselves on the continent. Daylight bombing hammers Paris and it is only a matter of time until the war is over. Still, the Germans are not giving up and the train yards are a beehive of activity.
The opening scene shows Nazi colonel Paul Scofield supervising the crating of hundreds of paintings by Matisse, Van Gogh, Renoir, and similar renowned artists. He plans to ship these paintings back to the fatherland and pocket a cool billion in Reichsmarks. No harm in making a little extra money on the side, is there?
The one difficulty is getting a train because the war has priority. Still, he uses his clout as a colonel and gets a train piloted by an old engineer who also happens to be a member of the French Resistance. He plugs the oil lines with coins and burns the rod bearings. This does not fool the old Nazi yard master who suspects sabotage and finds old oily franc pieces in the old fool's pockets. A short burst of machinegun fire up against the nearest wall is his sentence. Lancaster has to fix the train and get it back on the line ASAP.
He does fix it, working all night, then Scofield tells him he will be driving the train himself. After seeing the brutality of the Nazi, Lancaster is ready to go out on a limb for France and he works a clever but risky ruse to thwart the German's theft of France's art treasures.
John Frankenheimer got his training in live TV where there were no second takes so he made sure that everything was rehearsed and the shot setup and lighting was perfect. This carries over to his films which have a documentary look and feel, even though they are fictional. The stunts and train wrecks were all real and it took a massive amount of dynamite carefully placed and blown off at precisely the right time to stage the massive special effects that characterize this film. Dynamite is so much more satisfying than the gasoline explosions so typically seen in action movies.
The MGM DVD contains a perfect copy of the black and white film in 1.66:1 theatrical format running 133 minutes.
The Train is an engrossing film you'll be glad you made time for.
The Train is recommended by GeorgeChabot
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