MovieChat Forums > The Train (1965) Discussion > Just saw this for the first time

Just saw this for the first time

posted 14 years ago by somadude
16 replies | jump to latest

27 years old male here...

I saw five minutes of this on basic TV with crappy reception, I had to rent it. Absolutely loved it. They just don't make movies like that anymore. Are you kidding? The guy uncoupling the train was live action... no CGI? Are you kidding me?

Are you insane? The train wreck was staged with real trains. Holy God, who even does that now days? ROFL

This movie must have cost a fortune back in the day.

And the fact that the scene where the train was pursued by aircraft into a tunnel is based on an related, but FACTUAL occurance of the same on a passenger train?

Amazing. I rated this movie 10/10.

[–] zoerpit 14 years ago

You certainly picked a good one. But keep in mind that this is more than just a pure action film. It also makes one think. It's constantly asking you, "How many human lives is art worth?" And "How great must the art be to risk your life for it?" Characters come up with different answers at various points in the film, and perhaps the film never does answer the questions definitively. And perhaps no one can--but it's important to at least ask them.

[–] lolarites 13 years ago

Compelling isn't it? You are thoroughly engrossed after the first five minutes. You are right, they don't make them like that any more. First, you don't have actors like Burt Lancaster who are so athletic, even in his 50's and second you don't have directors like Frankenheimer who that the right kind of vision and know how to get it on film. What do we have today? James Cameron-barf. The Nazi officer said the art was wasted on the French rail workers like pearls on a gorilla when they are the ones who were willing to die for it's survival. Never underestimate the French's love of art.

[–] ballston54 13 years ago

I also think it's ironic that in the film's climax another German officer becomes a hero of sorts by disobeying von Waldheim's order to relinquish his vehicles to transport the paintings.

[–] proterozoic 12 years ago

Oh now now... Terminator 2 is probably the best action movie of all time - but let's not get into an old vs. new thing here. Nobody I know of, no movie I've seen, has ever shot steam locomotives like this. I'm not even talking about the plot and themes. 10/10, without a doubt.

[–] linas-morkunas 13 years ago

true true...I just watched this movie and the train action scenes left my jaw opened. I was asking myself did they really just blown up a bunch of REAL locomotives from a close distance? And then you are asking yourself why can't modern action filmmmakers have the balls of the size of these brave guys...all we have today is pussified CGI cuts with horribly shaken camera. A disgrace.

[–] vionov2000 13 years ago

I saw this movie today for the first time and I loved it, never heard of it until now and I will definitly see it again....extraordinary piece of cinema, not only because of the train action scenes but also because of it's story, wonderfully and originally written, today almost nobody writes a story like this anymore for a movie, they just remake films like this...

[–] rc-108 13 years ago

I really enjoyed this movie...
and Burt Lancaster in this role.
they don't make actors like that anymore...

I like it almost as much as the original 'Manchurian Candidate'

[–] dosware 13 years ago

51 year old male here. 1964 represents the first year which I have clear memories. But darn, I missed this film in the theaters!

Saw it for the first time just recently. For those who have a sense of the evolution of cinema, this is an important flick. Rather than repeat the well-deserved praise, I'll note my only criticism. The dialogue is often stilted- the early 60's still suffered from a lack of natural dialogue.

Otherwise a great film... all should make time to see this...

[–] carlosalberto-canales 12 years ago

just saw this great film.truly remarkable production.so well paced, impeccably written, superbly acted and masterfully directed.only criticism: germans speaking in english.

[–] SpacemanBob 11 years ago

Really great film from this era, wholly believable story. They don't make 'em like this anymore, unfortunately.

[–] DarthBill 9 years ago

Simply put, this is/was the last truly great black and white action adventure film, and its influence on later action films like "Die Hard" is undeniable.

I also love the theme throughout the film of whether or not it was actually worth it to risk their lives for the art. The end reminds me of the ending to a later Burt Lancaster film, "The Scalphunters" in which Burt's character engages in a relentless quest to snatch his furs back from Telly Savalas, and at the end when the dust has settled the Shelley Winters character laments "What was so important about a couple of lousy furs?" At the end of the train one gets the impression that Burt's character, Labiche, wants to ask the same question after he sees just how many lives have been lost in the quest to secure the art: "What was so important about a couple of lousy paintings?!"

This theme of whether or not the quest for the paintings was worth it makes the film feel very much like an anti-Vietnam film (as can be said of the Scalphunters).

[–] blackhawkswincup2010 8 years ago

I wonder how the Germans were too stupid to see that they were moving in a circle, and how the resistance guys were able to come up with the resources to make those phony signs on the stations.

I first saw this in its original release when I was 8. The only two things I remembered were the constant repetition of the name "Labiche," and the German soldier looking for sabotage along the tracks near the end, saying: "I sink I saw somesing." Everybody in the theater laughed.

All that said, I really liked seeing it again after 50 years. Great story!

[–] Xcalat3 (3701) 7 years ago

/ They just don't make movies like that anymore./

they do not.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

Highly underrated film. It's a shame that people don't take more time to appreciate the classics.