The Train (Widescreen)

 

 

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Is a work of art worth a human life?
We are near the end of World War II. It's August 2, 1944, the "1511th day of German occupation" of Paris. German Colonel von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) enters a dark museum and turns a spotlight on a painting. He stares at it with the eyes of a lover beholding his best beloved. He turns another spotlight on another painting. The Hun is humanized, and we sympathize with his quiet passion.
It comes as a bit of a shock when he announces that he is taking the paintings, hundreds of Miros and Picassos and Matisses and others, with him when the Germans evacuate Paris. A resistance group, led by railroad worker Paul Labiche (Burt Lancaster), is enlisted to stop them. Labiche initially refuses. It's one thing to blow up a train, dangerous enough - it's another to stop a train without damaging what's inside it. National heritage or not, men will die. There are more important targets than a train filled with art. Things change, though, and eventually Labiche and the remnants of his resistance group find themselves trying the impossible.
I've always been a little leery of Burt Lancaster. Maybe I was traumatized by viewing THE RAINMAKER or ELMER GANTRY at a young and impressionable age. He sometimes seems all horse teeth and braying charm and dis-tinct e-nunc-ee-a-shun. Not so here. In THE TRAIN he's restrained and natural and completely convincing. Scofield is equally strong as his brutal nemesis.
Sometimes the extras on a dvd aren't worth the bother, but I loved the director's commentary by the late John Frankenheimer. It was like taking a course in the art of film making.
Frankenheimer tells us he was trying to give the movie a realistic feel, which I understood before listening to the commentary track but didn't really understand how he went about it. One trick he used was to open the f-stop on the camera and keep everything in focus, something that would have been impossible if THE TRAIN wasn't shot in black and white. Everything is kept in focus and he keeps the background action busy and interesting.
Frankenheimer is an unabashed fan of Burt Lancaster, with whom he made five movies. Not only does Lancaster do all his own stunts in this one, including a dangerous backwards fall off of a moving train, he even fills in as a stunt double for another actor. The original stuntman made a fall off a roof look like an "olympic jump," and 'realism' was the keyword in this one. Lancaster did take a nice tumble off the tiles, but you've got to wonder about the wisdom of it all. Lancaster was injured during the filming of THE TRAIN; on his first day off in weeks he played a round of golf and twisted his knee when he stepped into a hole. His right knee swelled up 'like a basketball.' Frankenheimer shot Labiche in the leg halfway through the movie to explain the limp.
The only phony movie aspect to this movie is the dubbed voices of some of the French actors. You can't hide dubbing very well, and Frankenheimer doesn't have much to say about it. I wouldn't knock a star or even a half-star off because of it. This is a tremendously entertaining film.

This is a bona fide classic! One of the most influential action movies ever. Watch it and you'll see the elments that were later used in action films like Die Hard, etc.

Although it is a little bit overlooked today, it remains a one [heck] of a ride! Lancaster plays a french railroad employee who works for the resistence. He and his group of three men must do anything to stop a train loaded with art treasures (Picassos, Matisses, Renoirs, Monets - no less) which is heading to Germany, according to the plans of a german Colonel who happens to love art. Stopping a train is easy - as they all discover. The problem is the art treasures who cannot be simply blown up (and that is a problem the allied planes do no know of).

So, it is up to a small group of men to keep the train out of both nazis and allies power - a difficult task in the last days of WW2.

The story meets many exciting complications and climaxes but the real catch is the strong performances from the two leads (Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield) who fight each other in a battle of wills we'll rarely see again. Their antagonistic missions are the key element in a film full of great moments.

The black and white cinematography by Jean Tournier is great and the DVD do it justice. Keep in mind that this is a film by John Frankenheimmer - the great director who brought us movies like "The Manchurian Candidate", "Birdman of Alcatraz", and "The French Connection".

The DVD also has a great commentary by the director himself and an alternate "music-only" audio track for the Maurice Jarre's music soundtrack. This is a true great film. The only minus is the lack of a new dolby 5.1 sound mix - in a film like this, it would sure be a great thing! Anyway, the Dolby original Mono is solid enough.

There are an amazing amount of action films these days. Each one of them attempts to beat the last one's visual effects. And in this competition, hollywood has lost track of what makes a truly great action film... Skill. Most of the action films these days are entirely uncreative, and many of them are very, very boring. Who really want's to see a dozen tiles fall to the ground and break in slow motion, as films such as "the Matrix" use this technique constantly. But this film is different. It carries raw emotional power, and it's star, at age 50, did all of his own stunts, and even drove the locamotives that his character drives. This movie is awesome, and I highly recommend you buy this DvD. And by the way, this music track is a lot of fun to listen to when you're sick.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Train
I had seen this movie recently on TV and was mesmerized by the excellent photography and sets. Superb acting by Burt Lancaster, a thriller to watch. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Mauserl

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Train (1965) ... Burt Lancaster ... John Frankenheimer (Director) (1999)"
United Artists presents "THE TRAIN" (1965) (133 min/B&W) -- Starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon & Wolfgang Priess

Directed... Read more

Published 13 months ago by J. Lovins

5.0 out of 5 stars The Train
I really loved this DVD. I watched it several times and is one of the best I have seen.

Published 22 months ago by Robert W. Johnson

4.0 out of 5 stars C'est un classique du cinéma
C'est un classique du cinéma avec Burt Lancaster jouant le rôle d'un directeur de l'acheminement des trains qui doit prendre les moyens nécessaires pour empêcher un... Read more

Published on Jun 16 2005 by Micheline Montreuil

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect film on less- than- great DVD
The audio on the MGM DVD was lacking the full spectrum of audio, in my opinion. If you don't care so much about audio, it would be a 5 star DVD, but for those feeling that audio... Read more

Published on Sep 20 2003 by FrontPage

5.0 out of 5 stars "All Aboard!"
Bookend this film alongside THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and SEVEN DAYS IN MAY and one comes to the easy realization that Director John Frankenheimer has captured three of the most... Read more

Published on July 6 2003 by Edward Lee

3.0 out of 5 stars Is it really that great? Well, maybe, maybe not...
John Frankenheimer directed this semi-grim WWII action film, with Burt Lancaster as a one-man army out to stop the Nazis from plundering all of France's greatest modern art... Read more

Published on May 11 2003 by DJ Joe Sixpack

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Action Film Focuses on the Price of War
Director John Frankenheimer's THE TRAIN was released in 1965. Set in the final days of Nazi occupied Paris during the WWII it tells a tale of how the French Resistance attempted... Read more

Published on April 12 2003 by gobirds2

5.0 out of 5 stars cinematography
It's a great film, but never mind the plot.

The cinematography is fantastic!

Every shot is a winner - if your into photography check this film.

Published on Sep 20 2002 by frank milan

5.0 out of 5 stars Burt Lancaster at his very best in The Train
I remember going to see this terrific film as a lad back in the 1960s. This is one of my favorite WWII action films and there are many great films in this category including The... Read more

Published on Aug 27 2002 by Lance Fredrickson

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