Brad Pitt’s “Bullet Train” got me musing about preferred train films. But I step aside and turn today’s Top 10 list over to my motion picture buddy Randy Becker. After all, Randy used to be a train engineer. And he originates from a household of train people. So who better qualified?Randy writes,”Trains
have actually captivated people since their inception and, since movies follow public fascination, trains have actually played a significant role in the cinema. Often they are merely backdrops to the action, other times they are incidental, and most importantly is when they are one of the’ characters ‘in the motion picture itself.
“One of the problems for potential films including trains is a passionate (some would state rabid) individuals who insist on every rail information in the movie being totally accurate. For example, in ‘Source Code’ the announcement on the clearly Rock Island division train that the next and last stop would be Union Station is just plain impossible.
“On the other hand, with lots of spectacular and historic terminals and stations for the Twentieth Century Limited’s arrival into Chicago in ‘North by Northwest,’ Hitchcock went with the modest (some say unsightly) LaSalle Street Station, the real arrival point of the Century.Randy chose to”put aside the concerns of foamers(i.e., train buffs )in my list of my Top 10 train movies.” Here’s the outcome:10)A tie in between the “Great Train
Burglary”(1903) and “The General “(1926 )– These two early quiet movies showed the worth of movies as automobiles of boosted reality (the last gun shot in the previous )and funny (Buster Keaton in the latter ).9)”Emperor of the North Pole”( 1973)– (shot on the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway, the same area as used in “The General “). A conductor, played by Ernest Borgnine, attempts to safeguard his train from those who would ride for free.8)”Disaster on the Coastliner”(1979 )– Made for TV with all the right B-movie types(Lloyd Bridges, Al Mitchell,
Raymond Burr, Robert Fuller, Pat Hingle, E. G. Marshall, Yvette Mimieux and William Shatner)for a completely B-movie film. Look for Shatner doing his own stunt work! 7 )Another tie, this time for two The second world war films,”Von Ryan’s Express” and “The Train”– Whether trying to conserve POWs or priceless art, starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard, or Burt Lancaster and Paul Schofield, you are in for a wild train trip in any case .6)” Quick Encounter”(1945)– David Lean’s work of art integrates romance, 1940s British trains and stations, and Rachmaninoff, a best ensemble.5 )”Source Code”( 2011)– Despite its terrible sense of railway location in Chicago, this sci-fi thriller takes us on a tense flight in between probable realities on a suburban commuter train. Aren’t all commuter trains like this? 4)”North by Northwest”(
1959)– Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau, this thriller classic is Hitchcock at his finest. The sequences in Grand Central Terminal, on-board the Twentieth Century Limited, and arriving in Chicago are impressive for their attentionto information.3 )” Unstoppable” (2010)– Denzel Washington, as an engineer, should stop a runaway train. Based upon a true story, this film depicts numerous aspects of genuine railroading(the cover-your-behind attitude of leading management, increased existence of ladies in definitive positions, and the everyday working understanding of the common hogger(railway slang for Engineer ).1 and 2)”Silver Streak”– a tie between the 1934 thriller and the 1976 comedy. Yes, there were two.The previously one, building on the historical run of the very first streamliner in the U.S., the 1934 Leader Breeze, which raced from Denver to Chicago, 1,015.4-mile non-stop dash in 13 hours 5 minutes at a typical speed of nearly 78 mph. For one area of the run, it reached a speed of 112.5 miles per hour. The motion picture featured hurrying an iron lung to Chicago and the efforts of a saboteur to disable the train.The more recent one, with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, chronicled the adventures of a harried business owner (Wilder) seeking a peaceful train journey, a thief in a hijacked police car (Pryor), the secret”Rembrandt Papers,”and romantic interludes with Jill Clayburgh. Here, Canada replacements for the U.S., Toronto for Chicago, AmRoad for Amtrak and, well, so much more, all centered around the name train.Yes, Randy’s list of possible additions goes on:” The Navigators”;”O’Horten”;”Bad Day at Black Rock”; “Aircrafts, Trains and Vehicles “;”Railway Man”; “The Darjeeling Express”; “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 “;”Snow Piercer”;”Polar Express”;”Some Like it Hot”;” Hugo”; and” Closely Seen Trains”;”Central Station. “Wow! Such an inclusive list, I have no train cars to add. Do you?
Source: https://www.keysnews.com/top-10-train-movies/article_1ec4fcd2-119d-11ed-87f4-6301fac3b605.html