The release of Brad Anderson's excellent Transsiberian got us thinking: what are the best train movies ever made? Find out here…

Train movies are a particularly and peculiarly satisfying curio of a sub-genre: claustrophobic , sexy, inventive and inevitably dynamic in nature no matter what the actual narrative. Anyone who has spent considerable time on trains – particularly night trains across Europe – will have a natural affection for the strange nocturnity of thundering through indiscernible environments. Gentry's film buffs have steamed through the classics and come up with the 5 best train movies of all time…

5. Transsiberian (Brad Anderson, 2008)

A journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple (the righteous Harrelson and the lapsed Mortimer) encounter a mysterious pair of fellow travelers. Exchanged bags, drugs, creaky Russians and torture ensues. There is no room to hide from the lies and deceptions that criss-cross from one passenger to another. Well written and full of unexpected turns, this is a riveting modern classic of the genre. 

4. Night Train (Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1959)

This anomaly from the late ‘50s has always carried the convenient yet inappropriate tag of
being ‘Hitchcockian.’ As alluring as that term can be, it is usually a false one lazily slapped on to any movie that feeds from situations of anxiety and tension. Night Train is far too loosely plotted for the tastes of the fat East Londoner. Kawalerowicz displays a far keener interest in the motivations and consequences of human emotion. The drama here is a human one that spirals with locomotive force to breaking point. It's the Knife in the Water of train movies.

3. The Narrow Margin (Richard Fleischer, 1952)

One of the most tense of all train movies… A gangster's moll decides to testify against her fellas evil deeds and she goes undercover to avoid being killed. Now that he's coming to trial she has to be escourted across country via train in order to testify. Cop Walter Brown and his partner are assigned the task, but the mob are on their trail. This is a taught beast of a noir in the mould of Force of Evil or The Killing. Fleischer wrings all the tension he can out of this cat-and-mouse classic.

2. Murder on the Orient Express (Sidney Lumet, 1974)

Master movie-maker Lumet brings together an all-star cast (Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Berman, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave) for this poised, playful classic from chief teaser Agatha Christie. As well-crafted as you would expect from the director, the film hangs by an arch thread, very much in the moment but also an extremely enjoyable homage to Hollywood mysteries of yesteryear. More vibrant and full of visual ideas than any of the films I tried to avoid watching over the course of this summer.

1. The Train (John Frankenheimer, 1964)

Overwrought, melodramatic and utterly thrilling. Burt Lancaster is the brute force bucking against his cerebral Nazi counterpart, portrayed wit apt devilry by Paul Scolfield. This is a simple, no-holds-barred good versus evil monster of a film, bursting at the seams with macho frustration. Who better to bring to life the closed-in sense of doom than paranoia maverick John Frankenheimer. This is the great, underrated train movie.

Know of any other notable train movies? Let us know…

 

Mr. Paolo cabrelli

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Category: Art & Culture