The Great Locomotive Chase

Rating:
Summary: An excellent and stirring story based on a true incident
Review: The story of the Andrews Raiders, who envisioned striking a fatal blow to the Confederacy with their raid into Georgia, is told in a straight-forward and touching manner in this Disney film. The film-makers told the tale with about as much historical accuracy as possible within the constraints of film-making itself, perhaps with a couple of ommissions here and there. While the raiders were the first to receive the Medal of Honor, Jacob Parrott was the first, not William Pittenger -- that was just a little license since Pittenger wrote several books and articles on the raid. James J. Andrews had a full beard, and quite a long one, dark and curly -- I guess they couldn't talk Fess Parker into that. Andrews never met with Fuller, and was hung before the other seven men were executed. And the front truck wheels on the "General" were spoked -- well, they had to use whatever American 4-4-0 locomotives were available, and the real "General" just wasn't available. But an excellent historical piece. For those interested in "the rest of the story," read "Daring & Suffering: A History of the Andrews Raiders" by William Pittenger, just reprtinted and available from the Kenesaw Civil War Museum. Their web site can be reached at "thegeneral.org" Too bad this film isn't available any more!

Rating:
Summary: Deserves to be remade
Review: This is a half-forgotten Disney film concerning the attempted sabotage of the southern railroads durning the American Civil War. It follows the story of one of the characters who participated in the event. I've heard that the actual engines were used in the making of the film, as well as the actual railroad. The acting is a little forced sometimes, and some of the guys seemed uncomfortable with their lines at times. I think this movie could stand a remake, for it is a good story. Just be sure to stick to the facts, like Disney did.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Movie
Review: This movie is about a true event that happened during the Civil War.A group of yankee spies went south to hijack a train called the General while the crew got off for breakfast at Big Shanty.William Puller who was in charge of the train wanted to get it back so he chased after it.It was a great movie with alot of action and history rolled up into one great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Good Historical Account
Review: This was a good film. However, it's a little dated. We recently visited Kennisaw, Georgia, the home of "The General". The General is one of the locomotives involved in the chase. If it were not for that visit to the museum, I would not have followed this movie. A lot of scenes in the movie assumed you had prior knowledge of the circumstances. The kids were somewhat interested, I had to keep reminding them about what we saw in Georgia.

Rating:
Summary: Just a Question
Review: Walt Disney loved trains. He took the "Andrews Raiders" incident from the Civil War (that involved Union spies hijacking a Confederate train) and turned it into a movie. It has it's inaccuracies, but overall it gives you an idea of what really happened. What really makes this movie is that Disney contacted the B&O train museum in Baltimore, and borrowed some of their period locomotives and equipment. Portraying the hijacked locomotive "The General" is the "William Mason" from the museum. She's a fine lady of a locomotive, who appeared not only in this movie, but the recent flop "The Wild Wild West" as "the Wanderer". Fess Parker gives his usual wooden and stilted performance as Andrews, and being a Disney film there's singing (but no dancing) in the movie. But Jeffrey Hunter does a great job as Fuller, the Confederate conductor of the hijacked train. Most men would have been alarmed as they watched their train pull away without the regular crew, but how many would run after it like Fuller did? And run and run, commandeering a rail car and 3 locomotives before finally catching up with the stolen train. Hunter captures the determination of this man who is the single reason the plan of the Andrews Raiders failed.

Rating:
Summary: History, Disney style
Review: Walt Disney loved trains. He took the "Andrews Raiders" incident from the Civil War (that involved Union spies hijacking a Confederate train) and turned it into a movie. It has it's inaccuracies, but overall it gives you an idea of what really happened. What really makes this movie is that Disney contacted the B&O train museum in Baltimore, and borrowed some of their period locomotives and equipment. Portraying the hijacked locomotive "The General" is the "William Mason" from the museum. She's a fine lady of a locomotive, who appeared not only in this movie, but the recent flop "The Wild Wild West" as "the Wanderer". Fess Parker gives his usual wooden and stilted performance as Andrews, and being a Disney film there's singing (but no dancing) in the movie. But Jeffrey Hunter does a great job as Fuller, the Confederate conductor of the hijacked train. Most men would have been alarmed as they watched their train pull away without the regular crew, but how many would run after it like Fuller did? And run and run, commandeering a rail car and 3 locomotives before finally catching up with the stolen train. Hunter captures the determination of this man who is the single reason the plan of the Andrews Raiders failed.

Rating:
Summary: Good Show.
Review: While Disney's movies have certainly taken liberties with plots and historical fact, this movie seems to be an exception. The railroading detail is excellent. Apparently the real incident happened much the way it is shown.

The raid itself seems to be have been more harassment than strategic in nature. It still took guts to try it. It's a wonder that anybody lived through it.

This is a movie that kids and railfans will enjoy. Guess there's a certain amount of overlap in those two groups anyway.