Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie - Subpar DVD
Review: There's no denying that Strangers On a Train was one of Hitchcock's best movies, but this translation left a bit to be desired. The encoding on the DVD was obviously low-quality as there was a lot of artifacting and blurring, especially in scenes that contained a lot of motion. The DVD shipped in a blank case, leaving me to find album artwork myself - the end result looking like a cheap pirated DVD sold on the streets of Singapore. The sound quality was mediocre. I would love to see this great movie remastered and repackaged with more extras.
Rating: 
Summary: `His name is Antony. He's not French.'
Review: But he IS a very clever fellow.Alfred Hitchcock directs this tight thriller about two strangers who meet on a train, one an up and coming tennis player (Farley Granger as Guy Hanes) with well publicized marital problems, the other a seemingly eccentric young man called Bruno Antony (Robert Walker). Bruno is an idle gentleman with a great deal of time on his hands and a lot of odd ideas, like driving at night without his headlights at high speeds, and smelling flowers on Mars. He poses one such idea to Guy - two men who each have someone they want to kill swap murders to avoid the sticky trap of their own motives. `You like my idea, Guy? I mean, you're alright with it?'
`Sure, sure, Bruno,' says Guy, desperate to move to another part of the train, `they're ALL swell.' But of course, Bruno takes him literally. What follows is a suspence/thriller classic, as Guy must not only prove his own innocence, but avoid the entrapment of the spurned Bruno, who is out to pin him with the murder of his wife. Fantastic thriller with a great climax and who knew a tennis game could be so suspenceful? Only in the master's hands, I guess. The real standout is Robert Walker as Bruno Antony, one of the most insidious villains ever to creep across the silver screen - check out that scene with young Babs and Mrs. Cunningham at the party (`Now when I nod my head, you just try and cry out. I betcha can't....')! Chilling stuff. And yes, that's Hitchcock's daughter in the role of Babs (and she's great). Funny story is that her father never once mentioned he was filming `Strangers,' but went through proper channels (her agent) and had her audition like a regular actress for the part!
Rating:
Summary: What if we switched?
Review: Two men meet accidentally on a train, one is a famous tennis player, the other a dissatisfied playboy. One of them begins to hypothetically discuss the possibility of them each performing a murder for each other. The tennis player takes the whole thing as a joke while the playboy seems to be fairly sincere in his idea. The idea eventually begins to take shape and then get out of hand. Strangers on a Train offers some intelligent cinematography and a clever story that enhances the level of suspense. The film provides a very suspenseful experience that keeps the audience's interest from the beginning to the end.
Rating:
Summary: Robert Walker Is Astonishing
Review: The first time I watched this film a number of years ago, I recall not being particularly impressed. I recently watched the film again, and maybe because my expectations were quite low, I was really impressed by it. Not sure why I didn't like it the first time!! Farley Granger stars as a tennis pro trying to get out of a bad marriage so he can marry a senator's daughter, Ruth Roman. Robert Walker is an odd character he meets on the train who hates his father and wants him dead. Unwittingly, Granger ends up in a deal in which Walker will kill Granger's wife in exchange for Granger murdering Walker's father. And when Walker goes through with his part of the bargain, Granger finds himself in the uncomfortable position of being a murder suspect and owing Walker a murder as well. Walker is astonishingly good in his role, walking away with the film with a performance that should have been rewarded back then and better remembered today. He's one of Hitchcock's great villains. Neither Granger or Roman registers with much of an impact, while Marion Lorne as Walker's protective mother has a couple of very strong scenes. Patricia Hitchcock, the director's daughter, is very amusing as Roman's sister. Pretty much all of the memorable scenes in the film involve Walker. The film's climax is really well done and a lot of fun to watch. There are a few holes in the story, but they can be overlooked when it has so much else going for it. There as some great shots (typical for Hitchcock) with some interesting symbolism. I'm really glad I watched the film for a second time!
Rating:
Summary: More than a Classic, Hitchcock's Best
Review: This may be one of Hitch's best films. Perfectly realized, inspired casting, a story with twists and turns, it is however most brilliant as a study of psychological abberation. It has some elements of the Noir style, but more is more subtle. The interaction of Granger and Walker... the bland tennis champ, the mentally unstable rich boy, is handled with finesse by Hitchcock. He plays their story out to near agonizing denouement. The suspense never lets up, never lets you down. Simple on it's surface, deep on reflection. It has not only stood the test of time, it just gets better with each viewing. Watch it for the superb acting, the deft directing, and try to find someone to watch with you, because you'll want to talk it over, to compare impressions, to ponder the alternatives.
Rating:
Summary: Quid Pro Quo...
Review: You do my murder; I'll do yours...thus begins the plot of another classic from Alfred Hitchcock. Farley Granger is the earnest, minding-his-own-business citizen/tennis player who has the misfortune to meet Robert Walker on a train trip, and is then ensnared by the diabolical Bruno, dangerously dysfunctional, idle rich ne'er-do-well, who is aware of his issues with his ex-wife, and his desire to tie the knot with current love, Ruth Roman. Pat Hitchcock, Hitch's daughter, plays Roman's sister, Barbara, who bears an unfortunate resemblance to Bruno's ex. At a party at Roman's house which Bruno crashes, he plays a parlor game with one of the female guests (the same woman who was attracted ((much to her misfortune)) to Tyrone Power in Witness for the Prosecution) and things go too far when, with his hands around the woman's neck, he sees Pat Hitchcock, with her resemblance to Miriam, Guy's ex, and his grip tightens to the point of nearly asphyxiating the woman. There are many standout scenes in this one, most notably, the one at the Fair, when Miriam goes to an island with her two escorts and meets up with Bruno, who strangles her, with her glasses reflecting her own murder and the Merry Go Round in the distance playing "And the Band Played On..." and the scene at the end, when Guy and Bruno fight on the same Merry Go Round, resulting in the shooting of the ride operator, which sends the ride into a dangerous speed, and an old man crawls underneath the speeding out of control Merry Go Round and stops it...VERY suddenly; so suddenly...well, watch the scene. Robert Walker is wonderfully oily, very dangerous, in his soft-spoken way, which makes him even more frightening. Great stuff.
Rating:
Summary: You're going for a ride
Review: As in life, this film hinges on a single event that forever changes everything, the meeting of two strangers. This meeting takes the viewer on a cinematic train ride filled with twists, turns and dark passages, until the final destination is reached. Everything about this movie is brilliant. Along with Rear Window, this film is Hitchcock at his best!
Rating:
Summary: strangers on a train
Review: I just want to add a small footnote to all the wonderful reviews about this DVD release. Side one is a RE-release of the film and is much grainier than the British PRE-release of 103 minutes. So when you buy this gem, go directly to the 103 minute version and ENJOY.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: This movie is fantastic! It deserves five stars. It is a great thriller. Go see it!
Rating: 
Summary: Been There! Done That!
Review: Listen to me! After viewing this flick, I didn't like the hero.
I didn't like the hero's family. So how many stars do you expect me to give it? Give me a break. The only person I liked
in the movie was Bruno. And that's only because Bruno and I are a lot alike in many ways. Tennis star. Yahty yahty yahty.
Psycho-killer. Yahty yahty yahty. Clever but sterero-typed
plot. Been there. Done that. Get real.
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