Rating: 
Summary: A Grand Time But The Transfer Could Be Better
Review: "The Great Train Robbery" is a grand old fashioned adventure that keeps it's tongue firmly in cheek. Connery's conversation in the garden with a banker's wife has enough sexual inuendos and puns to fill a text book. Set in mid Victorian England it details something that was novel for the period, robbing a moving train. The ploting and planning unfolds with both clarity and wit thanks to Connery and Sutherland who play off each other nicely and are clearly enjoying every minute of it.
On VHS this film had an at times dull and grainy look. Sadly it appears that this transfer has been made from those same sources. To be sure the newer medium does give us a cleaner and brighter picture but those grainy spots, while less intense than before, are still evident. Happily the film is such a grand time that one can easily live with that.
Rating:
Summary: Clever
Review: "The Great Train Robbery" is an excellent film. Filled with a great cast, it has the added benefits of good writing (and historically accurate language), and a clever premise. Essentially this is a complex 20th Century caper plot in a 19th Century setting. Chrichton also does a good job directing. A good movie for a sophisticated viewer.
Rating: 
Summary: "Because I wanted the money" he told the judge.
Review:
Director: Michael Crichton
Format: Color
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios
Video Release Date: July 1, 1997
Cast: Sean Connery ... Edward Pierce/John Simms/Geoffrey
Donald Sutherland ... Robert Agar, Screwsman
Lesley-Anne Down ... Miriam/Madame Lucienne/Miss Brigid Lawson
Alan Webb ... Edgar Trent, President Huddleston & Bradford Bank
Malcolm Terris ... Henry Fowler, Manager Huddleston & Bradford Bank
Robert Lang ... Inspector Sharp
Michael Elphick ... Burgess, Railway Guard Accomplice
Wayne Sleep ... William 'Clean Willy' Williams, Snakesman
Pamela Salem ... Emily Trent
Gabrielle Lloyd ... Elizabeth Trent
George Downing ... Barlow, Coachman Accomplice
James Cossins ... Inspector Harranby
John Bett ... McPherson
Peter Benson ... Station Despatcher
Janine Duvitski ... Maggie
Brian de Salvo ... John, Trent's Butler
André Morell ... Judge
Donald Churchill ... Prosecutor
Brian Glover ... Captain Jimmy
Noel Johnson ... Connaught
Peter Butterworth ... Putnam
Patrick Barr ... Burke
Hubert Rees ... Lewis
Agnes Bernelle ... Woman on Platform
Frank McDonald ... P.C. London Bridge Station
Joe Cahill ... Rail Guard on Folkestone Train
Cecil Nash ... Newgate Prison Chaplain
Susan Hallinan ... Emma Barnes
Oliver Smith ... Ratting Assistant
John Altman ... First Pickpocket
Paul Kember ... Second Pickpocket
Geoff Ferris ... Third Pickpocket
Jenny Till ... Woman on Strand
Craig Stokes ... Urchin on Strand Donald Hewlett ... Club Member
Geoffrey Unsworth
Brooke Adams
Nuala Holloway ... Call Girl The inimitable Edward Pierce (Sean Connery), in 1855, pulled off the first robbery on a moving train of a shipment gold bullion intended for the Crimea. After months of planning, making wax impressions of four keys, effecting a prison break for one of their henchmen necessary to their plan and the escape of Pierce after the fact of the robbery, the robbery was completed without a hitch. Taking part in the robbery was Robert Agar (Donald Sutherland), Miriam (Lesley-Anne Down), and sundry other characters. Due to the fine acting and direction by Michael Crichton, the story, which was based on an actual robbery, was a great success, and was endlessly entertaining. Joseph (Joe) Pierre
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating:
Summary: More fun than the book
Review: Before watching this movie, I listened to the recorded book version, which was a little difficult to follow at times due in part to the reader's voice and partly to the dryness of some of the narrative. The movie made it more entertaining, snipping out the tedious details, and getting right to the main events. Of course, the book is meant to be more educational, a non-fictional account of an amazingly planned and executed train robbery, and the enigmatic disappearance of the mastermind once he was caught. The movie fulfills its duty in outlining the events, but makes it fun with entertaining characters and lively scenes. The three main characters: Sean Connery, (the mastermind), Donald Sutherland, (his sidekick), and Leslie Anne Down (Connery's girlfriend and accomplice) so delightfully play their roles, that you root for their successful conniving and contriving. This is a great movie for people who love to compare movies with the books they are made from.
Rating:
Summary: Sean Rocks!
Review: Come on... any movie with Sean staring in it rocks! This movie was done very well. I enjoyed every minute of it
Rating:
Summary: Good Film Making
Review: Connery and Sutherland really shine in this handsomely made film about the first successful train robbery in British History and how they got away with the goods (mostly).
Rating:
Summary: Worthy caper even though it shows its age
Review: I bought this movie because I couldn't find it to rent, and the plot and cast seemed like a guarantee of a great movie to me. I wasn't disappointed but I might have chosen to rent rather than buy if I had been able. Sean Connery in his prime (well, isn't he still in his prime) and Donald Sutherland star in a classic heist movie based on the true story of the world's first robbery from a moving train. They're after a fortune in gold bullion, and must cleverly figure how to steal a set of keys to the safes, get on and off the train safely, etc. It takes place in London in 1855 and the sets and costumes are great. Do they get away with it - I won't say.
It's all very well done but oddly predictable, perhaps because since this movie was made (1972 I believe) a lot of similar movies seem to have come out. And although Donald Sutherland makes a great roguish pickpocket, he'll never pass for English. His accent is closer to the English they speak on the Planet Mars than the English of 19th-century London. Still, it's worth a look.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing quality
Review: I happen to really like this film. It's one that I can watch repeatedly and always enjoy. But the DVD version has such poor video quality that I returned it and have kept the VHS. The sceen in the graveyard, in particular, is not what I'd expect if a decent master has been used for the transfer. Check it out, but keep your receipt!
Rating:
Summary: "No respectable gentleman...is that respectable"
Review: I remember being completely taken with this movie when I saw it in 1979. Sean Connery was on THE TODAY SHOW when it was released and discussed doing his own stunt work during the robbery scenes. Stumbling atop the rattling train, he was certain they had to be moving much faster than 35 MPH. When he asked the engineers how they knew they were going 35, they said they calculated it by counting the telephone poles going by! The train was actually going well over 50 MPH! Director Michael Crichton recounts the same story in his commentary. I would've given this film five stars but, after listening to him voice his disatisfaction with it, I took one star off. I should've left the commentary for another time! Crichton does offer a lot of interesting insights into the film. The difficulties of recreating a London that doesn't exist anymore, the moral dilemma of filming a dog killing rats (the "ratting" scene is real), the filming of the train scenes. Connery brings his cool authority to the proceedings and Donald Sutherland is always interesting. Lesley Anne Down is gorgeous. I really loved Jerry Goldsmith's elegant score. It really pulled the film together musically and I still have the soundtrack album.
I just wish I'd been in the soundbooth with Mr. Crichton after he finished his commentary: I would've said, "Come on, give yourself a break: you made a very cool movie!"
Rating:
Summary: "No respectable gentleman...is that respectable"
Review: I remember being completely taken with this movie when I saw it in 1979. Sean Connery was on THE TODAY SHOW when it was released and discussed doing his own stunt work during the robbery scenes. Stumbling atop the rattling train, he was certain they had to be moving much faster than 35 MPH. When he asked the engineers how they knew they were going 35, they said they calculated it by counting the telephone poles going by! The train was actually going well over 50 MPH! Director Michael Crichton recounts the same story in his commentary. I would've given this film five stars but, after listening to him voice his disatisfaction with it, I took one star off. I should've left the commentary for another time! Crichton does offer a lot of interesting insights into the film. The difficulties of recreating a London that doesn't exist anymore, the moral dilemma of filming a dog killing rats (the "ratting" scene is real), the filming of the train scenes. Connery brings his cool authority to the proceedings and Donald Sutherland is always interesting. Lesley Anne Down is gorgeous. I really loved Jerry Goldsmith's elegant score. It really pulled the film together musically and I still have the soundtrack album.
I just wish I'd been in the soundbooth with Mr. Crichton after he finished his commentary: I would've said, "Come on, give yourself a break: you made a very cool movie!"
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