And, the question is this - (In the time of cold-blooded war) - Would you be willing to actually give up your life in order to stop valuable paintings (by Van Gogh, Picasso, and Gaugin) from getting into the hands of your enemies with the possibility that these irreplaceable works could be destroyed? Would you?Skillfully directed by John Frankenheimer (of the "Manchurian Candidate" fame) - 1964's "The Train" (filmed in b&w) is a gritty, quasi-violent WW2 drama whose story proudly boasts of being based on actual events.IMO - The one really damaging point that threatened to mar the realism of "The Train" was that even though American actor, Burt Lancaster was playing a Frenchman, he didn't have the professionalism to even try to muster up a convincing sounding French accent (unlike the rest of the cast who were all believable as Frenchmen and Germans).

Wow. I wasn't expecting anything like this. THE TRAIN is a black and white suspense thriller set in the dying days of Nazi-occupied France. It's one of John Frankenheimer's earliest films and it has all of the suspense, action, and excitement of his late-era productions like RONIN. I thought this would be a typical gung-ho war effort of the kind that Frank Sinatra and George Peppard used to star in, but it's something else entirely.The subject of the film is trains, in particular steam trains. The plot's Macguffin is a shipment of priceless French paintings which Nazi colonel Paul Scofield is attempting to transport to Germany before the Americans arrive in Paris. Burt Lancaster is the tough and imposing resistance fighter who opposes him. The rest of the film is a battle of wills and wits between the two men.Although this is a quite lengthy production it's never boring. Even the dialogue scenes are snappy and bristle with suspense. However, it's the action where this film really hits. The action is terse, realistic, and fast. Frankenheimer was determined to make his film as realistic as possible so there are no special effects or model shots here, just real engines that get crashed and blown up with regularity. I liked Lancaster here better than anywhere else, Scofield's bad guy is perfectly hateable, and the supporting cast are excellent. The last twenty minutes in particular remove dialogue from the equation and focus on nail-biting suspense and heroism. It's a fantastic little movie and one which deserves to be wider known.

I've been watching this movie from time to time for many years, but, the time I remember best and love most is when I watched it with my 'train-fanatic' little Son. He loves this movie as much as I do, and, I'm sure that anyone who likes train adventures, or, adventures of any kind, will like this, too. My Son never left the living room during the entire movie! :)This really is a classic movie with a great story, great actors, and, a lot of action...especially when Burt Lancaster is speeding away in the train and trying to take cover from the German fighter plane.I not only recommend this movie to war buffs, but, also to anyone who likes a great adventure movie that never gets dull for even a second.I give "The Train" a Solid NINE STARS! :)

John Frankenheimer directed this masterpiece about the french resistance trying to stop a train loaded with art from leaving. Paris is about to fall probably in only 3 or 4 days. But the Germans have loaded all the best Art on a train bound for Germany. The resistance is asked to stop it.Labiche (Burt Lancaster) is the leader of the resistance at the train yard. He is reluctant to act to save a bunch of pictures. They started out with 18 members, had 4 members in the morning, but is down to 3. Could he really risk the rest on a scheme to save some paintings? The plans and schemes need to be mapped out much better. They need to do some better explanations. But it's Labiche's evolution that's important. Burt Lancaster is a powerful presence, and his acting is top-notched.