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! :)

That's the most terrific war film ever, especially about trains. I discovered it when I was a kid, and still am amazed by this pure gem. What a performance from the outstanding Paul Scofield as the evil but so ambivalent German officer; ambivalent because how not to be fascinated by this character so ruthless but in the same time so in love with art and paintings? How? Now the two important things I absolutely wanted to say are this. First, if you can, watch it in FRENCH version with of course subs if you are English or American; why? Because nearly every actor here is french - except Burt Lancaster and some German characters who are German or English - Paul Scofield who is British. So, in french spoken version, all french actors will speak in their genuine language; only Lancaster will be dubbed, but after all, an American who plays an authentic born Frenchman has the right to speak french. See? And most of all, in the french spoken version, German characters among them speak all in German. And in the English spoken version, EVERY ONE speaks English, even french characters and German among them. NONSENSE. So, in resume, please, if you can of course, choose the french spoken version. And the second thing on which I insist is this: a longer version exists of this movie, a version that I watched some decades earlier and that I have never seen since. In this long version, you have a tremendous sequence where the Paul Scofield's character - German officer fascinated by paintings - enters a little church and stands still, like a statue, whilst he admires a little icon painting. As a Christian who would see Jesus moving just in front of him. This scene is absolutely terrific, if you already know the true nature of the character. And this scene has never been shown since. I am very sad because of this. I absolutely wanted to say this folks, about this pure masterpiece.

John Frankenheimer's "The Train" stars Burt Lancaster as Paul Labiche, a French Resistance member. It is the 1511th day of the German occupation, and Paul is attempting to prevent Colonel Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) from transporting French art collections out of France and into Germany.Throughout the 1960s, Franhenheimer made a series of films which flaunted their audacious cutting and kinetic camera work. "The Train" is no different. Virtually every shot is special, the film packed with logistically complex sequences, fine location photography and beautiful, now-extinct steam engines, ink-black monsters which lend the film an air of techno-romance."Beauty belongs to the man who can appreciate it!" Waldheim yells, his words speaking to the misguided exceptionalism of whole nations. Labiche shoots him and walks away. This simple moment of revenge is complicated throughout the picture. No painting is worth a life, Labiche tells us, yet strewn around him are the consequences of his very plan to thwart Waldheim; hundreds dead, all for art which Labiche personally has no interest in. Beauty belongs to the man who appreciates, Labiche perhaps wonders as the film fades to black, so long as he's French?8/10 - One of Frankenheimer's finest. See "Decision Before Dawn" and "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold".