# Best Train Movie-Runaway Train



## Cheapy 38-2 (Jan 9, 2008)

Havent seen it in ages and probably the last time was 20 years ago with my dad. But i just picked it up at Record Exchange for 9 bucks, and i forgot how good the rolling shots of the Runaway are. If youve never seen it, It Stars 
Jon Voight, mean motorscooter in this, and everyones favorite B movie fighter...Eric Roberts.  If you have scene it..The lead Loco is a GP35? then an F3 and 2 Possible GP7s..correct me if im wrong which im sure i may be..great Train movie though.
 If your really familiar and a GP buff..what were those protruding units on the top/rear of the gp7s?


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

I guess if you like dismals. It really can't compare with Emperor of the North (Marvin, Borgnine and Carradine) or Frankenheimer's The Train (Lancaster). 

-Brian


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## rbednarik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By altterrain on 01/10/2008 9:37 PM
I guess if you like dismals. It really can't compare with Emperor of the North (Marvin, Borgnine and Carradine) or Frankenheimer's The Train (Lancaster). 

-Brian



Ah, ah....that's Lancaster AND Scofield!  IMHO, one of the best, if not the last good B&W action movie made. Runaway train is good, but it doesn't compare with watching classic actors around steam.  Of course, then there is good ol' "Fatso" (with that crazed look again!)  and Lee Marvin being, well himself; witty, sly and tough.  

Then again, I'm biased...now back to your regulary scheduled program.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

The boxes are winterization hatches. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7C6-BUl0g0&feature=related 

A friend of mine that is an engineer says that is hands down the worst railway film ever made, but his points are as far as technical aspects of how locomotives work, nothing about the film itself. The winter shots are good tho. 

His personal favorite, (and one of mine) is famous film The Train, one of the few not to use models for any of the shots: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmsxtErEVrw 

Another amazing WWII era film is Trier's film "Europa" (Zentropa) but is not on DVD in the US (warning, "Red Band" trailer)- 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XL85uhOzm4 

My favorite tho has to be the Serbian film "Zivot Je Cudo" or "Life is Miracle". The narrow gauge Sargan 8 railway is such a part of the film to almost be a character in it, you see its development, opening and downfall during the 1990's conflict and its ties to the life of the main character and his diversion from his home problems with his depressed wife and captured soldier son.


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## Cheapy 38-2 (Jan 9, 2008)

Hey i never said the acting was the best part..or part of the draw..i like the shots of the Diesels rollin, subzero weather...out of control and ugly.. I grew up wathing those Gps rollin back and forth.....Steam is for ironing clothes...and B&W..oooooookay.

thanks Garrett. for the answer.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Cheapy 38-2 on 01/10/2008 10:03 PM
Steam is for ironing clothes...and B&W..oooooookay.

Man, in some places BOTH of those comments would be considered fightin' words /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif But lucky for you Shad runs a 'genteel' board /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif.

Some of the BEST films of all time with the best acting and best directing are only found in black and white (unless Turner has ruinated them). And NOTHING beats steam...if I have to ride a train behind a diseasel, I'm not going to go.


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

A couple of lesser known flicks I caught the past few months -

Boxcar Bertha (on the Fox Movie Channel) - an early Scorsese flick dealing with depression era railroad unions. Stars both John and David Carradine and Barbara Hershey (who is naked quite a bit in it). Good train shots but not a great flick (but see previous note).

The Iron Horse (on TCM recently out on DVD) - a very early (1924) silent movie by director John Ford. It deals with trans-continental railroad. It is corny in spots but great old railroad footage and a beautifully done modern soundtrack held my attention through most of it.

-Brian


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Cheapy 38-2 on 01/10/2008 10:03 PM
. . . I like the shots of the Diesels rollin, subzero weather...out of control and ugly.. I grew up wathing those Gps rollin back and forth.....
I was intrigued by it when I saw it back in the 80s. Those engines sure had bad paint jobs--unlike the real Alaska Railroad. The scenery wasn't right, either. I found myself trying to place it somewhere in Alaska where it would fit. Some of the scenery looked like Turnagin Arm off of Cook Inlet, but of course, it wasn't. I wonder where they really shot those scenes. It definitely wasn't Alaska.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

_The Train _ is a great movie by any standard--great plot that combines action with an ethical dilemna; suspense, brilliant cinematography, great scenes of trans crashing; Burt Lancaster casting a bearing race, evil Nazis--it's a greta film on any level 

_
Emperor of the North _is cool but the Borgnine character is just over the top crazy


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## Chris France (Jan 3, 2008)

I do like the motion shots in Runaway Train, but the railroader in me has a bit of a hard time with the whole premise of the film. The "runaway" part would never have happened to begin with..... 

Not to hijack the thread, but I saw a movie as a kid that I have never been able to remember the title of. It was in a deserty (I know thats not a word) region in either Africa or the Middle East? with some little narrow gauge side tank steamer (looks to be of french or german descent) pulling a train of refugees I believe. At one point a trestle has been wrecked and they manage to limp the little engine across. Anyone know that one?


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

All ya really need to go rent or buy Buster Keatons masterpiece, The General, before you touting off whats the best, this film is by far the best train related movie I've ever seen, followed close behind by John Frankenhiemers "The Train", Cecil B. DeMilles "Union Pacific", and " Emporer of the North"


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Not to hijack the thread, but I saw a movie as a kid that I have never been able to remember the title of. It was in a deserty (I know thats not a word) region in either Africa or the Middle East? with some little narrow gauge side tank steamer (looks to be of french or german descent) pulling a train of refugees I believe. At one point a trestle has been wrecked and they manage to limp the little engine across. Anyone know that one?


The film your thinking about is actually set in India, called "Flame over India" starring Kenneth Moore as a British Officer trying to save a young Indian prince from an uprising. It featured a small tank engine. The trestle scene is the best part of that movie.

Now for another obscure film with train reference, anyone remember the sci fi film "Crack in the World" ? where the passenger train gets thrown from a trestle during an earthquake?


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## rbednarik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By vsmith on 01/11/2008 8:06 AM
All ya really need to go rent or buy Buster Keatons masterpiece, The General, before you touting off whats the best, this film is by far the best train related movie I've ever seen, followed close behind by John Frankenhiemers "The Train", Cecil B. DeMilles "Union Pacific", and " Emporer of the North"



Of Course!

How could I forget the legendary General...a true masterpiece of film pioneering and great locomotives were used in it to boot!  Still have the original older-than-me VHS version (1982 vintage I believe) which I took the liberty of making a dvd out of /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/whistling.gif

However, if your going with classic films that have some sort of train in there for over 20 min....then don't forget The Great Escape (Deutsche Bundesbahn [german] mainline steam here) and Dr Zhivago, with polish and russian steam I believe...K.P.E.V. mostly.


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## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

(Reposted from another topic)

Good recommendations all.

An adjunct to Buster Keaton'_s "The General"_ would be the Disney classic _"The Great Locomotive Chase" _- based on the same subject - starring good ol' Fess Parker (a.k.a. Davy Crockett and Dan'l Boone.)

There's also an interesting little (and by that I mean it's only 90 minutes long) flick on DVD from Netflix. It's not exactly a "train movie" in the conventional sense but, nevertheless, it _is_ about trains. It's called _"The Station Agent_" - it's by a small independant film producer that you never heard of, starring people you never heard of either, but don't let that put you off. It's a very nice movie shot on location on the former New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway in Newfoundland, NJ.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By blackburn49 on 01/11/2008 2:41 AM
Posted By Cheapy 38-2 on 01/10/2008 10:03 PM
. . . I like the shots of the Diesels rollin, subzero weather...out of control and ugly.. I grew up wathing those Gps rollin back and forth.....
I was intrigued by it when I saw it back in the 80s. Those engines sure had bad paint jobs--unlike the real Alaska Railroad. The scenery wasn't right, either. I found myself trying to place it somewhere in Alaska where it would fit. Some of the scenery looked like Turnagin Arm off of Cook Inlet, but of course, it wasn't. I wonder where they really shot those scenes. It definitely wasn't Alaska.

On the other hand, I can't complain too much. Darn few films or television series that use Alaska as the setting are actually shot here. After all, my own model railroad Phase II project revolves around Cicely, Alaska--a mythical town filmed in Roslyn, Washington. I actually had to travel out of state to visit this small community in order to have the information I needed to build a credible model. It always intrigues me to see how closely the film-makers try to duplicate something they should have shot right here in Alaska. Sometimes they come close, but more often they seem to base their scenes on old stereotypes.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Cheapy 38-2 on 01/10/2008 9:06 PM
Havent seen it in ages and probably the last time was 20 years ago with my dad. But i just picked it up at Record Exchange for 9 bucks, and i forgot how good the rolling shots of the Runaway are. If youve never seen it, It Stars 
Jon Voight, mean motorscooter in this, and everyones favorite B movie fighter...Eric Roberts.  If you have scene it..The lead Loco is a GP35? then an F3 and 2 Possible GP7s..correct me if im wrong which im sure i may be..great Train movie though.
 If your really familiar and a GP buff..what were those protruding units on the top/rear of the gp7s?

Your post peaked my curiosity. I ordered a new copy from Amazon dot com to check out those engines and see for myself. I'll see if I can't pull a still shot or two from it. While I was at it, I ordered a copy of "Emperor of the North." --Ron in (where the h*** is) Copper Center.


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## Cheapy 38-2 (Jan 9, 2008)

thanks for the replys guys, Im glad i was able to post a topic worth getting some comments together on.like i said its not the acting in the movie i likes so much as just the trains in it. 

Blackburn, post up some pics when you get a chance,that would be great.


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