Leofwine_draca

DEATH TRAIN is an Alistair MacLean adaptation in which terrorists grab a train with nuclear weapons on board and proceed to speed it through central Europe. The authorities send in action man Pierce Brosnan to sort them out. Brosnan, on the cusp of huge stardom with his role in GOLDENEYE coming up a couple of years later, is surprisingly subdued here, and the film itself is frankly poor. The action scenes come across as lame, the direction is heavily dated, and the writing is cliched. The only good part is seeing respected actors like Ted Levine, Patrick Stewart and Christopher Lee in support.

An interesting little wartime puff piece designed to show off the talents and quiet heroism of the Auxiliary Fire Service, those volunteer firemen who spent their time (and occasionally gave their lives) fighting incendiaries during the Blitz. Popular wartime star Tommy Trinder is the happy go lucky lead in this one, well supported by the likes of Melvyn Johns, James Mason and a young William (aka Billy) Hartnell. The story plays a bit like an early BACKDRAFT and the big set-pieces still impress even today.

WALKING TALL: THE PAYBACK is a budget sequel to the Rock-starring remake of a 1970s action flick. This one jettisons the budget and the cast in favour of a low budget tale that will disappoint even those of us who enjoy the earlier films of Steven Seagal et al. Kevin Sorbo is a weak choice of lead here, playing it on autopilot for the most part, but the rest of the no-name cast are no better. Worse still, the revenge plot is understated and there's hardly any action in here at all, which will disappoint most viewers.