Death Train

Suspenseful and intriguing movie with all-star-cast and professionally directed . Stirring and interesting thriller with some clichés and stereotypes , containing enjoyable performances from Pierce Brosnan , Patrick Stewart , Alexandra Paul , Christopher Lee and Ted Levine . PA German Scientist has aided a renegade Soviet general (Christopher Lee) constructing a nuclear weapon which is now in a locomotive (it is actually a Slovenian type 642) that was hijacked in Bremen . As a nuclear bomb is stolen and transported from Germany , throughout Switzerland , Slovenia , Yugoslavia to Iraq . The hijacked train is commandeered by a hired hand , a ruthless mercenary (Ted Levine) and his band of hoodlums . The U.N. troubleshooter delegated (Patrick Stewart) attempts to stop the plot aided by a commando team led by Michael ¨Mike¨ Graham (Pierce Brosnan) and Sabrina Carver (Alexandra Paul) . They will race against time to stop an unmanned , out of control freight train carrying terrorists , atomic bomb and explosives . The mission is impossible , the consequences deadly.

This is and amusing and entertaining action movie though has some sloppy executions . This formula intrigue movie belongs to action genre in style of the 70s , being followed in the subsequent decades . The film profits of an acceptable acting by protagonists and overwhelming action scenes . It blends thrills , chills , shootouts , noisy action-packed , international intrigue , and many other things . It is a crossover in which "The Runaway Train" meets ¨Under siege 2¨ , taking parts here and there . This moving picture which is short in realism instead we have far-fetched but moving blow up , crossfire , fighting , it should please most adventure-action buffs . The main and support cast are frankly good , as Pierce Brosnan and Alexandra Paul , both of whom playing two operatives acting for the Secret United Nations Anti-Crime Organization (UNACO) . Secondary cast is plenty with known faces such as Ted Levine , Clarke Peters and Christopher Lee as an ex general who attempts to reborn the Russian Empire .

Based on an Alistair MacLean's novel , a best-selling author , whose stories have been much better rendered in other occasions . Scottish Alistair employed the pseudonym Ian Stuart several times in order to prove that his books were best-sellers due to their content and not solely because his name appeared on the cover . This is one of the several adaptations based on his novels and most of them set in WW2 , such as the successful ¨Where the eagles dare¨ and ¨Guns of Navarone¨ . Furthermore, ¨Ice Station Cebra¨ that is the first of two movies based on an Alistair MacLean novel set in rugged icy and snowy terrain , the second would be ¨Bear Island¨ . ¨Ice Station Zebra¨ is one of two filmed Alistair MacLean adaptations directed by John Sturges , the other was ¨The Satan Bug¨ made and released about three years earlier . Other novels adapted on cinematic spectacle are ¨Nevada Express¨, ¨Force 10 from Navarone¨ , ¨The Golden Rendezvous¨ and ¨River of Death¨ . This ¨Detonator¨ (1993) was followed by a sequel ¨Detonator 2 : Night Watch¨ (1995) by David Jackson , also based on a story by Alistair MacLean in which Pierce Brosnan and Alexandra Paul return as intrepid operatives , they are teamed by their boss -William Devane- when it is discovered that ¨Rembrandt's Night Watch¨ has been replaced by a forgery ; then our valiant duo to Hong Kong , there they meet a shady computer expert/art collector and a suspicious satellite about to be launched by North Korea .

Luminous and atmospheric cinematography by director of photography Timothy Eaton , though a perfect remastering is necessary ; being filmed on location in Slovenia and Zagreb , Croatia . Fitted to action but inappropriate musical score by Trevor Jones , composed by means of synthesizer . This improbable motion picture was decently produced by Peter Snell , being professionally directed by David Jackson , but with no originality . He's a good TV director who subsequently made another similar film titled ¨Atomic train¨ (1999) with Rob Lowe and Kristin Davis . Although the movie has some aspects a little tough to take , this catastrophe film still has its moments . This large-scale and well produced TV movie attempts a spectacular atmosphere with passable results.

Now on DVD as Detonator, this was a USA Network Original Movie as Alistair MacLean's Death Train. There is also a sequel Detonator II, or Night Watch. Oddly, even though this was first shown on the USA Network, it is available Widescreen and has a small bit of language.

The cast shines here with Ted Lavine (Captain Stottlemeyer on Monk) as the mercenary who high-jacks a train with a nuclear device on it. Ted Lavine is great in these small crazy roles. The Living Legend, Christopher Lee, (Saruman in the Lord of the Rings movies) in one of his non-horror roles, is the Russian General who hired Levine. Any movie with Christopher Lee is worth watching, and this one shows off his ability to speak Russian. Also on board are Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard on Star Trek TNG), Alexandra Paul (Baywatch), and Pierce Brosnan (007) as the Hero.

The story is one where Cold Warriors freak out over the lack of a cold war and do horrible thing to start it back up again. Tom Clancy has covered this territory, the Bush Administration has been all about re-starting tension from day one, so nothing new, but it is entertaining.

I wasn't expecting much from this film but it surprised me. Yes the budget was small, but the acting surprised me, as did the story. The characters had enough development to keep me engaged, Patrick Stewart added his refined seniority, Pierce Brosnan acted the foolhardy gung-ho very well (a preview of his bond days to come). Not brilliant, but deserves more stars than it has. I suspect the low rating has more to do with the cover art and age than the actual content.

In short: if you like a predictable action film pitting good against evil (USA vs Russians hehe) this one is worth checking out. The characters are more than two-dimensional, breaking out of the stereotypes one would expect of a direct-to-VHS feature. Give it a look!

The premise is so weird which the writer David Jackson thought was dealing with a moronic audience, if someone has a bomb on Germany to send it straight to Iraq, quite sure the easy way is take it by airplane, instead he enforced a lame screenplay with lot of mismatches and full of holes concerning the accuracy send it by a slowly older train, worst lead by a American mercenary sponsored by a Russian General aiming for respawn a newest URSS already split, Brosnan is called from far off Daytona on Florida takes two schedule flight toward Germany team up with gorgeous Alexandra Paul a sort expert in guns, five language and so on, under the order of the big boss Patrick Stewart from U. N.'s security section against terrorism.

A sharp eye can see all juggling of the writer to fooled the less informed in those countless oddities along the journey of train, likewise in sleeping gas thrown on locomotive, all hijackers previously had gas masks, silly attempt, in the 10 miles tunnel on border of Swiss and Italy the wiser Patrick Stewart has a brainy idea to cut off a small section of a rail train in order to stuck the train inside the tunnel, it wouldn't be easy explode it there, nobody could fix it whatsoever, well we have to stand such foolish thing, and about the countdown bomb, if you guessed that Brosnan will cut all wires on last second before the blasting you is a true genius, in other hand even the far-fetched storyline the picture hold the viewer at chair awake.

Thanks for reading.

Resume: First watch: 2023 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 4.

TV thriller made in the early ninties starring heavyweights such as "Pierce Brosnan" desperate for a Bond type actionner (yet can't seem to handle any action sequence), Christopher Lee (in perhaps his most boring role ever) and Patrick Stewart (who appears to be doing this for the money).

Chris Lee is funding the transportation of a nuclear warhead to Iraq so that he can lead the Russians to re-claim the warhead by conquering Iraq (despite the fact that Russia were in league with Iraqis anyway - that's why the US funded Iraq's leadership at the time with chemical weaponary, etc).

The plot is paperthin, I still don't understand why the a-bomb has to be transported via train. I don't understand how doing a "media" job will allow Chris Lee's "Iron" man of Russia to become a leader for Russia.

The train also keeps stopping, the SWAT team are silly and there are too many breaks for obilitary adverts for Coca-Cola or Pepsi, or whatever the hell that Baywatch lady drinks.

Its too long, too boring and annoying.

Overall: 1/10.