Cassandra Crossing

This is not one of those soulless, uninteresting all-star packages of the '70s, like "The Towering Inferno" or one of those pseudo-artsy "entertainments" like "The French Connection"; it's a vigorously directed, tightly edited thriller that grabs you by the throat right from the opening sequence and keeps its grip throughout. Sure, it contains most of the expected disaster-movie cliches (peculiar love-hate relationships between characters played by big stars of the era, useless supporting roles - especially Ava Gardner's -, etc...), but the directing is so efficient, and Burt Lancaster is so convincingly hateful, that you find yourself completely absorbed. In my opinion, a first-rate movie, with a spectacular finish. (***)

Independently made outside of the big Hollywood studios at the height of the 1970s disaster film cycle, this is actually one of the better efforts in the genre concerning a trainful of passengers dealing with both an outbreak of pneumonic plague thanks to a terrorist stowaway and a political conspiracy to cover it up by sending them all to their deaths via a condemned railway bridge.

Whilst not quite hitting the heights of The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, both made a few years beforehand, a mixture of a good cast, good directing by George P Cosmatos (who made First Blood in the 1980s and Tombstone in the 1990s) and some really good editing helps to cover up most of the minor flaws in this film. Like the train that the film centres around, the film keeps its momentum going despite being fairly long.

Talky at times, yet it has enough well directed action in it to keep it interesting. Some decent performances by Ava Gardner, Richard Harris and Martin Sheen help too (although some of Burt Lancaster's lines seem a little convoluted) However these are all minor quibbles. Ok, the film may be showing its age now but it's still a good watch that people of most ages will enjoy.

The '70s cycle of disaster films provided widely acclaimed titles such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, and universally panned titles like When Time Ran Out and Hurricane. It's tricky to decide which side to place The Cassandra Crossing. This 1976 entry in the genre divides critics and the public like no other disaster movie - on the one hand you have Maltin giving it his nod of approval, while on the other you have Halliwell dismissing it as a totally undistinguished potboiler. Personally, I feel The Cassandra Crossing has been rather hard done by. It's a good, well-made, sporadically exciting film with a first-rate cast.

A terrorist on the run boards a continental train, unaware that when he recently infiltrated a top secret laboratory he was infected with a highly contagious killer plague. Pretty soon, people aboard the train are coming down with the horrendous virus. In the corridors of power, Colonel Stephen Mackenzie (Burt Lancaster) plots to divert the train to an abandoned concentration camp where the passengers can be quarantined, ignoring the fact that the train will have to traverse the famously fragile Cassandra Crossing (a dangerously rickety, long unused bridge) to get there. Meanwhile, the passengers - including Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain (Richard Harris) - realize that they're not as safe as the authorities would have them believe, and they try to regain control of the express.

Admittedly, The Cassandra Crossing is derivative and clichéd - as, indeed, so many disaster films are. But it doesn't waste its marvelous all-star cast. Each character is well-written and well-performed by a stellar cast. George Pan Cosmatos (later to helm Cobra and Rambo: First Blood, Part II) directs with an assured touch and generates some very effective tension, particularly in the film's memorable climax. At 123 minutes, the film is just long enough - there's time to get involved in the story and the characters, but not quite enough time to get bored. The Cassandra Crossing is an above-par disaster flick, which has been unfairly under-rated for far too long.

I haven't seen this one in years and it's surprising how much actually stays in your memory. Luckily for me, a TV station that specialises in old movies and television dramas decided to show this flick. It was the star-studded cast that drew me to it, along with the storyline - I do like a good disaster film.

The first thing I have to do is praise the opening sequence as being one of the best I've ever seen. It's a flight across Geneva to the World Health Organisation. It's such a steady and beautiful shot that it really sticks in my mind.

We then find out why we're at the WHO. A terrorist group are about to break in and try to blow up the building. However, their attempt is foiled. Though, in the process, a couple of them are doused in a liquid that contains a fatally infectious disease. One of the two is shot on site, though the other makes it out of the building to escape into a nearby rail station and an awaiting train. Once onboard the audience is privileged to watch the spread of the infection as the escapee stumbles through the carriages.

What adds to the power of the film is the interconnecting stories of the travellers on the train. Some are hiding secrets, some are hiding from life, some are trying to make the best of the life they have, and some are falling in love. The diversity of characters and their realism only adds strength to the story and film. Though I will say that the strongest and best character, for me, was Herman Kaplan who is brilliantly portrayed by Lee Strasberg.

On the whole, the directing and story is pretty average, though there are a few good scenes, such as the helicopter pickup - this gets you on the edge of your seat. Then when we're coming to the climax the continual flashes to the dilapidated bridge do add an air of expectation and tension.

If there is one drawback it's the length of the film. It could have done with losing a few minutes, just to tighten up the pace a little. But that's it. The ending is superb and actually sent a shiver down my spine and left a sarcastic smile on my face.

This is a pretty good film to watch on a Sunday Afternoon when you're podged with Sunday Dinner. I would recommend this one to all the thriller and conspiracy lovers out there in the world, well worth a view or two.

Disaster epics like "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno" from 20th Century Fox led almost everyone else to try their hand at it, since, for a time, disaster at the movies meant box office gold. This entry was Italy's answer to the genre and, though it is far-fetched and occasionally ridiculous, it is a thrilling and tense movie. Loren toplines as a divorcee and author who happens to be boarded on the same train as her ex-husband (twice!) Harris is the husband, a noted neurosurgeon. The two lob sarcastic and occasionally poignant barbs at each other and attempt a sort of 1970's, updated Nick & Nora Charles thing. (Ironically, their names are Jonathan and Jennifer, the monikers of the later Nick & Nora redux "Hart to Hart" and Stander, Max the conductor in this film, played their cohort---ALSO named Max!) Other passengers board in the typical genre fashion, each with their tics and traits and duties to the story. Gardner looks stunning. She ludicrously, but welcomely, appears in a new drop-dead Franka ensemble for almost every scene. Nothing about her character is realistic, but she adds great style and class to the film. Sheen plays her latest boy-toy and they share a rather kinky, Oedipal relationship. Simpson (in another subpar performance) is a mysterious priest. Strasberg is excruciating as a sort of male Estelle Getty from "The Golden Girls", omnipresently appearing everywhere trying to sell watches to the passengers. He gets better toward the end, but his appearance is mostly embarrassing. Turkel (doubtlessly on board due to her offscreen relationship with Harris) is a hippie singer who warbles a truly awful song which stops everything in its tracks (pun intended.) Also on board: an infected terrorist who is spreading a horrific plague everywhere he goes (which is hilariously punctuated by ominous sounds and scenes of him coughing in the train's food, etc...) Lancaster as a stern army colonel and Thulin (who exists as a verbal punching bag for Lancaster) as a doctor argue over the best course of action. She fights for the rights and lives of the passengers. He sees them as casualties of an unfortunate situation. Eventually, it is decided to direct the train to an old concentration camp in Poland, but first it must traverse the title bridge---The Cassandra Crossing! The film contains some really impressive aerial camera work (the film should be viewed in widescreen) and doesn't take long to begin it's feeling of dread and suspense. Though a lot of the drama is diffused by clumsy editing, inane dialogue, agonizing bit players, lax rear projection (but not often) and lazy acting, there is enough good in the film to overcome this. Immeasurably helpful is Goldsmith's Italian-flavored, chug-chug score which wrings every ounce of excitement it can out of the visuals. It's also fun to see Loren in a film of this type, pitching in and holding her own with Harris in the action scenes. There is a level of emotion in several instances that helps this rise above some other screen flops like "When Time Ran Out" and "Avalanche". A lot happens in this film. The plague would be enough, but then there's gunplay and the weakened bridge! The situation is the film is serious and threatening and isn't relieved until almost the fade out, so a few missteps along the way can be forgiven.