Avalanche Express

Upon watching Avalanche Express, Robert Shaw's final film I was rather disappointed. Shaw, one of my favourite actors, lines are dubbed and this detracts from the viewing pleasure. This is not only because the voice sounds nothing like Robert Shaw, but because the dubbing has been done so poorly.

When I read a previous review which stated that it was not worth watching, I tend to agree. The film is suppose to be an action adventure but is nothing of the sort. To start off with, it is a very long time before we actually get to any exciting parts, the most memorable being the train escape during the avalanche. The special effects are also worth a mention. The avalanche doesn't look hokey, I was actually more impressed than I thought I would have been. The main problem with the film is its slow pacing. I found myself drifting off to sleep several times during its screening. Any film that does that to you really tells you something, doesn't it!

I think had both the star Robert Shaw and director Mark Robson not died during the production, it would have been something special. It had the potential, but sadly it is not an excellent film. I only recommend purchasing this film if you are a fan of Robert Shaw (Even though his lines are dubbed, its nice to see him in any film) or if you can purchase it for less than $5.00 - $10.00 US (I purchased it on DVD, which was a surprise as I have only ever seen it for sale on VHS).

Final rating: 5/10 - I don't think it deserves to be called a bomb, but it certainly isn't a masterpiece. If your looking for an excellent action/adventure film, check out Black Sunday starring this films star, Robert Shaw. I regard it as an underrated classic.

During the making of Avalanche Express, Robert Shaw died and I'm sure the producers must have been in a quandary. They decided to salvage as much footage as they could with longshots and rears. Shaw's voice was weak so whole scenes were dubbed.

The result was an 85 minute action adventure story with a lot of holes in the story about a Russian general, Shaw, defecting to the west. Lee Marvin, Linda Evans, Michael Connors and would you believe Joe Namath are the CIA agents bringing him out and for some reason decide train travel is best. This is an obvious homage to Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, but I'm sure Hitchcock would not have been flattered with the comparison had the master of suspense saw this film before he died.

The rest of the players try their best and Maximilian Schell as the KGB guy assigned to kill Shaw before he makes it out of Europe is quite good. As an actor however Joe Namath is a great quarterback, in his few scenes he's painful to watch dealing with the dialog, limited though it was in his case.

I do feel sorry for Robert Shaw because of the many fine performances he did give us on the big and small screen. My first memory of him was in a short lived British syndicated television series The Buccaneers and that had far more going for it than Avalanche Express.

Had Shaw lived and the movie going public got to see what would have been the story they wanted to bring us, would we have liked it? Hard to speculate, but I'd stay clear of this unless you want to see a nice big avalanche nearly engulf a train with nearly all the cast on it.

The ONLY reason "Avalanche Express" will ever be mentioned again is that actor Robert Shaw died while the film was in production. Sadly even his voice is heard only briefly in two scenes. The rest of his lines had to be dubbed.

It is one of those goofy espionage thrillers with a large cast of mostly has beens that were popular in the 70's. Where else can you see a movie with Joe Namath, Linda Evans, AND Lee Marvin? Yes, bad movie lovers, this is the film for you.

For fans of Shaw , probably any other film he made is better then this one. Pay tribute to this fine actor by watching "The Sting," "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3," "Jaws," or "Black Sunday." Let this drivel disappear into oblivion as it was meant to.

A would-be epic Cold War actioner, AVALANCHE EXPRESS is one of those all-star-cast '70s disaster-style movies. This one's adapted from a Colin Forbes novel, featuring Robert Shaw (who died during production) as a defecting Russian agent who must flee on a train across Europe while being pursued by his murderous countrymen. Luckily, he has tough guy Lee Marvin on hand to protect him.

The film's directed by Mark Robson (who also died during production), who once upon a time made some chilly Boris Karloff flicks like BEDLAM and ISLE OF THE DEAD. Sadly, it's a bit of an inglorious exit for both star and director, as this is a strictly ordinary movie that feels strained throughout. The narrative veers between muddled and boring, which is never a good sign.

The calibre of the writing just isn't up to much, and while the various action bits are okay, they aren't anywhere near of a quality to make this a decent production. Instead we get a cast going through autopilot for the most part; Marvin is hardly stretched and Shaw is too ill to do much. Maximilian Schell is totally non-threatening as the villain (and what's up with that ridiculous disguise?), and the less said about Linda Evans's wooden turn the better. The most fun comes from seeing cult actors like David Hess and Claudio Cassinelli in minor parts.

You would think a film with this cast, a promising plot and lots of action could be anything but one big yawn yet 'Avalanche Express' achieves it.

The death of director Mark Robson during production is often cited as a prime reason why this film misfired but - while obviously a tragic and difficult event for the film to deal with - Robson had directed several clunky & heavy-handed films in the previous decade and his best work was well behind him.

There's not much positive that can be said for the film, suffice to say that technically its use of real locations helps it a bit and the avalanche sequence is reasonably well done.

But apart from that the most notable feat of 'Avalanche Express' is that it somehow connives a dreary performance of the usually always compelling Lee Marvin.