User reviews

Two commuter trains are set on a collision course by a computer programmer who has a grudge against the railroad company. It is then a race against time to save the hundreds of passengers on the two trains (including the vice presidents wife) from impending disaster.

Reasons to love this movie

• Its full of stars - the guy from star trek, the guy from ironside, the guy from men in black its great to see all these 'stars' and to see how they were then.

• Its got tension, excitement and the implausible ending (which any classic disaster movie needs) -

Finally it has Lloyd Bridges reprising his role from Airplane - "Now, this is no time for coffee" What more do you need?

Fun stuff for it's time. An ABC Sunday Night Movie, made by Shatner largely after he completed principal photography on STAR TREK-THE MOTION PICTURE, in 1978. I happened to be on an Amtrak train in 1979,going to a "Star Trek" Convention. The conductor explained to me that that very route-Rhode Island/Connecticut to NYC, was actually the very route and train(Amtrak) on which much of the film was shot, including several stunt sequences involving a small bridge. Many "out the window" reaction shots and some of the interaction was filmed with Connecticut whizzing by the windows. The crew apparently rented out three of the cars to do some quick filming on, however the conductor had access to all of them, so he got to meet the cast used in the sequences.

Of course it was an "all star film" like many of the time. And miniatures were used in the film as well.

An interesting anecdote.

Effective TV-movie about two trains on collision course due to sabotage. Not as silly as many other disaster movies, but equally star-cluttered. William Shatner is funny as a con man, who might not be such a bad person after all. Exciting with good special effects.

Ah, you have to love the 70s. Time of the made for TV movies.

This train tale of terror includes a lot of separate scenes cut together to appear like some semblance of an actual movie. Scenes range from railroad track construction, several train car interiors, and my favorite: the people gathering to protest. Why or what they are protesting is not really explained but you have to love the shoddy signs and workmanship.

The acting does its best to keep the movie bustling along the tracks. Lloyd Bridges is angry, annoyed and tries to take control pretty much in every scene he is in. I knew I recognized E.G. Marshall from somewhere but didn't recognize him without cockroaches crawling all over as from his performance in the classic Creepshow. E.G. and Lloyd butting heads trying to find a solution provide some highlights.

Bill Shatner saves this from being a true disaster. I can never get enough seeing Bill smoke cigarettes, do his mack daddy Kirk routine, and eluding the authorities all at once. He pretty much stands out whenever on screen and the epic finale makes this worth the ride.

Take the ticket for this 70s version of Speed on trains..except it's better.

Two trains are about to collide and Lloyd Bridges is in the control room trying to sort things out.

I am a 1970s disaster movie lover, and I finally saw this long lost film on YouTube in 2012 or 2013. I think it has been taken down now. I remember being thrilled by the screening.

The thing that lingers in the mind is the amusing Airplane-type character played by Lloyd Bridges. Shatner is funny as well.

Being a TV movie, don't expect any lavish special effects, just enjoy the ride and the funny quirks of the people in the film.

I was 6 years old when I first saw this TV movie. Though I was very young, I always liked trains. Being a railroad worker always have it advantages. But when tragedy strikes, most people have a tough time getting over it. So when a disgruntled employee (Paul L. Smith) decided to take action against the company, he would set up the two trains to meet head on. Since everything was running by computer, it took ingenuity of the employees to help stop the disaster from happening. Also the passenger (William Shatner) who happened to be a con man. His heroic efforts did make some effort to the situation. Even though this was a TV, it was loaded with big name stars. This movie has lead to another train disaster movie in 1985 called "Runaway Train". But it's a whole different scenario. 2 out of 5 stars.

In 1978, when this movie was shot, I lived in East Lyme, CT and I was an extra for this movie (the big crowd at the railroad crossing, waiting for the train to come - I was paid $35, a fortune to a 14 year old in 1978). I got to meet Shatner at the New London Outlet Mall (yeah, I'm sure he remembers THAT), and my friend's father was the town cop who hauled the bad guy away in the police cruiser at the end of the movie.

The funny thing is that the continuity person let a detail slip through. The action was supposed to be taking place in California, yet the police cars all have Connecticut plates. Guess they were outsourcing.

I watched the movie when it came out (and again when it ran in reruns about a year later) and from what I remember it was typical shlocky '70s action-adventure stuff -- actors trying to either start a career or resurrect one, a suspenseful moment every fifteen minutes or so to allow the director to fade to black and go to commercial, horrid disco-inflected "Charlie's Angels"-ish soundtrack, etc. It was pretty bad, but I got to see myself on TV for a fraction of a second.

And now, when my kids are a little older, I can tell them their dad was in a TV movie with William Shatner, and they can say "A what with who?" And then they will go back to using nanotechnology to build robots that will automatically clean their rooms, do their homework, and stop their terminally uncool dad from ever mentioning the 70s again.

A vengeful computer engineer takes over a train with the Vice President's wife on it and sets it on a collision course with another train. Naturally, it is up to a ensemble of name actors to avoid this. We have Lloyd Bridges as a uptight secret service man in a control center (amazingly, his role in Airplane the following year is almost identical, so it makes for some fun viewing); E. G. Marshall as an "egghead" in charge of the computers; Raymond Burr as a railroad exec; Lane Smith as a crooked railroad exec; William Shatner as a conman on the train; Yvette Mimieux as his love interest; Robert Fuller as a train gigolo; Pat Hingle as a engineer; Harry Caesar as a conductor; and Paul Smith as the kitten-loving villain! While this isn't as good as its big screen counterparts, it is an entertaining 90 minutes. Director Richard Sarafian gets his cast to go out on a limb (Shatner and Smith actually have shots on top of the fast moving train) and there are several hairraising stunts. One I've linked below got me to scream out "holy moly!" because we are talking Joe Don Baker Framed (1975) level of close shaves. My other favorite bit is how the news says for people to stay away from the train's path and they crowd the tracks to gawk and wave protest signs. That hits home in today's climate.

This was a fun film to see on TV reruns in the early 1980s, and to see it now would be fun simply to remind me of when I was a kid.

GREAT train scenes. The computer in the railroad offices that runs the whole railroad is as big as the room, yet today, a laptop could probably run the railroad.

It is quite filled with technical errors and the like, plus cheesy acting + dialog, but these things can be ignored. It is refreshing to see William Shatner as "NOT" Capt. Kirk or the Priceline guy.

See it.....if you can locate a copy. It's terrible, but you just might enjoy it. I did. I have given it a 3 out of 10, because it's a bad movie. But that does NOT mean that I don't recommend it....I do recommend it.

But to give it more than a "3", would be kidding you.

Find it, rent it/buy it/borrow it, and enjoy.

Taut, tense telemovie concerning a grieving widow and father (Paul Smith) whose family was killed in a railways accident the cause of which he attributes to gross negligence, but which he alleges has been covered up. To make his point, he hijacks a commuter train and sets it on a collision course with a train carrying the mayor's wife. Told from myriad vantage points, various characters come into focus as heroes and villains emerge amid the ensuing chaos.

Key perspectives include the distrusting relationship between special agent Bridges and wily schedule controller Marshall, whilst on board the potential train-wreck, affable con artist Shatner woos the affections of scorned Mimieux, her philandering husband (Fuller) in turn, up to no good on the opposing train. Raymond Burr appears later in the film as the newly appointed railways director, with a sympathetic ear for Smith's allegations, causing feathers to fly in his corrupt coop.

Solid cast, full of familiar faces (Peter MacLean, Harry Caesar, Lane Smith, Rockne Tarkington, Michael Pataki just to name a few) complements the taut action sequences with remarkable depth and quality for a telemovie. Peripheral characters are given multiple opportunities to establish persona's, and the skills of director Sarafian (an experienced feature film director) is evident in adding this dimension.

Elements of distinction include the intelligent dialogue peppered with wry humour, impressive action sequences and stunt-work, and most importantly, an engaging narrative that builds to a satisfying climax. Even the music, and its pulsating high octane rhythm is fitting. But overall it's Sarafian's fluent narrative, and attention to character depth that elevate this movie beyond formula disaster fodder. Riveting stuff and very entertaining.

Being an avid railroad buff, I have to say that I really like this movie. There's a fantastic mix of light comedy, romantic drama, and high paced action here. Although the track splicing idea is totally rediculous in the time allowed, (and the foreman was 100% correct, the train was moving way too fast for the weld to hold), it was executed with taste and efficiency.

On the technical end, no train travelling 120 mph could survive a sudden 30 yard track switch. Here in NYC, the Metro North Commuter Railroad uses 100 yard switches that trains can only handle at about 50 mph. That train should have derailed instantly on such a sudden turn. Also, when uncoupling the cars from the locomotive, the sudden decompression of the air lines should have clamped the brakes on in the passenger coaches by locking all the wheels, and not as a slow gradual coasting as depicted.

This is one movie that really should be released on VHS/DVD. There's enough action and suspense here for any action lover. And its a family friendly movie as well.

Since this rare Shatner gem hadn't been available for sometime, I was thrilled to see it available for streaming on Netflix.

This is a fun "Made for TV" movie with some great stunts and decent special effects.

There seemed to be a rash of "celebrity" filled disaster flicks in the late 70s and early 80s. However this movie definitely gives some of the cheesier films a run for their money.

And any movie that allows more Shatner Toupological studies are just fine with me. And my goodness there were some great feats achieved by Bill's toupee during this opus!

And surely that wasn't fishing line wrapping all around that engine during the final crash.

Yes. Yes it was. And don't call me Shirley.

When speaking of disaster movies from the 70s decade, you automatically think of the gloriously flamboyant and heavily budgeted productions of Irwin Allen, with dazzling all-star casts and spectacular stunt work as most recognizable trademarks. As much as I worship those, I must admit that many made-for-TV disaster movies from that same era are just as awesome, or even more awesome, despite their much smaller budgets.

"Disaster on the Coastliner" is such a fantastic TV-film, but for some inexplicable and totally undeserved reason, it's unknown and entirely forgotten. I can't possibly fathom why that is, because it has a terrific yet textbook disaster movie plot, a downright fantastic cast and a more than competent director (Richard C. Sarafian of "Vanishing Point"). Paul Smith is terrific as an embittered and vengeful employee of the Railway company who sabotages the computerized controls and arranges for two passenger trains to head towards each other at high speed, and on the same tracks. In the control room, as well as on both trains and even at Amtrak headquarters, people slowly realize that a catastrophic head-on collision becomes unavoidable.

The film has everything! There's suspense, fast-paced action, a garden variety of interesting characters, odd humor and an edge-of-your-seat climax. Despite this being a TV-production, there are some impressive action sequences and the finale with the miniature derailment is excellent. The sequences in the control room, and especially the interactions between Lloyd Bridges and E.G. Marshall, are quite funny, since Bridges can complain non-stop about computers and modern technology, and you can't help thinking of him in "Airplane!" the entire time. Furthermore, the stellar cast includes Yvette Mimieux, Robert Fuller, Pat Hingle, Lane Smith and the great William Shatner who depicts a petty criminal who nevertheless becomes the hero who saves the day.

Disaster on the Coastliner is quite exiting and on a quality level far above most TV-movies. The various physical stunts and special effects are the most exiting parts of this movie and probably the best I've ever seen in a TV-movie of this kind. Lloyd Bridges doesn't really do anything though.

Yet another TV-movie with a cast of familiar faces in a disastrous situation, Disaster On the Coastliner benefits not only from the main familiar cast, but a tight, action-packed plot, great music and great direction from Richard C. Sarafian, a vet of hundreds of hours of episodic television like Gunsmoke and I Spy.

A nutcase (Paul L. Smith, Bluto in Robin Williams' Popeye movie) has not only sabotaged the main computer system for Trans Allied railroad, he's also chloroformed the engineer and taken his place. The intent is to cause to trains, one northbound and one southbound, to crash. He blames the train company for a derailment that destroyed his house and killed his family and wants revenge.

On one of these trains, the northbound one, is a VIP, the President's wife. This brings in a bellicose Secret Service agent, played by Lloyd Bridges, who immediately clashes with the overseer of the computer room, E. G. Marshall. Once it's discovered there's a situation, and a limited amount of time to fix it, the two men REALLY get at each others' throats, particularly Bridges, who shows that he has a gun simply to be intimidating, bitches about coffee and pizza being delivered to the computer room...in short, he's a high-strung jackass who clearly can't handle the stress. This is a nice trial run for the character Bridges would play a year later in the classic Airplane...except that he doesn't say, "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit (insert vice here)!"

Now we come to some of the folks on the train. The always-great William Shatner is one of the passengers, a con artist being chased by the cops (who are also on the train in the persons of Michael Pataki and Peter Jason, the 'Black Russian' guy from 48 Hrs.). He hooks up (or tries to hook up) with the lovely Yvette Mimieux, whose cad of a boyfriend (Emergency hunk Robert Fuller) is on the other train, hitting on anything in a skirt. Old reliable Pat Hingle is the conductor.

Finally, there's the main office for the train company, of which Raymond Burr is the company president. He doesn't have a lot to do here, but sit in a comfy chair and bark at people, which pretty much describes any of his roles between the end of Ironside and the revival of Perry Mason. Lane Smith, the wily prosecutor in My Cousin Vinny and Perry White in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, plays a railroad bigwig who may have caused the accident that took out Paul Smith's family.

Marshall comes up with a resourceful plan to get the train to switch tracks and avoid disaster, but the train still isn't out of the woods yet. That's where Bill Shatner goes to work to save the day...with the aid of the cops pursuing him, the Shat manages to uncouple the front engine from the rest of the train, climb on top of the train, pull Paul Smith out safely, and then the two jump off the train into a river. The passengers in the main body of the train are safe, Shatner saves Smith from drowning and gets him to a nearby beach and then mugs for a photographer as the cops are taking him away. Bridges and Marshall walk out together on friendly terms. Mimieux sees Fuller with a woman he picked up on the train and finally realizes what a jerk he is and inquires about the guy who saved everyone on the train and where they took him.

DOTC has everything you can want in a disaster movie...a main cast of likable, familiar stars, a supporting cast of lesser, though still familiar actors, action, romance, unintentional humor (Bridges, Burr and Shatner would reunite a few years later for Airplane II: The Sequel)...I highly recommend this movie!

Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr, William Shatner, Pat Hingle, E.G. Marshall, Robert Fuller and Paul L. Smith headline this made-for-TV disaster pic that contains some good suspense even though the actual story is perhaps the dumbest of the genre. A man (Smith) wants to prove that a derailment six years earlier was covered up so he hijacks a train, rigs all the computer controls and is prepared to crash the train into another one that just happens to be carrying the Vice President's wife. I love disaster films and anyone who does will probably want to check this thing out, although there's no question that the actual story might be the dumbest I've ever seen. Now, I'll admit that I'm no railroad expert but the bad guy had way too easy of a time getting his plan carried out and it seems like the good guys had way too much trouble trying to stop the train. We get a few reasons as to why they can't stop the train but these here are just incredibly silly and quite often had me laughing pretty hard. One of the stories is that the bad guy is communicating with the other engineer and tells him that terrorists are trying to take the train over. There are other small gimmicks that the bad guy uses to try and pull this off and they're just as silly. Half-way through the picture we get the reason that the bad guy is doing all this stuff and the film tries to make us feel sorry for him but this little plot point didn't work even though Smith gives the best performance in the film. Shatner gets to play a bad guy with a heart of gold. Burr pretty much just stays seated but he's at least entertaining. Bridges is a real hoot playing a government guy at the trains main station and seeing him pull out of gun twice in the film will give you a guaranteed laugh. As silly as many of the plot points are, there's no question that the movie also has some very tense moments. The entire lead-up to the disaster are very well directed and I thought the final fifteen-minutes were extremely tense. It's a real shame that a lot of these tense moments as well as some nice action pieces are letdown due to a rather weak screenplay. With that said, if you enjoy these made-for-TV movies then you might as well check this one out.

I saw this movie when I was a kid and loved it. This movie has a good collection of stars and was well made for being a TV movie,It is way too bad that this movie is not available anywhere or on anything, but I do have it taped without commercials.

Yeah, the air hoses had busted open when the engine uncoupled from the cars, so the train line brakes were useless. However, the hijacker didn't know enough to reach for the smaller engine brake handle above the train line brake? That would have stopped the engine; as well as the emergency fuel kill switch on the rear panel which is clearly visible numerous times. Should have done his homework before hijacking a train. Also, If you take a train traveling at 120 mile per hour, and send it sailing over a newly-welded, 30 yard crossover, guess what...it's not going to make it! Regardless, the movie was enjoyable -good story, good acting, and good use of trains! Oh, and who are they fooling with "Trans Allied?" It was Amtrak!

DISASTER ON THE COASTLINER begins with a computer (aka: a series of refrigerator-sized cabinets) being rewired by a mysterious mastermind.

Oh no!

The maniac has reprogrammed the very computer that runs the speeding train of the title! Being that this is a made-for-TV disaster film from the 1970's, it takes quite a while to get to the actual disaster part.

Meanwhile, an overly zealous secret service man (Lloyd Bridges) spars with a railroad executive (E. G. Marshall) in the command center.

Simultaneously, a naive woman (Yvette Mimieux) hops aboard the loco locomotive, along with a deceptive "master of disguise" (William Shatner). Shatner's shady character is trying to avoid the authorities.

Endless exposition ensues.

Shatner fans will be in heaven! He gets tons of screen time, and is in full James T. Kirk mode culminating in a nerve-jangling, heroic moment of derring-do!

For his part, Bridges' character reacts to the building tension in a way that guaranteed his future role in AIRPLANE!. He yells! He snarls! He explodes! He barks orders at subordinates! He's a wondrous spectacle to behold! Compared to Bridges, Shatner seems sedate, almost cadaver-like!

Co-stars a very Perry Mason / Ironside Raymond Burr as the railroad chairman...