Buster

Buster has been knocked by critics over the years for being too sympathetic to the real life criminals it portrays, for the love story between Buster Edwards & June and for treating a serious crime as a caper full of cheeky cockneys, chirpy Phil Collin's songs and a comedic light touch afforded by director David Green. This is a shame because as British gangster films go this is very entertaining and well acted with Collins surprisingly engaging in the lead opposite the ever reliable Julie Waters, and with a fine ensemble cast of Larry Lamb, Anthony Quayle, Ralph Brown, Martin Jarvis, Christopher Ellison and Sheila Hancock.

With the Government at the time reeling from the Profumo scandal in the 1960's the Great Train Robbery couldn't have come at a worse time, causing the general public to get on the side of the train robbers who were seen as working class heroes. This is what David Green set out to show with his film by making the characters and situation appealing and getting the audience on their side. If it was a fictional crime caper like The Italian Job that wouldn't be an issue but as this is based on real life events and a victim got killed during the robbery the filmmakers are on shaky ground resulting in this artistic decision backfiring and being lambasted by critics for it. The showing of the film at a Royal Premiere in 1988 was also cancelled due to accusations of it glorifying crime.

While the critics may have had a point I usually put that to one side and enjoy it for what it is, whether it is factually accurate or not, it's still one of my favourite British movies made in the 1980's. Sadly the original negative has been lost so what we are left with is a low grade copy that has since been colour graded several shades of green throughout for reasons only known to the colourist.

Phil Collins well received pop songs especially written for the soundtrack helped the film's general appeal but it is Anne Dudley's score that really drives the film along, especially during the robbery scene. While Phil is no Bob Hoskins, David Green's original choice for Buster, he more than holds his own and I find it surprising he didn't go on to do more high profile acting roles after this one.

Just tracked Buster on DVD (for £4 - bargain, or so I thought, more of that later) and gave it a watch today, to be delighted all over again from the last time I saw it, which must have been a few years ago!

The film manages to capture the essence of the 60s, and delivers it over to the audience, in a style which I thought was very convincing. Don't listen to your friends when they kick up a fuss about seeing this film because it's got Phil Collins in, ignore it, he can act and does very well in the movie. A mention should also be given to the ever dependable Julie Walters, who yet again gives a solid performance.

While on the subject of Julie Walters, I really like the opening scenes in Acapulco (with nice music from Four Tops behind the flying shots over Mexico) as it shows you in an instant that the character of Julie Walters is never going to fit into her environment, as she can be seen wearing dreary colours, a head scalf, thick coat etc and has nothing to match the elegance of the country and it's people. Although Julie Walters can be seen to fit into her forced situation as the scenes in Mexico progress (shown nicely in her choice of clothing I think) you can see she is never really comfortable with it, and her departure back to England was always going to happen.

The film also seems to be accurate to the story of the 63 Great Train Robbery, except for two point, the driver of the train (Jack Mills?) wasn't shown to be as serious hurt as he was by the gang, and Buster also slaps his wife in the Mexico market scene, something the real life Buster has been quoted as saying he would never do, or never did such a thing.

Still don't let this (or the funny (not haha) ending) overshadow your opinion on the movie, truly is a goodun.

Oh and there is a DVD release doing the rounds at the moment, that really is not worth it, as it presents the film in a badly transferred 14:9 image within a 4:3 frame which just looks dull and awful. Go for the proper DVD release in it's glorious 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

This movie was a big hit at the cinema when it was first released and then again as a video rental....Those were the days! The soundtrack was also a big hit and most of the songs were chart hits on the back of the movie, and not just the Phil Collins songs who was at the height of his popularity as a solo artist at the time. The story and movie itself is far from being as bad as some of the reviews here make out, its an upbeat movie for the most part and still watchable. Phil Colins can act, although he hasn't really had the chance to show that in very many roles since. The fact that you could pick this movie up free on DVD recently with a newspaper and if you missed that offer can pop into any Poundland in the UK and pick it up for a pound (on a double bill with Diamond of Jeru) I'd recommend you looking it up...even only if its to hear that great soundtrack again..5/10

Played light but there's genuine feeling. Strong cast, Phil Collins works well in this role, as does he and Julie Walters as the hub of the movie: honest with the right touch of romance. She is great in this, as she usually is. There's naturalistic period detail: ketchup, grubby kitchens etc. First half is well-paced with real tension to the train robbery, much like a western but with just the right touch of London humour. Second half lags a little with some silly moments (drunken antics) but it's all the so-called dream heading for the inevitable reality check. Surprised it took this long for me to see it but being 13 when it came out it wasn't cool back then especially with it's music being so overplayed. Seeing it now in 2023 it feels familiar yet innocent and stronger as a UK crime movie than I'd expected. Even the music has become pleasing in a nostalgic way, 'Two Hearts' gave me goosebumps (that key change!).

I was 8 when Buster first came out and I think I seen it around about that time. Hilarious how it can be classed as a 15 given some of the stuff nowadays that passes for PG. The movie itself is fun. The characters are believable and as I say in the title there is a real honesty and relatability to the script as it reflects British working class life pretty accurately. It's by no means high brow filmmaking and relys on the 2 main actors ability to connect with the audience by portraying their relationship as very believable. Walters and indeed Collins are adept at portraying June and Buster. Overall a good feel good movie. Should be 6.5. Wish IMDB allowed half marks.