The Great Train Robbery

I was born any a couple of months after the great train robbery, back in 1963. And I have always been fascinated by it. My dream would be to go on the actual place where it occurred, the Bridego Bridge. I possess nearly every document about it, footage archive and fiction material. The most memorable, of course, remains Peter Yates's ROBBERY, back in 1967, and the other movie starring the actor starring Derrick - sorry I don't remember his name. Some viewers said on IMDb that this feature was not flawless, concerning details specified to UK, for instances trains and cars from this very era. Well, I have never lived in UK, so...But concerning this film, the only thing that annoyed me was the BOAC company heist, at the beginning. These guys are supposed to be professional robbers with a criminal record as thick as a phone book, and they pull the heist without any gloves !!!! Because finger prints, see? Rubbish. For the rest, it is a terrific piece of work, and the character description is absolutely outstanding. I loved the very ending when Bruce Reynolds tells the hard boiled inspector from SY, who chased them in such a raging way all over the years, that he did not do this for money but for "camaraderie" as he actually said, using a french word meaning companionship, brotherhood among friends. An outstanding face to face between those two adversaries. An authentic masterpiece. But it could have shown the several escapes from jail of some of the great train robbers.

Since the story based on real events is known, I expect the film to be a little more than a purely chronological sequence of the plot. In addition to Luke Evans, the actors are not very prominent and join the monotone pattern. The film could have been more, but in the end it is a boring TV production in my eyes. And after all two long

This two part drama was a retelling of the The Great Train of 1963. The first part was the Robbers Tale which was a straightforward story of the planning and execution of the robbery.

This was the most fascinating aspect of the drama as over the years, the personalities of some of the robbers (Ronnie Biggs, Buster Edwards) has overshadowed the events of the Train Robbery and the main players involved.

Luke Evans, Martin Compston and Paul Anderson give the best performances.

The second part was the Policeman's Tale and featured Jim Broadbent as DCS Butler, hell bent in getting the gang like the sheriff of an old wild west town which was very much how he was introduced.

This was more procedural and not as interesting or riveting as the first part.

Incidentally both parts had different directors but Butler was just too much of a dullard and Broadbent looks too old to even be playing a cop on the verge of retirement.

Able support by Robert Glenister. It is interesting to see that 'Slipper of the Yard' (played by Nick Moran) who in later years seemed to have been more prominent in the media as the cop hunting the train robbers was a more secondary character in this drama.

Well now Slipper is dead he will not be able to sue for his lack of prominence. In the past when he was alive he was rather quick to shout libel for any slight stain on his character!

I managed to watch this on Amazon prime.

It's nothing to get overly excited about. The over the top cockney accents can get a bit annoying at times. And the acting from some is a bit wooden. But all that being said I did still really enjoy this. You just have to go in to it with the right attitude. Still well worth a watch if you are looking for something easy to follow to kill a few hours. Enjoy.

This almost documentary style film made for interesting viewing, and this may have been Luke Evans' first leading role, and he grabbed the opportunity with lots of panache. As the leader of the band of robbers who pulled off the heist, I had some difficulty in focusing on who he was as Buster Edwards and Ron Biggs were always better known. The film however did show that this was a big gang of thieves, and this probably led to their undoing. The actual heist took up little screen time, the rest dealt with the dynamic between the gang, and the motivation of the ringleaders apart from the usual greed, is clearly shown. I enjoyed it, there was always the feeling that this was a gang who were in over their heads, and there is one telling moment when they realize it after counting the money.

The early sixties setting with its talk of the war years and exploits of that time is well realized, making this a series to be enjoyed. Martin Compston had a small but significant role as well.

The second instalment is just as fascinating when you are given the opportunity to see the trail of clues the gang left behind them in the old farmhouse, even after 'apparently' cleaning up! A restrained but driven Jim Broadbent gives the sense of urgency the Police felt about solving this crime, and it says much about the actors concerned, that you almost wanted the robbers to get away with it! Perhaps that explains the success of later series like Money Heist which focus on that.