VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Robert J. Maxwell This isn't the one with Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, and the inimitable Leslie-Anne Down. It's the story of a gang of thieves who robbed a train in the early 1960s and made of with about 2.3 million pounds, worth about 11 million in today's money. It was made for television by the Brits, who do this sort of thing very well, while nobody in the US bothers to try -- with the possible exception of HBO.I won't go into detail about the plot. When it comes to stopping a train, moving it again, uncoupling cars, and changing green lights to amber, the dozen or so gang members are a lot of nudniks. During a practice run, and having read a child's book on driving a train, they manage to start the locomotive and actually get it moving forward. But they don't know how to slow it down, let alone stop it, and they bail out while the mammoth diesel sails off into the night.It gets more serious and far more tense later, when they execute the elaborate plan. Luke Evans, sporting a tremendous development of latissimus dorsi, struts around giving orders. It's a risky business, of course, but one million pounds is a lot of money. A few bungles here and there, and the Bobbies are closing in on them. They separate and begin to hightail it out of London. End of Part One. Part Two gives us the police side of things.If you like the musical score, buy two Miles Davis albums -- "Kind of Blue" and "Porgy and Bess."

blanche-2 "The Great Train Robbery" is a miniseries in two parts. The first part focuses on mid-range crooks, led by Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) who decide to rob a train carrying a fortune in money. The second is about the police investigation and search for them.I really enjoyed the first part, but the second part for me was a let- down. The criminals were more interesting than the police, led by DI Frank Williams (Robert Glenister) for some reason. And I sort of wanted them to get away with it. I'm sure that sounds terrible.The acting is very good, and since it's based on a true story, it was interesting to see how the police picked up the trail of the crooks and to read at the end what happened to them.I do recommend it, but you'll find the second part less compelling.

Alan Baker The dramatic elements of this production were not to bad but it was spoilt by the lack of attention to period detail right from the start. We are shown a robbery in November 1962 at a fairly unconvincing London Airport (complete with CGI piston engined airliner taking off, most airlines were using jets by that time). Unfortunately, both getaway cars have "A" suffix registration plates, not introduced until January 1963. Scenes in London show Ford Zephyrs being used as police cars whereas the Met used Wolseley 6/110s almost exclusively. A senior Detecive Chief Superintendent would not be driven around in an old Mk.1 Jaguar, more likely to have had a Humber Super Snipe. When Reynolds is arrested at the end of part 2, he is taken away in a white Jaguar Mk.2 which has a Webasto sun roof, hardly likely on a police car! The railway aspects of the production are particularly poor. For a start, the locomotive used is a Class 37, not a class 40 (painting the correct number on the side does not make it a convincing stand in). The production was clearly using a preserved railway which obviously could not provide the correct four track main line (let alone electrification masts and catenary which had been installed but were not yet in use in 1963). The train is shown on what appears to be a two track railway, but is running on the wrong track, in Britain trains run on the left hand line. The ground level signal shown is a shunting signal and would not be found out on the main line. The station sign at "Glasgow" should read Glasgow Central as there were at the time three other Glasgow Termini (St. Enoch, Buchanan Street and Queen Street).No doubt others might be able to add to the list.

Prismark10 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 as the exasperated and 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 more of a relegated character in this drama. Well now Slipper is dead he will not be able to sue for his lack of prominence as in the past when he was alive he was rather quick to shout libel for any slight shown on his character!