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

GazerRise Fantastic!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

HotToastyRag I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I got a little confused during the plot of Union Pacific. It's about the rise of the railroad West to California, and the different characters either try to stop it or try to keep it going. Some people have ulterior motives, and through the twists and turns, I got a bit lost. Plus, I kept getting the two leading men, Joel McCrea and Robert Preston, confused. Barbara Stanwyck plays a plucky Irish lass in this movie, who steals the hearts of both Joel and Robert, and it's a pretty intense love triangle that will keep you guessing until the very end. There's love, action, secret plots, murder, and a historical background to carry you through this forgotten old movie. And, if afterwards, you forget about it, well, no one will really blame you.

bsmith5552 "Union Pacific" is an epic western released in 1939 the year many consider the movies greatest year. Consequently it never received the acclaim it deserved. It has all of the major elements one would expect to find in a major western: dashing clean-cut hero, feisty heroine, nasty villain, spectacular scenery, amazing special effects and of course those great old trains, miniature or not.As one of his final acts, President Abraham Lincoln authorizes the building of the Union Pacific railroad westward to meet at the California border with the Central Pacific Railroad. With Lincoln's death, ambitious banker Asa Barrows (Henry Kolker) sees an opportunity to cash in by delaying the completion of the Union Pacific. Barrows enlists the aid of gambler Sid Campeau (Brian Donlevy) and his partner Dick Allen (Robert Preston) to delay the construction.Under the leadership of Generals Dodge (Francis McDonald) and Casement (Stanley Ridges), the project begins. They hire ex-soldier Jeff Butler (Joel McCrea) as chief trouble shooter for the project. Two grizzled old trouble shooters, Fiesta (Akim Tamiroff) and Leach (Lynne Overman) are hired to assist him. When Jeff confronts Campeau, he discovers his old pal Dick Allen. Turns out Allen also knows the Irish Mollie Monahan (Barbara Stanwyck) with whom Jeff has also taken an interest.Campeau and Allen do their best to thwart the construction including a daring hold up of the construction crew's payroll. In order to protect Jeff from Allen and his two cronies (Harry Woods, Fuzzy Knight), Mollie agrees to marry Allen much to the dismay of Jeff. Jeff has suspected Allen of the payroll robbery but cannot prove it. When Allen is charged with the robbery, Jeff allows him to escape for old time's sake. But when the Indians attack the train carrying the principals they......................................................DeMille as usual employed a large cast of recognizable actors, many familiar to lovers of westerns. J.M. Kerrigan plays Mollie's father Monahan the engineer, Anthony Quinn a gambler, William Haade a foreman, Lane Chandler a conductor, Robert Barrat as Duke Ring a loud mouthed trouble maker, as well as, Regis Toomey, Lon Chaney Jr. (blink or you'll miss him), Richard Denning, Byron Foulger, Charlie Stevens, Chief Thunder Cloud and Iron Eyes Cody among others.DeMille stages not one but two realistic and spectacular train wrecks. And there is a well staged Indian attack resulting in one of them. ANd don't forget the scene at the end where the golden spike is driven to mark the meeting of the two railroads.An excellent western in every respect.

doug-balch This is a big budget extravaganza about the building of the transcontinental railroad. It was probably a superior product for its time, but is badly dated in a number of ways by today's standards. Here are some positives: I like the basic theme. It 's a mostly unapologetic, upbeat Manifest Destiny movie. The energy and optimism are refreshing after growing up on revisionist Westerns. Good Civil War themes Classic "frenemy" relationship between Joel McCrea and Robert Preston is well executed. Joel McCrea is a very likable leading man. However, Robert Preston steals the movie, nailing the "lovable bounder" role. Solid supporting performances by Brian Donlevy and a very young Anthony Quinn. Now for the negatives: The plot and characterizations are overly melodramatic. Both protagonists and antagonists are strictly one-dimensional "Dudley Dooright" and "Snidely Whiplash" caricatures. The romantic subplot is excruciatingly corny and takes up too much of the movie. Barbara Stanwyk has just about the worst fake Irish accent I've ever heard. For all the money they spent, there are way to many cheap looking scenes of actors in the studio with an obvious outdoor film running behind them. Although typical for its time, the way Indian and Mexican characters are used as comic relief is offensive. It's way too long. There are numerous plot holes not worth detailing.

ccthemovieman-1 It's not a bad film but it's too long. Man, at 136 minutes this is tough to sit through although if you can make it to the halfway point, you are way ahead of the game because the slowest part is the first half.Barbara Stanwyck was still young, fresh-looking and spunky and I enjoyed her. Robert Preston seemed to be the most natural of the male leads. Joel McCrea seemed a little stiff in his delivery. Brian Donlevy was good as always.What detracted me from enjoying this movie was the dated special-effects. Every time somebody was on something that was moving - a horse, wagon carts, trains, etc - it really looked hokey. Obviously, they were in a studio with a screen behind them. It was so phony it made the film lose credibility. The classic movies that hold up better, generally speaking, are the ones that don't rely too much on realism, action-wise.