Le 15:17 pour Paris

I have to confess I didn't research this film to any great extent before I sat down to watch it. However, the two things I did know - mainly courtesy of all marketing - was that it was based on the true story of three men who foil a terrorist attack on a train and that it was directed by Clint Eastwood. Both seemed like equally good reasons to watch the film. And - technically - both of those statements are correct. However, I guess because the promotional material seemed to focus so much on the 'terrorist attack' that I expected something more like 'Under Siege 2' or 'The Commuter' than what I got.

The film starts off with the three Americans as young boys and shows us how they meet. First of all I wasn't that impressed with the acting ability of the boys and was quite pleased when this segment ended. Then we get our first glimpse of what's to come, i.e. something bad happening on a busy commuter train in Europe. And then we're back to the boys again. Only now they're young men and we see what they're doing once they've left education. Only we mainly just focus on one of the three. The other two seem to get relegated into secondary characters. Cue another flash-forward to the terrifying events on the train and we get back to the men travelling round Europe. Then the bit on the train happens. Then the film ends.

Now, you may think I'm being quite cynical and scathing towards the film, but I did actually enjoy it. I just thought it was going to be something it wasn't. Once the child-actors are out of the way the adults take over and they're all decent enough heroes who you find yourself able to root for. Clint Eastwood's direction is nothing special, but it's functional approach works well with the subject matter, i.e. overly-stylish camerawork and effects would seem well over the top and out of place in this film.

It's not a bad film, but I think any audience needs to know that what they're sitting down for is some sort of drama about regular guys (who then happen to get caught up in a terrorist attack). If you go in expecting 'Die Hard on a train' then you're going to leave thoroughly disappointed. It's a slow, character-driven piece that is deliberately underwhelming in order to show how real life terrorist attacks differ to the Hollywood representation. If you're in the mood for something slow, serious and with meaning then you should enjoy this.

While it doesn't come close to Clint Eastwood's best films, I still definitely enjoyed this story of life and bravery., but some will find the film too slow and just waiting for the thwarted terrorist attack. We all know the story, 3 Americans stop an attempted terrorist attack aboard a train to Paris, but the film is almost barely about that, its more of story about their lives and what led them to their destiny. I only really sort of didn't like the acting, which I will discuss later, but for the most part I had no issues with this film, which is not over-patriotic flag waving propaganda like many anti-military Liberals will say it is. Its a story about the lives of men as well as when bravery is forced upon average citizens.

First off, about the acting, the Americans didn't do the best job, but that is understandable because these are not actors, but the real men who were there. So its very clear that they are untrained actors, even with the help of veteran actor Clint Eastwood. The story was well put together, chronicling the lives of the heroes in question. Though some of the touching an emotional conversations are bit cheesy, which is surprising coming from Clint Eastwood but it goes by quickly and ws no real issue. But over all I thoroughly enjoyed this film, even with its slight flaws that honestly only bothered me slightly.

I would recommend it.

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library.

This movie is criminally underrated. Seems that many viewers just wanted to see action on the train. While that is the climax it takes all of 15 minutes to show that and it is gripping. That alone would not have made a worthwhile movie.

But Eastwood made a movie about the three men and their lives leading up to that point. They were friends in grade school, they were good kids but got into typical schoolboy mischief. As young adults they each went their own ways but stayed in touch. One of them received training in the Air Force that came in very handy. In 2015 they agreed to meet in Europe to do some sightseeing, gradually working their way towards France. They took the 15:17 to Paris.

The three men Alek, Anthony, and Spencer from Sacramento, play themselves. It didn't start out that way, many actors auditioned for the parts, but in the end Eastwood felt it would be most authentic to use them. And I think it worked out great. Sure they are not professional actors but they were there, they know exactly how everything went down, they are of course authentic, and each does a fine job.

When the terrorist, armed with several hundred rounds of ammunition, began his attack the men didn't hesitate. They did what should be done more often in situations like this, charge the shooter and subdue him. For their bravery and effectiveness they received the highest honors from France.

Good movie, and the 12-minute "making of" on the DVD is interesting.

I have the greatest admiration for Clint Eastwood, both as an actor and director. In the directorial role he never fails to astound me with the breadth of topics and genres he is prepared to operate within. Even his failures such as Absolute Power and Jersey Boys still have degrees of interest. But with The 15:17 to Paris, he's clearly hit the wall.

This is essentially a 90 minute re - enactment of events leading up to, during and after, 3 American tourists (thankfully) thwarted a terrorist attack on a Paris bound train from Amsterdam in 2015. In bringing first time screenwriter Dorothy Blyskal's script, to the screen, Eastwood has decided to have the 3 real - life gentleman play themselves in the film adaption. It's a brave move with arguably only qualified success.

For all those history police, that continually charge historical cinematic dramas such as this, with not being factual enough, this time they should have little to complain about. I'm sure with the real life heroes aboard, the project rarely strays from the known facts of the incident, where certainly people's lives were on the line.

The trouble here is there is clearly not enough content to make a stand alone feature. We are thus delivered quite boring, pedestrian stories of the men as children, teenagers and later as adults with military backgrounds. This is not to forget all the "great" travel log footage of the guys wandering through various European cities and shock, horror, going to discoes and meeting the odd girl, prior to the fateful journey on said train. I found it tedious and dull and the movie itself, despite its relatively short length, extremely padded out.

The 15:17 to Paris is a well - intentioned tribute to 3 real life heroes, but it would have been better dealt with in something like a 60 Minutes segment, rather than an expanded feature film. Hard to believe that this is a movie from the same director who gave us (in the same biographical vein) the terrific, American Sniper.

I really don't understand the dislike for this movie. I enjoyed the back story, superimposed over the beginning of the conflict on the train. Eastwood shows us how these boys lifestyles contributed to putting them in the perfect frame of mind and experiences to thwart this particular attempt at terror. I've seen people commenting on their acting abilities but honestly, I thought they did better than some people who actually call themselves actors. Eastwood and these three men did a great job with an amazing story and I was very glad I took the chance on it