The First Great Train Robbery

I was very surprised when I saw that "The First Great Train Robbery" was written and directed by Michael Crichton. This is because Crichton is normally associated with sci-fi and fantasy, such as "The Andromeda Strain", "Coma", "Westworld" and "Jurassic Park". But apparently in 1975, Crichton wrote a book about this actual robbery in 1855...though the film ended up being highly fictionalized, particularly the ending.

The first two-thirds of the film is very slow and meticulous. I didn't mind this too much, though I am sure this will lose a lot of viewers. My suggestion is bear with it. First, it is well crafted. Second, the look of VIctorian London is wonderful....so take time to enjoy what you are seeing. The final portion is much more exciting and concerns the robbery itself. It's amazing to see Sean Connery doing his own stunts* and the footage is incredible...and it must have been incredible to see on the big screen.

Overall, a slow and deliberate movie that is great provided you don't mind the pace or that too much of the story is fictionalized in order to make the story more cinematic. The ending, in particular, is pure fiction and the real case, though interesting, is much different.

I do have two further comments. First, the sound on this DVD was abominable...with music that is so much louder than the dialog. You really do need the closed captions in order to watch the film....it's that bad. Second, one mistake I noticed is that the 'gold' in the film was ridiculously lightweight...and seeing Connery and Sutherland EASILY tossing the bags of gold off the train (as if they were filled with newspapers or scones) was silly.

*I know that they touted how Sean Connery did the insane stunt of climbing across the moving train and he clearly did. But in a few scenes, despite the hype, I do strongly suspect that a stuntman was occasionally used...such as when Connery's character is hanging off the sides of the moving train.