The Cassandra Crossing

Independently made outside of the big Hollywood studios at the height of the 1970s disaster film cycle, this is actually one of the better efforts in the genre concerning a trainful of passengers dealing with both an outbreak of pneumonic plague thanks to a terrorist stowaway and a political conspiracy to cover it up by sending them all to their deaths via a condemned railway bridge.

Whilst not quite hitting the heights of The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, both made a few years beforehand, a mixture of a good cast, good directing by George P Cosmatos (who made First Blood in the 1980s and Tombstone in the 1990s) and some really good editing helps to cover up most of the minor flaws in this film. Like the train that the film centres around, the film keeps its momentum going despite being fairly long.

Talky at times, yet it has enough well directed action in it to keep it interesting. Some decent performances by Ava Gardner, Richard Harris and Martin Sheen help too (although some of Burt Lancaster's lines seem a little convoluted) However these are all minor quibbles. Ok, the film may be showing its age now but it's still a good watch that people of most ages will enjoy.