Disaster on the Coastliner

Fun stuff for it's time. An ABC Sunday Night Movie, made by Shatner largely after he completed principal photography on STAR TREK-THE MOTION PICTURE, in 1978. I happened to be on an Amtrak train in 1979,going to a "Star Trek" Convention. The conductor explained to me that that very route-Rhode Island/Connecticut to NYC, was actually the very route and train(Amtrak) on which much of the film was shot, including several stunt sequences involving a small bridge. Many "out the window" reaction shots and some of the interaction was filmed with Connecticut whizzing by the windows. The crew apparently rented out three of the cars to do some quick filming on, however the conductor had access to all of them, so he got to meet the cast used in the sequences.

Of course it was an "all star film" like many of the time. And miniatures were used in the film as well.

An interesting anecdote.

Since this rare Shatner gem hadn't been available for sometime, I was thrilled to see it available for streaming on Netflix.

This is a fun "Made for TV" movie with some great stunts and decent special effects.

There seemed to be a rash of "celebrity" filled disaster flicks in the late 70s and early 80s. However this movie definitely gives some of the cheesier films a run for their money.

And any movie that allows more Shatner Toupological studies are just fine with me. And my goodness there were some great feats achieved by Bill's toupee during this opus!

And surely that wasn't fishing line wrapping all around that engine during the final crash.

Yes. Yes it was. And don't call me Shirley.

Being an avid railroad buff, I have to say that I really like this movie. There's a fantastic mix of light comedy, romantic drama, and high paced action here. Although the track splicing idea is totally rediculous in the time allowed, (and the foreman was 100% correct, the train was moving way too fast for the weld to hold), it was executed with taste and efficiency.

On the technical end, no train travelling 120 mph could survive a sudden 30 yard track switch. Here in NYC, the Metro North Commuter Railroad uses 100 yard switches that trains can only handle at about 50 mph. That train should have derailed instantly on such a sudden turn. Also, when uncoupling the cars from the locomotive, the sudden decompression of the air lines should have clamped the brakes on in the passenger coaches by locking all the wheels, and not as a slow gradual coasting as depicted.

This is one movie that really should be released on VHS/DVD. There's enough action and suspense here for any action lover. And its a family friendly movie as well.

Two commuter trains are set on a collision course by a computer programmer who has a grudge against the railroad company. It is then a race against time to save the hundreds of passengers on the two trains (including the vice presidents wife) from impending disaster.

Reasons to love this movie

• Its full of stars - the guy from star trek, the guy from ironside, the guy from men in black its great to see all these 'stars' and to see how they were then.

• Its got tension, excitement and the implausible ending (which any classic disaster movie needs) -

Finally it has Lloyd Bridges reprising his role from Airplane - "Now, this is no time for coffee" What more do you need?

Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr, William Shatner, Pat Hingle, E.G. Marshall, Robert Fuller and Paul L. Smith headline this made-for-TV disaster pic that contains some good suspense even though the actual story is perhaps the dumbest of the genre. A man (Smith) wants to prove that a derailment six years earlier was covered up so he hijacks a train, rigs all the computer controls and is prepared to crash the train into another one that just happens to be carrying the Vice President's wife. I love disaster films and anyone who does will probably want to check this thing out, although there's no question that the actual story might be the dumbest I've ever seen. Now, I'll admit that I'm no railroad expert but the bad guy had way too easy of a time getting his plan carried out and it seems like the good guys had way too much trouble trying to stop the train. We get a few reasons as to why they can't stop the train but these here are just incredibly silly and quite often had me laughing pretty hard. One of the stories is that the bad guy is communicating with the other engineer and tells him that terrorists are trying to take the train over. There are other small gimmicks that the bad guy uses to try and pull this off and they're just as silly. Half-way through the picture we get the reason that the bad guy is doing all this stuff and the film tries to make us feel sorry for him but this little plot point didn't work even though Smith gives the best performance in the film. Shatner gets to play a bad guy with a heart of gold. Burr pretty much just stays seated but he's at least entertaining. Bridges is a real hoot playing a government guy at the trains main station and seeing him pull out of gun twice in the film will give you a guaranteed laugh. As silly as many of the plot points are, there's no question that the movie also has some very tense moments. The entire lead-up to the disaster are very well directed and I thought the final fifteen-minutes were extremely tense. It's a real shame that a lot of these tense moments as well as some nice action pieces are letdown due to a rather weak screenplay. With that said, if you enjoy these made-for-TV movies then you might as well check this one out.