The 15:17 to Paris

If this movie was an experiment, it mainly failed. The movie drags on and on with pointless scenes and zero dramatic build-up. The real life characters-love their bravery and courage to be sure-are not exactly gripping actors. Clint should have left the acting to professional actors. This could have been so much better if the story had focused on the terrorist's path, maybe in parallel with the heroes. Their life story just wasn't remarkable or interesting. The last 5% of the movie was good, but this was a long road to a small house.

Why Eastwood would direct a screenplay from a Production Assistant/Secretary is baffling. He should've at least looked it over and made changes, or even team her up with a seasoned screenwriter. But what he gave us here, is a flop, and an embarrassment to his filmmaking career.

Even at a mere 94 mins long, the slow pacing and overstuffed filler made this feel like a dragged out 3 hour film. Many critics didn't like the timeline jumps, and/or the unrelated backstory of them as youngsters, but I didn't mind any of that at all. What failed those elements is the lack of cohesiveness of the subplots, and the horrible dialogue and constant cheesy useless scenes (e.g. Selfie stick pics). The only decent part was the 15 min action scene, but the rest was a flaccid dragged out bore. Even though the three actual non-actor heroes were cast, they didn't do too bad and were somewhat convincing, but feel they would've been much better with proper writing and directing.

It's still a worth watch, even to see the heroes reenacting their real life drama, but it's a one time watch when you have nothing else better to watch. It's a generous 6/10 from me.

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.

Eastwood is never trivial or corny. This could have been an american flag waving hero film (some people see it that way anyway) but in fact it's about a normal guy that has been treated not so well in life by the authorities but at the end has his day and becomes what he always wanted to be: someone that saves lives. It's about life. Not flags. For example, it's interesting when the guys are corrected by the german tourist operator saying that Hitler was under attack by the Russians and NOT the Americans when he killed himself. You can't always be the hero when evil is defeated. I don't see flag waving here.

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