The First Great Train Robbery

Robbing a train of a shipment of gold in Victorian England

Written/directed by Michael Crichton and released in 1978/79, The Great Train Robbery was loosely based on the real-life Great Gold Robbery of 1855 that took place in England. Sean Connery plays the mastermind, Lesley-Anne Down his girlfriend and Donald Sutherland a safecracker with whom they team-up.

I generally dont like caper films because the protagonists are criminals, but Crichton wisely makes the characters played by Connery and Sutherland likable rapscallions; meanwhile Down is babelicious, in particular in her jaw-dropping first scene. Crichton intentionally made the movie more farcical compared to his novel and I appreciated the wit and low-key humor. I didnt e...

Seen this once before many years ago but decided to check out the new Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. A solid heist-thriller though what struck me was these thieves were stealing gold meant for British soldiers, so not exactly stealing from some corporation, and our lead played by Sean Connery had no issue murdering a guy. Even so, still found it entertaining and some suspense-filled scenes, among them a great sequence with Connery on top of a moving train. 3.75/5

I think it's Jerry Goldsmith's opening theme that gives a clue that we're in for some fun antics on the railways! That's confirmed when Michael Elphick chucks some would-be robber from the speeding carriage down an embankment where he lands at the feet of "Pierce" (Sean Connery). This bowler hatted gent wouldn't have been out of place in the Reform Club at the start of "Around the World in Eighty Days", so is a natural at another gentleman's club where the manager of a bank is bragging about their impregnable transfer of gold to pay the soldiers of the Crimea. Hardly patriotic, but "Pierce" has his eyes on this bullion and so with the help of girlfriend "Miriam" (Lesley-Anne Down) and cracksman "Agar" (Donald Sutherland) sets about doing th...