The Cassandra Crossing (1977)

The 1970s had a genre that many loved but which I personally hated....disaster films. They all had a couple things in common-- all-star casts filled with MANY 'special guests' and some sort of impending doom for them all. There was "Airport" with a plane about to crash due to a maniac with a bomb, "The Poseidon Adventure" with a ship that capsizes, "The Towering Inferno" with it's huge skyscraper ablaze, "Earthquake" with an entire region under attack from the forces of nature...not to mention the killer bee pics!! In general, the films were very superficial and if you've seen one you've pretty much seen 'em all.In the case of "The Cassandra Crossing" you have the basics of this formula. It all begins with three criminals or terrorists breaking into a government facility. The place holds deadly illnesses and in the process of stopping them, some of the crap in the containers is released and one of the criminals escapes. It's a bummer (good 70s lingo, huh?) and the infected criminal boards a train...and everyone aboard is now potentially going to die. But the Colonel in charge of this* (Burt Lancaster) decides that no one will leave the train...and the disease will run its course. And if that means holding everyone captive in the train, so be it. What does the bridge at Cassandra have to do with all this?Through the course of this very long movie, you see lots of soap opera-like stories unfold...the old Jew who is afraid because the train is being re-routed to Poland (where he was in a death camp during the war), the rich lady and her boy-toy, the special agent posing as a priest, the doctor and his ex-wife and more. None of the stories are all that engaging and are the usual genre stories. Overall, I found it to be a rather long-winded and occasionally dopey time passer--just the sort of thing that folks seemed to love back in the day but which is no longer popular (thank goodness). It's not a terrible movie (until the ending!)...but it is silly when you think about it. *Apart from this Colonel, you see no one in any authority handling this situation. This is odd...and odder still that only a Colonel is in charge of such an important case. And how can a mere Colonel get the governments in Switzerland, Germany and Poland to take directions from him? Also, when the passengers begin fighting against the trained soldiers, how is it that the passengers are so proficient and the soldiers are complete idiots?? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Suspenseful and intriguing disaster movie with all-star-cast and well-directed . Exciting and interesting catastrophe movie with some clichés and stereotypes , containing enjoyable performances from Burt Lancaster , Richard Harris and Sofia Loren . This disaster movie blends action , intrigue , breathtaking spectacle , suspense and emotional byplay . ¨Cassandra crossing¨ was a successful film that grossed at box office . The film's storyline features the potential outbreak of a deadly pneumonic plague virus on a train from an germ infected passenger and the legend of the Cassandra Crossing add to the suspense . As passengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease . As a motley group of passengers are quarantined on a train destined to prevent the spread of the disease at the cost of their lives . One of them is Doctor Chamberlain (Richard Harris , though Peter O'Toole turned down the role) along with his ex-wife (Sofia Loren) . Furthermore , a suspicious priest called Haley (James Coburn turned down the role of Haley which was in the end played by 'O J Simpson') , a millionaire spouse (Ava Gardner) , her lover (Martin Sheen) , among others . The Fear Is Spreading but nobody will let them off the train . As when the train carrying plague approaches a weakened bridge the events go wrong .This is and amusing and entertaining disaster movie though has some sloppy executions . This formula intrigue movie belongs to catastrophe genre of the 70s , being the undisputed king , ¨The towering inferno¨ along with ¨Earthquake¨ , ¨Two minutes warning¨ , ¨Rollercoaster¨ , among others . Filmed at the height of the disaster genre from the 7os , this entry in the spectacular series profits of a decent acting by protagonists and overwhelming action scenes . It blends thrills , chills , shootouts , noisy action-packed , government intrigue, international smuggling , and many other things . It is a crossover in which "Outbreak" meets ¨Under siege 2¨ , "The Runaway Train" and ¨Death Train¨ , taking parts here and there . The "Cassandra Crossing" of the film's title refers to a bridge in the movie called the Kaslindrliv Bridge, being shot in France and Italy . The architectural structure used to play this was the Viaduct of Garabit which is located in the South of France , it was built between 1881 & 1884, and was manufactured by Gustave Alexandre Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame . This moving picture which is short in realism instead we have far-fetched but moving blow up , crossfire , fighting , it should please most adventure-action buffs . The main and support cast is frankly good , it is plenty with known faces such as Ingrid Thulin , Ava Gardner , Lee Strasberg , Lionel Stander , Lou Castel , Ann Turkel, John Phillip Law , Ray Lovelock , Alida Valli and several others . Producer Carlo Ponti saw the movie as a showcase for his wife Sophia Loren . The movie also co-starred the then husband and wife actors Richard Harris and Ann Turkel, with Turkel being pregnant during principal photography . Luminous and shimmer cinematography by Ennio Guarneri . Fitted to action and stirring misical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith . This improbable motion picture was professionally directed by George Pan Cosmatos . He's a good director who got a great success with ¨Tombstone¨ and flops as ¨Shadow conspiracy¨, ¨Leviathan¨, ¨Escape to Athena¨ , ¨Massacre in Rome¨ and this ¨Cassandra crossing¨ was a hit at European box office . This typical epic disaster grade story will appeal to Lancaster/Harris/Loren fans . Although the movie has some aspects a little tough to take , this catastrophe film still has its moments .This large-scale and lavishly produced pic attempts a spectacular atmosphere with acceptable results.

Cassandra Crossing, The (1977) *** (out of 4) Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, O.J. Simpson, Lee Strasberg, Ava Gardner and Burt Lancaster pick up paychecks in this 70's disaster film that seems to have been forgotten over the years. Three terrorists try to blow up a hospital in Geneva but things go even worse when one comes into contact with a Bubonic Plague and escapes capture. The sick man then jumps on board a train and soon a government man (Lancaster) isn't going to let anyone off. A doctor (Harris) and his ex-wife (Loren) try to help those on board but things take an even bigger turn when they learn they have to cross a bridge that won't hold the weight of the train. It seems this film hasn't the reputation of some of the more popular disaster films, which is a little surprising because this here is a pretty good movie in its own right. Perhaps the government propaganda gets in the way for some but this was only one minor issue in the film. For the most part it featured some pretty fun performances, a tense story and an ending that I didn't see coming. Simpson as a preacher was pretty funny before the twist as was Sheen playing the boy-toy to Gardner. Gardner seems to be having the time of her life playing the diva and barking orders to the younger man. Both Loren and Harris turn in fine performances and I thought their melodrama actually worked pretty well. Lancaster plays a guy you really love to hate and he too delivers a fine performance. The film certainly deserves its R-rating as we also get some pretty graphic violence along the way so be sure you're not watching the edited down PG version. In the end I'm really not sure why this film seems to have been forgotten but fans of the genre will certainly want to check it out. While it's certainly more political than some of the films that came before it, there's still plenty here to enjoy.

The description "camp" means more than simply a bad or bungled film. Something must draw the eye; some pop-culture elements for cross-reference help; dumb novelty helps. Cassandra Crossing has it all!To draw the eye: The Euro train, landscape, fashions, and cosmopolitan cast of hundreds, but especially Sophia Loren and Richard Harris in their mature prime. No chemistry, but what bods! Pop-culture elements, specifically NFL running backs as big-cast stars. Jim Brown's sentimental-sacrificial-negro-in-action highlight came in The Dirty Dozen, where he ran in his familiar style, but this time stuffing handgrenades into chimneys to deal death to cold, strutting, Jesse Owens-resenting Nazi supermen--only to be cut down by a mercilessly efficient German machine gun. Sob!--no fair! 10 years later in Cassandra Crossing, former running back OJ picks up cute little girl and runs her into safe part of the train, only to be mowed down by whoever those bad guys were.Dumb novelty: In an earlier comment TrevorAclea praised Cassandra Crossing for "what is easily the best transfer of a sick Basset hound from a moving train to a helicopter before the train hits a tunnel action set-piece in screen history." Given the size of CC's cast, who could predict that an uncredited beagle would receive so much screen time? Or that the spectre of human suffering would be displaced to a dog whose water dish is infected by a sweaty Swedish pervert-terrorist? Further displacing, after the helicopter transfer the mournful but lovable pooch appears repeatedly on General Lancaster's video screen, where Dr. Ingrid Thulin pronounces the canine to be "slipping into a coma." Then, just after the train's threatened hippie chick is announced to be hungry, we see the beagle in miraculous recovery, drinking fresh water in quarantine from sweaty Swedish pervert-terrorists. Where else to witness such unexpected, extended attention to a hound's endurance and triumph but in the Cassandra Crossing?!