The First Great Train Robbery (1979)

Performances extraordinary all across the board with this one; the acting was quintessentially classical, Sean Connery is a class act whatever he performs in and Donald Sutherland showed some serious weight dipping somewhat out of his comfort zone to star in a very British movie (the guys American).Whether the film is true to life I couldn't say as I wasn't around in the Victorian era, most likely it was beefed up for the big screen, but this matters not as the film was one of the last examples of old-school British film-making.Pierce and Agar are depicted as being cool before cool was even a thing, I couldn't see the real life duo being as cool and crowd pleasing as they are shown in the film, perfect example of how things are altered for the screen; but yes, they are villains no doubt, but not the detestable kind of villain you wish to see get their comeuppance, they're uniquely both the antagonist and the protagonist, you get behind them and root for them even though what they are doing is very illegal..., they are quite clearly anti-hero's. The period setting was astonishing, so many integrate details and due to its era of release, not a shot of CGI in sight, truly masterful. It achieves so much, and appeals to a wide range of genres, from drama to action, from biographical to romance, some may even consider the genre comedy to be prevalent, I certainly found some of the scenes to be rather amusing, such as the whole fiasco with the coffin being taken onto the train. An oldie but a goody, any budding film fan should add this well put together film to their collection.

Continuing my plan watch every Sean Connery movie in order, I come to 1979 yeah he released three movies, The first of which was The First Great Train Robbery. Connery's last good movie of the 1970's, and last great performance of the decade. Possibly a bit ahead of its time The First Great Train Robbery is an enjoyable period heist movie. Since robbers did not crack safes in those days. Because dynamite and combination locks had not yet been invented, they could only open the saw with keys. The stealing of the four keys to the two safes without their owners knowing it was great fun.Connery was a suave, gentleman criminal, Donald Sutherland was his partner whilst Lesley Ann Down was his mistress and the annoying Wayne Sleep had a small role.The First Great Yrain Robbery has witty innuendo and some great lines. I always enjoyed this oneJudge: "Why did you commit this scandalous and dastardly crime?" Man In Dock: "I wanted the money."It is superbly delivered.It's also worth noting that Connery clearly did all of his own stunts. Including running across the top of a moving train, going at 55 mph, ducking the bridges as he went. The First Great Train Robbery grossed a disappointing $13 million at the domestic box office. His next two movies this in 1979 didn't fare any better.

In 1854 England, Edward Pierce (Sean Connery) plans a daring theft of a shipment of gold being transported monthly from London to Folkestone to finance the Crimean War. He recruits pickpocket Robert Agar (Donald Sutherland), his actress girlfriend Miriam (Lesley-Anne Down), and various other co-conspirators. The safe has 4 keys which must be copied. Then the gold must be stolen from a moving train.Michael Crichton wrote the novel based loosely on the real events. He then wrote the screenplay and directed the movie. This is strictly his show, and the weakest part is his direction. The jokes are on the page but rarely translated to laughs on the screen. The pacing is ponderous. Crichton just doesn't have the directing gene. The action is right there with Sean Connery crawling on top of the train. There are some great stunts going on. Clean Willy climbing the walls is very compelling. But the tension isn't in any of these scenes. Crichton doesn't know how to film action. This movie desperately needs a better director.

A caper should be interesting, fast moving and a joy to watch. This 1978 film is anything but. In fact, we would have been better off had author Michael Crichton told about the Crimean War.The film takes place in 1855 England with the latter and France at war with Russia over the Crimea. British soldiers were paid in gold that was shipped by train.When a robber is thrown off the train and killed, this gives Sean Connery, aided by Donald Sutherland, the idea of pulling off such a heist.The film is mostly devoted to making the necessary sets of keys so they can rob the train while it's in motion.It is interesting how they pursue this, but you want the film to move ahead until you get to the actual robbery scene.It finally happens, but by then one is annoyed with the whole film.