The 39 Steps (2008)

Wooden acting, massive plot holes, continuity blunders and more. When we got to the end credits I was astonished to see that this lemon was actually produced by The BBC!!The SE5a aircraft out of time in history was hilarious. That aircraft first flew three years after the year in which the film is set and was a military aircraft that would have been unavailable for private purchase, but the baddie has one casually parked outside his castle. The crack East Coast main line from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh is depicted as it enters Scotland in this film by a single track branch line railway with the train hauled by a light-duty steam engine that would be typically found pulling small local trains or freight in the provinces.The baddie cannot make his getaway on the submarine because it is only able to stay surfaced for 3 minutes and had to resubmerge before he could row out to it?? What on Earth is that about??? What stopped the sub from remaining surfaced?The veteran cars that sounded exactly like modern cars......etc etc.All these bloopers made the film actually quite entertaining to watch so I give it three stars for accidental entertainment value.

The film was very entertaining (loved the homage to Hitchcock) and great to watch. I not going to write a synopsis but it was enjoyable. I've purchased a DVD and have watched it 5 times. Each time I've watched it, there is something new I saw: for instance, the heroine, who was driving, left the car running when they ran up the stairs to go back to the castle to search for the 39 Steps :)Masterpiece Theatre has great stories to offer. Each time the Masterpiece comes on, I have to watch in case it's something really interesting that catches my "fancy". This one did! The setting is in England first, but moves to Scotland - home of my great grandparents. The scenery is beautiful and looks VERY cold since some of the exterior shots show their breath as the actors talk. I loved the train scenes - especially the ventriloquist and "dummy" who helped the Hero escape the police. All in all, it's a great trip of story line to whisk a person away from daily trials and mean people.

Over nearly a century, John Buchan's novel The 39 Steps and its film versions has become something of a classic of the thriller genre. Famously filmed originally by Alfred Hitchcock, this 2008 BBC TV movie version is the fourth and most recent film version of the novel. But despite three previous film versions, this version still has plenty to offer as a thriller in its own right.Take its cast for instance. Rupert Penry-Jones makes for an interesting choice for Richard Hannay, the archetypal innocent man on the run. Penry-Jones brings an interesting edge to Hannay in that regard as he makes believable the journey from a bored young man to someone who has the fate of a nation on his shoulders. His youthfulness also helps make him believable in the film's action sequences as well. The result is an interesting take on a familiar character.Backing up Penry-Jones is a good supporting cast, most of whom are not what they seem. Lydia Leonard is practically perfect casting as the film's heroine Victoria Sinclair thanks both to some good writing and her excellent chemistry with Penry-Jones. There's also good performances from David Haig as Victoria's uncle Sir George, Patrick Malahide as Professor Fisher and Eddie Marsan as Scudder, the man who sets the plot in motion. There's also a host of other minor character's throughout the film who add immensely to the atmosphere of the film such as Roger De Courcey as a ventriloquist who Hannay bumps into for example. As a result, the film is well acted all the way around.The production values are splendid as well. Of particular mention are the cinematography of James Aspinall, particularly with the washed out look used for the scenes set in the Scottish highlands, and the score from composer Rob Lane which sets just the right mood for the film. Though some have noted that there some anachronisms in the film in the forms of various cars and the particular kind of biplane used in one sequence, if like me you don't know a lot about those things, then the production values work just fine in creating the 1914 setting of the film. What more can you ask of production values then to do that? Which in a way brings up the script by Lizzie Mickery. Mickery's script owes less to the famed 1935 Hitchcock film and a bit more perhaps to the original novel, though it isn't a hundred percent faithful to it either. In a way that's a good thing as the Hitchcock film all ready has one remake following it (made in 1959). In that regard this version feels like a fresh new take at filming the novel. Mickery's script is fast paced (just look at the opening ten minutes of the film for example) with quite a bit of wit and tension. There are some predictable aspects to the film and one will likely be able to spot the traitor some time before Hannay does and the first half hour or so of the film is undermined by a rather odd decision to keep giving Hannay voice over to explain a plot that should all ready by apparent by what the viewer all ready knows. Overall though the script is a good one that shy's away from Hitchcock and sets out to do something different.Which isn't to say this version doesn't owe something to Hitchcock. The speech hall scene for example echoes that seen in the Hitchcock film, though it is certainly different enough to be seemingly original. The biggest nod to Hitchcock comes in the form of Hannary being chased by a biplane which of course isn't in Hitchcock's The 39 Steps but his later film North By Northwest, but it makes for a thrilling sequence in this film. This version isn't Hitchcock but it pays at least some acknowledgment to his version.What can be said of this version of The 39 Steps at the end of the day? It is a film with a leading man in top form, a good supporting cast, strong production values (if apparently anachronistic) and a good script that turns a nearly century old story into a fast paced thriller. It might not be Hitchcock's version but it is still a good thriller in its own right and a good film as well.

Enjoyable version up to very end.In the last scene at St Pancras how did the heroine come back to life after being shot and falling in the Scottish lake?No explanation,yet after 4 MONTHS,there she is,and not even communicating with Hannay-just sending her brother,and then she disappears!It was as if the final minutes of the film had been cut out! Then Hannay,who after 4 months not seeing her,instead of rushing to try to find her,just smiles towards where she was seen,and goes to catch his train!I was left completely up in the air,thinking that some final scenes must have been cut,and feeling cheated by not being told what had happened in those 4 months.