Favorite Train Scenes from the IMDb Staff
IMDb staff members answer the question: "What is your favourite movie or TV-show featuring a train or train station scene and optionally why do you like it?"
The comments are from a variety of different staff members here at IMDb.
The comments are from a variety of different staff members here at IMDb.
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- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.I really ought to answer with ‘North by Northwest’ however more memorable from a train perspective is the greatest western ever made, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)’ [link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064116/[/link] … the movie begins with a classic scene and our synopsis feature comes in handy here [link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064116/synopsis[/link] with a good description of the entire plot and specifically this opening scene:
“In the desert Southwest of America during the waning days of the Old West, three gunmen two wearing long duster overcoats (Jack Elam, Woody Strode, Al Mulock) take over an isolated train depot and settle in to wait for the train. When the train finally comes, a nameless harmonica-playing stranger (Charles Bronson) gets off and asks for someone named Frank. They tell him Frank sent them in his place. In the ensuing showdown, all four men go down. Only the man with the harmonica gets up again…”
The relevant quote being [link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064116/quotes?qt=qt0317982[/link]
Harmonica: And Frank?
Snaky: Frank sent us.
Harmonica: Did you bring a horse for me?
Snaky: Well... looks like we're...
[snickers]
Snaky: ...looks like we're shy one horse.
Harmonica: You brought two too many.
(“Harmonica” then shoots the three men and rides off on one of the horses) - DirectorRichard LesterStarsJohn LennonPaul McCartneyGeorge HarrisonOver two "typical" days in the life of The Beatles, the boys struggle to keep themselves and Sir Paul McCartney's mischievous grandfather in check while preparing for a live TV performance.I shall go for A Hard Day's Night which features several pleasing moments on a train including:
- an impromptu rendition of I Should Have Known Better in the guard's van, the introduction of the running gag about Paul's grandfather:
[link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/quotes?qt=qt0246872[/link]
[repeated line about Grandfather]
Paul: He's very clean.
- a shot of tour manager Shake (John Junkin) reading a copy of Son of Mad (a book which I own)
- and this line from Ringo which, for some years in the early 2000s, was my email sig:
[link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/quotes?qt=qt0246815[/link]
Ringo: Yeah, I know, that's why I play the drums - it's me active compensatory factor. - DirectorTerrence MalickStarsRichard GereBrooke AdamsSam ShepardA hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.I’ll go with ‘Days of Heaven’, the scene where Bill, Abby and Linda arrive in the Texas Panhandle on the top of a train.
[link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJHLHqsdEPs[/link]
It’s beautifully shot, and I love Linda’s voiceover (not just here, but throughout the whole film).
Linda: “The three of us been goin’ places. Lookin’ for things; searchin’ for things; goin’ on adventures. They told everybody they were brother an’ sister. My brother didn’t want nobody to know. You know how people are – you tell ‘em somethin’, they start talkin’.” - DirectorFranc RoddamStarsPhil DanielsLeslie AshPhil DavisJimmy Cooper loathes his dead-end job and his working-class parents. He seeks solace with his mod clique, scooter riding, and drugs, only to be disappointed.Can I go for my favourite scene featuring a train instead?
Quadrophonia, where a wired Jimmy (Phil Daniels), on the verge of melting down, is sat with really heavy eyeliner between two pinstripe suited businessmen in their bowler hats, with 5.15 by The Who as the soundtrack.
Obsessed by the film as an impressionable kid, but tried to watch it again last year and didn’t make it the whole way through… The soundtrack definitely stands the test of time though. - DirectorDanny DeVitoStarsDanny DeVitoBilly CrystalKim GreistA bitter ex-husband wants his former spouse dead. A put-upon momma's boy wants his mother dead. Who will pull it off?My head says Strangers on a Train (1951) but my heart says Throw Momma from the Train (1987) – which is not only a comedic homage to the former, but has Anne Ramsey in it and is responsible for quotes such as:-
Momma: He's trying to kill me! I asked for the salted nuts. He brought me the unsalted nuts. The unsalted nuts make me choke!
[link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094142/quotes?qt=qt0314137[/link]
[Momma sees Larry for the first time]
Momma: Who's this?
Owen: This is Cousin Paddy. He's coming to stay with us a while. Isn't that nice?
Momma: [suspiciously] You don't *have* a "Cousin Paddy".
Owen: [to Larry] You lied to me!
[Owen knocks Larry out with a frying pan to the head]
[link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094142/quotes?qt=qt0314146[/link]
Owen: Momma! You're alive!
[to police]
Owen: Old people - you have to reassure them.
[link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094142/quotes?qt=qt0314151[/link] - DirectorMartin BrestStarsRobert De NiroCharles GrodinYaphet KottoA bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.Got to be my beloved ‘Midnight Run’ . Jack and ‘The Duke’ end up on a train because…
Jonathan Mardukas: I can't fly.
Jack Walsh: What?
Jonathan Mardukas: You heard me, I can't fly.
Jack Walsh: No, no, no. You're going to have to do better than that, pal.
Jonathan Mardukas: No, I don't have to do better than that, because it's the truth, I can't fly: I suffer from aviaphobia.
Jack Walsh: What does that mean?
Jonathan Mardukas: It means I can't fly. I also suffer from acrophobia and claustrophobia.
Jack Walsh: I'll tell you what: if you don't cooperate, you're gonna suffer from "fistophobia". - DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosStarsSophia LorenRichard HarrisMartin SheenPassengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease. Nobody will let them off the train. So what happens next?I’m not very good at these - I still can’t narrow them down to one.
It’s either The Cassandra Crossing (1976), or an episode of the surreal 70’s TV series, "Sapphire & Steel" (1979) {The Railway Station} which has stuck with me vividly since I saw it (and was terrified by it) as a kid. Hmm, maybe ‘permanently scarred by’ doesn’t equate to ‘favourite’. - DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.I’d have to say the train attack scene from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056172, especially
the shot where Lawrence walks along the top of the carriages and the camera shows his shadow
on the sand apparently leading the arabs – this is arguably the symbolic heart of the film. Are they
following an illusion? As Lean himself voices over at the end of the first half, “Who are you?”
Alternatively, I’ve always fancied arriving in Italy the way Brian Dennehy’s architect does in
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092637 (how many people will get that reference ;-) - DirectorTerence YoungStarsSean ConneryRobert ShawLotte LenyaJames Bond willingly falls into an assassination plot involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E.One of the most memorable scenes on a train for me is Donald Grant (Robert Shaw)’s fight with James Bond (Sean Connery) in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
It was the first fight sequence I remember when it wasn’t just a sort of a symbolic swinging of fists until the good guy wins and the bad guy gets his comeuppance. These guys fought dirty – with their nails, teeth, elbows. And the whole thing looked painful. Made me realize that if you’re someone like James Bond, you could actually get really hurt! Ouch! Then Grant attempts to strangle Bond with the wire in his watch and Bond stabs him with a dagger. And they pretty much destroy a very well-appointed train carriage. - DirectorDuncan JonesStarsJake GyllenhaalMichelle MonaghanVera FarmigaA soldier wakes up in someone else's body and discovers he's part of an experimental government program to find the bomber of a commuter train within 8 minutes.Source Code (2011) is probably 90% train travel, with many great moments to relish. My favourite train scenes are those later journeys where Colter Stevens knows the setup so well that he can pre-empt, predict and prevent mundane events on the train (drink spills, incoming calls, etc). Makes me smile :)
- DirectorAndrey KonchalovskiyStarsJon VoightEric RobertsRebecca De MornayTwo escaped convicts and a female railway worker find themselves trapped on a speeding train with no brakes and nobody driving.Runaway Train (if only for the ending. Also: first credited Danny Trejo role!)
Definitely a big + 1 for Runaway Train. Eric Roberts was so good it hurt.
Ooohh, and then remember how cold his hands got. My fingers ache now remembering that that. - DirectorRob ReinerStarsWil WheatonRiver PhoenixCorey FeldmanA writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.+ a lot for ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’. No other train film comes close, in my mind.
However, the first films that popped into my head were:
--Stand By Me: oh, Vern…
--The Lady Vanishes
--The General
--Trading Places: I think his role as Baggage Handler #1 will be Al Franken’s true legacy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086465/quotes?qt=qt0513767 - DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantEva Marie SaintJames MasonA New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.+1 to all of this.
Also, North by Northwest train sequence is perfection. - DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordSean ConneryAlison DoodyIn 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.There’s a great train sequence at the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.I’ll go with It Happened One Night.
A true classic! - DirectorMel BrooksStarsGene WilderMadeline KahnMarty FeldmanAn American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.Two words: Young Frankenstein.
[link]http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi399573017/[/link]
Taffeta, darling...
Taffeta, sweetheart. - DirectorTerry HughesStarsBea ArthurBetty WhiteRue McClanahanRose is nominated for the St. Olaf Woman of the Year award, while Blanche and Dorothy embellish her accomplishments on her entry form.Favorite TV Train Scene comes from the Golden Girls - Season Four - Episode Yokel Hero. The Golden Girls are on a train to St. Olaf and Rose is telling a story about how people disappear in the tunnel they are about to go through. The train goes through and everything goes black, and when they come through, Sofia is gone, so they all freak out. Then you hear an off-screen toilet flush, and Sofia proclaim that is where she is.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTony CurtisJack LemmonAfter two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.Favorite Train Movie – Some Like It Hot one of my favorite movies. You can watch the entire movie on IMDb! Quote: [link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053291/quotes?qt=qt0284516[/link]
and this movie also has one of my favourite trivia points: [link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053291/trivia?tr=tr0755432[/link] - DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsAnton WalbrookMarius GoringMoira ShearerA young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.I adore the climactic scene from The Red Shoes. So sad, but so pretty.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsOwen WilsonAdrien BrodyJason SchwartzmanA year after their father's funeral, three brothers travel across India by train in an attempt to bond with each other.Many of mine have already been mentioned, but other not-so-distant faves include:
The Darjeeling Limited
[link]http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4092592409/[/link]
The Bridge on the River Kwai
[link]http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4120970009/[/link] (major spoiler alert, this is final scene)
There Will Be Blood
[link]http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1291649305/[/link] - DirectorPaul BrickmanStarsTom CruiseRebecca De MornayJoe PantolianoA Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.Does a subway train count? If so, I’ve got to put my vote in for the steamy Tom Cruise & Rebecca De Mornay scene in Risky Business
And on the more standard train front, The Darjeeling Limited
[link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0838221/[/link]
which has notably beautiful train interiors:
[link]http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4177434880/tt0838221[/link] - DirectorWim WendersStarsDennis HopperBruno GanzLisa KreuzerTom Ripley, who deals in forged art, suggests a picture framer he knows would make a good hit man.I like fight scenes set on trains so my first pick would have to be be From Russia With Love (1963). However, since someone else already picked it, instead I’ll choose a thriller based on a Patricia Highsmith nove and, featuring a suspenseful scene set on a train. No, not Strangers on a Train:
The American Friend (1977) (also my favorite Wim Wenders film).
The same book was later filmed again as Ripley’s Game (2002) with John Malkovich as Tom Ripley, also featuring the same train setpiece. - DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeJulie DelpyAndrea EckertA young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.One of the early romantic movies I remember watching and liking..
[link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112471/quotes?qt=qt0520982[/link]
Before Sunrise, and its sequel. Reminded me of many a train trip through Europe. - DirectorAditya ChopraStarsShah Rukh KhanKajolAmrish PuriWhen Raj meets Simran in Europe, it isn't love at first sight but when Simran moves to India for an arranged marriage, love makes its presence felt.Indian movie: Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge
- DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsBrendan GleesonRúaidhrí ConroyDavid WilmotA black and bloody Irish comedy about a sad train journey where an older man, whose wife has died that morning, encounters a strange and possibly psychotic young oddball....Going to go a little pretentious here, a short that reminds somewhat of [link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030341[/link] (in that film, when the uncoupled carriage slows and stops in the woods is when things ratcheted up for me) which would have been my first choice.
you really can’t go wrong with this guy: [link]http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0322407/[/link] - DirectorAndrew DavisStarsHarrison FordTommy Lee JonesSela WardDr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt led by a seasoned U.S. Marshal.Because this is where it all begins! Man I love this movie.
“The bus crashes through a guardrail, rolls down a hill, and lands on a set of train tracks. The light from an approaching train appears, and Kimble manages to pull himself and the stabbed guard to safety before train rams the bus.” - DirectorWilliam AsherStarsLucille BallDesi ArnazVivian VanceWhen the gang is traveling through Ohio, they stop at a diner and motel run by a man who takes advantage of them.Sorry sorry, but there is ONE more. This is one of my all-time favorites.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJoseph Gordon-LevittElliot PageA thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.I don't know if I'm stretching it, but I'm going to have to go with the repeated train motif in Inception.
Mal: I'll tell you a riddle. You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don't know for sure. But it doesn't matter. How can it not matter to you where that train will take you?
- [link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/quotes?qt=qt1233548[/link] - CreatorMichael GarrisonStarsRobert ConradRoss MartinDick CangeyTwo Secret Service agents, equipped with a wide array of gizmos, work for the government in the Old West.+1 for Once Upon a Time in the West as my favorite.
There have not been many TV shows mentioned, so I'm going to also give a shout for The Wild Wild West. - DirectorBrad AndersonStarsWoody HarrelsonEmily MortimerBen KingsleyA Transsiberian train journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple encounters a mysterious pair of fellow travelers.Not a favorite film by far but definitely for me, a most memorable film featuring a train
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsPaul NewmanRobert RedfordKatharine RossIn 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.Butch Cassidy: Well, that ought to do it….
… [link]http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3417604352/tt0064115[/link]
Sundance Kid: Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch? - DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsSteven SeagalEric BogosianEverett McGillCasey Ryback hops on a Colorado to LA train to start a vacation with his niece. Early into the trip, terrorists board the train and use it as a mobile HQ to hijack a top secret destructive US satellite.“I’m just a cook. … A lowly, lowly, cook.”
This features one of my favourite before-they-were-famous appearances … remember that Casey Rybeck (Steven Seagal) is travelling with his niece, Sarah? Well look at the IMDb cast list – Sarah is played by none other than a 16/17 year old [link]http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001337/[/link] . It’s always a good one to share with people because usually they remember the niece but never realise who it was. - DirectorArthur HillerStarsGene WilderRichard PryorJill ClayburghOn a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.Silver Streak with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. After watching this film I felt like I had taken a major train ride myself. Fun movie.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsWilliam HoldenErnest BorgnineRobert RyanAn aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.I'm going to have to go with a possible alternate for "best western ever."
The Wild Bunch
This narrowly beats out "Fast Five" for me. - DirectorDavid LeanStarsOmar SharifJulie ChristieGeraldine ChaplinThe life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.Mine is Doctor Zhivago, when they smack the ice sheet that has formed over the sliding door of their boxcar, revealing the David Lean expanse beyond.
- DirectorJoss WhedonStarsNathan FillionGina TorresAlan TudykMal has second thoughts after discovering that two boxes of Alliance goods his crew has been hired to steal are full of badly needed medical supplies headed for the mining town of Paradiso.+1
You beat me to the punch. Great episode on so many levels. - DirectorTony ScottStarsDenzel WashingtonJohn TravoltaLuis GuzmánArmed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.I can't believe I forgot these two, as a New Yorker:
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
Actually shot on the NY subway tracks. The blu-ray has some great "making of" videos. Not a bad NY action movie, despite some major errors in geography ([link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/goofs[/link]).
And of course the original from 1974, starring Walter Matthau:
[link]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072251/[/link] - DirectorNick ParkStarsPeter SallisPeter HawkinsGromit butts heads with a mysterious penguin lodger, who hatches a sinister scheme involving the ex-NASA Techno Trousers that have been modified by Wallace for walkies.I love this short. And I have a train crazy 3 year old boy. The innocent but high suspense action of the toy train chase scene was just perfect. It had my little boy cracking up constantly. The train scene even pulled off the Looney Tunes 'laying the track as the train moves' gag.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGeorge ClooneyJohn TurturroTim Blake NelsonIn the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.I would add O Brother, Where Art Thou? as my contribution to the list. "Say, any of you boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts..."
- DirectorLee UnkrichStarsTom HanksTim AllenJoan CusackThe toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.You missed off Toy Story 3... the opening scene :)
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsAl PacinoSean PennPenelope Ann MillerA Puerto Rican former convict, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence despite the pressure around him and lead on to a better life outside of N.Y.C.Agree with the comment on the link- No Carlitos Way or The Untouchables???
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsKevin CostnerSean ConneryRobert De NiroDuring Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.Agree with the comment on the link- No Carlitos Way or The Untouchables???
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsBill MurrayAndie MacDowellChris ElliottA narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.A different kind of train chase scene. :)
Josiah Sillavan ·
No ‘GROUNDHOG DAY’ ? …… wink emoticon wink emoticon wink emoticon
You MUST add that!!!