Thursday, January 25, 2018

another movie set on a train: 'The Commuter'


We went to see to see this yesterday, simply for that reason.  Leaving aside the implausible plot, as a movie it's actually quite good with plenty of action which for a fair while is psychological, until it deteriorates into the 'wham bam' sort near the end.

You can read about it on the Time website here.

What about the trains?  Even for railfans, commuter trains aren't the most exciting, unless they comprise vintage equipment.  But there are still the aspects that appeal; getting somewhere on vehicles that travel on steel rails and cross-ties, technical features, car layouts, vestibules, etc.  You get plenty of all this.

Stations, exterior views and aerials?  Not much. A train from NYC Grand Central along the Hudson (in reality Metro North, here Hudson North) doesn't make many stops in areas covered by the subway, so that's one thing you notice as being wrong, and there are a few other things.

Nevertheless it does intrigue, and none of it would apply to a bus.

1 comment:

wallace said...

Rialto is currently screening 'Backtrack' an Australian psychic thriller surrounding a train crash. Some commuter trains - I think some is computer generated,the accident certainly is. You see Melbourne and Sydney systems inter mixed. Still interesting but let down by false trackwork in certain scenes, or at best a private preserved rail.