Michael Ledo
This movie is based upon the true story of Szilveszter Matuska, a man who derailed trains in 1930-1931 in Austria. His motive is uncertain. Some say it was political, others claim he was a religious fanatic (aka Christian terrorist) while he may have gotten paid. The film shows why there was confusion. In this drama Matuska (Michael Sarrazin) leases a quarry in order to have access to explosives.The film is foreign and dubbed. It has the look of a low budget foreign production. The train wrecks are not spectacular. The dubbing makes the acting look bad. The action and drama move a bit slow which is why they show you the ending of the film first then jump to the beginning, although that is not made clear until you see the same part played over. It is a film that could easily be redone and better. It is okay for an historical drama.Parental Guide: No f-bombs. Sex and nudity (Constanze Engelbrecht, Herlinde Latzko)
cojosh
I've just wasted a few hours of my life watching this film. I expected more since it was based on actual events. Some of the acting is horrific and I'm almost positive I saw a guy reading a Q-card. The two twin sisters that own the hardware store are scary. They're more frightening than the "train killer". He didn't seem like such a bad guy! Every now and then he would get a little angry. Most of the characters didn't even speak with an accent. They sounded like Americans. I hated to see that steam engine go to waste on this movie. I can't encourage any one to take the time to view this film. Overall, it stank!!!!
roskalnikov
***SLIGHT SPOILERS*** What an odd little film. It's lovingly photographed in places, but the direction is slipshod, the screenplay laughable, the acting almost ineffably terrible, and the dubbing among the worst I've heard. Despite these flaws, I was somehow drawn to the very end of the picture, which is more than I can say for many recent thrillers I've regretted seeing (Memento leaps to mind). I suspect my patience would have thinned had it not been based on a true story. But the film's connection to reality, though probably tenuous, was enough to hold my interest to some small degree. Some psychological depth would have been nice in a movie about a man who reveled in the destruction of trains in pre-war Hungary, but the closest we get is when the protagonist leans over a stretch of track, toiling to bring about one of his catastrophes, and mutters to himself, "Damn trains!" Oh, I get it! He doesn't like trains. That's why he kills all those people and destroys all those trains. Oh well, whether I recommend it or not (I do, kind of), you may be hard pressed to find a copy of it, and I don't foresee a DVD release anytime soon.
Ryan J. Gilmer
This is a quality movie with quality dubbing based off of historical fact. While there may be multiple versions of this short movie (as a lot of people were uncredited in my VHS US dubbed version), the story is the same. Aside from one flashback sequence, to get the story going, the movie flows along wonderfully and logically. Historical dates, statements, and results are even given. AND, there is room for a sequel (Holloywoodinized of course). Yet being nearly 2 decades old, this movie is not well known. It is quality in a drama/thriller/mystery role and is recommended (if you can find it). viewed/owner on VHS
AD
