blanche-2
"The Great Train Robbery" is a miniseries in two parts. The first part focuses on mid-range crooks, led by Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) who decide to rob a train carrying a fortune in money. The second is about the police investigation and search for them.I really enjoyed the first part, but the second part for me was a let- down. The criminals were more interesting than the police, led by DI Frank Williams (Robert Glenister) for some reason. And I sort of wanted them to get away with it. I'm sure that sounds terrible.The acting is very good, and since it's based on a true story, it was interesting to see how the police picked up the trail of the crooks and to read at the end what happened to them.I do recommend it, but you'll find the second part less compelling.
Tribble 76 (Kray_Kray)
Put me down for another Yank who ranks it a solid 7 I thought the three hours were tightly edited with no wasted scenes. What critical info, if any, was left out I do not know, as I watched this as a preliminary to reading about the robbery. Altho I can't comment on the period detail to the extent other posters here have ("the license plate serials actually didn't change til six month later" - WOW), I think the setting, styles, and lingo were all of a piece with other 60's London films and recreations.So I enjoyed this quite a bit, including the levity - self-proclaimed "wanker boss", "key up me jacksie", Butler's smile on Thursday mornings, etc, which "offset Broadbent's stern gravity and Evans's Jon Hamm like 60's charm offensive.I especially liked the portrayal of the Butler-Williams relationship and how despite Butler's fears his underling would give more away to his "snouts" than he got, Williams' contacts did lead to at least some grassing.The final Heat-style "confrontation" with Reynolds claiming a "victimless" crime leading to such enormous sentences (yet, he was out in nine) would lead to the much greater use of guns in robberies seemed egregiously revisionist, but I suppose among the many contributing factors to that sad development was the sentencing in this case. Goody apparently was straight out framed (Paul Anderson in another wonderful performance.) Certainly in hindsight a crime committed by 15 men with at least half a dozen accomplices and netting so much cash was fated to go bust. But that Butler had to delay retirement for so long was a testimony not just to his vocation, but also to the robbers' use of that critical "luck" factor. The fact Butler left a mess for Nipper Read and had allowed Williams to go way too far off the reservation is subject matter for other films.Still, film has to make an emotional as well as an informational mark, and I'm left wanting to chalk this one up for the bad boys. Mix south London and Brighton firms and you apparently got a very lively lot. "Dreaming big", and establishing the same bond of camaraderie the Flying Squad unit did evidently trumped even the millions. Or so this engrossing film would have us believe.
parcdelagrange
I have to agree with the review by Alan Baker as to the factual errors in the episode entitled "A Coppers Tale". I am a nephew of the late Chief Supt Tommy Butler, and although only a young boy at the time of the robbery, I remember distinctly that the car he used during that investigation was a Wolsey that he used to drive himself, I lived en route from Central London to Buckinghamshire (just off of the old A40) and Uncle Tom used to call in for a cup of tea frequently on his way back to London, and i never once saw him being driven by another police officer and definitely not in a Jaguar. Another factual error was that his home as shown in the film looked like a nice suburban semi detached private house, when in reality he lived with my grandmother in a rather shabby terraced council house in Barnes.
john-savage1960-575-575114
I had high hopes for this and having watched the first episode I was not let down. The acting was of a high standard, including Martin Compston's London accent! Small points I felt needed more explaining, including who the characters were. Unless you have some knowledge of the crime then you may have been puzzled by who all the protagonists were.A scene showing the train leaving Glasgow Central Station clearly displayed a sign saying "Glasgow" when in fact it should have been Glasgow Central as there is also Glasgow Queen Street station. In the same scene, two policemen were wearing helmets. To the best of my knowledge no Scottish Policemen wore helmets in 1963, including British Transport Police (correct me if I'm wrong), also the FFR Land Rovers looked from a later era.Overall though it was an entertaining programme and I'm looking forward to part two.Having now watched part two it was of an equally high standard. I did notice though that the weather seemed to be more in line with August (the first programme had no leaves on the trees etc).I did feel however that more time could have been taken to explain where Reynolds and Edwards were when they were on the run as the programme implied they were in the UK when in fact they spent time in Mexico.Another slight glitch was when Roy James made his "escape", he landed on hard packed earth where in fact he had a specially prepared "landing strip" made of dug up earth to lessen the impact of his fall.Apart from that, this was a most enjoyable two parter and hopefully we'll see more of the same
AD
