Masterful Movie

Lack of good storyline.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The most notable thing to say about this film is that it has some of the most breathtaking stunts ever performed by....an actor, which judged on the basis of danger, they match Tom Cruise's exploits in the Mission Impossible film series. Connery is at his best and shows that his light comedy is one of many strings to his bow. Donald Sutherland is well cast, dovetailing well as his partner-in-crime. The mark-down is that it seems to lumber along a bit in its own deliberately simplified, style.

The Great Train Robbery follows the standard heist movie blueprint. The team gets assembled to pull off an impossible job, they do all of the complicated prep work, then there is a last minute complication that makes it much more difficult than they expected. What stands out here is the setting, Victorian England, and the much smaller crew of thieves than usual. Most heist movies have a huge crew of 10+ characters that each need to have their characters explored. Here there is just the mastermind (Sean Connery), the pickpocket (Donald Sutherland), the girl (Lesley-Anne Downs), and the greaseman (Wayne Sleep). There are a few others, but their characters are so minor that they do not even get names. Rather than get sidetracked covering side characters, there is a strong focus on moving the plot forward that makes the entire movie more interesting.What also stands out is the impressive stunts that were done mostly without stuntmen. Wayne Sleep really scales a wall and Sean Connery really walks across the top of a moving train. In today's CGI heavy film industry, it is refreshing to see an older movie that stays simpler with its big stunts, but they feel much realer, because they are. A lot of the movie relies on Sean Connery's natural charisma, which is the secret to a good heist movie, and Connery holds up very well compared to Clooney and Sinatra in the Ocean's movies and Newman and Redford in The Sting.

THE FIRST GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY at first seems to be an odd choice for director Michael Crichton, who adopts his own novel of the same title. Crichton is best known for dealing with cutting edge technology in his fare, whereas this is a Victorian-era heist. I suppose the technology comes from the plotting and planning of cracking an unbreakable safe on a moving train, so the film is still grounded in realism as with the rest of the great man's work.As for the story itself, it's surprisingly light and a bit too overloaded with comedy. The first half features very little of note apart from some silly innuendo scenes which are more blatant than the ones in the '70s-era CARRY ON films, and that's saying something! Sean Connery grounds things with his likable lead persona, while Donald Sutherland is simply bizarre as the English safebreaker.Things do pick up later on, and the heist itself, which takes place at the climax, is thoroughly enjoyable. The film boasts from solid production values overall and a fine supporting cast studded with familiar faces including Lesley-Anne Down, Pamela Salem, Michael Elphick, Peter Butterworth, Janine Duvitski, and James Cossins.

'The First Great Train Robbery' or as it's known stateside 'The Great Train Robbery' is nothing short of excellent. From the novel written and directed by the late Michael Chricton, i can't emphasis enough why i love this film, it's a treasure! why? The excellent Casting Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland who make an excellent double act, one wonders if Gould and Sutherland were originally approached? Lesley Anne Down who is ravishing as a whore with the inevitable heart of gold. The Score by Jerry Goldsmith is amazing! it is something of which i occasionally listen to whilst travelling by Train!The film features some of the final Cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth which the film is dedicated to. after nearly thirty five years later 'The First Great Train Robbery' remains untouchable it is not dated in the slightest, it's a shame that they don't make em' like they used to.