not as good as all the hype

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Great movie! I watched the movie today! The quality is pretty good. All adventures are very interesting. I read a book, called Daring & Suffering: A History of the Andrews Railroad Raid by William Pittenger, the soldier who dressed as the southern with James J. Andrews, the Union spy who stole the locomotive "General" in the Great Locomotive Chase. He wrote the book very well, looks more interesting than any novel stories. The movies gives me lots of ideas for the American Civil War that both the north and the south brought justice. All raiders were heroes, especially William A. Fuller, the conductor who commanded the locomotive "Texas" to recapture the General with the Texas' engineer and the fireman, Peter Bracken and Henry Haney. The foreman, Anthony Murphy, was also chasing the General with Fuller. I cannot believe how dramatic this movie is! I really like how Fess Parker played as Andrews, though, he looks nothing like the original Andrews. One thing I like about the movie is that the William Mason from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad played as the General and the Inyo from the Virginia & Truckee Railroad played as the Texas and the William R. Smith. The Yonah was played by the Lafayette. This movie is very educational for all history class. I would highly recommend this to everyone! If I were a teacher, I would play this movie to the class.

For a 1956 family film based on a true story, Walt Disney didn't pull any punches. "The Great Locomotive Chase" doesn't skirt the fact that the northern raiders were captured and the leaders executed. The film handles this carefully and without undue gore or bloodshed. The story is based on a true event, and as other reviewers have noted, it sticks close to the actual details. The train chase is portrayed somewhat longer here than it was, but otherwise this is a decent treatment of an historical event during the American Civil War. Fess Parker handles the role of James Andrews very well. Parker will always be known for his role as Davy Crockett in the Wald Disney TV series. But, he was a talented actor and played in a variety of films. Jeffrey Hunter is good as William Fuller, and all the roles are done very well. Hunter was an excellent actor whose career was cut short when he died of a stroke at age 42 in 1969.

Excellent film! I enjoyed every minute of this rather short, but greatly superb film on Great Locomotive Chase of 1862 near Chattanooga. The real story makes this film even more interesting, and the whole work is awesome. Excellent musical score, great scenery, decent performance of all actors, very thrilling trains, shoot-outs, North and South clashing, real drama, real feelings, very good details, very accurate depiction of moral and habits of people of those times.All of these makes this Old Style Hollywod film a very good watch. I do recommend this to all Civil War buffs!And even common film viewers will like this film and find it very brisk and very cool

During the American Civil War, the Union knows that weakening the Confederate's transportation networks will greatly increase the chances of an attack being successful. James Andrews has been undercover within the South for some time so he is tasked with leading a group of men in as spies to get to the main railway bridges and burn them down. Things are edgy but going well until a zealous conductor on a train spots the men and plans to head the alarm. With no choice but to act, Andrews seizes the train and steals it to get quickly to his target blocking the track and chopping down telegraph lines along the way. However William Fuller is not to be put off and sets out in pursuit.Supposedly a true story this Disney film is a basic but entertaining adventure that is more about getting a simple chase going than it is about painting an educational historical piece. However this is not a major criticism because it is rather interesting and fun despite being a pretty base piece of film-making. The chase is never that exciting but it does provide some energy into the film, while the solid characters are engaging enough for what is essentially a film aimed at older children. The lack of tension or danger was a problem for me because I didn't think the mission should feel like the jolly jape that most of this makes it out to be – I imagine many viewers will struggle with the bright colourful pictures that this is presented in.The cast are solid enough; few so anything special but most of them fill their roles well and make reasonable fists of the job. Parker has a big strong chest and a big square jaw and my God does he use them at every chance he gets – hardly a performance but good enough for the type of film. Lupton is more interesting in a smaller role. Hunter is fun as Fuller although I would have liked a bit more humour in his performance. Support from York, Firestone and a few others is good but none of them are anything that special. Much like the film itself, the actors all do the minimum but generally do OK.Overall this is an OK film that is worth seeing as a bit of dramatic chase movie with aims of historical education that it never really pulls off. It is very much a Disney drama and lacks danger, tension or darkness but it is entertaining and interesting enough to do the job in you are in quite an undemanding mood – a lazy Sunday afternoon is probably the best time to give this a go, but just don't expect much.