Customer Reviews

The Cassandra Crossing

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the better films amoung the 1970's disaster movie genre; centering around a European train infected with a contagious virus. Interesting film to compare to more recent fare such as Outbreak.

Amoung the "all-star" cast few actually qualilfy, with only Richard Harris and Sophie Loren adding genunie star power; while Burt Lanchaster basically just phones in his performance. Also seeing O.J. Simpson as an INTERPOL officer gunning down terrorists in a priest uniform is more then jarring. The direction is taut and the Jerry Goldsmith score is strong as always. Despite its cheesy moments (the hippies singing in the train car) its a good watch.

The DVD itself is nice deal for [$], although Artisian's presentation doesn't rank as high as some of its other older catalog film. Sadly its presented in fullscreen which is a major mark against it and there isn't even a trailer to accompany it. Oddly enough it sports motion menus which surprised me. The transfer isn't anywhere near reference quality but its watchable with a few spots where the film goes soft. The mono soundtrack isn't strong at all and the dreaded mono hiss is audible if you're using your sorround system.

If you're a fan of the movie its hard to turn down at a bargain price, otherwise rent it.

I recently picked up a used widescreen version of this movie from Artisan, and was quite pleasantly surprised at the quality of the transfer. Outside of not being anamorphic, the picture was quite good!

Why they quit offering the widescreen version, but still offer the butchered pan & scan is beyond me...but if you get the opportunity, get the widescreen version.

The release was definitely bare-bones....no extras....period.

It is well worth owning, however. This is one of the best of the circa-70's disaster movies, with only O.J. Simpson's acting (or inability to act) as a negative. The ending is stunning...I won't give it away, but it isn't what the viewer is most likely expecting.

If you can buy this one used....on widescreen....do so. Even if it's just to see Sophia Loren!

the Cassandra Crossing begins when three terrorists enter a U.S, govenrment facility in Geneva and set off a bomb. Security responds and a shootout follows. One terrist is killed while two others attempt escape though a room where a highly contageous form of germ warfare is being developed. One dies later during interrogation, while the other escapes and boards a trans europe train. Colonel Mackenzie(Burt Lancaster) believes that the infected terrorist is abord the train. Passengers on this train include a world famous doctor (Richard Harris) and his wife (Sophia LOren) A heroin trafficer (Martin Sheen with his mother (Ava Gardener) and an international law inforcement officer on his trail (O>J Simpson). Mackenkies suspicions are confirmed shorty after as the infected terrorist is discovered by the doctor and persons become ill from the virus which he transmit. The train is stopped and quarantined at Dusseldorf As armed sodiers toting machine guns board the train with orders to shoot to kill anyone who attempts to leave the train which all the windows are sealed with metal gates. They are informed that they will be rerouted to a medical isolation facility in Poland. To get there they will cross a bridge known as the Cassandra Crossing which has long been abondoned. Some of the passangers are aware that the bridge is derelict and are astonished that it still is standing. They become progressively more uneasy and demand that Mackenzie stop the train, which they beleive will plunge to the bottom of the gorge below if they cross the rotting bridge. Mackenzie refuses and some of the passangers rebel, overpowering some of the soldiers and shooting it out with them. This is a first rate problem thriller which deals with terrorism, government coverups, rebelious passengers, deadly plague, and a race against time to do the only thing possibly to insure their survival. The film is extremely tense, well made with excellent performances and riviting suspense. Although critically tarnished the Cassandra Crossing is one of the greatest thrillers ever made and without any doubt, the best european film in the history of cinema.

Sometimes you want nothing more than to turn your brain off and settle down to a slice of Europudding. Lew Grade and Carlo Ponti's Anglo-Italian co-production The Cassandra Crossing is a perfect example. Full of fattening but empty calories and boasting an Irish, Italian, American, German and anybody else who wasn't busy that month cast of fading stars, a Greek director and shot in Switzerland and France with the profits from The Muppet Show, it's a prime example of that much maligned genre, the conspiracy-disease-disaster-train-action-thriller. Richard Harris and the co-producer's missus Sophia Loren take the leads as the glamorous twice-divorced couple - he conveniently a doctor, she a pulp novelist - who find themselves on the same train as Martin Sheen's drug smuggling toyboy gigolo mountain climber (seen in one surreal moment standing on his head on a bed wearing only Y-fronts while Ava Gardner applauds), O.J. Simpson's gun-toting not-really-a-priest (and yes, he does go down), Lee Strasberg's concentration camp survivor muttering "I can't go back to Poland" (some of my relatives feel the same, Lee), Lionel Stander's loveable conductor (yes, he's called Max and he looks after them), the then-Mrs Harris, Ann Turkel as a free-spirited hippie chick who can't sing (or do much about her boyfriend's premature ejaculation problem either for that matter), and, critically, Lou Castel's sweaty Swedish terrorist (described in one memorable exchange as a "sweaty pervert"). The reason he's sweating is he's got a nasty strain of Pneumonic Plague that the Americans were planning on destroying (honest) in Geneva before he and his ill-fated pal tried to blow up the lab.

While Ingrid Thulin's humanitarian doctor tries to find a way of saving the passengers and Burt Lancaster's American general tries to find a more permanent containment solution involving a rickety bridge en route to a disused WW2 Polish `isolation' camp ("It's a Warsaw Pact country but we can't do anything about that") in one of those flashing light control rooms with minimalist glass maps (you can just imagine them exchanging anecdotes about the days when they were working with Visconti inbetween takes), it's up to Richard Harris to save the day. Boy, are those passengers in trouble - he's such a responsible doctor that when he sees a sweaty Castel panting and heaving over a bowl of rice pudding he doesn't even tell the nun sitting opposite him in the dining car that she might want to try the trifle instead, so we know that a lot of the passengers aren't going to make it. Oh, did I mention the `cute' little girl? Alida Valli's governess? John Phillip Law's `sinister' military aide?

There's an enjoyably overwrought Jerry Goldsmith score (the only one to include an entire cue used in a previous score, in this case a reorchestrated version of 'Night Attack' from Islands in the Stream), some better than expected production values and worse than expected back-projection and one real howler of a continuity goof as the locomotive changes type two-thirds through the film. But most of all, it's just demented enough in its straight-faced way to be great fun if you're in the right mood. Director George Pan Cosmatos may have been a hack, but he was a very proficient one, as an extremely well executed and impressively edited opening raid on the World Health Organisation - sorry, International Health Organization's headquarters demonstrates. It also has some genuinely impressive camerawork (including a couple of shots I still can't work out how they got) and what is easily the best transfer of a sick Basset hound from a moving train to a helicopter before the train hits a tunnel action setpiece in screen history. Now THAT'S entertainment!

Cassandra Crossing may be noteworthy mainly because it was one of legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg's last few movies -- and one of Martin Sheen's first.

Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Burt Lancaster and Strasberg offer decent performances; of course, they could act out a flick such as this in their sleep.

Cassandra Crossing was dismissed by its critics as an all-star disaster movie set in the improbable location of a train. In fact, this is an action movie with a bit of international intrigue -- and it is a movie noteworthy for its decidedly older-than-average cast members.

Cassandra Crossing enjoyed some box office success in Britain, Italy, and Germany. It was granted little publicity in America, however -- perhaps because of its overseas setting, perhaps because the plot line is cynical in its treatment of American foreign-policy and military intentions.

The script behind this movie is weak at times. There are stock characters, average dialogue, and questionable casting -- Ava Gardner essentially plays herself, and O.J. Simpson plays a cop. Thankfully, their roles are small. Some of the special effects on board the train are quite good; elsewhere, they are low-budget. Lancaster's role in particular is undermined by cheap sets and his character's implausible decisions.

Despite the script, formulaic plot line, and very unconventional assortment of characters, the movie is suspenseful. If only Amtrak were this exciting.

From the beginning you're caught up in dramatic tension, with just enough release to make you want to know what's happening next. Incredible European scenery along with the drama as you're swept along on the train ride to hell. You'll find yourself screaming at the TV trying to warn everyone. This disaster could really happen ... maybe it has. I'm glad to see the release of this film ... it was hard to find for so many years.

I liked this movie very much! The cast is great and its all good entertainment. Plus I am a scuker for a train movie!

The movie I bought is very very nice except I was hoping for a wide screen copy, its one of my favorite movies from the 70's and I am still hoping to aquire a 1.85:1 version of the film
Thanks

Thoroughly entertaining thriller about a trans continental train from Geneva to Stockholm that is carrying a convict infected with plague. Excellent music score by Jerry Goldsmith and splendid European scenery. I am glad to see it released on DVD although the DVD could have been better. No extras, no subtitles, and as one of the other reviewer put it -- film transfer to DVD could have been better but it is a lot better than any available VHS.

Good, well acted and portrayed film of the Cold War era that might be true today. Especially good for those interested in warfare and defense related to the Radiological/Biological/Chemical Threat from terrorist groups. Great cast.