comment #1

actionman says ...

I have always wanted to see a big-budget action film, explosions and all, in glorious big-screen black and white. So funny you posted this Wells, as my friend and I were saying just last week that we'd love to see Michael Bay shoot in black and white. I know Bay isn't the most popular action director on this blog, but you can't deny that he has skill in creating beautiful action-movie images....imagine how cool it'd look if he were to shoot Bad Boys 3 in black and white. I know I'll catch a lot of shit for making this request, but hey, to each his own.

comment #2

actionman says ...

and also, I saw The Train at my college campus theater when I was in school. Lot of fun.

comment #3

Bart Smith says ...

Wasn't the opening action sequence of CASINO ROYALE in b&w?

comment #4

Dirty Harry says ...

Lancaster is brilliant in this film. All that natural energy and vibrance subdued into reluctant, relentless, cunning.

THE TRAIN truly deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as THE GREAT ESCAPE, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE DIRTY DOZEN, and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. I wonder if the b&w factor is why it's not. But the film's reputation seems to increase every year and everyone I show it to is blown away and wonders "Where the hell's that film been hiding?"

I describe it as the first DIE HARD. I know it's not an enclosed space, but it is one vastly outnumbered guy using his wits to stay alive and stop them.

comment #5

berg says ...

the train is excellent, dont forget Jeanne Moreau or Paul Scofiled ... just another 60s classic from Frankenheimer

comment #6

Walter Sobchak says ...

I could not have worked with Jeanne Moreau.... I would've been horny all the time and it would've affected my work.

NOTHING looks cooler than black and white in 3D btw.... I saw a demonstration film a few years back at the Science Center IMAX.... it was a collection of various 3D shorts and what-not... of all the stuff they showed, one of the absolute coolest was a series of still images from the early 20th Century taken with a 3D camera.... super spooky it was...

comment #7

Undercover Brother says ...

Royale was B&W for about 5 minutes. Was very cool. Come on people. Someone go big budget black and white. Make it happen. Spielberg I'm looking in your direction.

comment #8

Josh Massey says ...

"THE TRAIN truly deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as THE GREAT ESCAPE, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE DIRTY DOZEN, and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN."

Hold on there, kitten. While The Train is a very good film, it ain't those films.

comment #9

moviemaniac2002 says ...

"The Train" is a perfect example of everything that's missing in today's action movies...
- An actual story, with characters you care and fear for, a multi-faceted villain...action
sequences that serve the story rather than the other way around....and genuine craft in the making of the film. The way Frankenheimer positions and frames his actors is every bit as powerful as the very real trains he sends hurtling into each other.
Any random ten seconds of this film is infinitely better than the entire 140 minute average running time of any Micheal Bay atrocity.

comment #10

berg says ...

the opening minutes of Van Helsing were in b&w

comment #11

jeffmcm says ...

Minority Report is about as desaturated as an expensive action movie can be these days.

comment #12

OddDuck says ...

moviemaniac wrote:

""The Train" is a perfect example of everything that's missing in today's action movies...
- An actual story, with characters you care and fear for, a multi-faceted villain...action
sequences that serve the story rather than the other way around....and genuine craft in the making of the film."

First off, I'm putting The Train on my netflix queue immediately, as I've never seen it. But second, I'm trying to think of true "action" movies of that past fifteen years that satisfy ALL of those traits that moviemaniac mentions, and while there are some (Heat comes to mind), most - even ones I LOVE - fail to satisfy one or more of the criteria. I hope my brain's failing me, and that people can step up and name 'em. Multi-faceted villain is what is keeping at least ten otherwise completely awesome films from getting over the hump in my book.

And not that Minority Report fits the bill (although it comes close), but damn if that wasn't a satisfying piece of entertainment.

comment #13

nemo says ...

Having watched The Train for what must be the 8th or 10th time only a few days ago, my vote is with Dirty Harry. In fact, I'd rank The Train a little above The Magnificent Seven.

Jeanne Moreau in The Train: "Yes, LaBiche and General DeGaulle are my best customers. I see them every day, and I keep them cool in the wine cellar."

One thing all those great old action films from the late 50s and early 60s had in common was humanly realistic action. McQueen's flying tackle of that guard. McQueen's motorcycle jump. The horseback stunts in The Magnificent Seven. The wrecks and jumps in that clip from The Train. Every time you knew you were seeing a real event executed by real human beings in a believable depiction of the real world.

Then look at the 1980s. Even before CGI became common, action movies had become childish cartoons. In the Conan movies, even back in the first Die Hard, as good as it was, the action had become exaggerated and cartoonish, the heroes and the villains had become more and more like comic book superhumans. All the grit and sweat of seeing real adult human beings exerting themselves against the odds was gone.

comment #14

PerfectTommy says ...

Two action films from the eighties that come close to the standard were "Witness" and "The Fugitive", but Ford's leap at the dam was more than a little too much.

comment #15

PerfectTommy says ...

Sorry, "The Fugitive" was the ninties, wasn't it.

comment #16

Deschain says ...

This one!? Renaissance

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0386741/

Ok it's not "Action" like gruver1 has asked for (and it's animated fer chrissakes) but I can't think of anything else that comes closer. Great visuals in there!

comment #17

MAGGA says ...

Minority Report is pure genious, a perfect action movie with a multi-faceted villain, action set-piece that are fully integrated into the story etc, BUT - Damn if that film would not have been even better in black and white! I think it would actually help the box office in the case of that film

comment #18

OddDuck says ...

I agree with nemo that the evolution of normal humans into freakish superhumans capable of cartoonish feats in action movies has generally not been a good trend, and a big reason why is that you usually end up with crazy unbelievable stunts that don't truly impress and had nothing to do with the story.

Which makes the screenplay of the Matrix so fucking genius! They found a way to bring in fantastic completely over the top stuntwork and special effects, and yet all that fantastic stuff was rooted in the logic and physics of the world they created, and more importantly was always - more or less - in service of the story.

I loved Minority Report too, but it felt like some of the stuff in it was just there to look cool - like the spiders.

comment #19

Rich S. says ...

Funny you guys should mention Minority Report. I was thinking of Saving Private Ryan, as well as the initial alien "reveal" in War of the Worlds. They're not black and white, but they're damn close.

comment #20

MAGGA says ...

"I loved Minority Report too, but it felt like some of the stuff in it was just there to look cool - like the spiders."

I thought they were the most chilling description of a police state I have seen in my life!

comment #21

Rich S. says ...

Ask and you shall receive. According to its online schedule, TCM is playing The Train at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 10.

comment #22

Dirty Harry says ...

Another badass underrated Lancaster actioner that deserves to be in the same league as The TRAIN is THE PROFESSIONALS. Of course, it's a completely opposite Lancaster: He's Elmer Gantry again with that keyboard smile and a ready stick of dynamite.

MINORITY REPORT hasn't held up for me on repeat viewings, so I can't put it anywhere near the same league as some of these others which only get better (including THE MATRIX). REPORT's a good film, but not a great one. Whenever I do rewatch it I'm disappointed because it's not even as good as I remembered. And starting with act 2, Spielberg's WAR OTW sucked something fierce.

comment #23

Mark says ...

I realize that you want the movie purposefully shot in crisp B&W ala Angel A, but with them fancy computers today, one could easily remove the color from existing movies, and selectively tweak the contrast and shading, and run a 24 hour B&W cable channel. It'd be the anti- Ted Turner channel.

First movie to be monochromed? Children of Men.

comment #24

le corbeau says ...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386741/

There's this thing. Anyone seen it?

The black and white works so well in the European setting in The Train-- and many other movies, of course. If you ever get a chance to catch an Italian film called The Four Days of Naples, about the uprising against the German army in that city, which plays occasionally on TCM, don't miss it. Fantastic gritty feel for the city and what it would be like to fight a battle in your own street.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056389/

comment #25

Silverscreenvideos says ...

Two things about The Train that always get me. First, that big crash was filmed using an actual train, not miniatures, and obviously not, as it would have been done today, CGI. The overall realism of the set pieces and stunt work make the film so much more credible and exciting than anything we have now.

Second, from Frankenheimer's DVD commentary, the original ending involved Lancaster and Scofield engaged in a typical run-around-and-shoot-at-each other finale. The actual ending works so much better: Point-Scofield arrogantly bragging about how precious art always belongs to men like him...

Counterpoint-A machine gun burst from Lancaster.

Pitch perfect ending to a great action film.