An L.A. District Attorney attempts to take an unwilling murder witness back to the United States to testify against a top-level mob boss. Frantically attempting to escape two deadly hitmen sent to silence her, they board a Vancouver-bound train only to discover that the killers are onboard with them. For the next 20 hours, as the train hurls through the beautiful but isolated Canadian wilderness, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues in which their ability to tell friend from foe is a matter of life and death.
Practical Effects
Real train stunts that modern green screens killed.
Cinematography
Hyams as his own DP—claustrophobic carriages, vast wilderness.
Acting
Hackman doing 'exhausted professional' better than anyone.
Director
Peter Hyams
Gene Hackman
Robert Caulfield
Anne Archer
Carol Hunnicut
James B. Sikking
Nelson
Harris Yulin
Leo Watts
J.T. Walsh
Michael Tarlow
M. Emmet Walsh
Sergeant Dominick Benti
Susan Hogan
Kathryn Weller
Nigel Bennett
Jack Wootton
J.A. Preston
Martin Larner
Codie Lucas Wilbee
Nicholas
Antony Holland
Elderly Man
Kevin McNulty
James Dahlbeck
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hyams shot this immediately after running out of money on another project; the train budget came from selling foreign rights on a poster.
This bombed against Goodfellas and Presumed Innocent, becoming a cable staple that Gen X dads will fight you over.
US
