I have vivid memories of seeing this in the cinema which haven't left - the yelling and papers on fire at the prison, the boxing match, Eric Roberts incessant yet strangely comforting nattering, Jon Voight speaking through clenched teeth and a bloodied hand, the sense of freezing cold, the train operator who has his head shoved in the toilet.
It remains a powerful, arresting film - they didn't make many movies like this back then and they don't now. Rebecca de Morney is nearly unrecogniseable but adds warmth and human feeling as a third person on the train.
There's not actually that much action i.e. jumping around on a train. You can see how they keep the budget down - lots of scenes inside the caboose and inside the train HQ. The film maybe could have done with another sequence and maybe another baddy for them to overcome. John Ryan's arrival on the train feels a little anti climactic - Voight easily bests him.
Magnificent ending. Good editing. Great prison scenes - Eddie Bunker works on the script and also appears. It feels so real.
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