Rediscovering The Action Movie...

Today's cinema has endless frames of computer-generated special effects, which, in some cases are not only breath-takingly ground-breaking, but a marvelous compliment to much of the story. Then there are those movies that DEPEND on S-F/X to carry the movie along.

How could you do a movie about the TITANIC without ...well, HAVING a "Titanic to sail" on once again? And how can you really part the Red Sea without SHOWING it? STAR WARS without special effects would be a pitiful shadow of itself, as would most ANY sci-fi related movie. Hell, I STILL get a bit of vertigo when that X-Wing fighter dives (us) into the Death Star trench (bigscreeen & surround is a MUST for this...trust me). And you just cannot do Lord Of The Rings without those fantastic special effects...no way! In Hollywood today, if we can dream it...we can generate it in some mainframe.

But if we look back, cinematic history has tons of REALLY good movies with exceptional S-F/X such as Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. Metropolis (1936-Fritz Lang) is STILL a benchmark movie even after all these years! And how often have we seen that chariot race from Ben Hur (and still want to see it again)? Then there are so many comedies from Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy with great sight gags...and these are ALL thanks to special effects (and the men that created them).

One movie stands out for me, though. I finally got to record it the other night on TCM (no commercials...love it), and if you haven't seen it, by all means, rent it, buy it or just give it a look-see.

It's called THE TRAIN, starring Burt Lancaster (who did ALL his OWN stunts, having worked in a circus in his pre-acting days...catch The Crimson Pirate and see what I mean) and Paul Scofield (A Man For All Seasons), made in 1964 (B&W unfortunately), filmed in France (when they really WERE our allies), and directed by John Frankenheimer (Black Sunday, Gran Prix, the original Manchurian Candidate, French Connection II, Seven Days In May, Seconds, Prophecy, along with many other movies and TV shows).

It's part WW2 adventure, part spy thriller, and part human condition. It's a study in obsession, patriotism, and just "how far" one will go for "their" cause, and how the views OF that cause can change seemingly overnight.

Now there is NO model work here...no CGI, and no miniatures. When a train gets trashed..it's a REAL FREAKING TRAIN (Gomez Addams would be in HEAVEN with this). You can't get more "action" than that, can you? And as we all know...you ONLY have ONE TAKE to "get it right" when using REAL stuff! Frankenheimer delivers the goods right on time in this instance!

It's a long movie (over 2 hours), but since the entire flick takes place over the course of less than 3 days, the script is pretty tight, and the acting mirrors that. The cast is relatively small to boot. You've only got a handful of speaking parts....it's really all about TWO people on opposite sides of the war, and what they each "have" to do to find victory. And it's not "victory" in the traditional sense. Each man's victory is defined in very differing terms.

Aside from those "guilty pleasure" movies like Spider-Man or X-Men, or even some B-movie from the 50s like *Earth vs the Flying Saucers (*Ray Harryhausen is a whole genre unto himself), I just find it amazing that even after all these years, I can go back, find a REAL good dramatic movie that draws me into it, and keeps me there until the final credits. That's not that easy to come across today, in spite of all the gadgetry and special effects we've come to RELY on (and in fact demand of today's cinema) every time we watch a new release.

I personally find it a welcome and pleasant diversion...pass the popcorn.