Von Ryan's Express (1965) :
Brief Review -
A thrilling POW escape adventure on the running track. I have been through almost hundreds of POW escape flicks, but this one will have its own space and magic for running on the track. First, we are in a prisoner camp, and then we move on to tracks against the Nazis. John Frankenheimer made "The Train" (1964), a thrilling and classic train adventure set in World War II, and gave me the most memorable film of my life that runs on the tracks. Now you ask me, What's after that? Von Ryan's Express would be my answer for now. "If only one gets out, it's a victory," but Ryan believes in taking everyone out. Well, he does it. But who is that one who doesn't get out? That's where this film touches your heart. No matter how adventurous and action-filled this film is, by the end you realise that it's a patriotic film at heart. The last frame and this quote will remain with you. It's a two-hour film, but it never feels boring. At one moment, I thought this film was made a little late. It would have been more effective in the 1940s-the decade it is set in. But then I realised that these filmmaking techniques like colour and cinemascope looked better in the 1960s only. The film is about a pilot who is taken to a POW camp, and then he takes charge as a senior officer. It felt a little weird to see such funny scenes in POW camp in the first half hour. Ryan and other prisoners are freed once Italy surrenders, and there begins their escape journey. From the Italian countryside to getting captured again and then again planning to escape on the train, Ryan and his team take you on a thrilling ride. Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard are the best performers here. The entire cast is brilliant, actually. Drama, thrill, adventure, action, and patriotism-Mark Robson packs every brick in the right place to build a solid wall. Easily my favourite Sinatra movie from the 60s after The Manchurian Candidate.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
