4 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Superb rendition of Christie's locomotive thriller!

GraftheGreatest from from Harrow, 19th May, 2004

A 'businessman' (Widmark) who turns out to be the famous Daisy Armstrong murderer is stabbed a dozen times whilst travelling on the world's most famous & luxurious train, the Orient Express. Hercule Poirot (Finney) & friend (Martin Balsam) have to sift through the clues & solve the mystery before they can be rescued from a snowdrift.
Sidney Lumet's direction is impercetible & the star-studded A-list cast relish their screen time. Suspects include: Wendy Hiller, Sean Connery, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Dennis Quilley, Vanessa Redgrave, Jacqueline Bisset, Michael York, Rachel Roberts, Anthony Perkins, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sir John Gielgud & George Coulouris.
It is Finney's over-the-top & well-observed detective that steals the show. Asides from this, the story is told well & the pains Lumet went to recreate the '30's certainly pay off. The flashback interview scenes & blue-lit early 'murder' scenes are probably the best of the movie. But also, we have the delicious 2nd of 2 possible murder scenarios, leading to a very fitting climax, all rounded off with a fantastic score.
10 out of 10. Coulda been 11 if the dvd extras had included more than a 3 minute trailer (plus no audio commentary).

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3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

A classic

ascolti from , 18th September, 2007

Murder on the Orient Express is one of those films that defines an era in cinema. At what point in time are you likely to get such a huge cast of famous people to work together in such an ambitious project. Certainly NOT in the TV remake, that's that for sure. So, I'm not going to ruin the plot because I guess most people have actually seen it. But the delightful way Albert Finney goes out of his way to make HIS portrayal of Poirot so delightfully dislikable that really brings the book alive for me. Rent it. Force you kids to watch it. Educate them.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Almost flawless

A Customer from Wales, 25th August, 2005

An almost perfect two hours entertainment. It’s not meant to be deep or meaningful film, simply an escapist fantasy trip to the Thirties that never really were in the company of one of the great creations of detective fiction. True to the book, with a cast delighting in putting credible flesh on what are for the most part essentially cameos, sumptuously set and scored, there’s little to find fault with. My only criticism is the way the film opens with a somewhat extended “back history” sequence, before jumping forward five years to the “present” and to the delightful sequence assembling the disparate travelers for their trip on the eponymous train. To my mind, this gives too much away too early, and would have far better fitted mid way in the film, letting the audience only discover the murder motive when Poirot does. But that’s a quibble, so sit back and enjoy a film resonant with old-Hollywood style and feel, graced with some of all time greats of cinema. The final denouement scene, with the whole cast, major and minor, assembled in a single railway car, is marvelous – no attempts to scene-steal, and everyone remains unselfishly and consistently in character.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

JenKilch#1 from LONDON, 26th January, 2004

The all-star cast is in itself reason enough to watch this one. This classic Agatha Christie tale will keep you entertained on a cold Sunday winter's afternoon. Spot the stars of yestderday - Lauren Bacall, and Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery and Michael York - all under the direction of Sydney Lumet.

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'So who do you think you are kidding, Mr Finney?'

A Customer from Stroud, 7th October, 2009

If you've seen Downfall, you're in for a bit of a laugh - this film contains the best impression of Adolf Hitler i've ever seen. Anyone who loves Suchet's gentle, tactful Hercule might be a bit puzzled by this version, who, if he isn't German, certainly hasn't been anywhere near Belgium in his life (sub Allo Allo accents abound all round). With oil instead of hair, a hilarious habit of shouting at every woman he sees and a creepy, shuffling zombie style walk, this only surprise in this rather dull affair is that Hercule isn't the one to bite it right at the start.... All told, a bit rubbish

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Murder on the Orient Express

crackerjack25 from , 15th April, 2009

Excellent. great cast, fabulous plot, Albert Finney is amazing and dare i say as good as Peter Ustinov as Poirot. The ending always makes me cry.

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On a train to nowhere.

si81 from from Lancaster, 26th May, 2008

The lamentably short cameos from Sean Connery and Vanessa Redgrave are the only saving graces of this woefully poor film, but alas even they fail to save very much of the rest. Poirot is embarrasingly bad, if only it could have been him who woke up dead. Altogether terrible, simply terrible.

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