GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

slightlymad22 Continuing my plan watch every Sean Connery movie in order, I come to 1979 yeah he released three movies, The first of which was The First Great Train Robbery. Connery's last good movie of the 1970's, and last great performance of the decade. Possibly a bit ahead of its time The First Great Train Robbery is an enjoyable period heist movie. Since robbers did not crack safes in those days. Because dynamite and combination locks had not yet been invented, they could only open the saw with keys. The stealing of the four keys to the two safes without their owners knowing it was great fun.Connery was a suave, gentleman criminal, Donald Sutherland was his partner whilst Lesley Ann Down was his mistress and the annoying Wayne Sleep had a small role.The First Great Yrain Robbery has witty innuendo and some great lines. I always enjoyed this oneJudge: "Why did you commit this scandalous and dastardly crime?" Man In Dock: "I wanted the money."It is superbly delivered.It's also worth noting that Connery clearly did all of his own stunts. Including running across the top of a moving train, going at 55 mph, ducking the bridges as he went. The First Great Train Robbery grossed a disappointing $13 million at the domestic box office. His next two movies this in 1979 didn't fare any better.

edwagreen A caper should be interesting, fast moving and a joy to watch. This 1978 film is anything but. In fact, we would have been better off had author Michael Crichton told about the Crimean War.The film takes place in 1855 England with the latter and France at war with Russia over the Crimea. British soldiers were paid in gold that was shipped by train.When a robber is thrown off the train and killed, this gives Sean Connery, aided by Donald Sutherland, the idea of pulling off such a heist.The film is mostly devoted to making the necessary sets of keys so they can rob the train while it's in motion.It is interesting how they pursue this, but you want the film to move ahead until you get to the actual robbery scene.It finally happens, but by then one is annoyed with the whole film.

JohnHowardReid When author Michael Crichton published a novel entitled The Great Train Robbery, many people were confused as to whether it was fact or fiction. So Crichton re-titled this film version of his novel as The First Great Train Robbery. And a very exciting picture it is too. Not only is the story itself thrilling, but it incorporates some really hair-raising stunts. According to the press release, Crichton insisted that his stars perform all their own stunts. So, allegedly it is Sean Connery himself that we see leaping from carriage to carriage of the speeding train and almost being knocked off his precarious perch by a low-clearance bridge. Another fine actor whom Crichton cajoled into doing his own stunts is Wayne Sleep who makes a palm-sweating escape from prison by clambering up a four-storey wall. Yes, all the performances in this film are engrossing, but Lesley-Ann Down deserves a special mention. In the course of the plot, she adopts a number of very convincing disguises and manages to change her voice so successfully as to fool even me at times. But exciting as the story is, the feature I like best in this film is its authentic atmosphere and its detailed recreation of Victorian London. No expense has seemingly been spared. The sets are huge and there are hundreds and hundreds of costumed extras milling around. And how about the train itself? Here's a real vintage steam train let loose on a glorious jaunt through the British countryside! Yes, The First Great Train Robbery is a movie that would appear to hold all the ingredients for a top commercial success, including a great cast, a strong story, straightforward direction and extremely lavish production values. And yet the film flopped!

kenjha Before they can rob a safe on a train, thieves must obtain four independent keys kept by three people. The schemes devised to obtain the keys are laughably simplistic, with the plan to steal the final two keys (inexplicably kept in one place) ridiculously drawn out. Attempts at humor fall flat, and the film lacks the dramatic tension necessary for a good heist movie. Crichton not only adapts his own novel, but also directs. Based on the lame evidence presented here, he's not a competent writer or director. Connery and Sutherland are not called upon to flex their acting muscles while Down doesn't appear to have any such muscles. At least the sets and costumes are nice.