The Train – Kino Lorber (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: France/Italy/USA, 1964
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writers: Franklin Coen, Frank Davis
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Jeanne Moreau, Paul Scofield, Michel Simon, Suzanne Flon, Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Rémy, Jacques Marin, Donald O'Brien, Howard Vernon

Release Date: September 26th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 133 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Mono English, Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $39.95

"Paris, August 1944… with the Allied army closing in on German commander and art fanatic Colonel Franz Von Waldheim (Paul Scofield, A Man for All Seasons), he decides to steal a vast collection of rare French paintings and loads them onto a train bound for Berlin. But when a beloved French patriot is murdered while trying to sabotage Von Waldheim’s scheme, Labiche (Lancaster), a stalwart member of the Resistance, vows to stop the train at any cost. Calling upon his vast arsenal of skills, Labiche unleashes a torrent of devastation and destruction—loosened rails, shattered tracks and head-on collisions—in an impassioned, suspense-filled quest for justice, retribution and revenge." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (4K UHD), 4/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Brand new HDR/Dolby Vision master – from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative."

The Train comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 92.7 GB

Feature: 91.5 GB

This is a solid transfer that improves upon Kino Lorber’s 2021 Blu-ray release. The source is in excellent shape, and any source-related debris or imperfections have been cleaned up. Image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

The Train comes on a 50 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.3 GB

Feature: 41.9 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source as the 4K UHD does for its transfer.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

The 4K UHD disc comes with two audio options, a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. It should be noted that the two audio options that come with the Blu-ray are a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. For this review, I only listened to the DTS-HD mono track. This track is in great shape; the dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. Range-wise, things sound very good, especially the score, which sounds appropriately robust. Included are removable English subtitles.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an isolated score by Maurice Jarre, an archival audio commentary with director John Frankenheimer, and an audio commentary with filmmaker/historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism author Steven Jay Rubin.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a TV spot (1 minute 2 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), a theatrical teaser (1 minute 13 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), a theatrical trailer (4 minutes 26 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), Trailers from Hell with filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith (5 minutes 17 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), 1964 Making-of The Train featurette newly mastered in 2K (6 minutes 38 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), an isolated score by Maurice Jarre, an archival audio commentary with John Frankenheimer, and an audio commentary wit Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin.

Other extras are trailers for Run Silent, Run Deep, The Great Escape, and The Manchurian Candidate, reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to the first pressing), and an eight-page booklet with an essay written by Julie Kirgo, and cast & crew information.

Summary:

Directed by John Frankenheimer, whose other notable films include Birdman of Alcatraz, The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, Seconds, 52 Pick-Up, and Ronin. The score for The Train was composed by Maurice Jarre, whose other notable film scores include Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and The Damned. The Train’s original director was Arthur Penn, who was replaced after a few days of shooting due to conflicts with this film’s star, Burt Lancaster.

The narrative revolves around members of the French resistance who try to sabotage a train transporting French art treasures to Germany.

Most war films revolve around a major event that leads to the end of the war being depicted. This is not the case with The Train, a film that focuses more on the resolve of a small group of resistance fighters. And though it seems that France is about to be liberated any day now in the film, these resistance fighters, who have spent their time waging war from the shadows, decide that their job is not done yet until every last German troop gets removed from their country. Also, a further sense of pride for these French resistance fighters is one last act of defiance against the Germans, who are trying to leave town with part of France’s heritage.

The Train’s narrative has been meticulously constructed, and all the main players in this game of chess are well-defined. Another area where this film excels is how well it holds one's attention, despite the bulk of the film being confined to primarily a single train. With that being said, this film's ability to set the mood and build on mounting tension is inimitable.

One thing that can be said about John Frankenheimer’s direction for The Train is that he is not one to just throw away a shot or a moment. There is a tremendous amount of detail paid to every moment and every frame of film. And though there are way too many amazing moments visually to list them all, there is one scene in particular that epitomizes The Train. It is the scene where the Lancaster character takes advantage of a Nazi officer smoking a pipe that he has left unattended. Lancaster’s character then uses said pipe to make sure that it jams the lever needed to switch trains from one track to the next. And when said sabotage goes off as planned, the Nazi officer whose pipe gets used has to quickly come up with a reason that deflects the blame from him.

From a performance standpoint, the entire cast is great in their respective roles. The most surprising performance comes from Wolfgang Preiss (The Fifth Cord) in the role of the German Colonel, who is hell-bent on getting France’s priceless art treasures on a train and safely to Germany. Another performance of note is Burt Lancaster (The Killers) in the role of Labiche, a Frenchman who is in charge of the train yard where most of the sabotage occurs. Also, the cast features many recognizable faces like Jeanne Moreau (The Bride Wore Black), Michel Simon (Beauty and the Devil), and Howard Vernon (The Blood Rose). Ultimately, The Train is an exceptional film where everything comes together perfectly.

The Train makes its way to 4K UHD via an exceptional release from Kino Lorber that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and informative extras, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer