Directed by:
George P. CosmatosCinematography:
Ennio GuarnieriComposer:
Jerry GoldsmithCast:
Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, O.J. Simpson, Lionel Stander, Ann Turkel, Ingrid Thulin, Lee Strasberg, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Lou Castel (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
When a plague-infected terrorist, fleeing from the police, exposes the 1,000 riders of the Geneva to Stockholm Express, Colonel Mackenzie (LANCASTER) is called in to handle the situation. He locates a doctor aboard the train, Jonathan Chamberlain (Harris) who, with his life (Loren), finds the fugitive. They attempt to transfer him to a hovering helicopter, but fail, and the terrorist dies.To prevent the spread of the plague, Colonel Mackenzie directs the train to the Cassandra Crossing bridge, Chamberlain struggles todisconnect the cars and save the passengers from their appointment with doom. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (4)
A film with a rather dense concentration of strange coincidences that bring together a top doctor and a terminally ill man, the wife of a German armorer, a Holocaust survivor and an undercover cop and a drug dealer, and also a film with a number of inaccuracies and errors (not only geographical), but a film that is so suspenseful that you hardly (!) notice any of the above. What I noticed, however, was the last quarter of the film, which unnecessarily degenerated into a "suspenseful" (as if the plot needed to be more dramatic) action spectacle full of literally stupid shootouts and dying... And the guys from the film could really have spared us that. Three and a half stars also for the music by J. G.
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I must remember for next time that watching a movie like this with a fever really isn’t a good idea. The Cassandra Crossing can be very convincing. So much so that it is more than just another seventies disaster movie. For a long time it look like it deserves the highest accolade. But there’s always a “but". And Cassandra’s “but" comes after about ninety minutes, when the movie very dumbly transforms into a completely different genre. Then not even the excellent Harris can stop it drowning in B-movie action thriller waters and so The Cassandra Crossing may make a safe claim to being the older sibling of Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. But without Steven “wobbly flab" Seagal. What a great shame.
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I became excited from the first continuous shot where the camera breaks through the clouds over the peaks of the Alps and descends over Lake Geneva towards the city centre and ends at the World Health Organization buildings, where the story begins. Now that's what I call that a breathtaking visual introduction! Then starts the gripping political thriller about a viral infection brought onto an international train, which is diverted to the sinister crossing of Cassandra. What happens next I will leave for the viewer to find out. It has a stellar cast, solid direction, and a very exciting storyline - what more could you want?
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Unfortunately, this legendary genre film is in the category of films from which the ravages of time have taken a bite. In this case, it was mainly the lengthy introduction and the sometimes rather theatrical actors that took the hit. However, the good aspects in the form of bypassing the familiar archetypes of the main characters, the solidly built tension in the second half, and the grandiose, in a way unexpected, finale, ultimately carry the film almost to the top.
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Gallery (95)
Photo © International Cinemedia Centre Ltd.
![The Cassandra Crossing - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/160/431/160431884_25da90.jpg)
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