The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery (1979)

  • 78% of critics liked it
    (23 reviews)

  • 66% of users liked it
    (7,673 ratings)

Not a remake of the landmark 1903 Edwin S. Porter film, The Great Train Robbery is a dramatization of the famous first hold-up of a moving train in 1855 England. The conspirators in this undertaking are Edward Pierce (Sean Connery), Agar (Donald Sutherland) and Clean Willy (Wayne Sleep). Pierce is… More

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PG,
Directed By
Genres
Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy
In Theaters
Feb 2, 1979 Wide
On DVD
Jul 28, 1998
MGM

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Crichton's films drag in dialog bouts, but triumph when action takes over.

  • , Time Out

    The characters stay largely undeveloped, while -- despite superficially peculiar features -- the robbery is stripped of the ingenious exposition of the novel.

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    he climactic heist of the gold, with Mr. Connery climbing atop the moving railroad cars, ducking under bridges just before a possible decapitation, is marvelous action footage that manages to be very funny as it takes your breath away.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    Connery is one of the best light comedians in the movies, and has been ever since those long-ago days when he was James Bond.

  • Ian Nathan, Empire Magazine

    Crichton is after a giggly quality as if it's being told as a pub yarn, soaked in exaggeration and acute trickery to defeat impossible hurdles, while never far from redoubtable moral lesson.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • AJ V


    Oh, so boring... Sure there's a good cast, but they're not even doing anything exciting anyway.

  • Lady D


    Not the most intriguiging of robbery/hiest movies, but clever all the same. It plodded along slowly but at an entertaining pace, interesting to see a robbery/hiest for it's the period it covered and with a little humour injected in to it and a likeable performance by Sean… More

  • xGary X


    Enjoyable period heist movie that's like a victorian version of The Italian Job. A likeable cast of british stalwarts makes it all the more enjoyable.

  • Byron B


    Fun crime caper. Playful. Shows how the characters (led by mastermind Connery) carefully prepare all the pieces necessary to pull off the heist. Good period details. To me it didn't look like a 70's film; it has aged well. But, hey now, there's quite a bit of… More

  • Laura C


    Oh man I loved this movie! I especially enjoyed Donald Sutherland's performance, so quirky and fun to watch. I laughed so much, especially when Sean Connery and his stealthy movements on top of the train. His close calls as the train raced through the bridges were brilliantly… More

Read all 6 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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