VHS : Atomic Train

Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5032438004942
Format: PAL
Number Of Discs: 1
Theatrical Release Date: May 16, 1999
Sales Rank: 162922

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
With good production values and a load of suspense, Atomic Train delivers the goods--ahead of schedule. A rich bureaucrat with a Porsche, a goatee, and a defective sense of morality places a defective Russian nuclear warhead aboard a defective American train for cheap disposal, but the engine loses its brakes and hurls out of control toward Denver. Will it explode? Will it wipe out half the city? Will the thoughts and prayers of the President--played by Edward Herrmann, in his best Chrysler-salesman mode--do any good? Will Rob Lowe, the major hero of this epic, ever be able to save his career?

Atomic Train hauls along every disaster-flick formula you can think of: an estranged couple bonding again during a time of crisis (you begin to miss the hysterical Harvey Fierstein character of Independence Day); urban rioting and mayhem; government officials wearing headsets and breathlessly watching video monitors; trigger-happy military men; high-speed stunts; escapes by helicopter; clean-up crews in white spacesuits; many scenes of families being reunited after subplot cliffhangers, to major-key crescendos on the soundtrack. The only typical element missing is a dog saved from a fire at the last minute. But, you have to admit, what Atomic Train does it does with pizzazz.

Everyone's a hero in this movie and almost everyone faces great danger, including Esai Morales, an estranged husband and father; Kristin Davis, the ex-wife with child he's competing with Lowe for; and Zack Ward, the assistant train engineer. It's interesting to see what Ward looks like and what he's doing so many years after playing the yellow-eyed bully in A Christmas Story (hint: a strikingly handsome decent actor). That's one of the many guilty pleasures of this film, with its post-Armageddon tone of overly heroic but ultimately disposable machismo. And explosions. Lots of explosions. --Robert Burns Neveldine

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- How Many Directors Does It Take to Mess Up a Train Movie?
I was surprised to see Rob Lowe in this movie. Of course, Rob is one of the few good things in this movie that is yet another entry into the disaster genre. Unfortunately, there are so many problems with this movie's plot that the producer should have fired the technical advisor or the director that failed to listen to him.

There is this train traveling through the Rocky Mountains with a Russian nuclear missile secreted on board. In addition to the nuclear missile are all kinds of ... Read More

Rating:

- Atomic Train changed my life!
My dad once told me, "son, a movie isn't a movie if someone doesn't get injured and/or killed by an owl." Last month I realized how incredibly true that is. I also realized my dad never said that.
The film industry was done a freaking favor when director (genius) David jackson took over the reigns on this thoroughbread of a movie. Certain words come to mind after watching a film of this calliber. Most of these words I cannot type, for children may view this, but here are a few: "what?" ... Read More

Rating:

- Atomic Train
Seeing the movie on the SCIFI channel, I thought it was an awsome movie, I'm going to see if I can get it for my birthday coming up.

Rating:

- wow
Watching this movie, was like....well, it was like watching a train wreck. I couldnt stop watching it despite how painfully bad the whole movie was. You can read some of the other reviews for some of the endless flaws in the plot line. Anyways, my point is this: don't buy this movie. You'll just end up wasting two hours of your life.

Rating:

- Might be OK movie if you're not into trains
See other reviews for plot info, I won't repeat it. Apparently the makers of this movie didn't know anything about geography or railroads.

300 Miles west of Denver is the other side of the mountains. The train would have to go uphill 150 miles or so, before it could even begin to coast down.

The setting is supposedly modern, yet the train contained cars that have not been in service since the 80s, including a caboose!? The box car containing the "bomb" was modified with ... Read More

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