| |  | DVD Von Ryan's Express (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) |  | | | | | | | | | | Rating:  - With German soldiers this dumb, Hitler never had a chance.
"Von Ryan's Express" has about as much credibility and subtlety as an average "Hogan's Heroes" episode but sadly without the humor.
The story of a group of POWs in wartime Italy attempting to escape for freedom via train is told in heavy-handed, obvious - not to mention juvenile - fashion. With German soldiers this dumb, Hitler never had a chance.
Sinatra and Trevor Howard are actually quite good but are surrounded by second-rate acting talent. With believability jettisoned early on, this "boys own" adventure becomes downright tedious.
Sound and picture quality on this DVD are excellent. Unfortunately this tends to highlight the extensive use of obvious rear-projection shots.
Rating:  - An enjoyable guilty pleasure but not a necessary upgrade if you already have the film
Von Ryan's Express belongs to the dying days of WW2-as-Boys-Own-adventure movies, where, for all the cynical window-dressing, the good guys can always outwit overwhelming numbers of Nazis and death is still heroic. It's also much more entertaining than it has any right to be as Frank Sinatra's unpopular new senior officer leads several hundred prisoners of war to freedom by hijacking a Nazi train and conning his way through Italy to Switzerland while Trevor Howard's old school British officer snipes at his bad form all the way and Edward Mulhare's loveable padre impersonates a German officer to get them past the checkpoints. Yep, it's The Great Escape meets The Train, with Great Escaper John Leyton along for the ride just in case anyone misses the connection. As big, not quite as dumb as it could be entertainment it certainly does the trick, throwing in an enjoyable if sparse Jerry Goldsmith score and a particularly memorable finale.
Sadly the new 2-DVD release really is hard to recommend for any but hardcore Jerry Goldsmith fans, the only notable extras being an isolated score track and a brief featurette on the composer. Aside from trailers and TV spots, the rest is made up with talking heads background featurettes with none of the films surviving participants contributing. Even worse is the fact that brief clips are used from a vintage behind the scenes short made during production, but the short itself is not included. It's fine for a first-time buy, but not really worth an upgrade if you already have the previous edition.
Rating:  - Great war action
I saw this movie years ago and loved it then. When I saw the DVD I brought it. The quality of this fast paced movie is very good. I really enjoyed the scenes where Frank Sinitra,as the new POW leader,made the Italians give the POWs new uniforms. The action is plentiful and the acting good.Sinitra doesn't sing but he is convincing as the American colonel.
Rating: - Heroes die hard
Von Ryan's Express is a compelling drama featuring the heroism and bravery of a motley crew of prisoners.Not short on bravery Frank Sinatra and his men do their best to wreek havoc on the German war effort and get their freedom as well.The action never stops and hopes remain high until the end when the main hero loses his life.It is a reminder that many gave their lives in a noble effort to win the peace and preserve a way of life.War is not a noble profession, but sometimes men can rise above with a little resolve and dignity.The greatest generation of all time is represented well here.One can only hope that lessons were learned in this war.Some choose to forget them, but I never will.I cherish my freedom and never forget those who died so I could live in peace.
Rating: - I once told you Ryan, even if one gets out, it's a victory.
I this movie is my favorite movie of all time.I am biased towards it because I have this movie on VHS, laserdisc (an old media type), DVD, and now the Special Edition DVD.If you like the movie you will love the 2nd disk that is with this.It is a great movie and it is about time that 20th Century Fox come out with the Special edition.I am not going to go into details about the movie, you can read those above, but Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard are dynamite in this film!
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