Von Ryan's Express (1965)

It begins slow and gets faster and faster until the end. The color is wonderful and the music from Jerry Goldsmith well tuned to each scene. The screenplay is well adapted and the special effects good executed. The train scenes are very interesting to see and for all old locomotive lovers a must see. I liked the escape by train from south of Italy to the mountains of Switzerland.

I share the opinions on IMDb that Frank Sinatra delivered one of his best performance of his career. Interesting seeing also Wolfgang Preiss that has for me the right profile for a SS. He characterizes in several war movies always a high SS and this in a very believable way. The end therefore was very poor and it seemed to me that they wanted just to stop somewhere the story.

After THE TRAIN with Burt Lancaster and THE GREAT ESCAPE with Steve Mc Queen this is another good adventure war movie to add to my best of DVD collection. If you ask me which one of these three I like the most I would classify it as follows: 1) THE GREAT ESCAPE (read my critic) 2) VON RYAN'S EXPRESS 3) THE TRAIN (black and white, read my critic)

My vote: 7/10 that matches exactly the rating on IMDb.

Fmovies: Loads of WWII action as Sinatra leads band of Allied POWs in theft of prison train and attempted escape run through Italy to Switzerland. Many tense moments and spectacular location photography create a realistic feel even if the basic plot is pretty far-fetched. After all they've been through, when Trevor Howard is still calling Frank "Von Ryan" an hour into the film you figure The Chairman is going to punch him senseless but that never actually happens. Memorable final scene. One of my favorite war movies.

what a marvellous performance by Sinatra and Trevor Howard in this classic World War 11 movie.A great script and some strong supporting roles make this movie a wonderful piece of entertainment.Sharp movie fans may even notice a young James Brolin in a small role,but the greatest thing about this movie is the wonderful line uttered by Trevor Howard to Frank(as Von Ryan)when Sinatra tries to tie a knot to show how to strangle a german guard (which fails) and Trevor Howard shows Sinatra how to really tie a strangle knot ,and says the immortal line"learn that from the cowboy films did you?".what a great put down,its worth watching just for that.The ending is a surprise and really leaves one a bit flat but all in all wonderful escapism.

Von Ryan's Express fmovies. "Von Ryan's Express" is overall a satisfying WW II actioner. The movie is long but never boring, there's some excitement and suspense, and some action.

The only problems I found with the movie is that the above is at the expense of characters - not enough time is given to these characters, so we don't have as much of a personal stake - so whether the characters live or die doesn't matter as much as it could have. Also, some of the special effects, even for 1965, are somewhat embarrassing.

It's still a good movie, and it's worth watching - it's just not the classic it could have been.

From a slow start this build into an exciting if somewhat unrealistic war film. However, it was designed for entertainment and not to depict any remotely historical fact.

The cinematography and scenery look good and although no expert on trains, they look from the right period. The characters are not fleshed out but as this is an adventure film this lapse is not too important. Some of the main characters are also casualties by the end thus avoiding the usual Hollywood line from that period of everyone escaping without a scratch.

I'm not a big fan of Sinatra as an actor but he does well here depicting a flawed character who appears both likable and unlikeable. It is established early in the film that Col Ryan is not a career airman and has limited military experience and so it is not surprising that he makes some key mistakes although he does learn from them.

The supporting cast is good although with the exception of John Leyton far too old to have been on military service.

Not up with the very best WW2 films but well above the average.

This is a very logical and well-considered storyline developed from David Westheimer's WWWII thriller by Wendell Mayes and Joseph Landon The escape that ends this film, a trainborne flight across Italian lines toward Switzerland provides a vivid action climax when the train is attacked; it is a bit implausible only because of the length of time the train has to go on unstopped. The film begins its exciting adventure narrative with the arrival of "Von Ryan", then Ryan, among a group of busy British and American sorts trying to escape from a stalag run by a sadistic commandant. They are being punished, but will not give up their attempts. As the now-ranking senior officer, Ryan orders them to stop escaping, then betrays their tunnels to the enemy in return for decent conditions. He is betrayed; then he issues an order that causes him to be put into solitary. he gets respect from this; but he is now "Von Ryan" for the remainder of the film. the war ends; the prisoners revolt successfully and capture the Commandant. Then they have to move overland to escape, and"Von Ryan's" sparing of some prisoners costs lives. But it his great idea once they are captured and put aboard a train to be taken to imprisonment in Germany is to steal the train and head for safety elsewhere. They succeed; against all odds, even though he must kill an Italian officer's loyal betrayer, a beautiful woman; and by ruse, attack, feint, false messages and speed, they do what is necessary. Then as they head for Switzerland, the German planes attack. And at the last, Ryan runs after the train, the last of all--and becomes a legend the hard way. Music by Jerry Goldsmith, makeup by Ben Nye, cinematography by William H. Daniels , art direction by Hilyard B. Brown and John Martin Smith all under the direction of producer-director Mark Robson add up to a recipe for a first-rate color adventure film. As Ryan, Frank Sinatra is not entirely miscast and tries very hard, sensibly underplaying his role, matched every step of the way by Trevor Howard who mostly reacts and gives speeches about the way things ought to be done, very effectively. Edward Mulhare comes off Academy Award level in the film, and others such as John van Dreelin, Sergio Fantoni, Adolfo Celi as the Commandant, and Vito Scotti do well. Raffalla Carra is the girl Ryan must kill, Wolfgang Preiss, Brad Dexter, John Leyton and Richard Bakalyan are soldiers on one side or another. There are many exciting scenes provided, none moreso than Mulhare's impersonation of a German officer; the death of the girl, the final attacks on the train, several of the scenes set in the Stalag and the train's progress which is counterpoised many times to German language scenes of what their pursuers are doing; dialogue scenes lead here to action, action to reassessments, to challenges and to consequences. This is sometimes a slick film, but never a boring one, I suggest. Its characters are not developed as they would have been in a dramatic film; this is an adventure-level film with dramatic elements. And it is a good and occasionally thrilling ride, with the curious sense about it of a dream and a symbol both. Its theme is the courage to dare; and in the enigmatic Ryan, it finds an appropriate hero, a bit tarnished about the edges as a soldier but a first-rate result-getter nevertheless.