Murder On The Orient Express

Superb cast in deluxe, restored edition of DVD
Agatha Christie's mysteries changed the genre. With twists, turns and credible watertight plotting her novels divorced themselves from the hackneyed conventions of the genre. Sidney Lumet's superb film of Christie's novel looks marvelous on this deluxe DVD from Paramount. The rich, colorful cinematographer of Geoffrey Unsworth ("2001: A Space Odyssey") looks terrific. Lumet's assured hand guides the film without hesitation to a truly stunning conclusion. Paramount has remastered the soundtrack for Dolby Digital 5.1 giving the sound a richer feel than previous video editions of the movie. While it doesn't quite convey the detail one might hear in a brand new movie, it does a great job of improving an already great mystery movie.

After working on a case, Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney) travels home on the Orient Express hoping for a relaxing journey. Instead, when the train is caught in the show he's drawn into a mystery on the very train he's traveling on. A millionaire named...

Elegant, stylish murder mystery...
...but turn on the closed captioning, because as one reviewer pointed out Albert Finney's heavy accent and often garbled speech could try anyone's comprehension, not to mention patience. But Finney is still excellent, though he falls short of David Suchet, who is the quintessential Hercule Poirot.

But enough about that. They rarely make films this lavishly entertaining anymore. "Murder on the Orient Express" is visually striking to say the least; the Orient Express and its various set pieces are magnificently rendered, and at no small expense either. The all-star cast is impressive; from Lauren Bacall's scene-stealing American chatterbox to Anthony Perkins' disturbing, PSYCHO-reminiscent secretary, the cast list adds emphasis to the idea of the house-party whodunit. The film is, essentially, a Hollywood party on a grand scale.

Although the film is sluggish at times and the unraveling of Agatha Christie's labyrinthine plot doesn't work as well on the...

Excellent whodunnit with a surprising twist
To me the definitive Hercule Poirot will always be Peter Ustinov, but in 1974 Albert Finney tackled the role in this excellent adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name and the movie continues to this day as one of my very favorite whodunnit's - thank goodness it is finally making its way to DVD.
Starring a cast that is simply incredible this movie set the standard for the Ustinov star studded movies that would follow (starting with 1978's DEATH ON THE NILE). Included on the list of stars are such names as Sean Connery, Jacqueline Bisset, Sir John Gielgud, Richard Widmark, Vanessa Redgrave, Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Perkins.
Aboard the Orient Express a businessman (played by Widmark) with a mysterious past is murdered in the middle of the night. Desperate to resolve the matter before they arrive at the next major stop on the line (to avoid a lengthy police investigation) Hercule Poirot is persuaded by an executive for the train company to begin his own...

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