Lasko - Death Train (2006)

Waste of time

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Even though I'm not Catholic, I weary of movies that bash them or portray their clergy or adherents in the worst possible light. 'Lasko: Death Train' is charmingly pro-Catholic, and a lot of fun.What could be more enjoyable for Catholic 9 to 15-year olds than to see kung-fu monks try and stop mercenaries from distributing a deadly stolen virus on a train of pilgrims bound for Lourdes to see the Pope? For what it is, this movie is relatively safe for young people -- only a smidgen of vulgar language, very little blood, and nothing prurient. Classroom teachers should feel pretty safe about showing it to students. The editing, music, cinematography, pacing, etc. are all very good. Okay, so the dialogue sounds like it came out a Japanese animated film at times, but kids won't care. There won't be anything new here for action flick fans, but what is here is handled carefully and done well.I liked it. Kids will enjoy it, too.

I totally enjoyed this movie. It's a shame when people nitpick over little details. Let's all remember WHY we go to the movies in the first place: we want to believe that there's a happy ending, that there's a crazy, action packed setting where lots of unbelievable things happen. Explosions galore in this one! Lots of cars getting blown up (how crazy was the timing on the hummer driving RIGHT past the truck that the villain had stuck a detonator to?), helicopters smashing into trains... It's a miracle the train survived as long as it did! The only thing that puzzles me is how a train has a "ventilation system" that runs throughout all the cars in sequence. Lots of great martial arts, and a rather interesting storyline. The strong arm of the Vatican? Interesting plot line and sorry, but you don't see a whole slew of movies based on "death trains." The characters were believable, and there were a few humorous moments, most notably the atypical heavyset monk, and the main villain calling himself Lucifer. If you want non stop action, this movie delivers; it has you on the edge of your seat until the very end. I highly recommend it.

Well, the theme is a bit different! And Il Papa has a cameo! Must be the habits, but I did find myself thinking "I'm sure Cadfael wouldn't have done that" but I suppose that technology has moved on since his time.I thought the action was pretty good. Some good stunts. How did they do that amazing explosion? The story held together well with no glaring plot holes.I suppose that there really must be some hard-headed Vatican clerics who have to plan realistically for security and logistics behind the scenes of such events as Lourdes.Some of the human interest bits that were pasted on to flesh out the hero were rather wince-worthy. And he was a little too cherubic for my liking. As was the boy. And folk demanding coffee from their underlings.Overall, I thought it was a well acted, all-action thriller - just a shame that the cloying bits were not edited out.

Great action film all round really. Saw this at Cannes 2005 and had a blast watching it and it was a class touch getting Arnold Vosloo to play the lead villain. My only complaint is that the lead character played by the highly versatile Mathis Landwehr does not get to demonstrate as much of his martial arts ability as he did in Kampfansage. However, the crashing explosion at the end of the film must be one of the largest i've ever seen in all my years. A genuine spectacle. Great fun from start to finish, and it's great to see an Action Concept film making the leap to English language. Although I generally like subtitled films myself, this will hopefully ensure that their films will be seen in more territories worldwide. Well worth seeking out.