It will take you to the edge of suspense.
An L.A. District Attorney attempts to take an unwilling murder witness back to the United States to testify against a top-level mob boss. Frantically attempting to escape two deadly hitmen sent to silence her, they board a Vancouver-bound train only to discover that the killers are onboard with them. For the next 20 hours, as the train hurls through the beautiful but isolated Canadian wilderness, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues in which their ability to tell friend from foe is a matter of life and death.
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Character
Grave, classical in form, resolved and earnest.
- gravecomic
- classical in formformally daring
- resolvedopen-ended
- earnestironic
- intimateepic
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“Is this Peter Hyams's best work?”
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“Is Gene Hackman the best thing in Narrow Margin?”
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“Does the smallness hold it back?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- John Chardon TMDB · Dec 20146.5/10
Narrow Margins and Wide Loads. Director and writer Peter Hyams took the bold decision to reimage one of the best film noir crime pictures of the 1950s, and all things considered it’s not half bad. Without getting close to the greatness of Richard Fleischer’s 1952 claustrophobic suspenser that is. Having Gene Hackman and Anne Archer heading up your two principal characters is a good foundation. As the district attorney employee and witness to a mob killing respectively, both actors come up trumps for their director as they are thrust into a game of cat and mouse aboard a speeding train. As the Canadian wilderness outside the train’s windows soothes the eyes, the cramped interiors make for good suspense as Hackman plays the calm to Archer’s panic. There’s nothing new here in terms of thriller conventions, and the pitfalls and familiarity of the plot’s ideas keep it from hitting better heights: people still do dumb things – important details are all too quickly swept aside – laws of gravity non existent and etc. But refreshingly Hyams resists the chance to insert a cloying romance, while his staging of suspense scenes are very well handled. But of course he’s got Hackman being as cool
Read the whole review on TMDB - JPV852on TMDB · Sep 20257/10
Second time watching this and still a solid thriller with a great finale that, save for one shot, looked practical which was great and today would've been done with visual effects. Good performances from Hackman and Archer and at only 94-minutes, a quick but entertaining way to spend a weekend night. **3.5/5**
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Cast
- Gene HackmanRobert Caulfield
- Anne ArcherCarol Hunnicut
- James B. SikkingNelson
- Harris YulinLeo Watts
- J.T. WalshMichael Tarlow
- M. Emmet WalshSergeant Dominick Benti
- Susan HoganKathryn Weller
- Nigel BennettJack Wootton
- J.A. PrestonMartin Larner
- B.A. 'Smitty' SmithKeller
Crew
- Peter HyamsDirector
- Peter HyamsWriter
- Peter HyamsDirector of Photography
- Bruce BroughtonOriginal Music Composer
- James MitchellEditor
- Jonathan A. ZimbertProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Suddenly 195481% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, earnest.
The Steel Helmet 195180% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, earnest.
The Narrow Margin 195280% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, earnest.
Shoot to Kill 198877% alikeBoth classical in form, grave, earnest.
Braven 201876% alikeBoth classical in form, grave, resolved.
Berlin Express 194876% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, earnest.
The Hitcher 200775% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, resolved.
Sahara 194375% alikeBoth classical in form, grave, earnest.
Tomorrow's Joe 197072% alikeTelevision · Both classical in form, earnest, grave.
Afro Samurai 200770% alikeTelevision · Both grave, resolved, classical in form.
Often watched with
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