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The 5 best movies set on trains

By Sreejith Kamalanayanan



Movement is one of the most important elements in a film that keeps the audience captivated. Filmmakers use various  elements involving movement to woo their audience, such as horse riding, car chases etc.

We always loved the horses in Westerns and car chases in films like Bullitt, Driver and Ronin. Recent films like Drive and Baby Driver reasserted that our love for movement is one of the crucial elements to the success of a movie.

Unlike car chases, filming inside trains may be more expensive and complex. That is why people don't always shoot movies inside trains. However, there are some brave filmmakers who chose to set their movies inside moving trains.

In this MovieStreamerz blog post I am presenting you some of the top movies that fall into this category. Here we go:

Train to Busan (2016)



Train to Busan is a South Korean zombie film that garnered wide praise from across the globe. It tells the story about how the passengers on a Busan-bound train deal with a sudden onset of zombie attack.

Train to Busan, unlike the regular Hollywood zombie flicks, focuses on its characters. There is a human element that makes us root for the lead characters.

The movie's highlight is the relationship between a father and daughter duo. The father played by Gong Yoo is an absentee father who fails to care for his daughter. But, during the zombie attack, his daughter becomes his top priority.

The Midnight Meat Train (2008)



The Midnight Meat Train is an underrated horror gem that deserves more love from horror fans. Based on a short story by Clive Barker, The Midnight Meat Train tells the story of a vegan photographer(Bradley Cooper) who follows a serial killer (Vinnie Jones) known as the 'Subway Butcher'.

The serial killer works in a meat factory. He boards a train every night and kills the passengers. The photographer witnesses these killings and tries to track down the killer. But he gets caught up in a dark world of secrets that changes his life forever.

The Midnight Meat Train is dark, gory yet highly enjoyable. It needs to be in every 'must watch horror movies' list. Performances by Bradley Cooper and Vinnie Jones are the highlights of the movie. The horror classic is available for streaming on Netflix.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)



Everyone says the original Murder on the Orient Express (1974) is the better adaptation of the Agatha Christie murder mystery of the same name written in 1934, but this version directed by Kenneth Branagh is visually stunning.

The entire action of the movie takes place inside the luxury train Orient Express. Edward Ratchett, a businessman of ill reputation, is murdered inside the Orient Express. One of the passengers is the famous detective Hercule Poirot. He starts an investigation and every single passenger is a suspect. How he solves the crime forms the crux of Murder on the Orient Express.

Agatha Christie fans and normal movie goers can enjoy the movie. Director Kenneth Branagh plays the detective Hercule Poirot. The movie features an ensemble cast which, include Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz and Willem Dafoe.

Unstoppable (2010)



The late Tony Scott has directed some of the most visually appealing commercial films including the iconic Top Gun, True Romance, Days of Thunder and Enemy of the State. Most of his films were thrillers known for the visual style.

Scott created superb thrillers whenever he associated with Denzel Washington (Crimson Tide, Deja Vu, Man on Fire and The Taking of Pelham 123).

Unstoppable was the last film directed by Scott. The movie is based on the real- life CSX 888 incident, which is about a freight train that started running away. Washington plays a railroad engineer and Chris Pain a train conductor. Both men try to stop the moving train and their attempts add to the thrill quotient of Unstoppable.

Snowpiercer (2013)



Snowpiercer, directed by Bong Joon-ho, is the most political of all the movies listed here. It has more depth and style than other movies set inside a train. The movie functions like an post apocalyptic action film but offer more insights into human psyche and critique about the society.

The movie begins and ends in a train. Unlike other movies in that are set in train, the train in Snowpiercer is a metaphor for the world; the passengers symbolize the inhabitants of the world.

Most of the passengers were born in the train and they do not know of any other world. The train is their only world because the 'world' has been already destroyed by climate change rendering it uninhabitable.

The survivors of the disaster boarded the train. The train is in motion always, it makes no stops. The train is driven by a mysterious loco pilot. He rules the train like a dictator.

Every compartment in the train symbolizes the class structure in the actual world. The final compartment is filled with passengers who are poor. The middle compartment comprises the middle class of the actual world. And the compartments on the front is filled with the elite who enjoy the life with all their privileges.

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