SimonJack "Murder on the Orient Express" stands out as an unusual and different mystery. For that reason alone, it is a valuable part of the genre of mystery and crime films and books. Agatha Christie's tale set on the renowned train route from Istanbul to Paris is indeed a fascinating one. It is one of the best mysteries of all time. Those who have not read the book or heard the story will enjoy the movie the most by going into it without any foreknowledge. So, this review won't divulge any of the plot. Rather, it looks at the story in general, the cast and the setting. This film follows Christie's book very closely. Few names have been changed. The cast is superb. It has one of the largest casts of prominent actors - more than a dozen, in any film. And, none of these are cameos. Each person plays his or her character very well and very close to the book. The only character interpretation that I think didn't quite fit is the lead. Albert Finney's Hercule Poirot seems too talkative and doesn't have the thinking pauses that David Suchet's Poirot shows in the great TV series and movies later. Finney adds a touch of joviality to his flamboyance that doesn't seem quite right for the serious, thoughtful yet arrogant Poirot. But, that's not enough to lower this superb film and story. The performances of the rest of the cast are mostly outstanding. Lauren Bacall is wonderful as Mrs. Hubbard. Martin Balsam is lively and boisterous without being aggravating. He plays the Belgian official of the train company, Bianchi, who also is an acquaintance of Poirot's from the past. Jean-Pierre Cassel shines as Pierre, the Calais car attendant. Wendy Hiller is superb as the princess, and Sean Connery is spot on as Col. Arbuthnot. Vanessa Redgrave as Mary Debenham does beautifully with an air of mystery as though she has something to hide. And, for anyone who knows little about Ingrid Bergman, her Greta in this film shows the great talent of this actress. She surely deserves her best supporting actress Oscar for her performance in this film. She is one of the greatest actresses of all time. Only one other effort to film this Christie story is as good or better than this original. The 2010 movie made for the TV series captures the time and setting perfectly. David Suchet stars as Poirot. It gives a deeper look at Poirot and his disgust with murder. The most recent, 2017 film, changes many character names, some of the circumstances and background, and comes across as a movie being made in 2017. Its characters are mostly forgettable. This 1974, and the 2010 TV film, will be the standards for Christie's novel, should any efforts be made to make another movie. And if that happens, it's not likely to match the star-studded cast of this 1974 masterpiece. Altogether, the players in this film won 45 major film and stage awards in their careers. They won 8 Oscars and had 25 more Academy Awards nominations. They won 16 Golden Globes and had 32 more nominations. They won 9 BAFTA awards and had 29 more nominations. They won 6 TV Emmy awards and had 17 more nominations. And five of them won 6 Tony awards on Broadway.

champomyboy The casting was really good with actors like Johnny Deep. The film is a good detective film with Hercule Poirot who solves a crime in the Orient Express train. I like the film because there are many turnaround. The suspens was always present during the movie and the end was also really good and surprising.

Eric Stevenson This is the first time I ever saw any version of "Murder On The Orient Express" and I guess it's only fitting that I review the original. This is a good movie, but it's not one of my favorites. The best part is easily the final scene. Well, not quite the final scene. I remember hearing about the ending and was afraid they might change it, but they got it right. I guess even if you do know the ending it can still be enjoyable. That's obviously doesn't mean I'm going to mention it here. It's too good to ruin.This features the character Hercule Peirot who I have heard about but never got the chance to see in action. There's one point in the film where they suspect that the butler did it. Never in any Agatha Christie novel does the butler actually do it. Maybe this film is where they got the idea? I was confused by the newsreel at the beginning, but it all made sense later. It's worth checking out.

leplatypus I picked this one in advance to new adaptation with Pénelope and was happy to find here such a good cast with Connery, Golden age Hollywood actresses and the Cassel father… Lumet was a inspired director (with Al movies), Christie is the queen of thriller novels and this Orient Express was to the train what Titanic was to the boat, exoticism in addition! However, the movie opens with a child abduction tragedy worthy of a mute movie and we start the trip in Istanbul!In a lot of stories, and especially the crime ones, beyond the originality of the facts and locations (that are met there), we need to have also a original detective (remember Dale Cooper, Robocop – Murphy, Martin Riggs, …): however, here, we have a plain, copy of Sherlock Holmes and, in my opinion, terribly embodied by this Finney. I don't say he can't act, I just tell that his Poirot was just painful to watch: between effeminate and a look alike of a certain famous Adolph. It's funny (or not) but french critics had the same feeling at its release. His way of investigation is rather poor (just interviews) and I got quickly bored in addition because the suspects are rather just dull, old, very dusty and honestly, this murder becomes a quick who's who (the driver, the maid, the sister, the aunt, the buddy,…) that's totally a turn-off.Unlike Titanic, this movie doesn't age well and now I really consider to go watch the new adaptation!!