10 Filmic Train Alternatives To Today's Actual Events

What a difference a day makes someone sang. True story. Yesterday I was at work waiting desperately for the clock to spin faster so I could be reunited with my baby-boy-carrying wife and tickly-cough-riddled little daughter. I take pride in supporting the lovely family, but the eagerness to rush home was also due to the start of an eleven day vacation. Seven nights in Athens, Greece, with the other half of the family, and the proceeding weekend, would begin with a day and night in Manchester (city, then airport). I won’t go into details, but as weariness, illness, and some awful time-sucking luck with all manner of train shenanigans kicked in, day one of our vacation has been partially written off in the entertainment sector. I won’t moan now, any time with the family is precious, but rather will remind you all and myself of some relate-able and alternative train tales from the movies. Take my sense of humor with a pinch of salt, and take some of these as greater film recommendations than others.

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On top of everything else that was wrong with humanity today, it was cold, very cold. But I did not see one single polar bear.

Snowpiercer (2014)

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Only my pregnant wife and ill daughter were fabulous enough to give Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich a run for their money.

Shanghai Express (1932)

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We were seemingly animated too, but in one spot, going backwards and forwards from platform to platform. “All board” was more like “Cancelled”, “Delayed”, and “Sorry for the inconvenience”.

The Polar Express (2004)

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I was just about thankful though that the train was not taken hostage by a bunch of idiotic crooks. Especially as Ryback was nowhere to be seen.

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)

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As our bad luck seemed to be reoccurring I am not sure if an eight-minute reset loop would have been a pro or a con.

Source Code (2011)

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The Long Overdue Arrival of a Train at La Manchester Piccadilly. Was too exhausted and cold to be so excited to see the train coming towards us finally.

L’arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat (1895)

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Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan could have written us a much more spontaneous, pleasing reality. And Vienna would be nice if we weren’t already going to Athens.

Before Sunrise (1995)

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Travelling under such high levels of stress did not end up in a well-thought out series of murders. Not quite.

Strangers on a Train (1951)

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There were platform cries for daddy, but it was several times from a toddler with a cold and a cough. I like to think I handled the whole thing like a saint.

The Railway Children (1970)

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No such negative emotional concerns with my wonderful family today, but I know our moods and fatigue could have been enhanced perhaps by Rachmaninoff’s soothing Piano Concerto No. 2.