Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

I tend to have the television on most of the time when I’m doing things around the house. I have a few stations that show some decent movies. Sometimes when I’m just flipping through stations I find a movie on one of those stations that looks interesting and I start watching. That is how I happened to see The Cassandra Crossing, a movie I enjoyed, but had never heard of before.

Three men attempt to set off a bomb inside the International Health Organization in Geneva. One man was killed, and the other two ended up getting into a locked lab where they were exposed to a deadly plague. One man escaped through a window and made his way to the train station where he got on board an express train that was heading to Stockholm. The other man didn’t make it out of the building. He became very sick very fast. Dr. Elena Stradner was trying to treat the man. Colonel Stephen Mackenzie arrived and tried to find out who the man was. Colonel Mackenzie was then focused on finding out where the other man was before he spread the plague all over Europe. The plague was spread was spread through the air.

There were one thousand passengers on the express train heading for Stockholm. The man was showing signs of being sick when he got on the train. He was hiding out in the baggage compartment, but he did wander through the train, coming into contact with several people. Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain had won an award and was somewhat well known because of that. Once the train left the station, he discovered that Jennifer, the woman he’d married and divorced twice, was also on the train. She was a successful author who just finished a new book that featured a character that was a lot like Jonathan. They seemed to still be attracted to each other, but they kept sniping at each other. Nicole Dressler, a very wealthy woman, was traveling with her younger boyfriend Robby. A priest on board seemed to be interested in Robby for some reason. Herman Kaplan frequently traveled on the train and was friends with the conductor.

It was discovered that the sick man made it onto the train. Colonel Mackenzie contacted the train and asked to speak with Jonathan since he was a doctor. Mackenzie wanted Jonathan to find the sick man. Jonathan, Jennifer, and the conductor started to search the train for the sick man. He was very sick when they found him. Mackenzie didn’t want to stop the train because he didn’t want to let anyone who could have possibly been infected leave and infect others. Mackenzie was receiving orders from someone else who was determined to keep the plague from spreading. It was decided that a helicopter would be sent out to get the man off the train without stopping it. The man died before that could be done. People on the train started to show symptoms and get sick, though some people seemed to be immune to the plague.

The train was supposed to make several stops on the way to Stockholm. Mackenzie wouldn’t let the train stop. People on board got very upset when they learned that the train wasn’t making the scheduled stops. That night the train was stopped and men with machine guns got on board. All the windows were covered, and things were set up to pump oxygen through the cars. It was decided that the train would be taken to a former concentration camp in Poland so that all of the passengers could be quarantined and treated if necessary. Jonathan was told about the plan, and he shared that with Jennifer. They became closer again. To get to the camp, the train would have to go over a bridge that had been closed in the 1940's called the Cassandra Crossing. More people found out about where the train was going, and expressed concern about going over that bridge. Several people felt it wasn’t safe and that the train wouldn’t make it across. Jonathan shared concerns about the Cassandra Crossing with Mackenzie, who dismissed them.

CAST

Richard Harris - Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain
Sophia Loren - Jennifer Rispoli Chamberlain
Martin Sheen - Robby
O.J. Simpson - Priest
Lionel Stander - Conductor
Ann Turkel - Susan
Ingrid Thulin - Dr. Elena Stradner
Lee Strasberg - Herman
Ava Gardner - Nicole Dressler
Burt Lancaster - Col. Stephen Mackenzie

George P. Cosmatos - Director

The Cassandra Crossing was released in 1976 and rated R. The movie was 129 minutes long. It is available on VHS and DVD. I saw the movie on television so it had more than likely been edited some. I don’t know what might have been edited out since I have only seen the movie on television. I don’t think this is a movie that children would be interested in seeing.

There were several things going on in The Cassandra Crossing. The movie was mainly focused in on dealing with the plague, but there were some other things going on as well. Jonathan and Jennifer were divorced, but they were still drawn to each other. They hadn’t seen each other in a while before ending up on the same train, and they rekindled their relationship. Nicole and Robby were involved in a relationship, but Robby was keeping something from Nicole. The priest wasn’t acting like a priest normally would. Some things about the other passengers were shown, but there were many of the passengers who were only shown in passing. There were supposed to be one thousand passengers on the train. There is no way they all could be shown.

The Cassandra Crossing was a thriller. There were some suspenseful moments during the movie when I didn’t know what would happen next. Some things that happened were predictable. People on the train weren’t told what was really going on. Some of them got very angry when they were given an excuse for why the train wasn’t stopping. I did think the fact that some people got upset was believable. They were stuck on a train that wasn’t making its scheduled stops. More and more people were getting sick. When the train finally did stop, it was only to be sealed up and have armed guards enter to make sure no one tried to get off. I think that would be a scary situation to be in. Some people did some extreme things once they found out that the train wasn’t stopping. I did think that this movie was a disaster movie. Many people were trapped together and threatened with death from the plague and from having to go across a possibly dangerous bridge. I haven’t seen one with a plot like this movie before.

There was some violence in The Cassandra Crossing, but it wasn’t an extremely violent movie. Since I did see the movie on television, it is possible that some violence was edited out. When the three men attempted to set off a bomb at the beginning of the movie, there was shooting, and some men were shot. Later in the movie, there was shooting on the train and more people were shot. There really wasn’t much blood shown. When people were shot, they fell strangely and even did a few weird sprawls. It was kind of funny how some of them fell. It was a bit over the top with all the shooting later in the movie, especially since one person had to get instructions on how to use a machine gun. There were a few explosions in the movie as well. There was enough action to keep things interesting. Music played at different times during the movie. Some of sounded rather strange. When something was shown that was supposed to shocking or scary, the music would blare. The music got on my nerves at times.

There was also a bit of romance tossed into the mix with Jonathan and Jennifer’s relationship. They did end up in bed together at one point. There was only some kissing seen, but it is possible that more was edited out. Jonathan and Jennifer’s relationship was a bit complex, but it wasn’t the main focus of the movie. They started off acting like they didn’t want to be around each other, but then they ended up working together to figure out what to do about the plague. Jennifer didn’t have any medical training, but she jumped right in trying to help. A few things about Jonathan and Jennifer, especially their names, reminded me of the television show Hart to Hart. In that show, a husband and wife, Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, worked together to solve mysteries, and did end up in some dangerous situations. The man who played the conductor of the train was actually in Hart to Hart. He played Max, the butler.

I thought that the acting in The Cassandra Crossing was fine. Some of the actors did seem to over act a bit at times, but that isn’t surprising for this sort of movie. Some of the characters had some really bad lines that they had to say. Before I saw this movie, I had only seen Richard Harris in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He was much younger in this movie, and looked very different. It was a bit unbelievable when his character went from being a doctor trying to treat people, to a man carrying around a machine guy and shooting people - after receiving a few instructions on how to use the gun. Sophia Loren was fine as Jennifer. There wasn’t anything that really stood out about her performance. She did always look beautiful, and there were several close ups of her face, or just her eyes, during the movie. Martin Sheen was good as Robby. He got to do a few stunts later in the movie. There really wasn’t anything special about O.J. Simpson’s performance as the priest, but I didn’t expect that from him. I knew that he had been in some movies, but I didn’t realize that he started acting in the 1970's. I thought that Burt Lancaster was also good in his part. I can’t remember seeing him in any other movies.

CHARACTERS

Jonathan - A doctor who became well known after winning an award. He was traveling to Amsterdam on a train that carried a stow away that was carrying a deadly virus. Jonathan was one of the people that didn’t catch the virus. He was working to find a way to save the people on the train. He still had feelings for his ex-wife, though he tried to hide it.

Jennifer - Jonathan’s ex-wife. She was a successful author. She and Jonathan had been married and divorced twice, but they still had feelings for each other. Jennifer noticed something that make her realize that something was really wrong with the train. She ended up working with Jonathan to figure out what to do.

Robby - He was a young man traveling with an older woman. He had a bit of an attitude.

Nicole Dressler - Older, wealthy woman that was traveling with Robby. She bossed him around a lot, and didn’t pay any attention to his temper.

Colonel Mackenzie - He was called in to contain the virus after the incident at the International Health Organization. He was focused on containing the virus.

Dr. Elena Stradner - She was treating the one man that broke into the International Health Organization. She didn’t know what was going on at first. She kept trying to fight for the people on the train. She didn’t agree with Colonel Mackenzie’s plan.

The Cassandra Crossing was an entertaining movie. Some unbelievable things happened, but that is to be expected with this type of movie. People who enjoy disaster movies may also enjoy this one.

Related Reviews
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ~






Recommended: Yes