Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

The Great Train Robbery

PG 1978 1h 51m History Drama List
77% Tomatometer 31 Reviews 69% Audience Score 5,000+ Ratings
Edward Pierce (Sean Connery) is a master thief of the Victorian Era who's never found a heist he couldn't pull off. For his next criminal operation, he plans something that has never been done before: to rob a moving train. Working with a master safecracker (Donald Sutherland) and a seductive woman (Lesley-Anne Down), Pierce devises an incredibly complex plan to break into the train's safe and steal the thousands of dollars' worth of gold that are contained within. Read More Read Less
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

The Great Train Robbery

Fandango at Home Prime Video Apple TV

Rent The Great Train Robbery on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

The Great Train Robbery

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Laboriously paced and overly talky, The Great Train Robbery nevertheless pulls off a thrillingly staged finale anchored by winning performances from Donald Sutherland and Sean Connery.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (31) Critics Reviews
Ian Nathan Empire Magazine Crichton is after a giggly quality as if it's being told as a pub yarn, soaked in exaggeration and acute trickery to defeat impossible hurdles, while never far from redoubtable moral lesson. Rated: 4/5 Nov 5, 2008 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Crichton's films drag in dialog bouts, but triumph when action takes over. Jul 30, 2008 Full Review Time Out The characters stay largely undeveloped, while -- despite superficially peculiar features -- the robbery is stripped of the ingenious exposition of the novel. Jan 26, 2006 Full Review Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies When The Great Train Robbery works, it really works. Rated: 3.5/5 Jun 27, 2024 Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand It’s an old-school caper film with a modern sense of humor. [Filmmaker Michael Crichton] brings a droll humor to the project, which the three leads play with a light touch, but keeps the caper scenes tight and suspenseful. May 4, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy An agreeable lark. Rated: 3/4 Jun 17, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (231) audience reviews
Will S A smart new edit would trim about twenty minutes, cutting excessive dialogue and the moments when it tries for comedy, and eliminate a lot of the overly-theatrical soundtrack. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/20/24 Full Review C I thought this movie, at times, was excessively violent. A few of the scenes were disturbing. I like the idea of a train robbery movie, but there was no one to root for. Sir Connery was good, but seemed odd portraying master thief Pierce. The train robbery seemed a little too easy, especially, making wax impressions of the four keys. I don't like making train robbers heroes. The cinematography was good. Cheers. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/17/23 Full Review David W Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery is the film he was most involved in creating and his love and characteristic handywork shows through. Combined with a strong cast, this one is a classic with an easygoing air. I would definitely watch this again. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/21/24 Full Review Jack O The First Great Train Robbery or you can call it The Great Train Robbery whatever you wanna call it. This is actually an extraordinary film with extraordinary cast like Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland. It all sets in the year 1855 where these two gentlemen are on a mission at the train to rob a pile of gold along with the help of Lesley-Anne Down but they need to find four shiny keys to open the safe. Now this is a toughest challenge for those two gentlemen. It is actually based on the novel by Michael Crichton and he even directed the film which is really obscure. I really do like the thrills and I really do like the train sequence at the end. The entire movie is even thrilling and funny at the same time that add some scenes for the people to laugh at, like Donald Sutherland has to stay in the coffin pretending to be dead with stinky dead cat while covered in green paint. I really like this film for it's extraordinary production design, the thrills and it does gets some laughs. I actually do love every second of this and I think it's magnificent. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Like a 19th century ‘Ocean’s Eleven’, Crichton’s playful script, accompanied by Goldsmith’s rousing score, is loads of fun with an absolute nail-biter of a third act. Connery, Sutherland, & Down are a wonderful team. #nitrosMovieChallenge Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/28/22 Full Review Audience Member Entertaining movie connery is good as usual well made Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Great Train Robbery

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

Movie Clips

View All videos

The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Cholera Coffin The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Cholera Coffin 2:11 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Riding the Train The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Riding the Train 2:09 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Throwing Gold From the Train The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Throwing Gold From the Train 1:43 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - A Sharp Businessman The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - A Sharp Businessman 1:37 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Transporting Gold The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Transporting Gold 1:39 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - The Seduction of Fowler The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - The Seduction of Fowler 2:04 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Prison Break The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Prison Break 2:01 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - 75 Seconds The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - 75 Seconds 2:13 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - The Great Escape The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - The Great Escape 1:13 The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Stop That Boy! The Great Train Robbery: Official Clip - Stop That Boy! 2:13 View more videos

More Like This

View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
The Molly Maguires 90% 62% The Molly Maguires Sacco and Vanzetti 70% 87% Sacco and Vanzetti The Mission 66% 87% The Mission The Duellists 74% 83% The Duellists Anne of the Thousand Days 43% 83% Anne of the Thousand Days Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All The Great Train Robbery photos

The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery (1978) The Great Train Robbery (1978) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Edward Pierce (Sean Connery) is a master thief of the Victorian Era who's never found a heist he couldn't pull off. For his next criminal operation, he plans something that has never been done before: to rob a moving train. Working with a master safecracker (Donald Sutherland) and a seductive woman (Lesley-Anne Down), Pierce devises an incredibly complex plan to break into the train's safe and steal the thousands of dollars' worth of gold that are contained within.
Director
Michael Crichton
Producer
John Foreman
Screenwriter
Michael Crichton
Production Co
Starling Films
Rating
PG
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
1h 51m
Sound Mix
Surround
Most Popular at Home Now