The defence The Big-Idea Head
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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The First Great Train Robbery
Thriller · Adventure · Drama · 1978
In Victorian England, a master criminal makes elaborate plans to steal a shipment of gold from a moving train.
Movie details
The First Great Train Robbery
“Never have so few taken so much from so many.”
1978 Thriller · Adventure · Drama 1h 50m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.7 / 10
Community rating
In Victorian England, a master criminal makes elaborate plans to steal a shipment of gold from a moving train.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The First Great Train Robbery?
For the defence
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Little Caesar
Drama · 1931
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
The Lazarus Project
Drama · 2008
After Ben Garvey foolishly turned back to crime, he thought his life was over when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. But his death sentence isn't quite what it seems, as Ben regains consciousness near an eerie psychiatric ward, where he's told he's been hired as the groundskeeper. With the state of his soul in question, and the love for his wife and daughter all the more real and powerful, Ben must figure out if he's truly cheated death, or if he's become part of something far more sinister.
The Count of Monte Cristo
Adventure · 2002
Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.
Red Corner
Crime · 1997
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
The Organization
Drama · 1971
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance.
Robbery
Crime · 1967
In this fictionalised account of the Great Train Robbery, career criminal Paul Clifton plans an audacious crime: the robbery of a mail train carrying millions in cash.
The Rise
Thriller · 2012
After being released from prison for a crime he didn't commit, Harvey Miller has revenge on his mind. He recruits his three best friends to help him rob the local drug kingpin whose betrayal put him away in the first place.
Flawless
Crime · 2007
A female executive and a night janitor conspire to commit a daring diamond heist from their mutual employer, The London Diamond Corporation.
Strangers on a Train
Crime · 1951
A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.
The Night of the Hunter
Crime · 1955
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Michael Crichton
Written by
Michael Crichton
Sean Connery
Edward Pierce
Donald Sutherland
Robert Agar
Lesley-Anne Down
Miriam
Peter Butterworth
Putnam
Michael Elphick
Burgess
Alan Webb
Edgar Trent
Robert Lang
Sharp
Court is in session
Put The First Great Train Robbery on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.