Narrow Margin (1990)

Back in 1952, during the waning days of film noir, director Richard Fleischer made The Narrow Margin, a cheaply produced, tightly structured B movie thriller about a cop forced to protect a gangster's widow while on a train. While it's no work of art, Fleischer's noir features a shocking climax of mistaken identity, an ominous, claustrophobic atmosphere, and tough, nearly unlikable protagonists screwed by fate, who spout sharp-witted dialogue and feel little more than contempt for each other. When Hollywood remakes itself, all the understatement and charm is usually lost when the filmmakers try to "modernize" the subject matter. This is one of many problems with writer-director Peter Hyams's remake (given the slightly shorter title Narrow Margin). He's dumped the surprising plot twist (it's now an action set piece atop a moving train) and softened the characters (now played with sleepwalking intensity by Gene Hackman and Anne Archer) with preposterous motivations. All that seems to be intact is the train premise, but Hyams is more interested in its action potential than any kind of menacing atmosphere. He's dropped the ambiguous relationships and smart dialogue in favor of pumping up the action sequences and daredevil stunts to ridiculous levels. Instead of adding excitement, all Hyams's expensive tricks do is drain Narrow Margin of any tension it might've retained from the original. --Dave McCoy Amazon.com

DVD movie : Narrow Margin

Review of "Narrow Margin".
Who could'nt love the trains and the Canadian scenery?
But further I am a Hackman fan so for me it is easily worth
buying to watch and loan to family etc. The R must be for
violence but it not excessive compared to any ordinary day
of commercial TV.
Bad guys (hired killers) chase the seemingly inept Gene
and Anne Archer up and down the cross-Canada touring
type train, and at stations along the way. At some point
you start thinking ... this is familiar, I've seen this before.
Because the story is a re-use of a previous classic tale
involving a train. But that does'nt hurt this movie at all.
Buy it; Cheaper than going to movies nowadays!
Dick Norman July 26, 2008

Quite a ride

1990's Narrow Margin made a poor showing at the box-office, which is a pity because this is a thriller that really thrills. All too quickly dismissed by many critics for committing the cardinal sin of being a remake (in this case of Richard Fleischer's classic 1952 B-movie), it's a superbly paced example of pure commercial film-making at its most satisfying.

Intelligently scripted by director Peter Hyams (Capricorn One, Outland) with an admirable use of Scope that emphasises the claustrophobic nature of the game of cat-and-mouse, there are at least two genuinely breath-taking moments even before the inevitable train-top finale. Yet the film is always careful to maintain a semblance of credibility. As a result, it derives as much of its suspense from our involvement with the characters as from its bravura action sequences.

True, these are stereotypes - idealistic DA, frightened-but-honest witness, pragmatic killer - but they are believable stereotypes who behave logically, relying on their wits. If the watchword of Hyams' Outland was professionalism, in Narrow Margin it is self-reliance. Both sides have to make the most of what is to hand in a restrictive environment that works against them equally.

If this enclosed environment had been a spaceship and the killers aliens, Narrow Margin might have wowed them at the box-office. As it is, without an easily exploitable angle, it proved one of the most mystifying of Hyams' frequent financial disappointments: Hyams at his peak was the consummate commercial film-maker, yet paradoxically his films were never very commercially successful. With impressive performances from Hackman, Archer and Hyams' regular James B. Sikking as the businessman-like killer who prefers negotiation to coercion, Narrow Margin deserved much, much better. It's a good movie, and one you won't just watch once.

Unfortunately, the Region 1 DVD isn't particularly good - no real extras and an indifferent widescreen transfer. If you have a multi-region player you're much better off tracking down the Region 2 German PAL DVD, which comes with an exclusive audio commentary (in English) by Hyams, as well as brief featurette, behind-the-scenes footage and theatrical trailer.
February 15, 2008

Train to Asylum

This is one of the best movies Gene Hackman has made. An excellent thriller. He plays the part of a deputy D.A. trying to bring a witness back to court in the U.S. but is being tracked by killers. Some beautiful scenery in Canada as he spirits his witness from a cabin and takes her to the train that will wind through the countryside. The action is non-stop with a helicopter chasing them shooting machine guns to the men hunting them on the train. A game of cat and mouse aboard the train is tense. It has you wondering who exactly is after her, and who are just passengers. Great cast with many familiar faces. Reminds you a little of a Hitchock style like "The Lady Vanishes". I highly recommend it. The DVD doesn't have much in the way of features but subtitles. Good quality picture and sound. If you enjoyed this be sure to catch "The Package" and "Enemy of the State". August 14, 2007

You're tall!

Has Gene Hackman ever made a film that did not, in some way, result in a bruised forearm?

Here, he must bring a reluctant (read: ain't-gonna-do-it-no-how-no-way) witness from the Canadian Rockies to LA, by train, to testify against a BAD DUDE. Seems she may have seen a murder take place.

But the fun is watching him stick to his guns long after the guns appear to have been emptied.

I won't spoil the ending... but "You're tall!" takes on a whole new meaning. July 15, 2007

Lame, lamer, lamest

I saw this film in a theater during its original run, years ago. At the time, I wasn't much impressed. Recently, I stumbled on this DVD version and decided to compare it with the classic 1952 original.

Let me now be perfectly clear. If you wish to retain any vestige of respect for this film, DO NOT view it in conjunction with the original!

With the single exception of Gene Hackman (who at least struggles to make some bricks, despite an acute lack of straw), this remake is lame in every possible respect. Every line of dialogue, every plot point, every set-up, every individual frame is not only inferior to the original but clearly designed to be so by the writers, technical staff, director and producer.

The single-minded crumminess of this effort can only have arisen from some shared, manic delusion that they, each and all of them, were making improvements on the old film noir thriller. Hooboy, were they wrong!

How does this sort of thing happen? Exactly why does someone who has chosen to spend millions of dollars on remaking a movie decide to scrap everything that was good in the original and replace it with intellectually and artistically shabby merchandise? Why, in short, would anybody exchange a taut, tense little thriller on a train with a big, dumb, clumsy action flick that largely takes place ON TOP of a train?

For those impressed by the scenery in which this locomotive catastrophe is imbedded, I feel obliged to report that I have taken that train on that very route. The movie managed to muck that up, too.

A waste of Gene Hackman. A waste of Canadian scenery. A waste of your time and money. July 13, 2007

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